Gray Man, Inc.

[DRIVEN]

Another side project...

My dad just bought this trike from a buddy that quit riding. I guess that's something that happens when you reach a certain age. The plan is to spiff it up and flip it in the late spring, early summer.

It's in pretty decent shape. The rocker boxes seep and the LS airshock leaks air. He's already digging in and getting dirty.

[wayno]

Until recently I always searched "Trike" on craigslist, just dreaming.

[DRIVEN]

I've never ridden one. I don't even like riding 4Wheelers at any real speed. I'm paranoid I'd get tangled up with it if I went off the road or tipped over. I've always been much more comfortable on 2 wheels.

[wayno]

Same with me, I rode motorcycles from 1973ish thru 1986ish, pretty much year round after 1976, I once rode a 4 wheel ATV and did not like it, and I heard a lot of stories about the 3-wheel versions.

[DRIVEN]

Restoration work on the new/old work Venza continues. I replaced the seeping rear axle seals.




Unfortunately, it looks like I'm probably going to be putting a transmission in this thing at some point. It's developing a torque converter shudder and does a weird 4-5 flare when cresting hills with the cruise control set. Doesn't do it under regular driving conditions. I'm going to start with a TCM reflash, but I expect to swap transmissions at some point. Luckily, it sees about 90% freeway duty, so I'm hoping that buys time.


I bought a bunch of fluid service and maintenance supplies for the Dodge.


So far all I got done was cleaning the filthy K&N filter.



I cleaned the rest of the junk out of the cab and wiped everything down. It actually cleaned up okay. I was happy to find that under the crappy seat covers, the seats are really nice. The carpet is still pretty gross.







Both taillight assemblies had broken lenses and the headlights were badly fogged, so I replaced them with some of Chynuh's finest.




I also loosened up the front bumper brackets and realigned everything. It was twisted upward touching the bottom of the grille and the fender gap was hideous.



Next time I go to the wrecking yard I'll look for a good air dam. Only a portion of the original one isn't broken off.

Last thing I did was use compressed air to blast the loose clearcoat off the hood. It literally peels off in sheets at highway speeds.




The more I drive this thing, the more I like it. I've got a trip to Moab, then up to Montana in a few weeks. I was planning to tow my blue bike behind the Venza, but might just drive this instead.

[BLUE]

Might be worth trying some lubegard atf additive for the transmission. Run it in all of our fleet vehicles and my personal cars/trucks. Double dose for trouble makers. Ymmv , but i love the stuff.

[DRIVEN]

I might try it as a hail Mary after the reflash.

Toyota did have issues with torque converter lockup shudder in later Camrys and Rav4s, but having this problem in a Venza is unusual. The 4-5 flare is wierd too. It only happens with the cruise control set. And even with the cruise set, if I add a little bit of throttle input as I crest the hill, it shifts normally. That's one of the reasons I want to reflash before I replace any hard parts. I did run across an ATSG for this issue though, so apparently it's not completely unheard of. It requires some valvebody repair or replacement.

I'm really not looking forward to the job. I'm not really too scared of a used unit, but if there's an issue, its a lot of labor to warranty it out. I REALLY don't want to pay a transmission shop to do it all with a reman transmission. There's a pretty large transmission supply warehouse that rebuilds transmissions and builds torque converters located in Boise. I need to drop in and discuss options.

Truthfully, transmission problems are the last thing I expected with this car. It runs and drives so nice otherwise. Most of the issues I knew I was buying were either cosmetic or just catching up on maintenance to get a baseline -- basically, all things you would normally expect with a used car purchase.

[DRIVEN]

Hundred mile shakedown ride on the blue bike. Ebay XT225 engine is A-OK. Extended swingarm has noticeable differences, positive and negative. New Bradley rear shock with the RaceTech emulators is great! Not quite motocross suspension, but waaay better than stock TW.

[Taterhead]

I know a guy that made a living for a while moving new vehicles around behind a Dodge/Cummings on a 3-vehicle trailer, that was a while ago though.

That is my plan for when I “retire” from where I work now. Start my own small car hauling business. We’ll see if it comes to fruition.

Hotshot loads is what we call it here. I’m not sure about that 300k income, at least here. But 3k a week here is pretty comfortable. I think my biggest expenses would be fuel obviously and insurance. Stay in the southeast mainly.

Something I can leave to my son if he wants it.

[wayno]

I do not see them Dodge/Cummins diesel rigs hauling a 3-vehicle trailer driving around near as much as I used to, but I do not drive around near as much anymore either, I did see one less than a month ago, but it was hauling used/classic/wrecked vehicles, not new vehicles like I used to see, it was the 1990s when I used to put a minimum of 30,000 miles a year on my vehicle I used for hanggliding, 1989 is when the Dodge/cummings appeared, I seen them all the time, but I used to see hanggliders on top of vehicles all the time also, it has been years since I seen one on top of a vehicle.

[DRIVEN]

Most of the new car transport is done in volume on semis. Most of the hotshot haulers are 1-3 cars. A lot are between dealerships or hauling wrecks to and from insurance auctions.

Seems to be a mixed bag that I see on the road. More Fords and Rams than Duramax, for some reason.

[DRIVEN]

Here's a bit of a boomerang story. This was originally purchased in 1982 by a high-school friend of my dad, who was later my employer, and years later -- my uncle. Weird stuff happens in small towns when octogenarian widows/widowers remarry. It was sold around 1996 to my brother's best friend to commute to high-school. In their first year of college, it tossed a rod and I replaced the engine. Not long after that, the owner was paralyzed in a snowboarding accident. An attempt was made to convert to hand controls, but it was just too cumbersome to get a wheelchair in an out of the bed. The owner passed away shortly after and his parents mostly forgot about it. It made the occasional dump run but was eventually sold to a repair shop specializing in British imports. A few years later and my brother passed the shop, noticing a For Sale sign in the window. Not surprisingly, he got a little sentimental and struck a deal. He drove it home and a plan has been forged. He's going to make it a rat shop truck for now and possibly make it his youngest son's first car. He wants to build a mid-80s era tribute minitruck.

When my uncle sold it, it was in immaculate shape. Sadly, 20 years of neglect have really made their mark.




I took the above photos on Thursday, right after he got it home, and he's already shopping. He's gotten a set of C4 wheels and a vintage airdam. He's got a Belltech 4/5 drop on order.

[DRIVEN]

He's on the hunt for a Bravada grille. They are rare.

[BLUE]

$&&@

[DRIVEN]

I ran down to Moab to ride for a few days. Utah has cheap diesel so I drove the scabby tractor instead of towing the bike behind the Venza. Rode a few hundred miles and managed to avoid injury or breakdowns.








After that I ran up to Montana to work a press event for one of the manufacturers my company contacts with. 5 days of vehicle prep and pit crew duty.



When I finished with work, I headed home. The first leg is over a hundred miles of twisty two-lane along the Clearwater River.



Gross old Dodge ran like a champ. I did 5 top-offs and got between 20.1 and 22.3 mpg. It doesn't suck.


When I got home the grass was knee high again. I've been using my dad's Bad Boy for the last year and feel really bad about adding hours to it. I found a decent deal on a used one so I bought it this morning. I mowed 3 acres and grilled some local steaks.