trip planing

[packjh]

hey guess im driving out from here on sept 1st but im trying to get a head start on my stops and driving routes... Basically ive already got the alaska to montana part figured out. ill stopping in great falls for the night there. Im trying to make it home as quick as possible averaging about 12 hrs of a driving a day. From montana i wanna head south east to west virginia where i will be spending a month before i drive south to ga. Just wandering if you guys knew any good spots to stop and see or spend the night between montana and west virginia?? Maybe suggest some routes i havnt looked at yet. The trip will be more south than east due that my friend is going to follow me till he has to break away to florida.

 

Also got any good advice on getting the truck ready... im carrying a spare belt spare spark plugs spare wires changing the oil before i leave and as soon as i get to wv. Carrying my extra air filter which ill clean and package before i leave and change once i get to wv, would change it before but i just swapped them out like a week ago. Thinking about getting some new rubber before i roll out how would g force or nitto 420 hold up to a long drive like that??

 

Well if you guys see any black ss's in the states after sept 3rd with alaskan tags feel free to pull up and say hi, the site decal is below the 3rd brake light if you wanna be sure its me.

[packjh]

bump....so do you guys not travel or what?

[Big O]

Too far east for me

[xlr82sxs]

sounds like you have everything pretty well planned out. a lot more planned than mine was. stop in wisconsin on your way out there, i'll treat you to a good ol' fashion milwaukee's best, or the "beast" as we like to call it.

[packjh]

sounds like you have everything pretty well planned out. a lot more planned than mine was. stop in wisconsin on your way out there, i'll treat you to a good ol' fashion milwaukee's best, or the "beast" as we like to call it.

 

according to google maps ill be travleing right thru wi i thought about stopping in madison for the night how is that place??

[misterp]

Wow long, long haul; the most I've driven in a stretch is 2200-miles, you'll do that just getting to the lower-48.

 

First of all, according to MS Mappoint your decision to enter the US in Montana adds an extra 300 miles; unless you specifically want to go sightseeing in Montana the shorter route is:

 

1) Fairbanks/Juneau AK

2) Whitehorse YT

3) Edmonton AL

4) Saskatoon SK

5) Regina SK

6) Minot ND

7) Fargo ND

8) St Paul MN

9) Madison WI

10) Gary IN (Chicago)

11) Indianapolis IN

12) Dayton OH

13) Charleston WV

 

That's 3900-miles for you; assuming 75-mph on the interstates and 68-mph on "other highways" it works out to a 5-1/2 to 6-day drive @ 12-hrs a day, $900 in fuel. You and your friend would part ways in Indianapolis, he would continue south to Nashville, Atlanta, and then FLA; his mileage would be 4450 (to the FL state line)

 

AFA preparing for travel, in my experience driving cross-country if the vehicle will travel at freeway speeds for 1-hr without issue then it will be fine cross-country provided the fluids, filters, and tires are up to the job. As you *can* make it on a single oil change I would just before leaving change the engine oil and pour in Mobile-1 5W-30 with a fresh Purolator/K&N/Mobile-1 filter. If the tranny/transfer case has more than 20-25K on the current fluid/filter then I would change those too. All other fluids I would make sure they are topped-off (axles, power steering, brakes, coolant, wipers). I would make sure all zerk fittings are well lubed (front end) and due to the distance I would also double-check the ujoints although I'm sure there is nothing wrong with them, just piece of mind I guess. Other stuff - get new wiper blades and make sure the brakes are good but don't service them unless it is really called for. A fresh air filter is a good idea because it will assure best mielage/economy. I would leave the original fuel filter, spark plugs, plug wires, and belt IMO unless they are already due for replacement - save your money and do it after the trip if needed.

 

Tires - new tires are not necessary as long as what you have has at least 50% tread; I would not put new tires on the truck unless they needed it, you can do that after you're home, again exception being if the tires are now less than 50% tread I would change them as you will be in absolute remote Canada those first 3-days. I would take one spare, make sure it is not rotted-out etc; a second spare will not hurt but personally I would only take one spare and just get the flat tire fixed at the next town along the way. Make sure all 5 tires are aired properly, and that your alignment is spot-on because bad alignment will shred your tires after several thousand continuous miles at highway speeds.

