Well I'll be going on the first big road trip next weekend out to the Grand Canyon for some backpacking and camping (it is about 510 miles on-way from my house here). Anything I should remember to do to prep. for the trip? Today I changed the oil, washed windows, aired up the tires, put the spare tire in, and UV protected the leather. I wish my windows were tined already... I hate to leave the car out in the weather for 3 days! Anyway, anything I am missing here...?

 

FLASHLIGHT, toilet paper, flares, 1 quart of oil, kevlar vest, machette, pump action shotgun...

 

get a car bra before you go.

it does wonders against paint chips if you will be driving that much on the highway (not to mention bugs and stuff).

 

Make sure your oil, and also your blinker fluid is full and up to the marks on the dipsticks.

 

The car bra/mask works well as long as it doesn't rain. I had mine out when I drove from Phoenix to LA...lots of bugs. But the day I was going from LA to San Francisco, it was raining, so I cleaned the bra and took it off. I never put it back on for the trip back and stuff (no wash) and there was so much bug splatter and crap it was sick. But if you Zaino, it comes off fairly easily.

Which reminds me...if you have the time, put on a fresh coat of wax or Zaino...when you get back from your trip, you'll be thankful how easy the kill washes off.

 

you can keep it on in the rain as long as you take it off as soon as you get to your destination.

i was going on a trip from PA to TX for work, and had the bra on and went through many nasty storms in Alabama and Mississippi, but kept the bra on until I got to TX. I took it off and washed the bra and car, no problems whatsover. The only problems happen when you keep the bra on too long after it rains, which is like a week or so.

 

Definitely oil. Full tool set if you're me. On my road trip I had paper towels, TP, food, sleeping bag, clothes, tools, misc wire connectors, extra wire, crimps, voltmeter, etc etc. Of course I was moving cross-country...

 

i might help my brother and road trip with him up from texas to new york . ill go and borrow my friends gps and power adapter for the laptop so we can watch dvd's and use gps with the laptop. ill also pick up my other friends passport 8500

 

that was the beauty with the navigation system...

I made no preparations except pack and go (i was already in TX for several months, then returned to PA to get my car).

I just punched in the hotel I was staying, and off I went.

When I got tired halfway, I just punched in a search for the nearest hotel.

 

Definitely load up the front bumper and hood with ZAINO Z-2 & Z-7 before you head out.
When I drove 1,100-miles to Florida two years ago that’s what I did.

After arrival I easily wiped SEVERAL HUNDRED dead bugs off the front of the car.
I took some of my wash towels and a pre-mixed bottle of Z-6 & water to spay on the bumper.

I did the same thing before heading out and the car was easily cleaned up when I got home.

Shawn S

 

Well... I'm back! I took a good chunk out of the insect population and the front of my car is absolutely DISGUSTING. Cleaning that, along with the dust and dirt from three backpacks being stuffed in the trunk will take a while. On a good note, the car got 32.8 MPG from Kingman --> Grand Canyon --> Kingman (341 mi.) .

p.s. The Grand Canyon was amazing, especially camping down inside!!

 

what speed were you averageing?

 

We were cruising at 75mph on 40 and about 72mph on 64 going up to the canyon, with a few spirited passes on the two-lane The car behaves a little different at 7000 ft. than it does here at sea level

 

Definitly take a radar detector, flashlight, tire pressure gauge and wax the car.

So far within 9 months i went cross country twice (from philly to san francisco and back to philly). Remember if you are going in summer go the northern route and if you are going in winter go the southern route to avoid extreme weather. Driving through Utah in a middle of a snow storm with shit loads of trucks in front of you on a mountain is not fun at all. Believe me. Also driving through nevada and arizona in summer is also not fun. temps reached up to 115 degrees.