2k mile Road Trip advice

About to make the drive to San Antonio Texas from Upstate New York, doorstep to doorstep it's approx 2,012 miles. Now 140-250 mile road trips I am no stranger to, no problem driving to NYC, then Boston, then home, then Canada, etc. This will be the longest drive I have ever driven. I have done Florida and back (wasn't the driver at the time).

Looking for tips and good ideas that you folks have picked up over the years. Especially those things that once you got started on your road trip, you went - "damn, I wish I brought/did/thought of, etc .....".

My route:

I-87 South to
I-88 West to
I-81 South to
I-40 West to
I-30 West to
I-35 South to
US-90 West to San Antonio

New york to Pennsylvania to Maryland to Virginia to Tennessee (right through Nashville and Memphis) to Arkansas (right through little rock) to Texas (right through Dallas, hang a south to San Antonio).

Total estimated time of travel, 31 hours.

I am leaving the 8th of June, and I plan to be there on the 10th - I would like to arrive early on the 10th to start to explore a little. I would like to kill the first thousand miles in the first day, and do it in at least 15 hours or so. If I start at 8 in the morning that should hopefully put me a thousand miles away by 11 that evening. I plan on snoozing in my truck, I have a double cab so any suggestions would be appreciated, haven't slept in this truck yet. Does anyone know of any good portable coffee thermoses that plug into the truck to keep it warm??

Oh yea ROAD TRIP BABY!!!! Heading to texas to start school for Flight Engineering, 2 months in texas, than 6 months in Little Rock, AR.

-Corey

 

Carry water,fix-a-flat,cell phone charger,1st aid kit,wear seat belt,drive safely..............you will get their! Good luck!

 

Lots of good music! Make sure you have enough sleep before you head out. Bring something to clean your windshield cause bugs are gonna be all over it. Cell phone charger. Maybe GPS?




And maybe a few other things:

Basic hand tools
Fix-a-flat and make sure you have the spare ( I forgot mine before )

 

I guess fix a flat is popular... thought I'd be the only one to suggest that.

 

its not that bad i just drove from pa to cali
now i did it in 46 hours we only stoped for 5 hours of sleep and then 36 hours of none stop driving.. if you alone dont push it stop when your tired its not worth it and dont speed through state lines cops jsut wait for people there.. careful in texas they are stricked on them speed limits to

 

Some good tips, I would have liked to think I would have though to bring water (but the sad truth is I might have only brought coffee - hmm maybe a in dash single cup coffee maker mod should be in the works). Good tip on the state lines and cops hiding by them I'll definitely keep an eye out for the blues. Fix-A-flats a good idea. Spare tire is where it's been since I baught the truck. It's just gonna be me in the truck, no patners to switch to so I'll be forced to stop for a spell here and there. I'll have a GPS, but I will also have my course plotted on a map as a back up, and also sometimes I just prefer to look at a map.

 

thats a lot of sandwiches you will need...

 

Avoid NJ....

I did a 800 mile road trip to MI in Dec and my only complaint was sitting in one position for long periods of time it was a pain in my ass literally. Def bring food/beverage (avoid the energy drinks they make me crash hard after a few hours) take some breaks get out of the truck and walk around. Most of all take in all the scenery.

 

For some reason spicy beef jerky keeps me wide awake.

 

Liquorish keeps me awake. And turns my poo green.. which is awesome.

 

it may sound weird but for a trip that long you almost dont want to be to comfortable.. if you think about it tho you are comfy its really easy to fall asleep... at least when your getting close to the end of the day is then its dangerous to get to comfortable.. wen yu first start out you should be fine cuz youll be awake

 

Mountain dew, red zone for when you start to get sleepy.

 

if you got a lap top turn the screen away abd jsut play a funny movie you wont belive how fast the time goes and with comedies you dont really ahve to watch them cuz its hardly the acting that is funny

 

Small cooler for drinks and easy (non messy) finger food snacks for when you get the munchies. Make sure you got some cash on you, you never know where you'll need to stop and the credit card machine could be broke.

I tend to stop when I need to stop. Don't push, enjoy the drive and the scenery. Life is short and when you rush through it all the time, you miss out on a lot of things.

You can do 1000 miles in about 14-15 hrs, and that is sticking to speed limits. That is with very few stops though.

Air up your tires to a higher TP for better mileage and wear. Air up the spare as well.

 

What would be a good pressure to run the tires at while on the road trip? I have the stock dunflop tires.

 

I run 40 psi all the time. Max is 51. I've seen the stock Dunlops wear very quick on the edges when run at recommended pressures.

 

Yea deff watch for the blue's on the state lines, good tip as said above. Texas is hard on the limits also, but they also have a hwy max limit of 80mph which is reasonable.

Pretty much what everyone said... I've driven back and forth from Phoenix to Des Monies before, and also Phoenix to Portland, OR.... never using a hotel. I did it in a G35 coupe though, which sounds like it'd be comfy but it's really not, especially when you stop to sleep lol. Those sport seats wear on you quick after 800mi or so. On the flip side if I started getting tired I'd just drop the gears and punch it.. always a great way to wake me up. Doesn't really apply to tacoma's though.

Another tip I have is fill up about every half tank. It's more piece of mind in the longer empty stretchs to know you always have gas, and try to only fill up in the larger cities at reputable stations you trust. I don't know the eastern seaboard so I can't say what it's really like on that path but... reguardless getting out more often is a nice way to stretch out, clean the windshield, hit the bathroom and load up on snacks or whatever...

One other thing, I tend to 'overpack' for trips. I'll get a bunch of snacks but never want what I got so I'll pick up stuff as I go... but that's me. And lots of music, any cd's or mp3's you havent' really listented to dig'm up so you can get some 'fresh' music to listen to and give those cd's you listened to once another chance

Most importantly if you get tired, pull off and try to sleep, if you can't sleep still relax until you're comfortable to drive again. Truck stops almost always let you stay, some gas stations don't...

 

Good luck and be safe on the trip.

How bout an I.V. for the caffine drip and a box of depends???

 

box of depends...check, Caffeine IV drip....check. I upped my tire pressure from 29 psi to 40 psi, what a difference that made, rolling resistance was cut down a lot. I will wait to post mileage numbers until I'm through a tank or two but I am interested in seeing what I gain. Feels better on the road to. If you haven't already, everyone should try airing up to 40 psi and give it a shot, makes the truck feel much better on the highway.

 

Once in Texas, don't assume that because you just passed 2 cops there's no way you'll see another for awhile. If you see 2, you'll see 10 because they stake out random large sections of interstate.