 

Paint - there are a couple companies that sell a near-invisible spray-on coating which prevents bugs from sticking to the paint; I would coat the front & rocker panels and that way clean-up after you are home will be much, much easier plus you will have less damage from insect acids.

 

Driving - on a drive like that consistency is key, driving another 3-mph over the 6-days will cut 3 hours off your drive time! So don't drift-off as the drive progresses, do everything you can to keep your average speed up including minimal pit stops. I do splurge and get out of the truck for meals, but just long enough to stretch and eat not more than 30-minutes if I can help it; if you're not careful meal and gas stops will easily slow you down enough to make your trip take an extra day.

 

Another driving hint - your best mileage/economy will be between 1800-2100 RPM. Don't carry a bunch of extra weight/crap, it will hurt your mileage.

 

After you are home then yes immediately change engine oil, wash/detail the paint, and then re-assess the truck for any other wear & tear.

 

AND GET PICTURES - I wanna see pics!

 

Mr. P.

 

ps - tell me the exact start/stop cities and I can suggest where to sleep & fuel-up.

Edited July 28, 2007 by Mr. P. (see edit history)

[packjh]

wow mr p you have alot more stops than i planned on i was just counting the cities im stopping in for the night. Im actually getting a day head start and drving from north pole ak to tok ak and crossing the border the next day.

1. might pass white horse and sleep in the truck

2. fort nelson is my next over night stay

3. Edmanton

4. great falls

5. almost sioux falls sd

6. madison wi

7. as close to home as i can get with out falling asleep i thought about stopping in lafette or Indianapolis for the night then make it a

8. nice easy 7 hr trip home....

 

taking into granted that im going to try and do this whole trip in 5 days is insane but i know a guy that drove to maine in 3.5 days by himself so i can make this in 5 hopefully. Reason im going through great falls is because its a proven route that almost all of us take and nobody knows the road condition going into nd. From great falls im going to take 15 down to 90 and ride that east pretty much till i get to wi. From there i pretty much plan on getting lost haha

 

Well im moving and the airforce is moving most of my stuff but if i carry stuff with me i get paid like 2 dollars a pound for everything i move. This is a paid drive so weight and gas im not to worried about.

 

Truck needs a new paint job anyway, so im not to worried about it cause its already messed up bad behind the wheels expecially the back one. once i get into wv i dont need a map anymore im headed straight to my house i know exactly what interstates i wanna stay one. Ive traveled it enough. Charleston is actually an hr and half north of my house so ill prolly try and slide in under it. Im actually making a six hr trip in my truck next week one way to the drag strip. If i have no problems with that trip then imma drive it out as is.....of course topping fluids off and doing minor stuff. But nothing major.

The tires have way to many miles on them as is they are my stock tires from 05 so i should be replacing them.

looking for some good picture places and i will be posting those as soon as i can i dont think my parents computer will be able to handle them all so ill have to find a wireless connection and upload them from my lap top.

Thanx for the advice mr p.

[Fast2500Ak]

