GXV Patagonia on the Kenworth K370 chassis

Mtndewtri

New member
Yep, my wife and I saw your vehicle at the GXV facility when we visited them back in February.
The vehicle I saw on Sunday looked very similar to yours(KW chassis, dark brown) but had the front bumper/brush guard that GXV is using for the KW.
Enjoy AK. It is absolutely beautiful up there this time of year!
 

gregmchugh

Observer
Yep, my wife and I saw your vehicle at the GXV facility when we visited them back in February.
The vehicle I saw on Sunday looked very similar to yours(KW chassis, dark brown) but had the front bumper/brush guard that GXV is using for the KW.
Enjoy AK. It is absolutely beautiful up there this time of year!

Ours now has the front bumper with the winch and light bar. I have not seen the colors of the latest 3 Kenworth deliveries, one of those may be dark brown.
 

gregmchugh

Observer
Looks like your toaster oven is a Breville - good choice! I have one at home and it is the best by FAR! compared to any others I've ever had.
Breville oven works great except for a rattle at certain speeds that we have learned to ignore. Some internal part rattles...
 

waveslider

Outdoorsman
Greg (or others), have you settled on an ideal pressure for airing down during trail riding with that tire setup?

If so what pressure did you settle on and do you use a specific deflator? Most of my deflators seem too light duty for higher pressures.

I’m actually intrigued by power tank’s deflators with the obvious drawback being that you have to tap an extra stem in each rim.
 

gregmchugh

Observer
Greg (or others), have you settled on an ideal pressure for airing down during trail riding with that tire setup?

If so what pressure did you settle on and do you use a specific deflator? Most of my deflators seem too light duty for higher pressures.

I’m actually intrigued by power tank’s deflators with the obvious drawback being that you have to tap an extra stem in each rim.

Here is the inflation pressure info for the different conditions for the military application of the 22.5 inch Goodyear G278 that is on these trucks. I have the 425s which are not shown but it should be the same as the 385s and 445s. On the highway I use 95 psi.

https://gov.goodyear.com/docs/military/military_tire_brochure.pdf

I use one of these connected to either the truck air tanks or an ARB portable compressor to inflate or deflate. The rear tires with reversed wheels have the valve stems on the back of the wheel so you have to get under the truck to handle the rear tires. To be honest, I have never needed to air down the tires yet but I did need to add 10 psi to all of the tires in Alaska when the temps got below freezing. I need to take out the extra 10 psi when I finish the trip down to warm temps. It was still below freezing at Overland Expo this weekend in NC.

https://www.amazon.com/Astro-Digita...1982420&sr=8-1&keywords=astro+tire+guage&th=1
 

waveslider

Outdoorsman
Thanks. Sounds like the extra stem might not be such an awful idea given the reverse rim situation.

It would be interesting to see how the ride might improve on washboard with a slight air-down.
 

gregmchugh

Observer
It would be interesting to see how the ride might improve on washboard with a slight air-down.

Yes, airing down to 70 psi on washboard is something I am planning to try (keeping the speed under 40 mph as shown in that brochure).

I already had that digital gauge inflator so I took it along in the truck. A better choice is probably the Power Tank digital with a 6 ft hose which is more compact and with the long hose would make it easier to handle the rear wheel valve stems. I also have external TPMS sensors on the valve stems and will probably switch them to flow through sensors to make it easier to air down and refill.
 
I can categorically attest that the ride on washboard of my similar large tire heavy vehicle improves markedly airing down to 67-70% of road pressure.
 

waveslider

Outdoorsman
^^. Not surprising.

Greg are you operating at max load for those tires? That would be surprising but possible
I guess.
 

gregmchugh

Observer
^^. Not surprising.

Greg are you operating at max load for those tires? That would be surprising but possible
I guess.

The tires are rated at 11,400 lb max load each so no way they will get that load.

Truck chassis weighed 10,412 lb delivered from Kenworth before 4wd conversion.

Delivered to us from GXV it weighed 22,415 lb and then with full water (1000 lb) and fuel (1400 lb) and us and our stuff we are probably around 26,000+ lb. I need to get it weighed to get an accurate number which I haven’t gotten around to doing. The truck chassis has a 33,000 lb GVWR.
 

waveslider

Outdoorsman
Btw, I have that power tank gauge/inflator with the 6’ lead on it. It’s very nice. I grew tired of squatting next to my SMB while inflating and it’s nice to just attach the hose and stand up. Also a worthwhile safety factor on the large high pressure tires like yours.

If you get one just make sure to select the right gauge-range since they have several different gauges. I prefer the digitial.
 

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