Monday, July 21. Water temperature is up to 70 and the air temp is getting into the mid-80's now. So it sounds like a good time to get on up there.

Edit: Trying again for Aug 4.

we like BigBear
where do you stay when up there? rent a cabin?

i'm due a trip up there,
last time i was towing my boat there my tranny gave out about half way there, i limped back home with it, drove back up there in the car (crying soft tears of sorrow) and rented a 25h.p. pontoon for the weekend instead of my boat,
still had fun
since then i've had John Wood rebuild my tranny and TC

John Wood... Shouldn't have any problems now. We'll use the 38 to give the tranny a break.

We're not staying anywhere as it is only a 1.5 hour drive from my house... It'd be less than an hour if I wasn't towing the boat. We'll probably get up there about 9 to 10 am and be gone by 5 or 6 pm.

BTW FatDog, what year / tranny do you have in your truck? Did it have a locking torque converter in third? Does your John Woods Tranny lock in all four gears?

The last time I was up there in 2003. I didn't have a problem with the tranny but the trailer brakes nearly locked up due to the coupler/actuator pushing against the hitch ball and bearings were smoking coming down the 330.

deepv,
i have a 2001 which is the 4R100 in my truck,
and i did not have a TC lock in third except for the 4th gear lockout button that comes stock but quits if you hit the brake,

partly because JohnWood saw my banksBrake he also installed a new programmer that has numerous positions i can set on the fly and one of them is for towing,
it increases the line pressure in the tranny and locks all gears down to a setable mph, in my case 20,
i cannot say enough for how good he is with trannys and customers,

one last note, and it is one reason i am entrigued with BigBear, my tranny now has 107,000 miles on it, i've always driven my truck like an old woman, and the tranny while in its stock form FAILED TWICE while towing up i30 on the way to BigBear !!,

at 9000 miles i lost a coast clutch, Ford covered that cost 100%, and thats when i had Banks install their brake,
and then last December going back up there my TC explodes and even though Ford said they would meet me at 50% with the cost i just couldn't bear it anymore and paid Woods to do it right,

i am here to tell you that losing a tranny while towing something up that i30 brings you closer to either God or booze very quickly !! i was really scared the first time and a little calmer the second,

Woods set my tow tranny up and has told me that the ONLY time i'll ever need to call him again is to lavish him with praise,

THAT is why i'm intrigued with that darn road, but like you said, i'll probably use i38 next time

I've got 115k miles on my 2002 7.3 PSD with the 4R100. Completely stock and never have had a problem. I run up to Big Bear unladen about 5-6 times a year for snow skiing. I tow to Mohave a few times a year (although not this or last year) and to Silverwood all the time. I towed up to Big Bear in 2003 when the truck was younger. The 2002's lock up in 3rd and 4th and come with a tranny temperature gage (kind of a 3 stage idiot light). For the most part, this truck has been very reliable. I think they got it right in 2002 and then changed to the 6.0 POJ the following year.

So, back to the subject. Want to meet up there on 7/21?

i really appreciate that deepv,

but we are going to have to raincheck this one,
Valerie is in Hampshire on business till the 23rd and is coming back to a conference here for the next few days after that,
she is overloaded with work stress right now and loved the idea of a BigBear when i called her earlier but we will have to talk about the next time around

our 'swimming hole' is at the south end of the Lake and our 'watering hole' is that little cantina with a old wooden boat tie-up on the far eastern end,

have a great trip !

Tail of the Whale Lakeside Lounge?

We'll be having lunch there.

Guess they changed name and ownership, no wonder I couldn't find 'em on the web the other day.

at the end of last year they had temporarily closed that bar where they had live bands (closest to the boat tie-up) and were also refurbishing the horse-shoe area and the restaurant,

also it had been a few years since i had been to that part of the lake and they had increased the size of that little marina next to it and our little bar and restaurant were no longer in a sleepy little lagoon, now they're adjacent to the expanded boat rental and storage area,

progress comes with a name change too i guess

40% of T-Storms tomorrow, but only 20% at Silverwood, so we might be going there again.

did you get to either lake?
pics?

My son's friends flaked on him and we went to Lake Perris in stead. Planning on going there on August 4 now. I'll post again in a week or so.

We're going to try again for Aug 4 if anybody's interested. We'll probably have lunch at B's BBQ.