Thursday night my wife and I were booking my work for the weekend. Leave Largo, pick up in Bradenton, drop in Titusville, drop in West Palm Beach, pick up in Naples, drop in Bradenton, return to Largo! "You are talking about hitting all four corners of West Central and South Florida. That is almost 800 miles, you can't do that in one day," she said. "I know, it sounds like a lot, but I don't want to work on Sunday! Just book the work," I told her. That is pretty much how the conversation went.
This is going to be a good test for the Ranger. It has been at work for over seven weeks now but mostly all short runs, 400 miles or less at one time. This is going to be about 14 hours of pretty steady work, pulling a trailer over some long stretches of highway.
Saturday morning I was up at 4:30am and out the door by 5:30am. An hour later I was loaded in Bradenton and heading East toward Titusville with the sun just coming up over the hood.
9:39am, done in Titusville and heading south toward West Palm Beach. At 12:46pm West Palm Beach was done and the trailer was empty. By 2:00pm I was crossing the Everglades and trying to out run the rain coming from the Southwest.
The northwest looked clear and dry!
2:30pm, pedal down, hitting it hard, still dry with the rain at our heels!
Snake Road, halfway through the Glades and time to stretch the legs. At this point I am starting to think my wife was right.
3:59pm, the Naples pick up is done and all that remains is the drop in Bradenton. At 5:46pm, 8 miles out of Bradenton the good weather comes to an end. The rain finally catches me.
7:21pm, back in Largo, the sun is setting and the Ranger rolls over that last mile. Total count for the day is 697 miles, my wife was pretty close with her rough estimate.
The truck performed well over the course of the day. Pulling a trailer at speed through some harsh and hot areas at long periods with no issue. It ran very consistent maintaining a smooth idle at stops and good throttle response over the entire trip. None of the "mood swings" that you might expect with hard long term use without down time. The odometer now reads 13,868.