Gambler 500 Update: 5,000 Miles in $500 Clunkers

"Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
06/30/2020 at 11:27 • Filed to: gambler 500, Road Trip

This is the trip of a lifetime!

THE COMMUNIST traveled a total of 2,550 miles getting to the Oregon Gambler 500. We started in Illinois following a $700 Del Sol that was more rust than car, met up with a $500 Toyota Sequoia pulling a 70s Trillium in Wisconsin, then headed west.

We camped in Minnesota, saw Bison in North Dakota, climbed through Montana, witnessed Old Faithful in Wyoming...

...then convoyed into Idaho. There, we did an emergency fix to the Ranger (alignment got REALLY bad somewhere in Montana and it managed to eat 2 tires in 300 miles) and drove a $500 Honda Accord out of a junkyard for a Gambler that had her Subaru’s headgasket blow right before we arrived. We finished the night having a party and drunkenly theming each others’ cars.

From there, our convoy grew and hit the deserts of Washington into Oregon.

The rally itself was epic. Sheryl got to become a true Gambler and despite half the turnout as last year, we collected a record 500 cubic yards of trash from national forest lands!

Sheryl has spent most of the ride home thus far looking at various crapbox versions of her dream cars. Oh what have I done. xD

We saw some epic builds from a car with two engines at HooptieX to a PT Cruiser perched on a Blazer frame to a Unimog!

Oregon has all four seasons, all the time. We crossed the border in 100 degree weather in the deserts, chilled out in the fall-like weather of central Oregon, and witnessed a full blast snowstorm on Crater Lake.

On the way towards home we came across the bus that was sitting in my driveway. On the way out they blew two steer tires and blew nearly their entire fuel budget getting a measly 5 mpg with their Nissan Xterra in the back. This time they found themselves broken down without brakes. They actually beat us to Oregon despite the bus only having a top speed of 55 with the Xterra in back (15 on mountain passes). How? They slammed energy drinks the entire way out.

The owner decided to sell his pretty good shape Xterra because he just couldn’t bring it and the bus home. Sheryl and I seized the opportunity and now we have a $2k+ Xterra for $500.

We’re following the bus home, taking a southerly route. Lost an entire day of travel due to the bus dying throughout the day. As it turned out, the alternator was putting out 16-17 volts, which easily cooked what was left of the bus’ electrics. A new voltage regulator and a battery later saw the bus running. To fix the alternator issue, they disconnected the leads from the alternator, fired up a generator, connected a trickle charger to the generator, and the charger to the bus battery. Somehow, it’s working! The Ranger and Xterra had to revive the bus a few times too.

1,500 miles until home. The Ranger has thus far only needed new caliper bolts (I accidentally snapped the old ones), new caliper housing bolts (1 bolt backed out), and a front end alignment. Not bad for a truck pulled out of a field! When we get home we will have traveled 5,000 miles in a collection of junkers and crossed 12 unique states.

Stay tuned for a full epic adventure of a write-up on Out Motorsports.

DISCUSSION (16)

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Mercedes Streeter
06/30/2020 at 11:34

Excellent! This is good Oppo.

I really want to do one of these some day. We had one in Oklahoma last year but I got a weeks warning about it, so it was a hard pass.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Mercedes Streeter
06/30/2020 at 11:39

Nice report! I’m surprised they didn’t abandon the bus and drive the xterra home.

Any ideas on what caused the alignment issue?

Sovande > Mercedes Streeter
06/30/2020 at 11:47

This is fantastic! The jealousy is strong!

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Mercedes Streeter
06/30/2020 at 12:01

Amazing Trip! It’s the “best part of the country”, but I’m biased... it sure is spectacular, with extremes of terrain and scenery.

Thanks for the great write-up. Wish I was along for the adventure.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Mercedes Streeter
06/30/2020 at 12:06

Did you see an orange Range Rover with the top cut off at the gambler? That’s one of my fiends from Whitefish

Mercedes Streeter > TheRealBicycleBuck
06/30/2020 at 12:11

Onboard the bus is 6 people, 4 dirt bikes, 3 generators, 4 dogs, and a ton of gear. Sadly, the Xterra isn’t nearly large enough.

According to the alignment shop, I had worn alignment bushings (truck uses the old I beam setup) that got nuked by the punishment of the road trip. New bushings, alignment done, and now the truck feels fantastic. Nice, tight, straight wheel, and tires are now wearing normally.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Mercedes Streeter
06/30/2020 at 12:16

Awesome! You weren't headed west on hwy 58 from Oakridge to Eugene in Oregon on Sunday, were you? I was down that way and saw maybe 30 gambler rigs headed west and then up I5.

dogisbadob > Mercedes Streeter
06/30/2020 at 13:13

cool

TheRealBicycleBuck > Mercedes Streeter
06/30/2020 at 13:19

Makes sense.

Be sure to check the tie-rod ends. One of mine let go while I was driving and gave me a scare. The replacement was the wrong size (thanks Firestone mechanic) and it let go the next day when I was doing 65+mph. That one was really scary.

gettingoldercarguy > Mercedes Streeter
06/30/2020 at 13:23

Wonderful OPPO. That trip looks like a blast.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Mercedes Streeter
06/30/2020 at 13:36

Kinja'd!!!

Just Jeepin' > TheRealBicycleBuck
06/30/2020 at 14:43

Tie-rod end nearly ended me. Not something to take lightly.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Just Jeepin'
06/30/2020 at 15:01

When I posted the full story a long time ago, someone else posted pictures of their brother’s truck. His rolled several times after the tie rod end let go at speed.

shop-teacher > Mercedes Streeter
06/30/2020 at 21:02

Thanks for the update! Enjoy the rest of your trip!

MiniGTI - now with XJ6 > Mercedes Streeter
06/30/2020 at 23:11

Wow inspiration. Guess I shouldn’t be nervous about taking my new 1998 SAAB that I paid too much for and have done $1500 in maintenance (beyond the work I did myself) on a little 600 mile jaunt next week LOL.

Longtime Lurker > Mercedes Streeter
07/02/2020 at 01:52

Epic! Every bit of it.