Traveling across the USA

[sleeping_beast]

Hi,

My girlfriend and I are planning a trip from San Jose, California to Ottawa, Canada for this summer. Do you have any particular advice about which road is worth to be taken or any advice on how to properly prepare my 1975 Targa for such a trip?

Thanks,

Alain

[Tim Walsh]

when is the last time that you've done a tune up?

Check the archives as well I think this has been covered (not sure though)

[Stanley]

Yes, this has been covered before. There is lots of really good info in the archives, just search for them.

[Rich L]

Ah, finally a topic I can give some expert advice on. You need to set the ground rules with your GF before you leave. Tell her the car will be obnoxiously loud, suffocatingly hot, every item of clothing she packed is going to smell like burnt motor oil after the trip, and most importantly…NO, she can’t drive the car. Ask me how I know.

Seriously, just make sure your car is running sound before you leave. Bring along some extra fuses, fan belts, oil filter, few quarts of oil, duct tape, some basic tools, and a great sense of adventure. It will be a great trip. Have fun!!!

[Joeaksa]

Spend the money and get a GPS to take along. Really worth having one along.

Joe

[jyl]

I am interested in this too since I will be driving (multiple times) between the Bay Area and Washington State this summer. Out of curiousity I tried searching - "road trip" and "tool kit" seemed to be fairly productive keywords.

I will say that the signal-to-noise ratio of the threads (that I saw, anyway) was only moderate. Seems like discussions of road trip preparation tend to devolve into mammoth lists of tools and spares to carry (I don't even own as many tools as some folks allegedly pack for a 400 mile drive) and stories of road trips gone by ("and then there was this moose . . .")

So, even thought this has been discussed before, I'll mention my plans, for comment and critique if nothing else.

Tools:
Beyond the usual wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers, electrical testers, etc that I use normally, and the stock tool kit, jack, lug wrench, and tire pump, the tools I plan to carry are:
- Fan pulley wrench (I know it is in the stock toolkit but it's important so I'll mention it again)
- The jack pad that slides into the jack point on the side of your car. Be sure you know the non-damaging spots to jack the car up from, so that the only garage in Nowhere, USA doesn't crush your oil lines or bend your floor pan.
- "Soft" lug bolt socket if you have nice unblemished aluminum lug bolts. If you end up having a garage remove your wheels, make sure they use this and torque the bolts by hand, not by air wrench.
- Fire extinguisher.
- AAA card, cellphone, money.

Spares:
- Normal tune-up stuff - I have a Carrera so I am fuzzy on exactly what a 1975 would use but I'm planning on carrying spare relays (for me, DME and round), set of fuses, fan belt, one spark plug, one spark plug wire, fuel filter, oil filter, couple quarts of oil, distributor cap/rotor, coil and coil wire. Also bits of wire and connectors.
- I don't plan to carry any "major" parts. I figure that if I end up needing mechanical work in an area without a Porsche garage, then finding a mechanic will be more of a problem than getting some parts overnighted. And I don't envision myself changing a torsion bar, alternator, fuel pump or clutch cable by the side of the road. I will, however, bring my Shop Manual, and my laptop with the Pelican Parts catalog on CD.

Pre-Trip Maintenance
- Full tune-up, oil change, check wheel bearings, tires, brake fluid and pads, battery condition, wiper blades, spare tire, and the non-race-specific items included in a track/DE tech checklist -- see http://www.pca-ggr.org/techform.html
- New tires if there's any doubt.
- Make sure your AC (?) and defrost work as well as they possibly can.
- Rain-X the windshield (if your wipers fail, with Rain-X you can drive in heavy rain at highway speeds without wipers).
- Put on my magnetic bra, pack the car cover.
- Are you going to be nervous leaving your car in a motel parking lot at night? Cheap man's anti-theft solution is to remove the appropriate relay every night. More convenient is to install a battery cut-off switch, you can inconspicuously diable the car while unpacking the trunk. And a steering wheel "club" is deterrence too.
- Books on tape! This is my secret weapon for long, long drives. Makes hours pass by without putting you to sleep. Get several selections (you can even rent them from the local library and mail them back from the road) and refill at WalMarts along the way. Also, dunno if you have this but when we take long (12-16 hours) trips with the kids, bringing DVDs, my wife's laptop, an AC adapter that plugs into the cigarette lighter, and headphones is always a Very Good Thing. Might be nice for the passenger?
- Head off! I drive the car enough (including 100 mile days for work every couple of weeks) that I'm not much worried about it.

As for route, I have no real idea. I'd want to avoid the hottest areas and have a mix of smaller roads and super-highways. I'd like to drive through Canada as much as possible.

[Calspeed]

Hello,

I just did the SF Bay Area to Vancouver, Canada a few months ago. What an awesome trip until my DME gave out outside of Portland. I got a replacement at Sunset Porsche in Portland and was on the road a half a day late.

