Have you ever done scheduled vehicle maintenance on a road trip? I did.

mtbtim

mtbtim

Elite Member
Hey Guys and Gals,

I just recently got back from a trip that had me driving from California to Idaho, to Oregon and back home. We drove over 3000 miles. On the trip, I knew I was going to go past my personal limit for an oil change interval, so I brought an oil filter wrench, an OEM oil filter and a drain plug washer.

I bought an oil catcher and oil from an O'Reilly's in Bend, OR and I changed my oil at my free dispersed campsite. For your tree huggers out there, I put down a tarp and didn't spill a drop of oil on mother nature. After I was done, O'Reilly took the old oil and filter from me for proper disposal.

Now, I already know many think my 3000 mile oil change interval is excessive and I'm not looking for a debate on my personal vehicle maintenance choices. My first choice was to just go past my regular oil change interval, because it probably wouldn't be a big deal, but then I thought, hell, I bring tools with me anyway in case I need to repair something on the road, so why not perform some vehicle maintenance while I'm traveling. I certainly wouldn't want to let some Jiffy Lube retard cross-thread my oil pan drain plug, or not tighten the oil filter properly, so that choice was definitely out for me.

I know some of you guys must do big road trips, so I'm just wondering if there's other anal DIY auto mechanics out there in 3rd Gen Land that have done what I've done and performed some type of scheduled maintenance on the road.

Not the most mind stimulating subject, but I figure it might generate some decent discussion or maybe just some funny comments regarding my analness. Don't worry, I've been a blue collar worker my whole life and I can handle the ribbing.
 
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No, I change my oil before the trip & can wait until I get home. I have better things to do while camping than change my oil. :peace:
 
I'm with scramble, I usually change my oil before and after. That being said, I have changed the oil on long trips, although my oil interval is every 5,000 with Mobile 1 Synthetic. Due to the amount of dirt and dust that I go through I'll often change the air filter between oil changes. If I do change the oil on the road I try to find a driveway where I can do the work, or just do it in the parking lot of the auto shop. The issue that I run into is transporting the used oil without fear of leakage.
 
Scramble said:
No, I change my oil before the trip & can wait until I get home. I have better things to do while camping than change my oil. :peace:
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That's how I've always done it in the past but I was 1000 miles post oil change before the trip and didn't want to change it that quickly and I also didn't want to to wait until I got back with over 4000 miles on the oil. It was a 3 week trip, so I didn't feel that spending an hour one morning for some vehicle maintenance was really going to take anything away from the trip. I guess if it were a cross-country type of trip with lots of driving days and less true relaxing vacation days, I probably wouldn't have bothered with it either. I get up earlier than my girlfriend almost every morning so it gave me something to do before she got up.

I knew before I made the decision that O'Reilly would dispose of the old oil and filter for me, so that issue didn't concern me.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk
 
mtbtim said:
Hey Guys and Gals,

I just recently got back from a trip that had me driving from California to Idaho, to Oregon and back home. We drove over 3000 miles. On the trip, I knew I was going to go past my personal limit for an oil change interval, so I brought an oil filter wrench, an OEM oil filter and a drain plug washer.

I bought an oil catcher and oil from an O'Reilly's in Bend, OR and I changed my oil at my free dispersed campsite. For your tree huggers out there, I put down a tarp and didn't spill a drop of oil on mother nature. After I was done, O'Reilly took the old oil and filter from me for proper disposal.

Now, I already know many think my 3000 mile oil change interval is excessive and I'm not looking for a debate on my personal vehicle maintenance choices. My first choice was to just go past my regular oil change interval, because it probably wouldn't be a big deal, but then I thought, hell, I bring tools with me anyway in case I need to repair something on the road, so why not perform some vehicle maintenance while I'm traveling. I certainly wouldn't want to let some Jiffy Lube retard cross-thread my oil pan drain plug, or not tighten the oil filter properly, so that choice was definitely out for me.

I know some of you guys must do big road trips, so I'm just wondering if there's other anal DIY auto mechanics out there in 3rd Gen Land that have done what I've done and performed some type of scheduled maintenance on the road.

Not the most mind stimulating subject, but I figure it might generate some decent discussion or maybe just some funny comments regarding my analness. Don't worry, I've been a blue collar worker my whole life and I can handle the ribbing.
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Hey Tim, I am a little surprised you aren't running Amsoil with filter.
 
mtbtim said:
That's how I've always done it in the past but I was 1000 miles post oil change before the trip and didn't want to change it that quickly and I also didn't want to to wait until I got back with over 4000 miles on the oil. It was a 3 week trip, so I didn't feel that spending an hour one morning for some vehicle maintenance was really going to take anything away from the trip. I guess if it were a cross-country type of trip with lots of driving days and less true relaxing vacation days, I probably wouldn't have bothered with it either. I get up earlier than my girlfriend almost every morning so it gave me something to do before she got up.

I knew before I made the decision that O'Reilly would dispose of the old oil and filter for me, so that issue didn't concern me.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Your oil can make it 5k miles without any issues. If not we would have dead 4runners all over the road.
 
