i get a trailer and tow mine if the trip is going to be more then 100 miles
but thats because i have a SR
Preparing for road trip...any advice?
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donjuanmon
- Posts: 132
- Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2005 3:41 pm
- Car: '90 Space Gray Metallic 240sx, '05 Carbon Silver 350Z
Re: Preparing for road trip...any advice? (allenms240)
In addition to what Lugnut18 said, be sure to do the following:
1) Buy a battery recharger2) Buy a tire/air pump (cost about $15-25 bucks)3) Buy some coolant4) Check out the condition of your car at every gas stop (mainly tire pressure), give the car a rest. Because your engine is so old and you're not really sure of the condition I would give the car more rest between stops. I don't really mean gas stops as much as an actual break like going to a hotel and getting some rest. That way your car will also have its on rest..lol)5) Get a real map, map quest print out, and GPS is great if you have it but don't rely sole on electronic means. 6) Bring PLENTY of CD's for your trip! lol7) Spare tire8) Do a cost analysis on the entire trip including such things as an estimate on how many gallons you think it'll take to reach the destination, the number of hotel stops at a reasonable cost, the cost of food, etc.
FYI: I drove my 240 on a 2300 mile trip and wasn't really sure if it'll make it either but it drove fine. Be prepared for the ride to be sluggish if you plan on driving near any mountains.
Modified by donjuanmon at 3:23 PM 2/23/2010
1) Buy a battery recharger2) Buy a tire/air pump (cost about $15-25 bucks)3) Buy some coolant4) Check out the condition of your car at every gas stop (mainly tire pressure), give the car a rest. Because your engine is so old and you're not really sure of the condition I would give the car more rest between stops. I don't really mean gas stops as much as an actual break like going to a hotel and getting some rest. That way your car will also have its on rest..lol)5) Get a real map, map quest print out, and GPS is great if you have it but don't rely sole on electronic means. 6) Bring PLENTY of CD's for your trip! lol7) Spare tire8) Do a cost analysis on the entire trip including such things as an estimate on how many gallons you think it'll take to reach the destination, the number of hotel stops at a reasonable cost, the cost of food, etc.
FYI: I drove my 240 on a 2300 mile trip and wasn't really sure if it'll make it either but it drove fine. Be prepared for the ride to be sluggish if you plan on driving near any mountains.
Modified by donjuanmon at 3:23 PM 2/23/2010
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Drakelee
- Posts: 413
- Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2008 3:19 pm
- Car: 1992 Nissan 240sx RB20det
1986 Mazda RX7:for sale
1997 Ford Ranger:PitTruck<3 - Contact:
Re: Preparing for road trip...any advice? (allenms240)
Helpful post seeing as I was considering drieving my s13 from PA to TX in April. still debating..
Re: Preparing for road trip...any advice? (Drakelee)
Buy a Honda....
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wishin_on_an_sr
- Posts: 151
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:24 am
- Car: '89 hatch and '92 coupe
Re: Preparing for road trip...any advice? (usdm_anon)
hit me up if youre going highway 60 through nm and run into trouble. And a side note about hitchhikers. A friend and i picked 2 hippies up last night going from Austin Texas to cali to work on a weed farm... needless to say we had a party last night and invited them. Then drove them to the burque in the morning. lol
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s13 iDRIFT
- Posts: 675
- Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2008 12:59 pm
- Car: White s13 Hatch
- Contact:
Re: Preparing for road trip...any advice? (wishin_on_an_sr)
bring all your tools just in case, l0l
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allenms240
- Posts: 661
- Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2009 5:54 pm
- Car: 1991 Nissan 240SX
Re: Preparing for road trip...any advice?
I'm back,
It's been a while. Every time I wanted to go on a road trip, I dreaded just the thought of taking my own daily to Texas from Arizona. It's only an ish hour drive from here, but that car is uncomfortable. I normally borrowed my roommate's Honda Prelude for these kinds of things because I never really trusted my own car. But something came up last month and I had to take my own 240. When I wrote this post, it was a long time ago, before most of the modding on my car. Since I wrote this post, I have lowered it a decent amount, rebuilt and dropped in an sr20, added suspension, rims, etc etc. I thought it was time to take it. Within the day, I inspected every inch of the car, making sure it was all tight. I lifted the car, and made sure every suspension piece was tight and nothing looked abnormal. I had the front tires flipped (camber wear in front from poor alignment) and had an alignment done. These were the only things as far as suspension that I could see was wrong.
