Figuarus wrote:
When i drove my 80 2wd to los angeles, i only took 4 breaks, two for food, two for fuel.
It all comes down to the faith you have in your engine. If you KNOW it's in good shape, you can go 300 miles a shot or more. (I did this from SLC to around Cedar city. AND i still had 5 gallons of fuel in a jug in the rear!)
I say, drive for about 3 hours, take short breaks to stretch out and give the truck a break. The only reason to let the truck cool down for more than 15 minutes is if it's overheating. Excessive cycles of heating and cooling is only going to hurt something in the long run.
Just some suggestions to keep in mind
Spares to carry:
belts
Fuses
bulbs
Oil ( whatever grade you are running in it at the moment)
brake fluid (small pint of it)
Coolant (either in a gallon jug or at least in a liter bottle)
FUEL - There are long stretches of highway out there that are void of fueling stations. A five gallon jug will increase your range by about 125 miles depending on how you drive, a two gallon jug should be the MINIMUM you carry! (this is assuming you get at least 25 mpg. I was getting 27 on my trip to LA)
Tools to carry
pliers (needle and regular)
Metric deep and short socket set WITH ratchet
Screwdrivers (#2 philips, #3 Philips and flathead of two sizes)
Jack and lug wrench(or tire iron)
wood block
small shovel
rags
Things that you should consider carrying:
Maps,
Flashlights (trust me on this one)
water (or a container to obtain some)
a pellet gun and ammo(just for critter defense in case you decide to stop at a campground)
small knife for whatever situation may arise.
it sounds like alot, but most of that stuff will fit in a small corner of your truck bed or behind the bench seat (assuming you have one)
Nice check list! I've got pretty much all of that sans pellet gun or bench seat. I've got 2 larger bucket seats from what I believe is was an S-10, the previous owner bolted them in with some new holes.
on the plus side, they are super comfy, even if they can't recline in the luv. I'll probably packed completely full as I'm taking everything i still own with me. I made a hammock to sleep in a month or so ago. tested it out today and yup, I can sure fall asleep in it, without even realizing it in fact! ^_^ good hammock, I suggest you all get 1000' spool of .550 paracord and knot yourself up a hammock, totally worth the 8-12 hrs it took me to make it big enough to fit me. but i digress...
changed my valve cover gasket and all the rubber pieces that go with it the other day and my god the engine got quiet, that certainly was the bulk of my oil leak, had to be(guess I'll find out soon enough). radiator hoses and cleared out the drain paths under the wipers and behind the front quarter panels, took a picture of one side, once i can figure out my phones method, I'll post the picture i took, sure was a lot of dirt and pine needles crammed in there, no wonder i was leaking water in to the cab when it rained hard. (Seattle, rain, yeah...) also put on one of those Kevlar reinforced V belts on the alternator, kept the older one, it wasn't in real bad shape but about as good as you can imagine sitting under the hood with no movement for 3 years.
Currently I've got a guy changing master and slave clutch and master break cylinders, wheel cylinders and front break hoses. (things I'm not terrible privy to repair.)
also I seem to have a bad relay or something when i turn on my high beams I get them on one side but not the other, followed wires but i can't seem to locate why the high beams are only working on one side, the bulbs are both good and I have spares now ^_^ heh.
Thanks again for the break advice and check list, Figuarus.
Knowing the engine has less than 8K on it right now makes me feel pretty good about the trip, I'm out of here once I get the call that the work has been completed, then I can start posting pics of the trek!
Too bad my bobcat isn't going to enjoy the ride as much as I will, ^_^ I'll post pictures of her too!...
One last mention, someone ran a 4 trailer connector through the slot for the spare tire release so i had to rewire that, and low and behold, there an old BIAS BELT tire in there, that simply won't do (could you imagine driving with 3 radials and 1 bias?). Bought new rubber on all 4s ($300 later, woof) and had them switch the bias for one of my better looking rear tires. Wow new tires and alignment makes a big difference on those little trucks doesn't it?
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