Long-Haul Drivers: Vehicle Outfitting?

General
1

It occurs to me that planning an “Escape from WA” is all well and good on paper, but pointless if I don’t have the vehicle properly outfitted with the proper automotive tools, emergency kit and een the everyday basics before I even start out.

I’m looking at a 2020 Equinox, and I need to get all the way across the Rockies and the Badlands of Montana, NE Wyoming. and South Dakota before I’m comfortably back into the populated areas. Since I’ve never owned a vehicle before, I don’t even know where to start wih just the “makes life easier around town.”

List to-do so far:

General everyday stuff: sunshade, umbrella, spare USB cables, first aid kit, AAA card, extra powerbanks for phone.

Car tools: 12VDC air compressor, OBD2 reader, tire gauge, jumper-pack for battery, flares/reflectors/signals, jerrycan, ?Chilton/Haynes manual

Survival: Mylar blanket, bottled water, survival food, ?tent

My first long-distance drive is going to be cross-country completely alone, so… if you were sending one of your kids on this kind of a solo drive how would you outfit their ride?

2

Not so much what to bring but technique in driving. When you are coasting down hill in the Rockies, down shift and let some engine braking help slow you down. Your brakes will overheat if you ride them a lot.

It will be strange to you when you feel like you are going downhill but actually on an incline and have to press the gas

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3

Get a rechargeable air compressor. You can still plug it in to the 12V power source, but it is nice to not have to feed the cord out the doors to get to the tires.

Slime and a plug kit are also handy. Much more fun than dragging out and using the emergency jack and spare tire.

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4

Thinking maybe a 2-in-1 battery charger and tire inflator, actually. Most of the MOuntains and Badlands legs are going to be I-90 other than a brief detour on US 14 and SR 24 to Devils Tower then on to Belle Fourche, and if I’m towing a trailer I’m gonna be doing double-nickel. Downshifting and engine braking are good to know.

All those years on planes as a kid I usually have a pretty good feel for uphill-downhill but I’ll keep that in mind. One more reason I miss my DeLorme suite, I had a nice little 3d terrain map in addition to the road…

5

Probably a ocd thing, but I’ve never been big on multifunction stuff like that because one function will invariably crap out first.

A guy at the rifle range put me on to these:

https://www.harborfreight.com/1250-lumen-led-rechargeable-battery-bank-work-light-56163.html

I have used them for auto “emergencies”, lighting during power failures, looking for stuff, working, and placed down range when it gets dark early before deer season.

I assume that those still have a 1/4"-20 threaded insert that will take camera tripods. I stuck a Gorilla Pod on mine after a drop that snapped the kick stand off.

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6

Btween here and WaGuns, here’s where things are…

  • Already arranged, just need to maintain

    • AAA membership
    • Museum of Flight membership for museum reciprocal-admission privileges
    • Cellphone and service

  • One month or so to Departure

    • Ensure no package shipments between then and D-Day
    • Sign up for gas-station and hotel rewards
    • Costco or Sam’s Club membership
    • Set mail forwarding to rels back east
    • Make hotel reservations as soon as D-Day date is set

  • Pre-departure preps, within a week of departure

    • Full Lube-Oil-Filter and fluids check
    • Tires checked at Les Schwab
    • Battery and brakes checked
    • Wrap up local goodbyes with neighbors, friends and longterm business relationships so I can get an early and uninterrupted start on D-Day
    • Trigger locks, case locks etc for gun cases, prepare ammo storage in FOPA compliance

  • Everyday Essentials and Geeneral Road Emergency

    • Sunshade
    • Umbrella
    • Spare powerbanks and cables for personal devices
    • AC inverter
    • 2-in-1 jumpstarter/tire inflator
    • tire gauge
    • OBD2 reader
    • Couple cans Fix-a-Flat and plug kit
    • Flares, reflectors, strobes etc
    • 1-2 rechrgeable worklights

  • Emergency survival

    • Mylar blanket
    • ?tent
    • bottled water and survival food
7

Small reach back or reach over cooler is good to have. Helps keep stops to a minimum unless you reach for a drink too often…..