I also knew, if I was going to be any sort of comfortable, I'd have to find a new seat. I took to facebook and craigslist looking for an s14 drivers seat, or maybe even s13, anything is better than my broken s13 seat (back springs snapped in half so no lumbar support). Luckily, I was asking my friend if he knew anyone who had one, and he had some R32 seats in his 240sx that he doesn't drive anymore. I was able to get it the next day and my back could not have been happier, I will definitely be investing in some for myself.
I packed every tool I own in the drunk, with some oil and coolant just in case. I made it to texas in 9 hours after some short stops for gas and resting. The car beasted it and I was proud. Cruising throw slow traffic with the turbo was pretty fun with how easy it picks up. On my way home, I calculated my MPG at 29.0MPG. Didn't think I'd get it that high.
The only two things I really hated about the trip were no AC. Driving from tucson, I got dehydrated and started getting a headache, I had a cooler filled with ice in it and found myself repeatedly dipping a towel in in and putting in somewhere on me just to keep cool. The heat, and the lack of cruise control, I lost track of speed a few times, and with a lightweight flywheel, it was a little hard keeping it going at a steady 80MPH, any change in throttle would drop it or rise it a substantial amount.
Anyways, I'm really happy I finally decided to take my car on the road trip. I was still weary when I first left that somethign would break. Every little sound i hear on the highway worried me, every smell worried me. but no mechanical issues on the way up there.
TL;DR, Finally took my car, and years of mods and a swap, on the road trip. It did very well, but no AC or cruise control sucked a**.
It's been a while. Every time I wanted to go on a road trip, I dreaded just the thought of taking my own daily to Texas from Arizona. It's only an ish hour drive from here, but that car is uncomfortable. I normally borrowed my roommate's Honda Prelude for these kinds of things because I never really trusted my own car. But something came up last month and I had to take my own 240. When I wrote this post, it was a long time ago, before most of the modding on my car. Since I wrote this post, I have lowered it a decent amount, rebuilt and dropped in an sr20, added suspension, rims, etc etc. I thought it was time to take it. Within the day, I inspected every inch of the car, making sure it was all tight. I lifted the car, and made sure every suspension piece was tight and nothing looked abnormal. I had the front tires flipped (camber wear in front from poor alignment) and had an alignment done. These were the only things as far as suspension that I could see was wrong.
I also knew, if I was going to be any sort of comfortable, I'd have to find a new seat. I took to facebook and craigslist looking for an s14 drivers seat, or maybe even s13, anything is better than my broken s13 seat (back springs snapped in half so no lumbar support). Luckily, I was asking my friend if he knew anyone who had one, and he had some R32 seats in his 240sx that he doesn't drive anymore. I was able to get it the next day and my back could not have been happier, I will definitely be investing in some for myself.
I packed every tool I own in the drunk, with some oil and coolant just in case. I made it to texas in 9 hours after some short stops for gas and resting. The car beasted it and I was proud. Cruising throw slow traffic with the turbo was pretty fun with how easy it picks up. On my way home, I calculated my MPG at 29.0MPG. Didn't think I'd get it that high.
The only two things I really hated about the trip were no AC. Driving from tucson, I got dehydrated and started getting a headache, I had a cooler filled with ice in it and found myself repeatedly dipping a towel in in and putting in somewhere on me just to keep cool. The heat, and the lack of cruise control, I lost track of speed a few times, and with a lightweight flywheel, it was a little hard keeping it going at a steady 80MPH, any change in throttle would drop it or rise it a substantial amount.
Anyways, I'm really happy I finally decided to take my car on the road trip. I was still weary when I first left that somethign would break. Every little sound i hear on the highway worried me, every smell worried me. but no mechanical issues on the way up there.
TL;DR, Finally took my car, and years of mods and a swap, on the road trip. It did very well, but no AC or cruise control sucked a**.