Road Trip

I wanted to head to FL or a couple of weeks. The cost of an airline ticket going to FL was $650!! To get a rental car was another $1K a week! The other alternative? Drive it. Mmmm, I love to drive, love my Taco, its bullet proof so why not?

1998 Tacoma with 248,700 on the clock. I service her regularly, use only AmsOil products throughout the truck, I have complete confidence in the old gal to get me there and back without fail. I mounted a Cobra 29 BlueTooth CB radio and a roof mounted magnetic antennae, had them boosted and tuned so the truckers could keep me company along the journey.

Dec 4th I started. Phoenix to Fort Lauderdale.

Thursday morning, it was raining like mad but that should not be a deterrent. I topped off the fuel and headed out at 6 am. Probably not the best time as morning rush hour in Phoenix can be brutal. I made it through and got up to speed, 75 MPH as allowed by AZ rules.

Half way from Phoenix to Tucson, I get a shutter. Thinking it was the road, I changed lanes but it failed to go away. Then it happened. The check engine light came on. As I was starting to slow down to scan the code, it started to BLINK. This was new and has never happened, I figured it could not be good. I plugged in the MACK OBD-II unit I always carry and it advised me I have a CYLINDER 1 MISFIRE. Not believing it could be from water intake and everything was perfect prior to leaving, I was baffled. Then, as quickly as it started, it stopped and the truck ran perfectly. Not a thing wrong. I cleared the code and continued on.

The speed limits in TX jumped to 80 MPH outside of El Paso and we kept pace with everyone at about 2850 RPM's. There needs to be a sign on Interstate 10 outside of El Paso that reads "NOTHING - NEXT 500 MILES" I used GasBuddy.com to plot out my trek with its Trip-Planner feature and knew where all the fuels stops were along the way. In TX, this is a huge issue as there are places where I would not want to be sans fuel. San Antonio was my day 1 destination and we made it just fine in about 15 hours of drive time.

Day two took me through Houston, into the Louisiana Bayou and into Mississippi, a place where road repair has yet to be offered. My Taco runs well on the flats but in this state it was like being on the Baja 1000! Through the tunnels in Mobile, AL and into FL she pulled me into Gainesville, FL for the night with friends who had waited up for my arrival. 15 hours drive time again.

The folllowing morning, I trucked on down to Fort Liquordale for some much needed R&R at my place on the beach. 2485 miles and realistically, not an issue to hinder my trip!

I have been here 6 days and shes just past 251,000 and purrs like a kitten. Looking forward to hitting the Keys this weekend and who knows where else while I am here. I ranged from 21.1 on the low end to 24.6 on the high end for fuel economy. The majority of the tanks were 23.3 MPG. I'm not sure how that compares to others but I was happy.

The return trip starts next Saturday the 20th and I will let you know how she does on the way home. I love my little Taco. She is the 8th one I've owned and the longest one to remain in my stable. This ones a keeper.

 

I have done the trip from Phoenix to Dallas myself a handful of times in my '02 as well...last time she had just turned over 160K miles...she handled the 80+ MPH runs thru West Tejas with no problems...I usually take the 20 at the split outside of El Paso...get about 17 mpg thru them highspeed runs..not bad for a V6 5spd.