Prepping a High Mileage 80 for a 10K Mile Road Trip

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From the Canyonlands to NV

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desolate, empty and awesome northern nevada

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breakfast and a day in town, rail museum and the hotel Nevada (at Ely Nev)

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morning in ely, afternoon in the humboldt toiyabe national forest. the northern nv rail museum is rad, fully functioning engine yard wrenching on operational steam locomotives

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Wild horses north eastern Nevada

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ambling around lake tahoe

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rented a boat for a day in tahoe.. was there for 5 days for my FIL 70th bday.. was awesome

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camping in the most remote area in the lower 48 - awesome near full moon, interrupted by a violent - raise the hair on your arms - electrical storm, lightning triggering a near by brush fire and finally quarter size hail. (at Black Rock Desert)

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raced thunderstorms from elko NV to twin falls ID.. stumbled upon a downtown music festival (at Downtown Twin Falls)

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happy hour on the balcony in stanley idaho - the salmon river & the sawtooth mtn range (at Sawtooth Mountains)

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lunch at 8500’ near 4th of july lake (at White Cloud Mountains)

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Puppy protecting his herd of sheep - Sawtooth Valley, Idaho

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more to come...
 
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rendevouz in SW montana w/ my brother and buddy ryan - stoinking in the centennial valley (at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge)

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washboard gravel roads take their toll - that’s Mike in Butte MT welding up a few trailer cracks without any regard for OSHA or welding goggles - $10 later, good to go

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nights sky in the big sky state over camp - big sheep creek canyon, montana

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I just noticed this. Have not read thread, but I live outside Helena. If you have problems in my part of the country I will help ya as much as I can.
 
lake mcdonald and jasper glacier #5weekswest (at Glacier National Park)

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beartooth highway to the north east entrance at yellowstone (at Beartooth Highway)


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yellowstone lake for the evening & the grand canyon of the park (at Yellowstone Lake)

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last significant stop on the way home (at Badlands National Park)

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one mississippi, two mississppi (at I-90 East)

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The End.
 
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Stats / Notes

Averaged 13.2 MPG across the trip
Low of 10.1 MPG and high of 17.2 MPG (!)
Wife drove 200 miles, I covered 8000 - she was a great companion though
Operating truck temps ranged from 177 to 213 - usually hung around 186-191
Had 1 Oil Change in Lake Tahoe at Toyota
Saw no oil consumption - head was rebuilt at 175K Miles as PM
Camped half the time - Hotel/Motel'd the other half
Lots of 2 track, jeep trails and s***ty gravel
Saw lows in the 30 - some snow
Heater in the camper was a god send - but having the trailer at times did get old
Favorite Add Ons - ARB Fridge (Invaluable), ARB Roller Drawer, Speski Barrier, Helio Shower
Packing in high quality, water proof duffle bags was a god send
The MountainSmith Moduler Bags were awesome for cargo organization
2 Windshield Chips

We booked it out and booked it back - but once out west we slowed way down. Best advice I have is to stay in one spot 2-3 days at a time - and don't try and be everywhere at once. 5 weeks was about perfect for a trip - but I would have taken an extra week in a heart beat. Anything less would be a sprint.

Thanks to all for the advice and help.

@Belowdeckfab - you are the man!
 
Man this is awesome, thanks for sharing your trip! I had similar plans to take my Cruiser around the country a few years ago before the kids but as my wife and I started adding destinations, the gas estimate got out of control and we decided to drive the car with plans to take the Cruiser later when the kids or older and can take it, or stay with Grandma! BTW we also covered 8000 miles but averaged 25mpg and did it in a little over 2 weeks!
 
Your photos and trip are awe-inspiring! What camera were you shooting with? You took really excellent shots.
It's so great seeing fellow mudders as nuts about getting out in nature and exploring as I am!
Your LC is a beautiful workhorse. You two belong together! Your wife's awesome, too :).
 
Awesome trip! I am planning a similar trip for this summer. Gonna head out from austin through big bend and then on up through the major national parks. I'll be in a mini cruiser though (gen4 4Runner).
 
Awesome trip! I am planning a similar trip for this summer. Gonna head out from austin through big bend and then on up through the major national parks. I'll be in a mini cruiser though (gen4 4Runner).

Awesome. The most memorable times we had were on BLM and USFS lands - but the NP's should not be missed. Buy all the Benchmark Atlases - invaluable in planning. We hit 7 national parks and 24 national forests over 32 days. Idaho and Montana in particular were awe inspiring.

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Had a few messages on the truck and trip. Went through a fixed a few dead pics. I am pining to get back out West or south (MX) sooner than later.

From July....

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In the mean time still poking around the mountain of WV and VA on the weekends.

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