4 months of ownership...'17 Expy

[jeff kushner]

You won't be disappointed Flippin..., they are a world apart from the older trucks...heck, the engine alone was worth the change for me but having a slipping tranny just made it more of a priority.

Andy, thought about you over the weekend when I found myself & my sweetheart in PA. Saturday afternoon.

It was a gorgeous day for us so we assembled the canopy I had bought to keep the tree crap off my new truck. No space in the garage for the truck. I looked at the vertically run corrugated metal canopies but the earliest they could get it installed was May and by then, it would have been too late so I bought this one with the 2" 14 ga. poles. I can still run 1x4 stringers if I want to install a metal roof on it later but this will work for now. The poles are anchored in concrete in the dirt sides and I used Hilti insets on the pad portion.

jeff

 

[NevadaGeo]

You won't be disappointed Flippin..., they are a world apart from the older trucks...heck, the engine alone was worth the change for me but having a slipping tranny just made it more of a priority.

Andy, thought about you over the weekend when I found myself & my sweetheart in PA. Saturday afternoon.

It was a gorgeous day for us so we assembled the canopy I had bought to keep the tree crap off my new truck. No space in the garage for the truck. I looked at the vertically run corrugated metal canopies but the earliest they could get it installed was May and by then, it would have been too late so I bought this one with the 2" 14 ga. poles. I can still run 1x4 stringers if I want to install a metal roof on it later but this will work for now. The poles are anchored in concrete in the dirt sides and I used Hilti insets on the pad portion.

jeff

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Wow Jeff, I'm glad that canopy works where you live. Out here, we are exposed to storms that would soon put that canopy into Utah!! (We use the phrase "California blows and Utah sucks" quite often). That being said, we don't have a sappy tree problem here due to the arid climate and dry air. When we do get winds, it blows along dry alkaline lake beds hundreds of miles away, and comes down in the mountainous areas as alkali rain.

Nonetheless, being born and raised in the East (Connecticut), I will never return East to live. The beauty of NE Nevada outweighs anything I have seen before!

 

[jeff kushner]

Wow Jeff, I'm glad that canopy works where you live. Out here, we are exposed to storms that would soon put that canopy into Utah!! (We use the phrase "California blows and Utah sucks" quite often). That being said, we don't have a sappy tree problem here due to the arid climate and dry air. When we do get winds, it blows along dry alkaline lake beds hundreds of miles away, and comes down in the mountainous areas as alkali rain.

Nonetheless, being born and raised in the East (Connecticut), I will never return East to live. The beauty of NE Nevada outweighs anything I have seen before!

Yes, you are right about the high winds but you'll also notice that it's pretty close to my home which helps break the wind. It's actually a lot stronger than it looks and a friend in Kansas has had one up for two years now and she's on a 280 ac farm and she guided me to getting the right model #.

She warned me of exactly what you are saying and told me that if I bought any of them listed on ebay, I would expect it to MAYBE last one season. She said that ALL of the cheap ones have 1-3/8" or even 1-1/2" poles made from 17 ga metal that would be mangled with a sneeze. The design uses the canopy to bind the frame together for the most part and only uses pins at the 4 center legs(2 per side) and the foot pads. Not good enough for me. While erecting this, I used self-tapping sheet metal screws at every joint on the "roof" and then every joint that connects the legs as well. The cover itself is multiply rip-stopped and backed with stitched and heat-welded seams to supposedly last...but we'll see. We do get a lot of sap and pollen from the big oaks and they will make a real mess of your paint because once your car is covered, it will rain and then the tannic acid will soak into your paint. I delt with it on a new '86 Caddy, also white and I well remember how difficult it was to remove the brown spots.

jeff

 

[NevadaGeo]

My wife and I are looking forward to the trip. Last year we did five trips. This year I think we'll keep down to two. It's and 8 hour drive each way. We have it down to two stops once to pee and the second to pee and get gas. It's straight flat and boring driving across Indiana (we are only 30 minutes for the border) and Ohio and once we get into PA it's like driving on a road course, up, down, and around mountains (hills by your standards ). It gives me a good workout.

I'm semi retired at this point (not really by choice). So, I teach for Harrison College, I've been teaching for 4 years, the first year was all in the classroom and now, I mostly teach online. I seem to do most of my driving on Thursday because I go to breakfast with the "Old Timer's Group" These are bunch of guys in their 60's 70's and 80's that fly the old time model airplanes that have been converted to RC. In the summer they have contests every Thursday and throughout the winter we have breakfast at a local restaurant. I flew with them one year but I prefer sport flying. After breakfast, I often go to the indoor range and shoot a couple hundred rounds of pistol ammo and that's only a couple of miles up the road, so I just don't put a lot of miles on it right now. The last full time job I had ended in May and then I was putting in about 36 miles a day.

I'm working on my shop and getting ready to start building models again.

Getting excited about our road trip! I have gotten all the hotels reservations done and each day trip compiled into a spreadsheet. Looks like about 3000 total miles in two weeks. We will plan to visit some of the major National Parks and Monuments in UT, NM and AZ, with some time spent in Colorado with some of my Grad school friends. I got into a panic when I realized it will be Spring Break and quickly got a plan together for the Sarge (my wife). She is not as keen on this road trip as I am, but that is understandable. I wanted to get a nice lodge inside Grand Canyon, but found it has been booked for months. Oh well, got a nice motel on the Hopi Reservation in the town of Tuba City. This should be fun. As mentioned before, 30 years of owning F-150s, the Expedition is a huge driving upgrade!!

