Some cross-country driving

[vtl]

Hey!

Just wanted to share that my 05 XC70 w/ 168k miles survived driving Trans-Taiga road: http://www.jamesbayroad.com/ttr/index.html

From Boston suburbs up to Radisson, then Chisasibi, Trans-Taiga and back - 3500 miles in 7 days!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/dh5AacLeyObq-q2B0o2MTDVWaloOLcw7hqcu7oq1gbh2Z9psbXrRGTJxS0z5v6w A7uEL_0RJZL3XE2M8A2enyz6mEUeYQGuAJmED_hEVvVXArxTik e5xZYG_CD2zgQLJ202m8-Wr7D0BwQDi3we2MPR91moCXk9oALu-jmD2sgPl2rKRrZ9A83YYxjdqM4fli7kiYVtcFv6uCx_f6KrIzI uh3cnQ0HgJnoPB3noenWiHhKJj7TGo42WHg6LBcBEBP1hUVZBp IYwDzX-0ft7frduYCVA0Z_tWyV_hnZNNrLtCrxSKOyxpzXISJw2-JJQUq0_JdKe_zA_TG1J5MxC9HFdP3RbapQG9bTC2VWx1lFdToW 7fl8nWe-7K4ehv8t7GYB5Uj9CMrRY_KwFiunJkglTbUf5SBn-5F1s_xuvQhvS0e5qZJybb1f3qZyLHyZyHMkPRN5rKwIdGMI6rT hMov4bJA4JOHLhg2-xOq3-4p145yXHag5lGdfqDfN_b8AgukXMIVBwRl9jB5ZDBb_0KmCO9U 6GMtw6wTB37ZXUYQNACoPzyT3zexY3aqLKwgZH6mppQRTDdRAO J8TV2Wzl3xBP-FJ89-yKPRjSBPjDwyHCOPiAq6-8I=w1319-h876-no

This was a perfect trip for this car, I didn't even die driving 1000 miles in the last day (about 18 hours purely behind the wheel). I probably have to replace few plastic body panels near rear wheel well as they were eaten significantly by gravel (TTR is 666 km of gravel, one way).

[Astro14]

Awesome!

[Boneslb9]

Wow cool

[Reverend]

Jesus! I mean, I did a South Texas-ABQ-Durango-OUray-SLC-Sun Valley-Ketchum-Boise-Vancouver,WA-Oregon coast down into CA, Paso Robles-Vegas-Denver-ABQ-VRL-San Antonio trip of a total of about 7000 miles but save for some of the Texas roads, I don't htink I risked death at any point in time!

[billr99]

Hey!

Just wanted to share that my 05 XC70 w/ 168k miles survived driving Trans-Taiga road: http://www.jamesbayroad.com/ttr/index.html

From Boston suburbs up to Radisson, then Chisasibi, Trans-Taiga and back - 3500 miles in 7 days!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/dh5AacLeyObq-q2B0o2MTDVWaloOLcw7hqcu7oq1gbh2Z9psbXrRGTJxS0z5v6w A7uEL_0RJZL3XE2M8A2enyz6mEUeYQGuAJmED_hEVvVXArxTik e5xZYG_CD2zgQLJ202m8-Wr7D0BwQDi3we2MPR91moCXk9oALu-jmD2sgPl2rKRrZ9A83YYxjdqM4fli7kiYVtcFv6uCx_f6KrIzI uh3cnQ0HgJnoPB3noenWiHhKJj7TGo42WHg6LBcBEBP1hUVZBp IYwDzX-0ft7frduYCVA0Z_tWyV_hnZNNrLtCrxSKOyxpzXISJw2-JJQUq0_JdKe_zA_TG1J5MxC9HFdP3RbapQG9bTC2VWx1lFdToW 7fl8nWe-7K4ehv8t7GYB5Uj9CMrRY_KwFiunJkglTbUf5SBn-5F1s_xuvQhvS0e5qZJybb1f3qZyLHyZyHMkPRN5rKwIdGMI6rT hMov4bJA4JOHLhg2-xOq3-4p145yXHag5lGdfqDfN_b8AgukXMIVBwRl9jB5ZDBb_0KmCO9U 6GMtw6wTB37ZXUYQNACoPzyT3zexY3aqLKwgZH6mppQRTDdRAO J8TV2Wzl3xBP-FJ89-yKPRjSBPjDwyHCOPiAq6-8I=w1319-h876-no

This was a perfect trip for this car, I didn't even die driving 1000 miles in the last day (about 18 hours purely behind the wheel). I probably have to replace few plastic body panels near rear wheel well as they were eaten significantly by gravel (TTR is 666 km of gravel, one way).

I wanted to do that trip when I lived in North Bay and had a Range Rover. Wish I had now.