Get some good eyewear for those early morning eastern stretches.

Move your seat about every 45min-hour to help from getting stiff. My chiropractor taught me this trick and it works.

listen to your body, if you have to stop short of your next hotel, do it. You only nod off so many times before you nod your last.

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8

An empty Gatorade Bottle.

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9

All good points. I live behind blue-blockers with polarized clipons always at hand, and I’ve got my routings set for a pull-over every hour or so and full pitstop every two. “Active” day schedule is out either on the highway or at first major stop by 9am, off highway and approaching hotel by 6 with at least one hourlong stop in the middle. Many days have a couple museum-and-meal breaks getting me off the road for an hour or two, at least until I cross the Mississippi. After that it gets more problematic finding such things; even though I expect to hit Indianapolis where my cousin lives about 3pm, that’s where I’m ending that day.

10

If you cross by a place called Al’s Oasis out in the middle of nowhere, somewhere close to wall drug…. Do not stop or if you do be aware….. I stopped there and shut my SUV off and saw a message flash on the dash that said “key not detected”. Didn’t think much of it and got out and ate, did a little shopping and got back in. Doors unlocked, dash lit up, press start and “key not detected”. Ok maybe battery is low in the keyfob key. Go back in and get a new battery and put it in. I am in the middle of BFE and I don’t want to get stuck without a working key so I drive down to the ford house to get a key. The guy behind the counter says “ did you just come from Al’s Oasis?” I tell him I did and he tells me that the automatic doors mess with the signal for the fobs and there is nothing wrong with the key. Ok thank you.

I have to drive back by Al’s and the special of the day walleye decided it was time to purge, I pull in and park far away from the doors and go in to facilitate and come back out. I can’t even get into the SUV now and it is doing strange stuff. I look up and I am parked under this Vegas looking sign with 64 thousand antennas on it. That is important, remember that. I still think it is the doors bc that is what ford house said. I go and turn the doors off to the restaurant side and get the Mrs. to try the car and nothing. I turn the doors back on and go to the grocery store next door and can’t find the door switch. I ask to see the manager. The manager walks up and I start…. “This is going to sound crazy….” He cuts me off and says “but your car won’t start?” He asks where I am parked. Seems it is not the door, but rather the obnoxious sign was interfering with my car. He follows me out and throws all the breakers on the sign and I crank the car up, thank him and NEVER returned to that little slice of hell.

Come to find out, most cars have a designated spot to place the fob to give you the best place for the fob to ecu/pcm connection. I thought it was in the cup holder, come to find out deep in the center console there was a little slot to hold the fob next to the receiver. You should find this prior to your departure.

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11

Wait what?

You’ve never owned a car?

I am pretty lost on your back story I guess.

12

Seriously, man. My entire existence since leaving college has been live-in care for one relative or another, and until relatively recently I lived in areas where I could get around just fine by bus or had other connections that could handle it.

13

As for the rest I appreciate planning, but you are vastly overthinking this trip.

You don’t need most of the gear you have listed. My in-laws make the same journey you plan to on a regular basis as far as Missouri. They’re two of the least well prepared individuals I have ever met and neither one of them have an ounce of common sense. They have yet to die of exposure, starvation, or thirst.

At no point on your planned route will you be at risk of running out of fuel from one gas station to another unless your fuel gauge is defective or your ability to read it is defective. So ditch the Jerry cans, they cost money, take up space, and will leave your car smelling like gas inside. Just don’t. My in-laws were recently in the habit of towing a camper all the way with a 1/2 ton pickup getting maybe 200 miles per tank of fuel. Your car or SUV will have more fuel range than that. Again no need for Jerry cans.

You only need stuff appropriate for the time of year you’re traveling. So appropriate outerwear and footwear, winter vs summer this is very different. Winter travels you’re well served to have more stuff to keep you warm if you get stuck and some gear to maybe get you un-stuck. Otherwise a decent jacket, hat of your choice, sunglasses, etc is fine.

