gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
In the very near future 7 of us will be taking a 1,200 mile road trip from New England to FL, with one stop halfway, probably NC. The group will include my wife, her sisters and their S.O.'s, as well as one tween kid (who is very well-behaved and low-maintenance, FWIW.) We all get along really well, and have pretty easy-going attitudes.
I'll be driving my Subaru, and the other vehicle will be my brother-in-law's late-model Rav4. We plan to break the trip up into two days there and two days back, with a week in FL, to include 4 days at Disney. We plan to split gas and tolls three ways, to keep things fair. We'll also pack things where they fit, such as keeping the cooler and vehicular tools in my car, and maybe an extra piece of luggage in theirs.
I've begun prep'ing the Subaru in my signature, but would love to hear what you guys do, check, pack for long road trips. I'll list as much as I can remember, and you guys can pick it apart, go off on a tangent about past amazing/horrific adventures you've been on, lessons learned, whatever! Many people choose to fly during the holidays, but some of us are crazy enough to look forward to road-tripping it instead!
Vehicle: Listed in sig ~16k miles.
Oil: GC 0W-30, with an estimated 3,300 miles on the oil by the time we begin the road trip. I plan to change it within a few days after returning, with a conservative max of 7k miles on the oil (1,200 miles each way, with a week's worth of driving around the local area.)
-Subaru recommends 7.5k-mile OCI's, though it was reduced to 6k subsequently. I don't see an issue with going 7k miles, seeing how almost half of the OCI will be all-highway
-Based on the dipstick, I haven't consumed any perceptible oil in 16k miles (last checked a week ago.) I still plan to bring an extra quart of GC with me.
Fuel: 93 AKI, which should be available along the entire trip. To give every one a chance to stretch and minimize fatigue, we plan to stop every 300 miles or so for gas.
Tires: The forecast is for mild temperatures where we're going, but still warmer than here. With this in mind, I plan to bump up the front tires to 34 and the rear to 35 psig.
-I usually check the spare tire every year (last checked a couple of months ago @ 50-55 psig, IIRC,) but I'll make sure to check again within the next couple of days, just in case.
-Last rotated 5k miles ago - I'll do it again when I get back.
-Just installed wheel locks today - won't stop a determined thief, but maybe it'll prevent me from waking up on four cinder blocks one morning, in a strange city.
Fluids: All checked - SAT, but I'll top off the wiper fluid before we leave.
ETC.: I'm going to detail the car tomorrow, to include all interior cleaning, as well as applying some Rain-X on all glass.
Besides our luggage, I plan to bring the following:
1. 1 qt GC
2. Simple hand tools
3. 12VDC air compressor
4. 12VDC-120VAC inverter (it won't put out much, but it's better than nothing)
5. Blankets, pillows
6. Cooler, snacks, etc.
7. Two USB chargers (one single port and one dual-port, for three total ports.)
8. At least three external battery packs, more for while we're out and about, not necessarily for on the trip itself.
9. Day bag, with a single change of clothes and toiletries, so we don't have to dig through our luggage at the hotel
10. Sirius sat radio, as well as a bunch of downloaded audio books. The one I'm looking forward to the most, is A Christmas Carol, narrated by Tim Curry. I listened to Lemony Snickets A Series of Unfortunate Events, narrated by Tim Curry on a previous road trip, which was great, so I"m looking forward to that.
-Any other great audio books you guys can recommend?
I'm sure I'm missing a ton of stuff, but that's what I can remember off the top of my head. Thank in advance for the posts to come.
I'll be driving my Subaru, and the other vehicle will be my brother-in-law's late-model Rav4. We plan to break the trip up into two days there and two days back, with a week in FL, to include 4 days at Disney. We plan to split gas and tolls three ways, to keep things fair. We'll also pack things where they fit, such as keeping the cooler and vehicular tools in my car, and maybe an extra piece of luggage in theirs.
I've begun prep'ing the Subaru in my signature, but would love to hear what you guys do, check, pack for long road trips. I'll list as much as I can remember, and you guys can pick it apart, go off on a tangent about past amazing/horrific adventures you've been on, lessons learned, whatever! Many people choose to fly during the holidays, but some of us are crazy enough to look forward to road-tripping it instead!
Vehicle: Listed in sig ~16k miles.
Oil: GC 0W-30, with an estimated 3,300 miles on the oil by the time we begin the road trip. I plan to change it within a few days after returning, with a conservative max of 7k miles on the oil (1,200 miles each way, with a week's worth of driving around the local area.)
-Subaru recommends 7.5k-mile OCI's, though it was reduced to 6k subsequently. I don't see an issue with going 7k miles, seeing how almost half of the OCI will be all-highway
-Based on the dipstick, I haven't consumed any perceptible oil in 16k miles (last checked a week ago.) I still plan to bring an extra quart of GC with me.
Fuel: 93 AKI, which should be available along the entire trip. To give every one a chance to stretch and minimize fatigue, we plan to stop every 300 miles or so for gas.
Tires: The forecast is for mild temperatures where we're going, but still warmer than here. With this in mind, I plan to bump up the front tires to 34 and the rear to 35 psig.
-I usually check the spare tire every year (last checked a couple of months ago @ 50-55 psig, IIRC,) but I'll make sure to check again within the next couple of days, just in case.
-Last rotated 5k miles ago - I'll do it again when I get back.
-Just installed wheel locks today - won't stop a determined thief, but maybe it'll prevent me from waking up on four cinder blocks one morning, in a strange city.
Fluids: All checked - SAT, but I'll top off the wiper fluid before we leave.
ETC.: I'm going to detail the car tomorrow, to include all interior cleaning, as well as applying some Rain-X on all glass.
Besides our luggage, I plan to bring the following:
1. 1 qt GC
2. Simple hand tools
3. 12VDC air compressor
4. 12VDC-120VAC inverter (it won't put out much, but it's better than nothing)
5. Blankets, pillows
6. Cooler, snacks, etc.
7. Two USB chargers (one single port and one dual-port, for three total ports.)
8. At least three external battery packs, more for while we're out and about, not necessarily for on the trip itself.
9. Day bag, with a single change of clothes and toiletries, so we don't have to dig through our luggage at the hotel
10. Sirius sat radio, as well as a bunch of downloaded audio books. The one I'm looking forward to the most, is A Christmas Carol, narrated by Tim Curry. I listened to Lemony Snickets A Series of Unfortunate Events, narrated by Tim Curry on a previous road trip, which was great, so I"m looking forward to that.
-Any other great audio books you guys can recommend?
I'm sure I'm missing a ton of stuff, but that's what I can remember off the top of my head. Thank in advance for the posts to come.