Cheers,

Bill

[vtl]

I wanted to do that trip when I lived in North Bay and had a Range Rover. Wish I had now.
The road is fine, Hydro-Quebec makes sure their trucks don't fall apart because of the road - a lot of graders sit in bushes. I'd say, better than some paved roads in Massachusetts :) You just need either more time to travel or more drivers, so you won't be attacking sharp gravel turns with cruise control set to 120 km/h for 10 hours daily.

The nature is excellent. Cold, black flies, zillion of stars, bears, black flies. Did I say black flies? :) I'm originally right from the opposite side of the hemisphere, and in crowded Central Europe and the States I missed the feeling of "ambient" danger that you'll die in an endless forest if the wrong direction was taken 3 days ago ;) In Czech Republic it was like pick any direction in the forest and in 20 minutes you'll hit a pub. Granted. Though the beer will be good... ;)

[billr99]

The road is fine, Hydro-Quebec makes sure their trucks don't fall apart because of the road - a lot of graders sit in bushes. I'd say, better than some paved roads in Massachusetts :) You just need either more time to travel or more drivers, so you won't be attacking sharp gravel turns with cruise control set to 120 km/h for 10 hours daily.

The nature is excellent. Cold, black flies, zillion of stars, bears, black flies. Did I say black flies? :) I'm originally right from the opposite side of the hemisphere, and in crowded Central Europe and the States I missed the feeling of "ambient" danger that you'll die in an endless forest if the wrong direction was taken 3 days ago ;) In Czech Republic it was like pick any direction in the forest and in 20 minutes you'll hit a pub. Granted. Though the beer will be good... ;)

Ah yes, black flies! One of the reasons that I moved back to the East Coast from the Great White North. With a nearly constant minimum 10 knot sea breeze, black flies have no chance here. The thing with taking an XC versus something like a Rover, is the beating the underside and rear plastic take on gravel. I've lost pieces (like the rear toe ring cover and front fog light tray) just driving on the gravel track to my kid's farm. Of course, I get on gravel and my old rally days seem to come back and I just can't slow down. In any case, a trip to think about when I really retire and have the time to do it.

Again, thanks for the post. Its really cool to see that there are still remote yet accessible places you can go in North America.

Cheers,

Bill

[vtl]

I've lost pieces (like the rear toe ring cover and front fog light tray) just driving on the gravel track to my kid's farm.

I lost the rear toe cover within first kms of gravel. Also despite the mud flaps, some of plastic panels are 50% gone - just shredded away. Need to think how better to protect it next year when I'll come back :) At least I know what to protect now. The car will be on Kilen 66024 HD rear coil springs, so it won't sag that much with 2 full size AT tires, 40 l of gas, 40 l of water and the rest of camping stuff.



Again, thanks for the post. Its really cool to see that there are still remote yet accessible places you can go in North America.

My pleasure. Where else you may see every star in Milky Way, Perseids scratching the skies, Aurora Borealis and a giant yellow Moon, at the same time? :) Not in suburbs...

[oblivionboyj]

What an awesome adventure! Did you take photos to share?

I HATE black flies! They are all over in Maine once you get away from the coast. I love exploring the inland, but it is almost worth living by the coast because of the flies alone. LOL

[vtl]

What an awesome adventure! Did you take photos to share?

I HATE black flies! They are all over in Maine once you get away from the coast. I love exploring the inland, but it is almost worth living by the coast because of the flies alone. LOL
Yes, I do have the photos. Just ignore the Cyrillic script:

https://www.drive2.ru/l/481018196283883785/
https://www.drive2.ru/l/481174876690841789/
https://www.drive2.ru/l/481175426446655593/

I just returned from another TT trip. All black flies died this time when the night temperature first broke down to +3 C (about 37-38F). Also the next night at Brisay was supposed to be snowing. At the end of August, that's brutal! :) I've asked the girl in Mirage Outfitter when the snow is melting here, she said it's all gone quickly this year, last feet melted in June...

More plastic damages, angle gear collar sleeve has gone too. Other than that nothing really broke, engine runs strong, Yokohama Geolandar's took all the beat nicely. Before the second trip I installed HD rear springs (Kilen 66024) instead of 2 years old originals, that helped a bit with the ride height.

[oblivionboyj]

Yokohama Geolandar's took all the beat nicely.
I have Yokohama AVID all season tires right now, and I am happy with them so far. I have thought about my next set being all terrain. My only concern is the road noise. I had a Ford Explorer that I put all terrain tires and the road noise was annoying. So that causes me concern since I drive mostly on paved roads (though the point is mute in a Maine winter). I guess what I am really getting at is; is do the Geolanders preform well enough and are they quiet enough on pavement? I am sure they are a compromise, but what multi use tire isn't? LoL

[vtl]

Geolandar for our size have moderately aggressive pattern, so they don't produce too much noise. Definitely less than all-weather BFG Advantage T/A. Perhaps, even less than Conti TrueContact with 20k miles on them. Also the folding knobs noise is low-frequency and is taken away by stock noise insulation quite well. Most of tire noise, as it turned out, comes from side windows.