I do hold a CCW and plan on taking my weapon with me. Utah, NM and Arizona have reciprocity for a Nevada CCW so no problem, but Colorado being a hippie haven does not. I will have to hide it (or "conceal" it......). I have worked in this area before and there is a huge problem with meth addiction and alcoholism. There are some rough types and a brand new Expedition Limited might be a nice target. So I will protect my wife and property. Otherwise, I am not a paranoid person, just prepared!

 

[NevadaGeo]

Yes, you are right about the high winds but you'll also notice that it's pretty close to my home which helps break the wind. It's actually a lot stronger than it looks and a friend in Kansas has had one up for two years now and she's on a 280 ac farm and she guided me to getting the right model #.

She warned me of exactly what you are saying and told me that if I bought any of them listed on ebay, I would expect it to MAYBE last one season. She said that ALL of the cheap ones have 1-3/8" or even 1-1/2" poles made from 17 ga metal that would be mangled with a sneeze. The design uses the canopy to bind the frame together for the most part and only uses pins at the 4 center legs(2 per side) and the foot pads. Not good enough for me. While erecting this, I used self-tapping sheet metal screws at every joint on the "roof" and then every joint that connects the legs as well. The cover itself is multiply rip-stopped and backed with stitched and heat-welded seams to supposedly last...but we'll see. We do get a lot of sap and pollen from the big oaks and they will make a real mess of your paint because once your car is covered, it will rain and then the tannic acid will soak into your paint. I delt with it on a new '86 Caddy, also white and I well remember how difficult it was to remove the brown spots.

jeff

Sounds like you are building this with the right idea. I would love to keep my Expy in the garage, but my wife's '15 Venza lives there with all my man stuff. I do remember the sap droplets and you are correct with the tannic acid discoloring the paint. So life is a trade off and ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Good luck and the cover looks great. I am somewhat envious since I would like to cover the Expy, but it does fine with the summer dry heat and conditions.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

You won't be disappointed Flippin..., they are a world apart from the older trucks...heck, the engine alone was worth the change for me but having a slipping tranny just made it more of a priority.

Andy, thought about you over the weekend when I found myself & my sweetheart in PA. Saturday afternoon.

jeff

Jeff, it looks like you weren't far from my old stomping grounds. From the sign I'd have to say you were in Lancaster county. When I was in sales, I had Lancaster county as a sales territory.

I love that canopy. We have been renting for two years and are thinking about buying another house in a year or two and I'm insisting on a three car garage and a basement so I can put all of my tools in the basement and have a place to park the vehicles and the lawn equipment.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Getting excited about our road trip! I have gotten all the hotels reservations done and each day trip compiled into a spreadsheet. Looks like about 3000 total miles in two weeks. We will plan to visit some of the major National Parks and Monuments in UT, NM and AZ, with some time spent in Colorado with some of my Grad school friends.

I do hold a CCW and plan on taking my weapon with me. Utah, NM and Arizona have reciprocity for a Nevada CCW so no problem, but Colorado being a hippie haven does not. I will have to hide it (or "conceal" it......). I have worked in this area before and there is a huge problem with meth addiction and alcoholism. There are some rough types and a brand new Expedition Limited might be a nice target. So I will protect my wife and property. Otherwise, I am not a paranoid person, just prepared!

I have my concealed handgun license and I also have my Utah non-residence permit, which at the time gave me Ohio before they recognized Indiana's permit. My Indiana permit gets me Colorado. My Utah permit gets me Nevada. The only states that I can't carry in out west are, California, Oregon, and New Mexico.

Someone said that if you remove the cup holder for the third row seats there is a lot of storage space under the cup holder. it might be a good out of sight place put something you don't want the average guy to find. Apparently you squeeze the center to pop out the cup holder.

 

[NevadaGeo]

I have my concealed handgun license and I also have my Utah non-residence permit, which at the time gave me Ohio before they recognized Indiana's permit. My Indiana permit gets me Colorado. My Utah permit gets me Nevada. The only states that I can't carry in out west are, California, Oregon, and New Mexico.

Someone said that if you remove the cup holder for the third row seats there is a lot of storage space under the cup holder. it might be a good out of sight place put something you don't want the average guy to find. Apparently you squeeze the center to pop out the cup holder.

Thanks Andy, I will check out the 3rd row cup holder. I will have to check again on CO, but last I checked, CO is a no go for a Nevada CCW.

As far as carrying in CA, OR, you probably don't want to go there anyway. Granola... take away the fruits and flakes, all that is left are the nuts!

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Thanks Andy, I will check out the 3rd row cup holder. I will have to check again on CO, but last I checked, CO is a no go for a Nevada CCW.

As far as carrying in CA, OR, you probably don't want to go there anyway. Granola... take away the fruits and flakes, all that is left are the nuts!

I agree, I don't share the same political views or same understanding of the constitution as the people that run those states.

 

[jeff kushner]

That's just the difference between Americans and...oh, nvmd, you guys know....LOL

Yes, we went up to Lancaster...Horsesh*t capital of PA(Not being mean but the smell of Lancaster always smells of manure) to surprise her sister who was there with a bunch of old biddies on a "quilting vacation". They were all very sweet old ladies though and they had some very serious skills which I can appreciate. My baby wanted to go so badly that she offered to drive both ways so I could take a nap AND to drive her Rogue....how could I say no? We left around 3PM & I slept all the way up, then we all went out to dinner at some smorgasbord place & went back to their hotel meeting room so they could show us all the stuff they were working on. Then I took another nap while she drove us home. It sure made me appreciate my truck! I would never tell her but her Rogue is noisy as heck on the road...wind noise, road noise, mechanical noise....just very noisy in comparison. I took that pic on the way home right before going to sleep!

I've never felt the need to carry so I don't even own a hand piece but I love shooting/hunting and would certainly fight for your right to carry!

jeff