Advice needed on 500 mile drive in my "new" 96.

[redeye]

Hi All,
It seems my search for my LC has reached its end. After a crapload of weird encounters with LC owners that have title problems, I found a one owner 1996 in Ohio. I've hired a 3rd party inspector to go check it out with some special requests and it appears to check out fine.

So I've bought a plane ticket and will be driving it back the 500 miles to NJ. I plan on having the oil changed prior to leaving Ohio, but what other things should I do or watch out for? I want to also hit a Walmart or Pep Boys - what "stuff" besides extra oil, and maybe trans fluid should I get to be safe?

I'm beginning to put together a list of maintenance items I'll want to address once it's in my driveway. Looking forward to getting this truck, especially after driving a total of 10 hours round trip to Rhode Island to buy a truck that turned out to have no title. Ugh.

Thanks in advance all.

-Ed

 

[HomersCanyonero]

Since your rig was already inspected, then I'm guessing that the hoses and belts look good enough for a trip. Fluids must be good too.

Changing the engine oil and filter will give you peace of mind.

Check the color of the coolant. If red, then you need a gallon of pre-mixed Toyota red coolant. If green, then get a gallon of pre-mixed Prestone green. Top off your reservoir to the "Full" line. Do not mix colors unless you want to overheat and possibly ruin your radiator...ask me how I know.

Check the air pressure on your tires and verify the spare is good to use.

Get a car emergency kit at Wal-Mart or Pep Boys. It should have duct tape, fix-a-flat, flares, and other basic stuff in case you get stranded.

Good luck with the trip and welcome to the additction.

 

[CowboyUp]

Hi All,
It seems my search for my LC has reached its end. After a crapload of weird encounters with LC owners that have title problems, I found a one owner 1996 in Ohio. I've hired a 3rd party inspector to go check it out with some special requests and it appears to check out fine.

So I've bought a plane ticket and will be driving it back the 500 miles to NJ. I plan on having the oil changed prior to leaving Ohio, but what other things should I do or watch out for? I want to also hit a Walmart or Pep Boys - what "stuff" besides extra oil, and maybe trans fluid should I get to be safe?

I'm beginning to put together a list of maintenance items I'll want to address once it's in my driveway. Looking forward to getting this truck, especially after driving a total of 10 hours round trip to Rhode Island to buy a truck that turned out to have no title. Ugh.

Thanks in advance all.

-Ed

Howdy

Welcome on board first at all and congratulation for you cruiser.
Well, check the coolant level and color, check all the radiator hoses for any sign of weakness or drips, check power steering fluid and hoses, look for any leaks that can be a major problem in a long drive and check to see how is the peasky hose .
Also, will be nice to give few brakes regular to your cruiser in that period of 500 miles drive and keep the eye on engine temperature and collant level in the reservoir.
When I am driving on long drive, every 100 miles or so I am stopping at rest stop for few minutes. Good for the cruiser and good for me to.

 

[on the rocks]

Just get in it and drive it man
Roll all the windows down and hit the highway @ about 80 MPH. When your about home hit a short trail and get to know it. Then go home and think what you can do to make it better for you. 10K miles later maybe change the oil once or twice. You already had some one inspect it.

 

[dace voit]

Get a AAA plus membership, if you don't already have one. It's the best $80 I've spent. While I have never used it on my LC, I have for my car(a few times).

If you use the 100 mile tow only once, it has paid for itself.

Like others have said, check all of your fluids, change the oil, check tire pressure, etc. and hit the road!

Congrats!

 

[HomersCanyonero]

On long trips, I stop every 275 miles...and that's because I'm running out of gas

 

[Higgin]

Everyone else pretty much hit the big ones already.....I did pretty much the exact opposite trip (but a little farther....about 650 miles) out to Philadelphia from Indianapolis to get my cruiser back in march. I also flew out then drove it back. Good idea on getting the inspection by a 3rd party. I didn't do that myself, but I did ask the seller a million questions and requested tons of pics before I committed to going to get it. And I lucked out and the truck was totally as described. Heres a little advice though.....Leave plenty of time for the buying process/the trip/siteseeing/etc. I was very busy with work at the time and had to do mine all in one day. My Plane left Indy at 5:30 am and i expected to be home around 10-11pm that night after leaving plenty of time to check out the truck before I left. And then get back up for work at 5:30 the next morning. Everything went according to plan till I got into Ohio and hit a freak late march snow storm! It snowed like crazy all through Ohio until I got back to indiana. It slowed me down so much I didn't end up getting home till about 5am. Walked in the door, got cleaned up, made massive amounts of coffee and went to work. That was not a fun day at work! I was also pretty bummedthat I didn't get to take more time to see the sites in Philly (i was just out there for the world series last year, but wanted to see more). The only thinkg I had time for was to stop at Pat's for a world famous cheesesteak. Yum! Anyway...Good Luck on the trip! Hope all goes well!

