_________________


Retired Bonneville Owner and former GM Tech:
2004 Pontiac Bonneville GXP: Black/Ebony *SOLD*

Summer Toys: Combined 827 RWHP / 877lb/ft RWTQ
2004 Pontiac GTO: Impulse Blue Metallic/Black/M6: lots 'o mods, 415 RWHP / 405lb/ft RWTQ!
2006 Cadillac STS-V: Light Platinum Metallic/Light Gray/A6 - Spectre CAI, Magnaflow exhaust, Speed Inc. tune, 412 RWHP / 472lb/ft RWTQ

Daily Drivers:
2019 Chrysler Pacifica Limited: Mommy's new RGC
2015 Chrysler Town & Country Limited Platinum: Kids new RGC
2007 Chrysler Town & Country Limited: Sold to neighbor
2009 Pontiac G8 GT: L76, Sport Red Metallic
2003 Chevrolet Suburban 2500: Doeskin Tan - 8.1L Big Block... new plow truck
1999 Chevrolet Suburban: Sunset Gold Metallic - Daddy's winter beater and plow truck

I have a silver SLE 2002 with 115K miles that just had the transmission rebuilt. The car is still a looker like yours and hope to keep it another 10 years if possible. My only issue is the heated seats not working, but I am in Florida. :-)

That's awesome! You'll get plenty of life out of it yet.

The heated seats are an easy but tedious fix. If you're down in FL though it's probably not a huge deal.

_________________
-Car Guy Carl
"Penelope" - 2003 SLE - 247k Miles
"Sydney" - 2000 Honda S2000 - 98k miles

Bit of an update. Finally made it to 200,000 miles!


Still sees redline to keep the snot out of her pipes...


Part of her present for 200k is a pair of less corroded bent 5s.


Another trip to the Rockies helped add the numbers. She took the nearly 4000 mile journey without problems. I am also pretty positive no one has ever driven a sedan, let alone a Bonneville, to some of the places I was able to drive this thing. It's definitely not a truck, that's for sure. With that said, it was fun to take down muddy and loose gravel roads, although I am pretty sure those rough dirt gravel and rocky roads helped shorten what was left of the factory steering rack's life. At one point we were going up a trail, and my two friends were walking along side spotting her bottom and moving rocks as needed. I got it properly dirty as well. The noises and creaks coming from up front are truly getting terrible. Debating on whether I should get a new rack or just let it go. It really doesn't seem like anyone makes a quality front strut bearing either. Either way, I would love to move out there. So much to find an explore. Found multiple abandoned mines and mining towns way up in the mountains. Encountered some bison. Camped in the middle of nowhere.

_________________
-Car Guy Carl
"Penelope" - 2003 SLE - 247k Miles
"Sydney" - 2000 Honda S2000 - 98k miles

Excellent pics.

What was the impetus to go out there?

_________________


Retired Bonneville Owner and former GM Tech:
2004 Pontiac Bonneville GXP: Black/Ebony *SOLD*

Summer Toys: Combined 827 RWHP / 877lb/ft RWTQ
2004 Pontiac GTO: Impulse Blue Metallic/Black/M6: lots 'o mods, 415 RWHP / 405lb/ft RWTQ!
2006 Cadillac STS-V: Light Platinum Metallic/Light Gray/A6 - Spectre CAI, Magnaflow exhaust, Speed Inc. tune, 412 RWHP / 472lb/ft RWTQ

Daily Drivers:
2019 Chrysler Pacifica Limited: Mommy's new RGC
2015 Chrysler Town & Country Limited Platinum: Kids new RGC
2007 Chrysler Town & Country Limited: Sold to neighbor
2009 Pontiac G8 GT: L76, Sport Red Metallic
2003 Chevrolet Suburban 2500: Doeskin Tan - 8.1L Big Block... new plow truck
1999 Chevrolet Suburban: Sunset Gold Metallic - Daddy's winter beater and plow truck

Grats on 200k.