The tires are grip monsters, and they are truly sturdy and can be well-balanced, unlike Conti, which I had to throw out as I got no help from Conti regarding to thread indentation issue. That problem makes it impossible to balance tire even on a road force machine. I think my front wheel hub died because of constant ugly vibration produced by the tire. Did not try Yoko's in snow yet, I hope I'll be able to get rid of General Altimax Artic, which I barely use in MA.

The only downside is they respond less to steering wheel movement compared to a regular all-weather on-road tires.

They also look so good on our car :)

[oblivionboyj]

Definitely less than all-weather BFG T/A.
That was the exact tire I had on the Explorer that were loud. I avoided talking on my phone in that truck, and the radio had to be way up to be heard with any clarity.


Did not try Yoko's in snow yet, I hope I'll be able to get rid of General Altimax Artic, which I barely use in MA.
I bought my car halfway through the season, and the all season Yokohamas that came installed did a reasonably good job. But I kinda resigned that I would need to get snow tires before this season starts.


They also look so good on our car :)
Pics or it didn't happen ;)

[vtl]

https://a.d-cd.net/6d41369s-1920.jpg

[oblivionboyj]

Sweet :)

[goldxc70]

Hey!

Just wanted to share that my 05 XC70 w/ 168k miles survived driving Trans-Taiga road: http://www.jamesbayroad.com/ttr/index.html

From Boston suburbs up to Radisson, then Chisasibi, Trans-Taiga and back - 3500 miles in 7 days!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/dh5AacLeyObq-q2B0o2MTDVWaloOLcw7hqcu7oq1gbh2Z9psbXrRGTJxS0z5v6w A7uEL_0RJZL3XE2M8A2enyz6mEUeYQGuAJmED_hEVvVXArxTik e5xZYG_CD2zgQLJ202m8-Wr7D0BwQDi3we2MPR91moCXk9oALu-jmD2sgPl2rKRrZ9A83YYxjdqM4fli7kiYVtcFv6uCx_f6KrIzI uh3cnQ0HgJnoPB3noenWiHhKJj7TGo42WHg6LBcBEBP1hUVZBp IYwDzX-0ft7frduYCVA0Z_tWyV_hnZNNrLtCrxSKOyxpzXISJw2-JJQUq0_JdKe_zA_TG1J5MxC9HFdP3RbapQG9bTC2VWx1lFdToW 7fl8nWe-7K4ehv8t7GYB5Uj9CMrRY_KwFiunJkglTbUf5SBn-5F1s_xuvQhvS0e5qZJybb1f3qZyLHyZyHMkPRN5rKwIdGMI6rT hMov4bJA4JOHLhg2-xOq3-4p145yXHag5lGdfqDfN_b8AgukXMIVBwRl9jB5ZDBb_0KmCO9U 6GMtw6wTB37ZXUYQNACoPzyT3zexY3aqLKwgZH6mppQRTDdRAO J8TV2Wzl3xBP-FJ89-yKPRjSBPjDwyHCOPiAq6-8I=w1319-h876-no

This was a perfect trip for this car, I didn't even die driving 1000 miles in the last day (about 18 hours purely behind the wheel). I probably have to replace few plastic body panels near rear wheel well as they were eaten significantly by gravel (TTR is 666 km of gravel, one way).

I can't let my wife see this post! She wants to do this trip in our 2004 but I am worried it won't make it. There are no Volvo dealers or indy's up to that way if anything goes wrong!

Another great adventure drive in that part of the world is to drive from Baie Comeau in eastern Quebec to Labrador City. See here: http://www.tlhwy.com/central/virtualtour/hwy389/hwy38901.html

[vtl]

I can't let my wife see this post! She wants to do this trip in our 2004 but I am worried it won't make it. There are no Volvo dealers or indy's up to that way if anything goes wrong!
I took all the tools with me, spark plugs, coil packs, two full size spares, a lot of canisters, water, food, etc. Tools were not used. Well-maintained and a tad beefier XC70 can make it (relatively new suspension, HD rear springs, aluminum skid plate, mud flaps and A/T tires are highly recommended). Also you will loose rear tow hook cover, so take it out before you hit the gravel :)


Another great adventure drive in that part of the world is to drive from Baie Comeau in eastern Quebec to Labrador City. See here: http://www.tlhwy.com/central/virtualtour/hwy389/hwy38901.html
Yes, that one is nice too.