 

[BrotherRob]

Give a good once over, get some drinks and snacks and remember to turn east.

Allow yourself plenty of time to enjoy yourself. I got mine in San Antonio, about 900 miles. No issues. I allotted myself an extra day just in case, but didn't need it.

 

[yOHda]

congrats...if you're coming through columbus shoot me a pm. ill take you on a easy trail to set you in the perfect mood for your trip. enjoy your new 80.

 

[2garfields]

Just did something similar few week ago for a 300 miles road trip, I stopped every 100 miles or so, to let the LC & myself took a break.

Don’t rust home, take a break, and you will make it home.

 

[photomike]

Good info guys.

Flying out in 2 weeks to pickup (soon to be) mine. 1300 miles drive back home but am very excited about the trip and looking forward to it.

Mike

 

[Impreza]

I'd say bring some sort of an emergency eletric tire inflator, tire patch kit, and maybe even slime for worse case scenarios.

Last thing you need is a flat tire in the middle of nowhere.

 

[jvazquez53]

Get a AAA plus membership, if you don't already have one. It's the best $80 I've spent. While I have never used it on my LC, I have for my car(a few times).

If you use the 100 mile tow only once, it has paid for itself.

Like others have said, check all of your fluids, change the oil, check tire pressure, etc. and hit the road!

Congrats!

X2 on AAA!!! Well spent $$. Used on couple occasions and don't regret having this service!

 

[inkpot]

Howdy! You didn't mention the mileage, so that might make a difference in what I would do to prepare. When I flew out to p/u my "NEW" cruiser, it had 92,000 on it. The seller was a known value, someone I felt I could trust, even though I had never meet him personally. He said it was trail/highway ready, so I jumped in and drove 1100 miles with only buying gas and checking fluids and air pressure. Three weeks later, after a little persoanlizing, I drove it 4000 miles, half with a Uhaul on the back. Zero problems. That's what we buy them for: durability,reliability, longevity. John

 

[fl4031003]

1900 mile trip

everything has been said, I purchased a clean 100201 miles 97 LX in May of this year, had it trucked from Southern Cal to Utah, flew in picked it up and drove all night straight to San Antonio Texas. I asked all the questions up front and had him take pictures of every area I could think might cause a problem. Only issue was tires looked great in the pictures with very few miles on them but they has slight dry rot. I made the trip and replaced them once I got to Tx. Baselined everything ( did not need it all fluids were clean with new filters too)

 

[redeye]

Great comments everyone. I am getting pretty excited about this now!!

It's got 129K on it, a one owner vehicle. I originally was looking for a Wrangler in late spring to have something I could drive up on a beach here in Jersey called Island Beach State Park. But now I'm thinking about how much fun the 80 will be to take the family on road trips and maybe a little off roading. I've got myself looking at lift kits already.

 

[jvazquez53]

Great comments everyone. I am getting pretty excited about this now!!

It's got 129K on it, a one owner vehicle. I originally was looking for a Wrangler in late spring to have something I could drive up on a beach here in Jersey called Island Beach State Park. But now I'm thinking about how much fun the 80 will be to take the family on road trips and maybe a little off roading. I've got myself looking at lift kits already.

You don't have to hold back on an 80. You can take your family not for a little off roading, you can take them to huge. These vehicles can go off road basically factory stock. I have taken my daughter's 80 with road tires to some pretty gnarly places. mine with just tires I take it just about everywhere.

 

[RepoDevil]

welcome and enjoy the drive home. Im sure u will.

 

[redeye]

Hehe, well I'm trying to break myself in slow. The car I've got now can barely get over potholes (a WRX STi with modd'ed suspension = LOW car), so I'm happy that I'll have a vehicle I can take into NYC and not get swallowed by the terrible roads.

 

[flow]

So I just moved from College Station to Denver with my 91 towing a Uhaul trailer. Im not even done unpacking and I just remembered that my user profile still lists C.S. as home.

Before I left, I did a lot to prepare for the 1000+ mile trip. My rig had just over 202K miles before the journey and I was a little nervous since this was by far my biggest trip to date. Getting stranded with all of my belongings wasnt attractive either.

I had my local shop put on new belts (OEM), spark plugs (NGKs), change the oil (Chevron Delo), replace oil filter (OEM), and give the car a good look. The biggest confidence booster was when the shop owner offered to buy it from me!!! he didnt know I was moving

It was also time to replace my battery and I just put on a set of new Bridgestone Revo 2s three weeks ago. New tires and battery along with the check up made for a worry-free trip.

I also took with me the old belts, two gallons of distilled water, and some extra fluids.

Good luck on your trip and enjoy the new cruiser! The Shenandoah Mountains are beautiful this time of year!