EKCoupeKid98

I'm planning out a roadtrip for a year from now, DC to LA. Big cross country trip, in my EJ8. Just my girl and I, so nobody has to have the backseat for a 40 hour drive LOL. Anyways, I was wondering if anybody has any stories of their EG/EK on a big car trip like this. Any tips? Any problems (i.e. D16s aren't supposed to drive more than 10 hours at a time or else they're known to blow a gasket), etc? Any overall just good stories of fun roadtrips you and some buddies had once? Wasn't sure where to post this, so I tied it in to my car specifically, but I'm also curious of just some fun stories you all have.

THAT_KiD

I havnt been on a 40hr drive but I just drove from el paso to houston in my eg hatch with a b20 a 12hr drive more or less and I had no problems except my tranny was low on oil and I ended up having no 3rd and 5th pops out every once in a while.(its replaced now tho) just make sure you check all your fluids, tires, make sure you dont have any leaks, shorts or none of that bs cuz It sucks fixing anything electrical on the side of the road or fixing anything at all on the side of the road. and fyi going on a long drive with no ac sucks but it can be done.

EKCoupeKid98

Yeah, definitly gonna check all fluids, tires, a/c, stuff like that.
I got AC, so that should help, haha.

Interesting story, Longest drive i've done is about 5 hours, DC to NY, so LA is gonna be ridiculous. 40 hours, over 4-5 days hopefully.

esean93

**** that man!thats wayy too much driving!good luck lol

98civdx

buddy just drove his ej6 to dc , form tacoma.
i have never the head gasket thing but they drove from here to the middle of montana only stopping for gas. no problems what so ever

he longest i have driven mine was 8 hours, only stopping for gas, and about a hour to eat... the only thing that pissed me off was no cruise and its a bit loud,
gl tho.

EKCoupeKid98

I just made that up. It was an example of a possible problem or something.

teamm_AP1

Bring a blanket, pillows, drinks and snacks! Be sure to have your stock jack stand in the car, basic tool kit, duct tape, you never know whats going happen on a long drive like that... be prepared cuz you might get stuck in the middle of nowhere... don't mean to care you but ****.... you don't want to risk while driving that far.. haha

thumper64

The longest trip I took was 4 hours from where I live up to Wisconsin. It was just Courtney (my girlfriend) and me. It was nice and we had absolutely no issues with the car itself.

I suggest avoiding cities like Chicago as much as possible. I was driving on the motorway (what my Tomtom GPS calls Interstates), going probably 75-80, just like everyone else. Some woman on a cell phone in a silver car tried to merge into me and there was nowhere for them to go since it was the end of the freaking merge lane. I had to swerve to my left into an empty spot in traffic so the silver car didn't hit me. Out of the corner of my eye a blue car came from behind me to the left and shot across 3 lanes. I think the silver car must have hit the blue one or something. In this mess I got clipped twice and lost control. However, I reacted quickly and straightened the car out before pulling over to see what happened. My passenger side fender got bent slightly, just to where the corner didn't fit right and that's it. I pressed the fender back a little by hand and held the corner in with a piece of wire. And my rear quarter panel got clipped in the rusty area I plan to replace anyway, as well as a tiny scratch running down about 18 inches on the passenger side, but it rubbed out with my thumb. All in all, it's basicly a $25 repair if I didn't want to bend the fender back into shape.
Now, here's the best part. The silver car ended up sideways in the ditch on the side of the road and the blue car that shot across 3 lanes ended up upside down, on top of a fence. It shot straight across traffic and flipped somehow. The cop just told me to leave after my girlfriend and I signed release forms saying we don't want to go to the hospital. They didn't ask for insurance or driver's license information.

Also, I had a GPS hanging from my windshield with a suction mount and both Courtney and I had Slurpees from 7-11 in my Ford Taurus cup holders I put in the normal radio slot. Neither of them fell. That cracked me up.

This whole experience did teach something. Be alert at all times. Good tires, suspension, and having everything working right including running the tires as the right pressure is a good idea. I would have flipped the truck I'm driving now and my old Civic's stock suspension would not have allowed me to regain control like I did.

EKCoupeKid98

Something good from an American car... hmm.. interesting.

Good story though man, glad to hear you didn't get f'd up.

thumper64

haha, it's the only good thing on those tauruses.

And thanks. I forgot to mention there were babies in each of the other cars. Nobody was hurt at all. It was pretty fortunate.

NOFX

My '98 EJ8 coupe went cross country in September of 2005. Dover, DE to Hartford, CT to Spokane, WA to Olympia, WA.

It took us four days. The car was loaded with myself, my boyfriend and a lot of my possessions. The car was overloaded, but the only problem I experienced was getting up hills in Montana. I just could not go the speed limit because I was carrying so much in such a low horsepower car.

The car had about 127,000 miles on it when we left Delaware. We changed the oil in CT, where we also did a clutch swap while we visited a friend. So new Syncromesh fluid while we were there too.

