Coming in late June my brother and I will be driving from my home in Kuna ID to Lincoln Nebraska to get my mothers things to her.  I will be using the Ram and pulling a 25' coleman camper.  I will be followed by her 1994 GMC K1500 pulling a pickup bed trailer.  I will be meeting my sister and her husband in there truck where they will take the camper and GMC to Watertown NY where my mother lives.  The GMC is just about done, been prepping it so my mother shouldn't have to do anything but change the oil as long as she owns it.  I've changed every fluid, filter, fixed all the leaks, replaced the cooling system, shocks, fuel pump and converted all the lights to LED.   My truck is almost done, most of the fluids are fairly new in the last year.  I will be getting the brakes flushed, upgrade trailer brake controller, new belt/tensioner and an oil change.  Bringing extra tools, fluids, belts and fuel for the GMC, lol.  What do you guys usually do to prepare for a big road trip?  

I've got a friend just up the road with a CoE style Nissan ND. The box on the frame is gone but I went over and got the engine reprimed and it runs. Current owner is going to do a few repairs and get it ready for sale. It would be a wonderful flatbed firewood hauler. Possible to haul about 4 to 5 cords depending deck size and side board height. Similar design but in well poor shape of sitting in a yard for many years.

As @Mopar1973Man mentioned you just cannot carry enough parts or tools to be covered. I use to carry way too much stuff and never needed most of it. 

 

I carry an air compressor (hard mounted), tire pressure gauge, and a plug kit. 

 

I make sure all fluids are good to go before hand, and carry 1 qt of oil, 2 fuel emergency de-gel's in the winter, and really that's it for the truck. Spare fuel filters wouldn't be a bad idea,  but not a requirement. 

 

For me the trailer is the thing I worry about most so I have a trailer TPMS setup and carry a spare bearing/race/seal, tools, and grease. I also have a small tool kit for basic repairs on the trailer. The trailer aid plus is great for changing tires on a tandem axle trailer, as is a 20V impact gun. 

 

So I would just do all your appropriate maintenance, repack the bearings on the trailer, and have a credit card ready just in case you need parts. 

  On 4/26/2021 at 5:14 PM, AH64ID said:

As @Mopar1973Man mentioned you just cannot carry enough parts or tools to be covered. I use to carry way too much stuff and never needed most of it.

 

When I was making that Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday runs for @MoparMom dialysis treatment. I thought the same thing in the beginning, after about a year I ditched almost 200 pounds of junk from the back seat and the bed of the truck I'm no longer carrying. Then after my first failure in Ontario, OR when my lift pump failed.

 

I needed to be towed home the biggest thing that was not handled was basic survival. No water to drink, no food, nothing to keep us warm without the engine running. My biggest thing is pack my day pack and having 1 MRE, and half gallon of water, warm cloths, gloves and possibly a tarp for shelter if needed. Now it is more about IF failure occurs now I've got basic survival for at least two people. I've got the day pack so I could walk away from the vehicle and go for help. 

 

Reconsider your personal needs before the trucks needs. Like "IF" I broke down in Mohave Valley AZ when its 110 to 120*F I've covered as well I can still hike to help. Winter times up here I could easily coat up and walk to help as well. Either way all my failures on my 2002 Dodge there was absolutely 0.00% of the failures repaired in the field after 430k miles of travel.

I also make sure I'll survive the weather. Food/water always live in the truck too. 

 

I also have a Garmin inReach since I do a lot of travel in areas without cell service. 

Awesome idea too. 

 

https://discover.garmin.com/en-US/inreach/personal/

 

Most of the areas I run to the time for help to come can be awhile. Another one to add to the "Bug Out Bag" is good first aid kit. I've got a small basic first aid kit under the back seat but I'm going to upgrade to a mid line first aid at least I could control bleeding and give someone else a chance at survival. Some times your travels might put you in path of someones accident and you could help out. In the back country just a few days ago a old timer slide off the edge of the road if there was any injuries I could helped out. It could be yourself that slide off the highway in the snow you might be stuck but now you could contend with any injuries and still have food and water till you get to help again. 

 

We used the inreach this last weekend to relay to 911 for a guy who tripped near the hot springs and hit his head pretty hard. Being 35 miles from the pavement we where able to get EMS enroute. Not sure where they met, but it was much faster than them just going directly to the hospital in Boise. 

  On 4/26/2021 at 6:01 PM, AH64ID said:

We used the inreach this last weekend to relay to 911 for a guy who tripped near the hot springs and hit his head pretty hard. Being 35 miles from the pavement we where able to get EMS enroute. Not sure where they met, but it was much faster than them just going directly to the hospital in Boise. 

Pretty cool that you had a big hand in helping someone in very remote situation. You were a God send.

 

One thing important is having an effective fire extinguisher. Although being able to correctly judge whether or not the vehicle on fire is about to have it's fuel tank explode....however if the fire is small and in the early stage, that fire extinguisher will come in very handy.

  On 4/27/2021 at 3:19 PM, JAG1 said:

lthough being able to correctly judge whether or not the vehicle on fire is about to have it's fuel tank explode....however if the fire is small and in the early stage, that fire extinguisher will come in very handy.

 

Only thing I can say very very rare for fuel tanks to explode. First the tank has to be steel and not soldered like the old 70's. Then the new fuel tanks are simply ABS and typically the plastics get hot and the fuel just drains out. Since I completed Fire Fighter One and Fire Fighter Two, plus wild-land training. Even Propane tanks don't exploded typically. they just vent off. I've only seen one time where a extremely hot house fire that was enough to cause a propane tank to explode. As for vehicle fuel tank they are designed with weaken so when in accident then the tank will fail in a minor fire typically. Like most of the newer fuel caps are plastic also if the filler neck got hot it would shot the cap like a pea in a straw. As for exploding car fires in all the years chasing vehicle fires never have I see a fuel tank explode. This includes from hybrid cars, to old chevy pickups, and full sized semis truck with over 200 gallons of diesel. Just doesn't happen like the movies. 

 

Fuel tank gone... Take notice the ground around the truck is not burnt. Tank got hot and drop it contents and wicked and burned under the truck. 

 

 

Didn't think about a fire extinguisher, I'll have to grab one of those.  My buddy did give me a GPS yesterday for the trip, I'll have R. Lee Ermey yelling directions at me the whole time.  I got a new spare for the GMC and serviced the small trailer.  I'm probably gonna get a shell for the GMC as pulling that trailer is like pulling a parachute.  Even empty it's a huge drag, no pun intended.   Hopefully a shell will help direct some more air over it instead of into it.  Otherwise I entertain the idea of getting a hitch on the camper and pulling doubles with my truck.