I used to enjoy local road trips, especially back when I dailyed my Bonneville. A few unplanned trips home from Maine and driving back and forth to Virginia 5x in 5 weeks a few years ago really killed it for me.

Your road trips seem awesome. Seeing trips like these are starting to peak my interest again.

_________________

95 SLE... a keeper. 241k miles. Low and Slow.
97 BMW 528i
98 Infiniti vq35'd i30: 13.3@104mph, 30MPG Hwy (RIP)
02 Jag X-type
03 BMW M5
05 Chevy Cobalt LS
07 Infiniti G35s 6MT (Sold)
07 Ducati Monster S2R 800 with DS1000 swap
83 Yamaha IT175K
72 Yamaha DS7: '74 RD250 swap, JL chambers

Info on dropping a 92-99: Here.

My buddy brought his drone and GoPro! Still waiting on all of the photos from that. Felt like I had my own media company following me around.

I usually try to take a 2 week vacation about once every 2 years, and this time we decided to check out to Rockies a little bit more in depth. I really need to get myself a truck though if I want to do this without worrying about the car. Might try and take my parents' GX470 off their hands if I do this again in a few years.

And yeah, you can't do it too much. If you're not seeing much or resting, then just driving driving driving really takes a toll on you. We did almost 4000 miles in about 11 days. Fuel economy average for the trip was a nice 26.7 MPG.

_________________
-Car Guy Carl
"Penelope" - 2003 SLE - 247k Miles
"Sydney" - 2000 Honda S2000 - 98k miles

4k in 11 days is hustling. The closest I've come to that is 3k in 8 days, Key West and back on my Ducati.

_________________

95 SLE... a keeper. 241k miles. Low and Slow.
97 BMW 528i
98 Infiniti vq35'd i30: 13.3@104mph, 30MPG Hwy (RIP)
02 Jag X-type
03 BMW M5
05 Chevy Cobalt LS
07 Infiniti G35s 6MT (Sold)
07 Ducati Monster S2R 800 with DS1000 swap
83 Yamaha IT175K
72 Yamaha DS7: '74 RD250 swap, JL chambers

Info on dropping a 92-99: Here.

That is a fair amount of miles in that time period.
The most miles I have ever put on in a short period is about 3000 miles in 58 hours in May of 2017.
My nephew,my brother in law and myself went to Apoka,Florida to Copart to pick up a 1998 Lincoln Mark VIII.
We left Milwaukee on a Thursday at noon and got back 10:00PM on Saturday night.
Out of being gone 58 hours 48 were spent in a F150 pickup.(my back & butt were hurting)
We slept about 4 hours at a truck stop.
Never again I told my brother in law.
Next time we stay over at least one night.
Car was worth it as it had very little damage and the underneath is flawless.
It was way to many miles in such a short period of time.

It is hustling haha. The first day of the trip I remember thinking back to myself that the car had literally been running for over 24 hours now since we kept it running for heat. The chassis and suspension may be taking on the years, but these old 3800s seem to just love ticking away.

Luckily we had 4-5 days at a cabin where I didn't even step foot inside of a vehicle. Helped balance it all out.

_________________
-Car Guy Carl
"Penelope" - 2003 SLE - 247k Miles
"Sydney" - 2000 Honda S2000 - 98k miles

Hello fellow leftover lurkers here. Happy New Year! Lol

The car has started the New Year with a shiny new radiator. Somehow, someway, at some point, a rock or something punctured the inner side of the radiator. I fixed it in my work's parking lot.




Put on one of the S2000's summer wheels as a joke.