We drove twelve hours, then pulled over and slept and rested for twelve hours. Then repeat.

Bring a camera. If you're moving and bringing loads of stuff with you, pack a travel bag separately and leave it somewhere easy to access.

Avoid Montana if you can. If you get caught speeding there they will make you pay on site. If you don't have cash on you, the cop will follow you to an ATM. If you want to contest it, you'll have to stay with them until they get you into court.

Ohio is boring. When we drove through it was like one giant abandoned business mall.

If you go through South Dakota on 90, stop in Murdo at the Pioneer Auto Museum. It has lots of old cars and rarely seen cars there. It was awesome. They'll let you get your photo in a Judge too.

Look for any scenic byways and sites before you go out on the drive. Figure out if you want to stop somewhere and if you'll have time for each.

Try to avoid rush hour in populated areas if possible. We went through several major cities, but since you can drive "through" most cities without getting off an exit, traffic wasn't an issue in any of them that I can recall.

A drive across the country really gives you a good idea of how big the United States really is.

My car at the Badlands. The road this is along is nice and curvy. If you can, try not to get anyone in front of you because it could be really fun to drive.


That's the Badlands in the background.


I think it was Montana where we saw horses running wild. Not sure if they were really wild or just loose, but yeah... watch out for weird stuff.


Like I said about Montana.


Here's what their cop cars looks like in 2005 at least.


If you go in the summer you're probably going to deal with lots of bugs.


Feel free to ask me any more questions. I'd like to take another drive like this, but go through the south next time instead. And this time go just for sight seeing and such.

It was awesome and I can't understand why any car enthusiast wouldn't want to drive.

jdp1978

Not be a downer but get a good alarm ,cars go missing in cali ,modded or not .sounds like fun thou.I usually just rent a car for long road trips,beat the **** out of it and give it back ,buy the extra insurance and go if it breaks down give it back and get another one .

EKCoupeKid98

WOW! Thank you so much for taking your time to write that for me!
That's an awesome story, I can't wait for next summer, that's pretty exciting. I plan on taking plenty of pictures, and even want to try to do something like this:

All I need is a camera I can use while it's being charged in a 12v outlet, because the one I have now has a removable battery, and to charge it, I need to take it out, and therefore cannot tape/record anything while charging.

The trip is really what i'm looking forward to for the most part. It seems like something awesome to say that I've done, I want to visit a lot of places along the way, and maybe will just make the driving the actual trip, just stopping in LA for a day or two.

That picture of your car at the badlands looks amazing, the scenery there is so nice. CAN'T WAIT!!

EKCoupeKid98

Viper 5901 FTW

98civdx

oh ok thought it sounded weird.

98civdx

oh and save lots of money. lol.
when my brother and i went to motana to pick up his ls, we got pulled over for speeding, and we didnt know about the paying on site lol.

runbycommies

they let your pay on site

EKCoupeKid98

Do you have to pay on site or is it an option to?

As of now, I just have the most basic trip planned, no scenic stuff yet, but here it is:

and by "most basic planned", I mean I mapquested DC to LA haha. I just want a rough estimate now, and I can plan for stops on the way there.

91crx-jace

$30 power inverter from radio shack. that way u can use it for ur camera and wutever else u want to use in ur car. lol. and ur trip sounds fun bro. i wish i had time to do something like that. ohhhhh and on the alarm thing. cars get jacked out here allllllll the time lol

dano88

from PA to Montana non stop (besides gas and food 30hrs) no problems BOOST is sick on the highway when you get behide slow cars you zipp right past em'
also numorous trips though out montana between 4-8 hours stright, no problems

300whpej

i dont think there would be an issue, just make sure you top off and check you fluids every time youve sat long enough for the motor to cool down.

i just drove (sunday actually) 5hrs at 80ish mph with no issues in my eg

98civdx

when we got pulled over the cop said we could either pay 325 on the spot, or like NOFX said he would follow us to a atm to get, and if we wanted to fight it, we could be were not allowed to leave, needles to say we payed the 325, filled up and got the hell out.

learned the hard way i guess. but the guy was really cool and actully said we had the nicest honda he had seen in a while, and actully looked under our hood and said wow thats clean boosted em1 ftw lol

xXB18EKHatchXx

I just got back from a 8 hr there 12 hr back trip in my '97 hatch. No problems at all even with a busted driver's side motor mount. I had fresh tires and rotors on it and a host of tools including 2 hydro jacks.

NOFX

When Eran and I drove through Montana and he got a ticket, while we were driving back to the ATM in town (we had just passed town, so we had to drive away, turn around and then go back, all with a cop on our tail) I called my mom, a judge back east, and had her check it out.

It's true. They really do that. I wish I'd known before we drove through Montana because it's really ****ing creepy when it happens and you have no idea about their policy.

ej1love

say what?