TT was actually a preparation or, better say, first try if the car and the driver can make it through Dempster Highway: http://www.yukoninfo.com/region/dempster-highway/?UTM_source=Gdrive&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Drive%20Vacation&utm_term=dempster%20highway&utm_content=Dempster%20Highway%20and%20Dawson


in early September, the water was too cold to even think about a short swim
Huh, I did my morning swimming at TT routinely even at 37F/+3C :)

[oblivionboyj]

Outside of tires, how is your car modified/outfitted? What robust improvements have you integrated?

There is a road in Maine I want to do called the Golden Road (Telos) that I want to drive, this fall if I can :)

[vtl]

Outside of tires, how is your car modified/outfitted? What robust improvements have you integrated?

There is a road in Maine I want to do called the Golden Road (Telos) that I want to drive, this fall if I can :)

In the second trip we initially wanted to do Nova Scotia and hit Telos on our way back, but the Dutch guy decided to drive TT the very morning we supposed to leave :)

Most important, the car should be proactively maintained. Like replacing thermostat or coolant expansion tank cap every 10 years just because. This way car does not break unexpectedly 400 miles away from a nearest town. I did a lot of such small things, full alternator rebuild, PCV replaced twice, CV axles, driveshaft, Haldex, wheel hubs, etc.

From mods point of view, I put IPD skid plate, IPD DEM protection, IPD rear toe rods, Hayden ATF cooler, front sway bar from XC90, rear sway bar from V70R, Kilen 66024 rear HD springs, Yakima Loadwarrior roof basket + wider fairing, and my home-made diagnostics: https://github.com/vtl/volvo-ddd/ So I could have car semi-constantly monitored...

83438344834583468347

[goldxc70]

... TT was actually a preparation or, better say, first try if the car and the driver can make it through Dempster Highway: http://www.yukoninfo.com/region/dempster-highway/?UTM_source=Gdrive&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Drive%20Vacation&utm_term=dempster%20highway&utm_content=Dempster%20Highway%20and%20Dawson ...

That's the one my wife wants to do as well. I suggested we buy a Ford 150 Crew Cab, prep it for the trip and then sell it off as soon as we get back.

[vtl]

That's the one my wife wants to do as well. I suggested we buy a Ford 150 Crew Cab, prep it for the trip and then sell it off as soon as we get back.
I saw a lot of Hydro-Quebec workers struggling on TT in pickup trucks, especially in Chevy with its traditional rear leaf springs suspension. They drive slowly and the truck is shaking like mad. Saw one badly crashed at TT and a few at JBR on flat beds with broken ball joint/control arm/wheel bearing (?) too.

XC70 handles the toughness of the road with more precision and way more comfort for the humans inside the cabin. Drives pretty slick, this is Caniapiscau road at 70-80 MPH on a cold rainy evening:


https://youtu.be/4ODFadtGPCc

Again, the car is a bit beefier than the stock and the tire pressure was dropped to ~20-25 PSI cold, but it carries two men and cargo worth of 500+ lbs, including 150-200 lbs sitting high on the roof (could not slip two fingers between rear wheel and arch with gas and water canisters fully loaded - with HD springs!). Currently, with 3 adults and 3 children in the car I don't notice any significant body roll in sharp speedy turns (aka easily chasing BMWs on a rural twisty roads).

[goldxc70]

I saw a lot of Hydro-Quebec workers struggling on TT in pickup trucks, especially in Chevy with its traditional rear leaf springs suspension. They drive slowly and the truck is shaking like mad. Saw one badly crashed at TT and a few at JBR on flat beds with broken ball joint/control arm/wheel bearing (?) too.

XC70 handles the toughness of the road with more precision and way more comfort for the humans inside the cabin. ....

Again, the car is a bit beefier than the stock and the tire pressure was dropped to ~20-25 PSI cold, but it carries two men and cargo worth of 500+ lbs, including 150-200 lbs sitting high on the roof (could not slip two fingers between rear wheel and arch with gas and water canisters fully loaded - with HD springs!). Currently, with 3 adults and 3 children in the car I don't notice any significant body roll in sharp speedy turns (aka easily chasing BMWs on a rural twisty roads).

Good point about the leaf springs! Great for heavy loads but very poor for comfort. Reminds me of a road trip I took years ago in a rented Ford Explorer. As the passenger, I found it unbelievably uncomfortable. Initially, I thought it was poor Michigan road construction but it was just the poor Ford suspension and Firestone tire setup. I have driven all over Eastern Canada and North East US - all on paved roads - in the XC70 and have to say that it has consistently been the most comfortable car I've ever driven. It also "sweeps" around bends at high speed with very little body roll and just feels secure and safe at all times.