You're going to drive the Alcan? I just drove that a few months ago with my mom. Interesting drive very remote take a spare gas can a lot of the stations along the way seemed to be either abandoned boarded up or burned down, some of them were open but had no gas (If you see one fill up, especially if you are under 3/4 of a tank). Not a lot of road signs either, the worst part is right before Haines Junction, it's like the roads from Dukes of Hazzard we were literally getting air on some parts of the road, and a lot of sharp curves. That said drive really, really fast (good opportunity to really open her up) I took my radar dector and it really made itself useful in the Alaska parts but I'm not really sure that they care about the alcan, didn't see one cop. We made it to Oregon in less than 4 days and it's supposed to be a six+ day trip. The Yukon territory in a nightmare I think it closes (everything closes) at 9:30 we ended up driving through the night the first day (no where to stay) and made it all the way to Whitehorse (a lot of those so called towns are really overgrown truck stops). There are only two places there that stay open all night, we stayed at the Yukon hotel it was pretty nice (wi-fi with no encrytion even if you don't stay there you can get into it from the aprking lot), the guy at the gas station said the other one was in a bad part of town. We ran into TONS of road construction so if that’s still there be prepared for ten to fifteen minute waits. CB radio is a real comfort, remember there are NO CELL PHONES until a ways into British Colombia, literally no signal at all. It makes you feel kind of isolated but if you got a cb or a satliate phone you might be able to get someone to help you if you break down. Make sure you have a few jugs of washer fluid for when the bugs hit and some oil and some fuel treatment incase you get bad fuel. Check your tire pressures, engine temp, fluid levels, ect. often. Also when the signs say LOOSE GRAVEL they MEAN IT. If a big truck is coming slow down we almost had our windshield put out and some nasty paint chips by an RV going way too fast down a hill. Also drafting works well it a good time to experiment with it, we were getting close to 25mpg in my moms fully loaded down 06 Tahoe with the 5.3 and grill/brush guard. Also remember everyone is going to be going really fast, but the road is nice and wide and good for passing until you hit some of the more mountainous areas in BC (thats a real fun adventure).

 

Another thing I thought of the speed limits are infufferable (45 mph) for no reason in a lot of places with no resume speed signs.

Edited July 30, 2007 by Fast2500Ak (see edit history)

[misterp]

...Interesting drive very remote take a spare gas can a lot of the stations along the way seemed to be either abandoned boarded up or burned down, some of them were open but had no gas ...

Amazing the things I take for granted - did not even consider the fuel situation!

 

Mr. P.

[packjh]

yea and in the winter most of the gas stations are closed cause its not tourist season

[KJT13]

Amazing the things I take for granted - did not even consider the fuel situation!

 

Mr. P.

no kidding huh?

[Fast2500Ak]

Some other things I thought of you might find useful

 

1 I took the Alaska Ferry from Bellingham Wa to Haines Ak day before yesterday. It's the worst part of the whole ALCAN from there to Tok. But you should know that some of passes you go through are CLOSING at night. I got stuck one I think it was called the chickalloon pass (somewhere near Glenallen I think) and had to sit and wait from 1:38 to 6 am. I would have rammed the gate or gone around if they hadn't set someone to sit by and gaurd the gate all night long.

 

2 Get a copy of the milepost, I think they sell them a AAA. It gives you a general idea of what the places along the way, weather the places on the map are really somewhere or just a just a truck stop or an rv park (alot of them are). But when you hit the Yukon Territory the milepost will become fairly useless. (Canada doesn't really put up many mileposts).

 

3 I found that if I took a torx socket and cranked up one of the headlights on my moms tahoe, it helped not only to annoy other drivers but to see things before they ran across the road. Sadly that didn't help this huge owl that we hit. It did however save what was either a dog or a wolf (I didn't get a good look at it). At any rate things like to run out into the road so be careful.

 

4 There's a restaurant in Tok called “Fast Eddies,” very good food, the motel attached to it and the Westmark were the only two accommodations I saw and both of them were without vacancies as of when I drove through it the other day.

 

5 I was warned by a friend of mine to avoid a town called "Toad Creek," I avoided it so I'm not sure why I was supposed to avoid it in the first place. (It looked creepy though).

 

6 and make use of the squeegee things at gas stations and bring plenty of windshield washer fluid, or the mosquitoes and other bugs will coat your windshield.

 

7 bring HEET and other fuel treatments, there didn't seem to be any quality control on gas in the YT. And another thing I remembered about fuel, we only saw one fuel station in the YT (until we were almost though it) that had a credit card payment option and it was rigged to overcharge (we were just thankful to find a running station). So if a station is closed its closed.

 

8 Oh and I finally got to test this when I was driving back up, OnStar doesn't work at all in the YT. There were towers closer to the towns so possibly an emergancy call might go through, but there is no onstar there.

 

 

 

Just thought some of this might help

 

 

If I think of anything else I'll add it.

Edited August 9, 2007 by Fast2500Ak (see edit history)