OK I am going to be driving from SLC to LA and I was just wondering what I need to check out to make sure that my car will be ok. I have gone 67k without any problems. I keep up on the maintenence but I just want to check to see if i might be missing anything.

 

air pressure, spare tire air pressure, coolant level, oil level

 

Windshield wiper fluid level. Hehe.

 

Brake pads and Brake fluid (see if they are worn)
Oil change (check like mentioned above)
Air filter
Is your car manual or automatic? Check tranny fluid
Battery water level
Belts (check for cracks)
Spark plugs/wires
Radiator fluid/overflow container
Tire wear/tread

 

if you're going on a fairly lengthy road trip, you might want to look into a car bra as well.

 

Don't forgets some snacks and drinks, and some cd's tooo!

 

2001 Integra GSR has a good list..
check all your fluids..
if i was going on an extended trip.. i'd go over everything covered on the 30K (major) maintenance if you havent already just to ensure the car is running in top condition... on a long trip you DONT want to be breaking down..

check your spare tires air pressure.. and bring your cell phone in case anything happens..

 

don't forget to make sure you have a properly inflated spare tire/jack kit in the trunk.
sometimes people remove it for weight reduction and forget to put it back when they will actually need it

 

Just a side note...

I used to own a 1975 and 73 VW Bug. My car tended to break down. So I made myself a box with essential equipment in case I did break down. It included...

Screw drivers (Phillips and Flat Head)
1 Quart of oil (just in case my engine was consuming more than usual)
Jumper cables (a must)
Spare rags
Fuses
Flashlight
Spare Alternator Belt
13mm socket and bar (for changing tires)
Calling card
VW Idiots book (old VW repair manual)

 

gas
cash
bitches

 

mmm all i need in life

 

Thanx for the imput guys, My tires are are almost to the replacement indicater but I am pretty sure that they will last a few thousand more miles. I just don't want to get new tires and wear them out in a week. How hard is long distance driving on your tires anyways? I would think that the heat from driving for a long time might wear them out faster but on the other side driving in a straight line without much stop and go would not wear them that much. Anyone know? Oh and about the gas, cash, and bitches, I will be stopping and spending a night in Vegas both ways so you never know, I may just get lucky .

 

buy alot of beer and drink it.

 

I'll be getting new tires (Sumitomo HTRZII) before I leave for Tampa in March..... 3,500+ miles on new tires. Better to have peace of mind.

 

when are u leavin ? can i hitch a ride?

 

Don't forget to check your blinker fluid and as a rule of thumb, recalibrate your flux capacitor.

 

Ah... I thought the same thing when I did my '97 Road Trip. I had 46,000 miles on the factory tires and they had a lot of tread on them. I didn't think anything of it until the second day of driving, but the one tire was losing about 5-6psi every 6 hours of driving. The result was after 4 hours the car would want to start pulling off to one side. This made driving difficult.

Regarding wheels / rims / tires - make SURE the tires are properly balanced!! I can't stress that enough. I'm one of those people that hates having the wheel and/or seat shake all over the place and the car started doing that on the 3rd day of driving.

I should mention the car used was a '94 Ford Escort (yuck).

Drive the car on the freeway at your average speed and hold it for a couple minutes and determine if you can handle any shaking or vibrating.

As for servicing, I took the car to the dealer 2 weeks before the trip and had them do a 30,000 service (the car had probably 44-45,000+ miles and had the 30k done at 30k). Sadly, the Ford dealer I went to didn't know how to balance tires on their own product (which makes me worried).

I also managed to rear-end someone (in the high speed lane too!) a week before the trip. That shook me up pretty bad (no one was hurt and there was very little damage). I think that also put a flat spot on the front tires which didn't help matters.

I travelled pretty light in the tools department. Basically I just had a pocket knife and a tire gauge and that was about it. The car made it to two service stations to deal with the tire problems.

We didn't have access to a cell phone and I still don't have one. I can see them being pretty handy (or at least a calling card). We did have a CB in the car and that provided for some entertainment when we got tired of the CDs.

Pics from the trip

Another fun thing we did was eliminate all stops to fast food joints and stop only at mom and pop places, diners, or truck stops. That made the trip really cool. Try it out - you can always eat fast food when you get home!

 

second foolish coment Ive heard from you