Big_Gunz_

A small group from DSD will be there Thursday to Tuesday.

I'll be there early tomorrow morning.

We got to meet him at the North Pole during Thanksgiving weekend. Here's a picture of him with my kid (white t-shirt), Wyatt (middle kid), and YFZBob (the big kid).

"Hot Rodding pioneer Boyd Coddington passed away this morning in Southern California. He had been hospitalized for several months with various health complications. He was 63. Coddington remained at the forefront of the street rodding world for nearly 30 years and was involved with Goodguys from the very beginning selecting his legendary Boyd Coddington Pro’s Picks at Goodguys events around the country. Boyd spearheaded the great renaissance of the street rodding hobby in the late 70s and early 80s and is the father of billet wheels and “smooth” style street rods, hot rods and customs. His impact on our industry is gigantic and unprecedented. A quick look back at the cars he and his team gave to our industry is mind boggling. The Vern Luce Coupe, CadZZilla, Chezoom, the Smoothster, the Boydster, the Aluma Coupe, the list goes on seemingly forever. Besides his own prodigious talents, Coddington worked on special projects with some of the top designers in the automotive aftermarket. Chip Foose and Jessie James both worked in the Boyd Coddington hot rod shop for several years and now each have their own cable TV shows. Other well-known designers such as Thom Taylor, Larry Wood (Hot Wheels designer), Todd Emmons, Chris Ito (International) and Eric Brockmeyer happily collaborated with Boyd over the years. Larry Erickson, currently with Ford Motor Company (Chief Designer, Mustang), worked with Boyd in the late Eighties to develop the enormously popular Cadzzilla, a radical custom based on a Fifties Cadillac for Rocker Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Some would say that this is one of the finest custom-cars of all time in design and execution. Boyd's hot rods won the prestigious "America's Most Beautiful Roadster" an unprecedented seven times, the Daimler-Chrysler Design Excellence Award twice, and he's been inducted into the SEMA Hall of Fame, the Grand National Roadster Show Hall of Fame, the National Rod & Custom Museum Hall of Fame, the Route 66 Wall of Fame, the Street Rod Marketing Alliance Hall of Fame, and was voted "Man of the Year" in 1988 by Hot Rod Magazine. The Smithsonian Institution also recognized Boyd’s work, when his own '33 coupe was part of a 1993 exhibit titled "Sculpture on Wheels." Cars from the Coddington shop have also won the Ridler Award and the Al Slonaker Award. In 2005, Boyd and his wife Jo founded the Coddington Foundation to provide a unique opportunity for terminally ill children to experience their dreams through building hot rods which are then auctioned for charity. The Coddington Foundation also provides work opportunities, job experience, and financial sponsorship for mentally challenged adults 18-60 in order to assist them in entering the workplace and raises funds for other non-profit organizations such as La Habra's children’s programs and the Elwyn Foundation through various charity events including the annual Coddington Foundation Car Show and Fundraiser. The impact of Boyd’s passing will be felt far and wide and for many years to come. Former Goodguys Gazette editor Steven K. Anderson, now with Buckaroo Communications reflected on Boyd saying “I was close with Boyd for 25 years. Boyd welcomed me into his inner circle back in the 1980s. He gave me some great opportunities. He selected me and Hot Rod Magazine editor Rob Kinnan to drive CadZZIlla across country in 1990. Boyd more than any other person changed the face of hot rodding and brought it into the mainstream of the automotive world. He was a great marketing mind. Without Boyd – hot rodding would not be on the level it is today. Anyone making a living in today’s industry selling wheels and hi-end cars owes a debt of gratitude to Boyd Coddington.” Back when the Goodguys Rod & Custom Association was gathering steam in the late 1980s, Coddington came along for the ride and remained active with Goodguys until his death. “Boyd was there with us since the very get go,” said a somber Gary Meadors, founder and Chairman of Goodguys. “He was one of the founding fathers of this whole street rodding movement and resurgence. His smoothie cars revolutionized and gave a re-birth to a giant segment to the hot rodding hobby. He brought pride and clout to our deal. He put hot rodding into the mainstream with his work, his recent television show and his charitable work. His presence at our events and his Pro’s Pick awards meant a lot to our event participants and members. Boyd was indeed a Goodguy. We will really miss him.” Coddington is survived by his wife Jo, and sons Boyd Jr., Chris, and Greg. Funeral arrangements are pending…"

Hey SpeedJunky, You going to make it out for New Years? If so, we'll have to hook up this time for some and rides.

