Guru4 - JJ's Journal

I just setup a new blog site for the trip:

www.wheresjj.com

This morning i bought a new 5x8 trailer.

I should be ready to go this week. There are a couple of ideas brewing here on how to make it home without using my credit cards. Will see.

With the help of David i have my radio setup for APRS. You can check my status during the trip to see were i am (depending of if i am near any repeaters).

I sent an email out with the info since i do not want to post it here for all to see :-)

Well to help calm down from such a day, went to go see Pirates 2.

Good movie and the end is not a end as Jack Sparow would say.

Wow it is 2:45 - Good Morning

So it looks like i am going to buy a trailer here and use it to get to CA then sell it used and try to re-coop the cost. The price diffrence from here and CA should make it work out ok (at least if i don't keep it).

Now looks like i will leave Tuesday.

Here is the news article from USA Today
Posted 1/8/2004 9:04 AM Updated 1/14/2004 9:37 AM

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2004-01-08-uhaul-ford_x.htm

U-Haul rejects Explorers
By Eric Mayne, The Detroit News
U-Haul International is forbidding its stores to rent trailers to customers who plan to tow with the Ford Explorer, saying it no longer can afford to defend product liability lawsuits linked to the best-selling SUV.
U-Haul says the decision was not related to safety.
By Tim Boyle, Getty Images

The reasons for the unusual move by U-Haul aren't entirely clear but it comes after the Explorer appeared to have overcome lingering image problems associated with the Firestone tire debacle.

U-Haul — North America's largest trailer rental company with more than 17,000 outlets — implemented the policy Dec. 22, saying the ban was not related to safety.

"U-Haul has chosen not to rent behind this tow vehicle based on our history of excessive costs in defending lawsuits involving Ford Explorer towing combinations," the company told The Detroit News.

Joanne Fried, a U-Haul spokeswoman, declined to disclose how much the Phoenix-based company has spent defending lawsuits involving Explorers.

"The decision is not based on one accident," she said. "It's based on several different lawsuits going on for several years."

Ford Motor (F) spokesman Jon Harmon called U-Haul's decision "surprising and disappointing."

"This is all about runaway litigation and trial lawyers forcing businesses to make unfortunate decisions for fear of lawsuits," Harmon said.

U-Haul was embroiled in a lawsuit that Bridgestone/Firestone settled out of court in September. It involved three college students who were injured in 1999 when their Firestone-equipped Explorer overturned while pulling a U-Haul trailer.

U-Haul would not release details about the accidents cited in its lawsuits.

A bulletin issued to U-Haul dealers last month, which was obtained by The News, says the company's move was "based on the negative perceptions of Ford Explorers ... we are separating ourselves from the negative public perception and its potential consequences."

U-Haul has no ban on rentals to Mercury Mountaineer owners, although the vehicle is mechanically a carbon copy of the Explorer.

"We've had no issues with the Mercury Mountaineer," Fried said.

The slight is the latest in a series of setbacks that have dogged the Explorer, America's top-selling SUV and the sixth-best selling vehicle in 2003.

In August 2001, Firestone was forced to recall 14.4 million defective tires — equipped mostly on Explorers. The treads on the tires often separated, causing drivers to lose control of their Explorers and often roll over.

Federal regulators linked 271 deaths and more than 800 injuries to the defective tires.

Ford recalled an additional 13 million Firestone tires in May 2001.

Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone have spent millions of dollars to settle product liability cases over the tires and SUV.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in February 2002 that there was not enough evidence to open a formal defect investigation of the Explorer.

In the wake of the widely publicized Firestone tire recall, the Explorer has become a favorite target among product liability lawyers, said Sid Gilreath, a Knoxville, Tenn., lawyer involved in product liability litigation for more than three decades.

The number of lawsuits involving Explorers isn't necessarily a reflection of its performance characteristics, Gilreath said.

"The lawyers who do those (cases) know that we have more documentation on the Explorer," Gilreath said.

Ford maintains the Explorer is safe. In 2002, NHTSA traced Explorer tire failures and resulting rollovers to tire manufacturing flaws.

Still, the controversy prompted federal regulators to adopt ratings that rank SUVs based on their propensity to roll over.

The test used to set ratings recently was revised to better reflect real-world driving conditions.

The 2003 Ford Explorer was among the first vehicles subjected to the new test. The results are pending.

Acknowledging the same legal cost pressures U-Haul cited in its rental ban, Harmon said Ford has settled Explorer lawsuits out of court, adding the company is 8-0 in cases that have gone to juries.

Fried said the rental ban applies to all model years, even though Explorer was redesigned in 2002 — the same year the SUV improved its NHTSA rollover rating from two stars to three, and was voted "tow vehicle of the year" by Trailer Boats magazine.

"It's a perfectly capable tow vehicle," said Stuart Bourdon, automotive editor of the California-based publication.

"The bottom line is, if you don't overload the vehicle and you've got the proper tires with the appropriate ratings and they are properly inflated and you drive with common sense, you really shouldn't have any problems."

Motorists often exceed the towing limits of their vehicles, said John Oraha, sales manager at Avis Ford in Southfield. Engines and suspensions must be a match for the job, he said, so motorists should ask themselves questions such as: "Do you have a V-8? Do you have a tow package?"

Jim Hall, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, which oversees NHTSA, said the large number of Explorer models on the road must be factored into accident frequency.

And in U-Haul's case, trailers can be "quite difficult to handle," said Hall, who now runs Hall and Associates, a safety and security consulting agency in Washington.

Ford launched the Explorer 14 years ago and this month will deliver its 5 millionth unit.

Regardless of my reservation and pior inspection i was notified by the Uhaul manager during my pickup that it is Uhaul's Corp Policy not to rent tow trailors to any explorer. You can have any other car, truck or van but don't take your explorer.

I guess i am blacklisted from Uhaul, as of this moment i am unsure what i am going to do.

Happy 4th of July!

Cats had thier 2nd trip in the car (this time 45 min) and finaly are getting calmed down and adjusting to the car house. They still are not very happy about it, but i was forgiven after they got treats :-)

Not sure if i am going out or will do much today, may just stay home with the kitties. Can't spend any money as will need it all to make it to CA :-)

I did get the gps ant that i needed for the APRS to work, should be here by Friday (i hope).

-JJ

Well i am all packed, just have the tv and bed left to take apart.

Trip is ready to go, maps are set and stops are checked. Now just have to wait till Friday to pick up the trailor and hit the road early sat morning.

Just got to stay clear of the going away parties for 5 days :-)

Well on to day two of packing. The cats are getting in the way, they like boxes :-)

Well I did not get everything packed up, i guess it will be a few days of packing.

Cats are having fun with all the boxes :-)



Had dinner with my roommate and a friend at Olive Garden, was ok, only had soup. Was not that hungry. They want to plan to have a going away party. Not my idea, just wanted to slip away, I guess I have to figure away around it.

Well, As many of my fiends know that after 2 1/2 years with the Red Cross on the East Coast (Falls Church, VA)I am moving back to SoCal!

Yippy!!! (no offence to the east coasters but SoCal is my home)

Once I have packed up all my things i will be starting my first Cross-Country Trip (my 2 cats don't know it yet but they will be navigating) and should be alot of fun.

I hope to be able to find high speed Internet at each hotel so i can update my Journal and add pictures of the trip and what cool things i ran into (not with the car but what i did that day).

Got to get back to packing and the cats need some attention :-)