Texas is bigger than your country
 

I had often thought of travelling around the inside perimeter of Texas (also my state), when I was younger, and I liked travelling more than I do now (confirmed homebody). I mapped it out a long time ago, and I forget how many miles it came to, but it was enough to dissuade me of such a venture.

So, I just asked Google about "how long is the longest road route around the interior of Texas", and here is the response:

A definitive "longest route" around the interior of Texas cannot be determined because there is no single, agreed-upon route. The state's large size and complex road network mean a route's length would vary significantly based on the driver's specific path. However, a hypothetical route following Texas's borders would cover over 4,000 miles.

Several road trip concepts and long highways demonstrate the state's vastness:

The Texas Perimeter Drive: While a literal drive along the borders is not possible due to impassable areas along the Gulf Coast and Rio Grande, a road trip following a path near the state line is estimated to be over 3,000 miles. For context, this is longer than driving from Los Angeles to New York City.

Longest straight-line distance: The greatest distance across Texas from east to west is 773 miles, and the north-south distance is 801 miles. Driving a curved road route would add more mileage to those journeys.
Interstate 10: The drive along I-10, from the Louisiana border to the New Mexico border, covers 877 miles and takes over 12 hours of driving alone.

Longest U.S. Highway within Texas: U.S. Route 83 runs from the Oklahoma border to the Mexico border, covering 906.5 miles.

The Texas Historical Commission has markers indicating the state's geographical center, noting that from that point, it is 401 miles to the most southern point of the state and 412 miles to the most northern point. However, this measures straight-line distance, not driving routes.

Sure thing. So far it's not going so well. The parking brake cables were quite a fight to get out of the wheel carriers. They were seriously welded in place. I had to get them red hot and it took all that I had with the punch and BFH.

This was mostly a Chicago car, so there is some weird corrosion. Mostly in the rear end. The front and middle are actually pretty clean. It looks like the rear sat in a puddle or something. It doesn't have the trailer hitch on it, but if it did, it looks like it was being used on the boat ramp.

I was able to separate the wheel bearings from the carriers easily. No issue with the bolts off the car, and just a few taps it came apart. The three jaw puller has not been able to separate the bearing from the hub so far. I wanted to try to slide hammer but it was too late for hammering.

So I moved on to the ball joints. I bought the $60 bavauto press kit from ecs. It fits nicely. I put the wheel carrier in the vise. The impact broke my one 24mm chrome socket. I've never had a 24 mm impact socket. I need one. Using my other 24 mm Chrome socket with the breaker bar and cheater pipe, pulling downward, broke the swivel base of my vise. Haha. There was a weird cracking noise I thought I was just breaking the socket again.. The ball joint still hasn't moved. I try to avoid using the torch I can't take the smell anymore, but I think I just need to start going to that straight away.

I am probably just going to take the new bearings to the shop, there's a old NAPA Auto parts nearby that has a machine shop in the back, I don't think they charge too much just to do a press. I don't want to hammer them in.

Are you in Chicagoland? Or just car was from there?


–awr–

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No I'm near Pittsburgh. I'm the fourth owner of this thing. The third owner really ruined it. The second owner who had it for most of the 20 years, was all over the country getting this thing serviced. It looked like he had some type of traveling job, mostly a lot of time in Chicago. With the road salt collecting in the rear end.

I've been doing quite a few road trips in my aging X5s over the last 5-6 years and it seems like frequently the biggest part of the trip is just getting out of Texas. Texas is a lot. :-)

Chris
Lockhart, Texas
2005 X5 3.0 Schwarz Black
2002 X5 3.0 Titansilber

Replaced the front seats with the ones from my old 4.6is since they are made from more premium leather (Walknappa vs Dakota) and also have lumbar support. Next up would be the rear seats, but my 3.0i has heated rear seats while the 4.6is doesn't. I wonder if moving the heating element from seat to another is fairly simple task? I remember it being separate from the seat itself when I changed the fuel pump but now when looking online it certainly isn't.

What I remember looking into this many years ago is it was bonded somehow, and not easy to transfer.

I think I came across a thread where someone used aftermarket elements instead.

Thanks, that's good to know. I will take a look into this when I get the front seats completely sorted out but I might just as well keep the original rear seat to avoid the hassle.

Installed mufflers from an 06 4.4i and factory tow hitch on my 06 3.0i

Nice! Any before and after sound videos?


Ordered two new rear upper lift supports. With spring helpers, the upper hatch can knock you out! :wow: