Cross country trip coming up. advice needed

jmt2404

jmt2404

New member
OK so I am moving from seattle area to southern florida and we are driving the whole way.... My runner is far from stock and is terrible on gas, I'm wondering if there are some small mods that I can make to get better gas mileage for the drive and then I was curious what everyone thinks I should maintanence before the trip?

I'll be doing an oil change before I go and most likely during the trip.

Any suggestions?
 
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take off the 33" duratecs and put on some stock size tires ( save some life off your $$$$ tires too :) )

Maybe do a coolant flush/drain and refill, also check over all hoses etc.

you could also cut a hole in the floor...

flinstones.jpg~original
 
I'm sure this would help:

Running injector cleaner with a tank of gas
Replacing or cleaning the intake air filter
Replacing the spark plugs (every 30k, with OEM dammit!)
Replacing the plug wires (every 150k, again with OEM!)
Tires at 35 PSI or higher.
Tranny fluid drain and fill.

If you have a roof rack then take it off!

Also since I assume you will be towing, you will likely only get 13 MPG anyways so there's that.

:D


BTW, I looked at your sig. 15 MPG is perfectly reasonable considering what you have done. You added a whole bunch of weight and huge tires. The truck is only rated for 16-19 MPG with factory tires.
 
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I'd change the oil before you leave, but there's not much reason to change it during the trip. Highway miles are the easiest miles a vehicle sees. I'd check the oil level during the trip, and top it off if necessary.

I'd drive it there, and then probably drive it at least another 2000 miles, before changing it again.
 
Thanks for the input!

Jc12 said:
take off the 33" duratecs and put on some stock size tires ( save some life off your $$$$ tires too :) )
Click to expand...

I have been looking for some stockers or even a trade for my duratracs..

brianemc2_42 said:
I'm sure this would help:

Running injector cleaner with a tank of gas
Replacing or cleaning the intake air filter
Replacing the spark plugs (every 30k, with OEM dammit!)
Replacing the plug wires (every 150k, again with OEM!)
Tires at 35 PSI or higher.
Tranny fluid drain and fill.

If you have a roof rack then take it off!

BTW, I looked at your sig. 15 MPG is perfectly reasonable considering what you have done. You added a whole bunch of weight and huge tires. The truck is only rated for 16-19 MPG with factory tires.
Click to expand...

I will definately not be putting my roof rack back on. I took it off a while back to do some maintanence on it and my gas mileage went up ALOOOTT! This will be the second trip cross country the runner will make and the first time I was making about 250 miles pulling a trailer this time I wont be pulling a trailer and don't plan on making that many miles at all!

02SE said:
I'd change the oil before you leave, but there's not much reason to change it during the trip. Highway miles are the easiest miles a vehicle sees. I'd check the oil level during the trip, and top it off if necessary.

I'd drive it there, and then probably drive it at least another 2000 miles, before changing it again.
Click to expand...

I get an oil change from the army so I'm gonna take advantage of it and it is around 4000 miles.
 
I woudl replace all my fluids if they havn't been done on a regular schedule, engine, tranny, both diffs, TC, coolant.

You might replace the fuel filter too.

I wouldn't trade away your duratracs unless you were getting equivalent wheels and a nice set of michelins or something with alot of life left.
 
Yeah I for sure won't trade them away unless I get a smoking deal. Not sure how much the duratracs hurt my gas milage since they still are A/T tires but I'ld be willing to trade for some BF goodwrench A/T tires. I'm not very happy with the duratracs either they are terrible on wet roads....
 
IdahoAngler said:
Maybe rent a truck and a car trailer, and haul the T4R to Florida...?
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what fun would that be?

Here is the route I might be taking.

From tacoma to eugene to see family, picking up 101 on oregon border to see the redwood forests and then to sacramento. Then onto Co springs and then back to AL for more family and FL finally.
 

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jmt2404 said:
what fun would that be?

Here is the route I might be taking.

From tacoma to eugene to see family, picking up 101 on oregon border to see the redwood forests and then to sacramento. Then onto Co springs and then back to AL for more family and FL finally.
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Why are you taking I-80 through the rockies? Head south from Salt Lake City and take I-70 through the rockies. Way more beautiful than I-80. Probably fewer trucks too. The big plus is that you don't have to go through wyoming at all. YUCK!
 
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Nelsonmd said:
Why are you taking I-80 through the rockies? Head south from Salt Lake City and take I-70 through the rockies. Way more beautiful than I-80. Probably fewer trucks too. The big plus is that you don't have to go through wyoming at all. YUCK!
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Living in Utah I agree with this. At Salt Lake City take I-15 south to I-70. I-70 through Utah and Colorado is much more scenic than I-80 through Wyoming. Although I-80 would be faster.
 
I shipped mine from SoCal to Bham for 400
I can't rem the company but it. Did come on a trailer covered and in one piece no damage
Mileage was only over .4miles

They came to the base picked it up and delievered it in 8 days

That's the key --del date

I would tow it bro

I've drove west to east and east to west 9x
No fun

Hollar when u drive thru Bham
 
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I'd also agree that if you plan on driving it, the biggie would be to put a more efficient set of tires onto it.
 
The qoutes I have for our move is like 2100 for 2 cars and 1200 for just the runner... 400 would be a smoking deal and I would jump on it.

Hepar, If you know anyone that would trade or sell their tires let me know.
 
jmt2404 said:
The qoutes I have for our move is like 2100 for 2 cars and 1200 for just the runner... 400 would be a smoking deal and I would jump on it.

Hepar, If you know anyone that would trade or sell their tires let me know.
Click to expand...

Will definitely let you know if I come across anything. Make sure Alex knows too. He's good at finding all the deals!
 
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