Change your oil, and oil filter. Make sure the tires including your spare are in good shape. Check your coolant reservoir, and brake fluid reservoir. Top them up if needed. If you feel the need treat it to a new air filter.

This might be a good time to put brand new tires on, especially if you are doing this in the winter. Maybe buy some dedicated winter tires. I have a set of Michelin X-Ice Snow truck/SUV winters on a second set of wheels and they are astoundingly good in winter weather on a Toyota Land Cruiser. If there is any one thing you can do regardless of the season to make your trip uneventful it is to make sure your tires are in good shape and up to the task. Look around next time you’re on the highway, and see what the number one cause of vehicles on the side of the road is. It’s flat tires, tires that have blown up, or in winter tires that don’t get adequate traction. Tires, tires, tires.

Aside from that just get stuff that makes driving more enjoyable. Someone mentioned a cooler for cold beverages, that is a great idea. Get some podcasts or audio books to listen to. Get comfortable using the vehicle infotainment system. Make sure it detailed inside and out because spending 8 hours a day driving a dirty vehicle sucks, particularly the interior side of the glass.

Otherwise have as much fun as you can under the circumstances.

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14

Worth noting, this thing only has a 15gal tank and at 3500lb cargo only gets 16-18mpg. To be honest, I’m not even sure about the “just make everyday driving easier” level of stuff as a foundation.

I HOPE I’ll have a number of years to plan this, prepare, practice etc before I have to set it in motion.

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15

For road trips in the van the wife and I like our 12v (cig plug) refrigerator/freezer. I think the size is 30qt. Never would have expected it to work so well and quiet. Much more convenient than dicking around with melting ice bags or freeze blocks.

As mentioned earlier we don’t do the end of world prepper packing thing, just take the daily stuff which turns out to be a lot anyway. This isn’t 1800s covered wagon travel. Anything you could possibly need is just an exit or two down the road.

Oh… we use a large Rand McNally spiral book US road atlas when on driving adventures like you’re describing.

Have fun

16

When I was in high school me and my girlfriend decided on the spur of the moment to take a summer road to trip to Canada. We just winged it. Had a great adventure. America’s highways well accommodate anyone with the least of preparation. Don’t fret. Enjoy.

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17

Something I’ve been doing for years that works, YMMV and maybe it won’t fit your needs, but year-round I carry two, two-liter pop bottles full of water– my tap water is good. I put tablespoon of vodka in each one. It keeps them from going skanky. They go into a a black nylon pouch that holds two nicely, with a velcro’d flap cover. I’m sure this helps, keeping it out of the light. I still wind up changing it out 2-3 times a year but it never seems to go bad.

18

I hesitate to say it, but you do seem to be overthinking it a bit. I believe in being prepared. I believe in carrying at least a minimum of tools to be able to assist yourself. But in all honesty a well maintained vehicle with good tires (incl. Spare), good brakes, and no major wear issues left unaddressed is most likely to experience either simple issues you can address with a minimum of resources or a major unexpected failure which is going to require serious assistance.

I have logged thousands upon thousands of long haul road miles over the years. I was usually driving a truck (250/350) hauling a trailer. While I was usually carrying enough tools to handle most anything, due to my job as a traveling construction superintendent, I rarely needed them. Most of the time it is the simple things. Tire, blown fuse, etc. , occasionally a blown coolant line or some such.

What I have found most useful, and should be in the vehicle all the time, is a good 4 way, a good jack (factory items often suck), spare fuses, spare bulbs. A cordless impact wrench can be handy, as can a compressor/inflator that uses the same batteries. A spare 5 gallons of fuel can be comforting even if you never use it, but only if it is outside the passenger compartment.

Not to say I haven’t needed the assortment of tools I usually have with me, I have. But those occasions have been rare, and usually the cause has been deferred trailer maintenance.

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19

I’m just happy there are people out there like you that actually give a hoot.Most people aren’t prepared to add air to their tires anymore.

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20

At no point on your route will you EVER be more than 100 miles from a gas station. Probably no more than 50 miles. You will be fine.