I should be there after X-mas sometime to after New Years, 5 or 6 day trip.

Pete, I'm not sure if this is correct because I got credit for my $40 weekly pass at the entrance that Saturday. I think the only reason why is that I had to buy a $40 pass at Valero on Tuesday because that's all they had to sell. When I took my previous passes along with my $40 weekly pass for T-Day, the lady gave me credit for them all, it cost me $40 for the yearly pass.

From what I understand, you buy your weekly pass for $20 on the 20th. On the 21st, you can go to one of the vendors or head down to the pass station and buy the upgrade for the holiday.

Okay, I called Barstow BLM myself. They said if you show up before the 21st, get the weekly pass for $20 (I'll get mine in Baker). Take that weekly pass, along with any other passes you have for credit, and get buy the yealy pass from the vendors in Dumont. But if you show up before the 21st and only want a weekly pass, you still have to buy the $10 upgrade for the holiday when you're in Dumont.

Pete, I'm heading out on the 20th and staying to the 26th, do we still pay the new fees? It really doesn't matter, I going to get my yearly pass anyway. Just wondering if BLM will enforce the new fees for people who show up early in the week.

Thanks for the update Vicki, I'll pass this on over at DumontSandDunes.com

I'll see if the DSD crew wants to make this meet and greet.

Made mine today, hope Charlie has a quick recovery.

The weather was great. A little windy on Friday but not a bad. Saturday and nice, enough wind to keep you cool. Sunday was warm with little to no wind.

From what I saw, they were going up Comp Hill and when they tried to turn around, the quad rolled onto it's side. The two riders went with the quad for the first roll but got off once that first roll was completed. Being that quad is so big and heavy, I don't think they could have stopped it. It started out slow and picked up speed, I think it rolled over (side to side) about 20 times before stopping near the bottom of Comp.

Hey Mike, glad to have meet you out there. We had a great time riding with you and running Comp Hill was a blast. Things got interesting after you left Saturday night. Anyone out there see the big two-seater quad roll down Comp Hill Saturday night? The two people on it were fine, they got off it when it started to roll. But the quad did do so well. It started out as a slow roll, but picked up speed pretty quick. By the time it got 3/4 the way down the hill, it was a pretty much a yard sale. E*J (DSD member) helped the kids get the quad back to camp because there was no way that thing was going anywhere by itself. I know you won't be out there Halloween but kept an eye out on DSD to see the next trip is. It would be great to hit the dunes with you again. BG

Some of the DSD Crew will be there for our season kickoff trip.

My truck is pretty much stock except for the Hypertech and a 4" catback exhaust. I have a big 5th wheel and yes, I do get around 12mpg towing it. I can't explain it, that's what I get and it's not what the DIC tells me, it's hand calculated. I see most of you get around 10mpg while towing. All I can suggest is to back off on the throttle some and you can squeeze out 1 or 2 mpg's out of your truck. There's a difference in going 70-75 to 60-65. I'll give up the extra 30 minutes of travel time to get better gas mileage. If I wanted to be first there, I'll leave a day early and take my time getting there.

Nope, I've got an 05 GMC with a 6.6 Duramax and I do get around 12mpg towing. I don't drive fast when towing, I keep it around 60-65mph and don't put my foot going up hills or from a dead start. I got 16mpg plus towing my boat into Vegas last night, less than a half of tank of gas to get here.

I run my truck on level 3 all the time with no problems at all. I watch the gauges and keep the EGT's in a safe range and I'm good. I get about 12mpg towing my rig to Dumont.

Great job Pete!!! Hope you don't mind, but I posted the link over at DSD so people over there can use it too.

Hello fellow DDR/Raptor forum member!!! I have the same sign-on name over there as I use on this forum, Big_Gunz_. Actually, I use this name on every forum I post on.

I hang out over there too, great site for Raptor owners.

Sorry to hear the sad news, our thoughts and prayers go out to the family.