It is important to let your girlfriend know that it is very cramped in the car and that if you have alot of luggage you may want to just FedEx it ahead of you to the destination.

Have your cell phone and maybe a few emergency numbers from some P-heads along the way.

Good luck and enjoy the trip. I will be doing another cross country soon.

Calspeed
ps: crossing into Canada through Washington State.

[Jim Richards]

Originally posted by Joeaksa
Spend the money and get a GPS to take along. Really worth having one along.

Joe, I don't understand the value of the GPS. Would you mind elaborating? Thanks.

[Silveresrty911S]

My little GPS ( global positioning system) helps me out quite a bit for tracking my average speed, highest speed, distance traveled, distance to go, re-tracing route tacken, saving a waypoint so on return trip you can come back to the same area (by 10'-20'). OR................
YOU WON'T GET LOST

sorry for my yelling

PS mine was about 99.00

[Joeaksa]

Jim,

The GPS has come in handy especially if you have problems with the car. You can punch up "gas stations" and it gives the closest one, phone number and you can call for help or fuel or parts.

I travel a lot for a living and there are a lot of cities where the roads are all torn up due to construction (try to drive in Boston, Dallas or Phoenix) and its a real mess. Listen to the radio and it will tell you which roads are blocked and the GPS will auto figure out a different route to get you where you need to go. If you miss a turn again it goes into auto mode and gets you back on course.

The biggest thing I use it for is finding my hotel for the night. I always book ahead on the net to avoid getting hit with the "rack rate" (full boat walk in price) and with the hotels address you do not spend hours trying to find it in a strange city. Like Rick says, it keeps me from getting lost and wasting time trying to find my destination.

After living with one for almost three years I could not travel without one again. Its as much a tool as my 10 mm wrench in the trunk!

Joe

[Jim Richards]

Wow! I've used a friend's GPS a few years ago on our old sailboat and it's functionality was pretty basic. It sounds like they're a heck of a lot more versatile nowadays. Maybe I need to look into this before our next big trip. Thanks.

[Joeaksa]

Jim,

My Garmin Street Pilot 3 has a color moving map and voice prompts. You miss a turn and it says in the speaker "off route, recalculating new route" and takes you to your destination. Its portable and very nice if you go to new places every week and use rental cars.

My bosses car has a built in voice actuated system that you simply say "where is the closest Italian resturant" and it gives you the 5 closest places.

Its really getting neat and will be a tool installed in all but the most basic cars sold around the world in the future. Its especially nice for people who have broken down with an emergency feature that tells you and the responders exactly where you are and where is your closest place for help.

Joe

[Decolliber]

Spare DME relay and round red relay.
When I take long trips in my Audi, I download from the web site a list of Audi dealers along the way. And get the AAA membership "plus" with the 100 mile tow.
Books on tape, as someone said, are great. The problem is that women like to listen to those awful romance novels. Try listening to one of those for ten hours. There is a lot of negotiation involved in find a mutually agreeable book on tape. I recommend Bill Bryson's travel books - they are funny and gender neutral.
My wife refuses to travel more than about 20 miles in the 911 - claiming (correctly) that it is noisy, rough, bumpy and smelly.

[Jim Richards]

So John, are all of your long trips less than 20 miles?

[tight as a bull's ass]

cell phone

[Jamie79SC]

This sounds silly, but if you have time, REALLY detail the car. Just before leaving on a 6500+ mi trip last summer, I cleaned up the engine compartment and under the car. I never would have spotted the torn CV boot if I hadn't cleared away the road grime first. Would a bad CV joint have stopped me in my tracks? Who knows, but it was nice to know I'd spotted and repaired a potential problem before I left.

[Harlan Chinn]

Great road trip east! I'm planning a trip to Monterey/Pebble Beach for the concours and car events later this summer.

Would be nice to have a network or list of Porsche repair shops just in case repairs need to be made along the way. The GPS is a fun thing to have too and a CD changer with a couple dozen burned CD's

[jyl]

Originally posted by Jim Richards
So John, are all of your long trips less than 20 miles?

Ha ha. So far, only one trip >200 miles, but pretty routine to go 100 mile RT (East Bay to South Santa Clara and back) for work.

My bigger problem for the summer trip(s) is going to be packing and routing. Gotta fit camping and fishing gear, and find trout streams accessible with a lowered 911 . . .

[Harlan Chinn]

John,

A new Cayenne turbo sounds like it fits the bill for camping and fishing.

[jyl]

But can I handle the bill for a new Cayenne?

If I was going to buy a vehicle for camping and fishing, it'd be a Land Rover Defender 110, the one with an external rollcage that they only brought to the US for a year or two. Only 500 imported, almost no depreciation because of that. Holds a lot more than a Cayenne or other SUV. 9' fly rod fits inside fully assembled.

If not that, then an old Land Rover 109 converted to a Dormobile (seats fold down into beds, roof lifts for more beds, gas cooker. Can't keep up with your average Winnebago, but after you plug a V8 into it . . .