She continues on. The steering rack is now slowly leaking, dripping on my driveway. My front right strut mount (I think it's the strut mount), despite being new will pop loud once or twice when turning slowly left. Additionally, the left inner tie rod is making a creaking sound. If you hold the tie rod while turning the wheel or moving the wheel up and down, you can feel the creak in your hand. Sometimes the steering binds when turning right, you can feel it in the steering wheel. Not sure what is to blame here, but I think at this point it's pretty clear I need to do something about it. I've been debating ordering a new rack, outer tie ends, lines, and everything. I'll probably leave the pump since it seems completely fine, even with 200k+ miles. It doesn't look like it's too hard of a job. Only challenge is doing it while I don't have the S to drive as a spare car with the snow and salt, should it not go perfectly in one go.

_________________
-Car Guy Carl
"Penelope" - 2003 SLE - 247k Miles
"Sydney" - 2000 Honda S2000 - 98k miles

FYI.
Detroit Axle has a rebuilt rack & pinion for $98.00
Also have pair of outer tie rod ends for $20.70.
I have had good luck with their wheel bearings and also their axle assemblies.
Also shipping is free.
Check out their website.

Hey thanks for the suggestions!

Did you replace the rack personally?

_________________
-Car Guy Carl
"Penelope" - 2003 SLE - 247k Miles
"Sydney" - 2000 Honda S2000 - 98k miles

No I have not had to replace the rack yet on my (2) 2005 Bonneville's.
Talking to a friend of mine he said it was not to bad.
He also has a hoist which makes it a lot easier.

Expect about a year out of the cheap aftermarket racks

_________________
Andrew - owner/operator of Bonnevilles Unlimited

2004 Bonneville GXP | 60k | White Gold Tricoat | custom built supercharged 3800 hot rod | garage queen
1997 Corvette | 55k | Silver Metallic | Z06 wheels | Date-night Hauler/Parts runner
2014 Town & Country Limited | Cashmere Pearl | 95k | Family Hauler
2002 Ram 1500 Quad Cab Sport | Black| 260k | Official Bonneville Hauler

This is a rebuilt OE unit that they rebuild at Detroit Axle located in Ferndale,Michigan.
If you send your old core back(return label in box)they will give you a lifetime warranty.
For $98.00 I think that is worth try if you need to replace your unit.
I agree that most after market racks or parts are junk.
Check out their website which explains what they do when they rebuild them.

I've bought plenty of Detroit Axle parts including racks. Lifetime warranty doesn't mean anything when the labor is double the cost of the part, plus alignment.

_________________
Andrew - owner/operator of Bonnevilles Unlimited

2004 Bonneville GXP | 60k | White Gold Tricoat | custom built supercharged 3800 hot rod | garage queen
1997 Corvette | 55k | Silver Metallic | Z06 wheels | Date-night Hauler/Parts runner
2014 Town & Country Limited | Cashmere Pearl | 95k | Family Hauler
2002 Ram 1500 Quad Cab Sport | Black| 260k | Official Bonneville Hauler

That is true.
Any warranty does not include your labor or time.
I have had bad new parts that the place replaces but what about my time & labor?
How have the racks worked from Detroit Axle?
Just curious for future reference.

Just like I said, expect about a year from an aftermarket rack.

_________________
Andrew - owner/operator of Bonnevilles Unlimited

2004 Bonneville GXP | 60k | White Gold Tricoat | custom built supercharged 3800 hot rod | garage queen
1997 Corvette | 55k | Silver Metallic | Z06 wheels | Date-night Hauler/Parts runner
2014 Town & Country Limited | Cashmere Pearl | 95k | Family Hauler
2002 Ram 1500 Quad Cab Sport | Black| 260k | Official Bonneville Hauler

Man, I feared that based on what Nick told me. He said he used a Cardone or something with poor results as well. Paying $300 for an ACDelco rack is steep when I am not sure how much longer this car will go. lol

I guess I'll keep driving it as it is until it's a real problem. Luckily all I do is a 60 mile highway commute where the rack feels fine. The worst noises are standing still and turning the wheel and at slow speeds.

_________________
-Car Guy Carl
"Penelope" - 2003 SLE - 247k Miles
"Sydney" - 2000 Honda S2000 - 98k miles