Never while on a road trip, but I've done basic maintenance (and not so basic) while at work on my lunch break.
Vehicle has sat long enough from my drive in to cool off and I'm not dedicating any weekend time that way.

I've
-changed my spark plugs
-changed my oil
-done a partial manual tranny flush
-built, painted and installed my ISR
-removed A/C belt to see what the hell that knocking was (and it was the A/C)
-replaced my MAF
-Painted part of my hood $50 Paint Job Style (the PO spilled SOMETHING on the hood that was bright blue and ate right through the original paint). Vehicle is Glossy Black so Rustoleum Glossy Black Enamel works great.
-Painted my interior door handles and am reupholstering the doors at my desk in the office . Slow work in progress; I gotta do this when others are at lunch because the spray adhesive is nauseating and the staple gun is loud

I'm sure I'll do much more in the years to come.
 
I hate changing oil... or most auto repair tasks for that matter, so I could never see myself doing that. Kudos to you for your diligence, although your oil change interval is too short for my tastes.
 
Never been on a long road trip with my T4R, but I did take my Matrix from Ottawa Ontario Canada to California and back (about 6000-6500 miles) twice.

Both times, I just did Oil changes before & after at home. Brought a pint with me on the trip in case of consumption, but both times it wasn't needed.

Sure, the oil was real dark coming back, but with so many highway miles where the vehicle is mostly running at optimal efficiency, stretching that oil change interval is no big deal. If I was in a lot of stop and go city traffic, with many stop/start intervals, I would've been a little more worried, but there's no point being anal about it otherwise.

Just make sure to use a quality Filter and check for leaks and consumption. Worry about the chore at home, not on the road.
 
JayRolla said:
Your oil can make it 5k miles without any issues. If not we would have dead 4runners all over the road.
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Yeah, so I've heard, but I still can't get away from the 3000 mile oil change interval I've done my whole life.

I've been using Castrol High Mileage partial synthetic for a lot of years, and I'm sure it would be fine to up my oil change interval, but I'd still like to believe by doing it more frequently, I'm giving my engine some added longevity. Anyway, that's the reasoning behind my madness.

I would love to see my 4runner make it into the 400,000's, like many have done, so that's why I'm meticulous with the maintenance.
 
mtbtim said:
Yeah, so I've heard, but I still can't get away from the 3000 mile oil change interval I've done my whole life.

I've been using Castrol High Mileage partial synthetic for a lot of years, and I'm sure it would be fine to up my oil change interval, but I'd still like to believe by doing it more frequently, I'm giving my engine some added longevity. Anyway, that's the reasoning behind my madness.

I would love to see my 4runner make it into the 400,000's, like many have done, so that's why I'm meticulous with the maintenance.
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I feel you. It was hard for me also. But then I realized I was throwing money away. Made my decision much easier after that. Plus my free time on vacation with my family is way more valuable than getting an oil change done on the road. My wife would probably have left me.

I try to do mine 3k-5k. Just gives me time to do it. I hate being on a schedule to do it right at 3k miles. Im a very busy person so I do it when I have time.
 
I'm with AntleredRuin. I do almost 100% of my maintenance on my lunch break. It helps that I bike commute, so there are not issues if I can't finish something in 45 minutes or less.
 
Good idea for a thread Tim, but I think itakes got potential for greater things.

I'd like to hear from the true overlanders out there, (I know this is an extremely limited bunch), folks who have gone on epic 30,000 mile trips thru subequatorial continents and countries.

Folks who've had to change their oil on the side of the road in a dust storm bc they were thousands of miles from civilization and, well it was time.

I've read the blogs of long term overlanders taking month/year long trips, but not much is said about rig maintenance; other than pre-departure of catastrophic unexpected repair.

There's no AAA in other countries...
 
I'd like to hear from the true overlanders out there, (I know this is an extremely limited bunch), folks who have gone on epic 30,000 mile trips thru subequatorial continents and countries.
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I'd be interested in hearing more about that as well. Additionally what subset of tools do you take on that 30,000 mile trip?
 
JayRolla said:
I feel you. It was hard for me also. But then I realized I was throwing money away. Made my decision much easier after that. Plus my free time on vacation with my family is way more valuable than getting an oil change done on the road. My wife would probably have left me.

I try to do mine 3k-5k. Just gives me time to do it. I hate being on a schedule to do it right at 3k miles. Im a very busy person so I do it when I have time.
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Yep, when I hit 3000 I think about changing it. If I don't get to it until 4000...no big deal.

The owners manual says to change it at 5000.
 
Well, I've never changed it myself on a road trip, but Firestone has. I don't typically do oil anymore because its an asspain to deal with and properly dispose of everything. I just bring it to Firestone because they warranty all their work and there's one on base.

On a side note, I had my rear yoke break (I doubt it was their fault) a month after I had some emergency U-joint repair when away from home. Firestone paid for the tow, replacement of both yokes, repair of the driveshaft, fixing the transmission teeth, and new u-joints, rear-diff inspection, and all the fluids changed at a drive-line specialty shop in my area. So I don't fret about a "jiffy-lube retard" messing it up.
 
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