Jlacck

Hey I'm planning to relocate from Denver to Atlanta in about 2 months. It looks like I'll have to drive my 98 LS down there since the cost of renting a truck and towing my car is much more expensive than just driving the LS myself.

I'm planning to rent a small trailer since I only have a single room worth of stuff that I am bringing with me (Big Screen TV, computer stuff, boxes of clothes). I dont have any heavy furniture except for a dinette pub table set that I might buy prior to leaving.

In any case my question is I have a high mileage car 240k+; however it runs in tip top condition at least according to my last dealer visit. The trip to Atlanta is 1400 miles. I wanted to know what are some things I should do prior to taking this trip for a car with that many miles. Has anyone in here made a trip or relocation in a high mileage LS? I'd be curious to know what you did to prep your car as well as what your experiences were during your travels.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

if the car run in tip top shape according to the dealer, i would have no worries taking it on a long road trip. these cars shine on the highway!

simply do the typical routine checks such as:
top off all the fluids
make sure you have a good tire alignment
check all lights are functional
check the lug nuts
check for correct tire pressure (including spare)
check your wipers
make sure you have all jack/tools accounted for a spare tire change

good luck with the move!

LScowboyLS

timmy0tool's list + these:

● check the main serpentine drive belt
● check all coolant and heater hoses
● check the tires (replace if over 4 years old)
● check the battery (replace if over 4 years old)
● check the brakes
● check all fluid levels
● check spare tire air pressure
● clean battery connections

bring a tool set if you know how to work on cars, this should items such as wire strippers, fuses, electrical tape, duct tape, starting fluid and silicon spray, cable ties, and jumper cables

bring spare fluids - i.e. Toyota T-IV, oil, Toyota red coolant, distilled water etc.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

Make sure you have a full tank of gas if your driving overnight, I know you should be able to get about 7 hours on a full tank if your cruising but sometimes an open gas station might be hard to find depending on the route you take so plan accordingly.

LScowboyLS

after driving all over the U.S. on most all of Interstate highway system, the only place gas and food were scarce at night was extreme West Texas and northern Nevada

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

Well try driving through the stretch of I-85S at the end of North Carolina at 3-4 in the morning or even better go up I-91N leading to I-89N in Vermont Where you might not see a gas station right off the highway and are forced to get off an exit in search of one. Not a good feeling when you know you should have topped off at that last open station but you were making such good time that you thought " I'll get the next one ". Most road warriors have been there right?

Sc0pe

iTrader: (1)

You should contact Dengman. He takes trips like that on a regular basis. Towing a trailer isn't that hard for the LS, as long as things are <2500 pounds. Anything more than that, up to 4500 pounds, I'd advise picking up a transmission cooler.

Jlacck

Thanks guys for the replies. Here is a second question: My car is due for an oil change now. My trip is about a month and half away. Again its a 1400 mile trip. Would you guys go ahead and change the oil now, or wait until just until like a week or so before the trip to change the oil?

OMAHA

i can relate....lol.....bring a gas can just in case. once your fuel gage gets between a 1/2-1/4 full, TOP IT OFF!

OMAHA

if your using full synthetic oil, you should be fine, just make sure your oil level is full

LScowboyLS

it would be good for the engine to have fresh oil in there for this long highway trip, it would actually do some engine cleaning for you on the trip if you select the oil wisely - I would hunt down some Pennzoil Ultra 5W-30 - hard to find though

here is a list of some of the best filters in the world for your LS400

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

if your car is due for an oil change now, change it and go synthetic if not already. i'd rather you change the oil now and wait a few weeks than change the oil the day before the trip and risk something catastrophic happening during the trip due to human error (lack of oil, drain bolt loose, oil filter loose, etc). give yourself some room is what i'm saying. come close to setting off, your mind may be handling other things with a big move. my $0.02.

LScowboyLS

what he said!

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

I would also print out a route of your trip if your going to use a gps unit. I remember when my son first went to college and i did not know the route by memory yet and was using gps that I went through a dead zone which lasted 45 minutes ( NO KIDDING ) I did not realize it right away but when I did I pulled over immediately to get my bearings but it was too late. I was literally in the blind but I didn't panic I just kept driving and figured I would just pull over and ask someone. Guess what? I was upstate NY where it seemed like it was deserted for miles. I drove for about 30 minutes and finally found a bar (lucky me ) with a map on the outside. So as my brother and I where figuring things out a guy came out and asked us where we were trying to go ( He obviously knew we we lost ) we explained what happened a directed us back on track and stated that " Yeah, you lose signal for 45 minutes " and said as soon as you hit such and such road which was 15 minutes down the road your signal will come back. Sure enough we got the signal back at that EXACT point. Lesson learned! Always print directions on long road trips when your unfamiliar with the route. Unless of course if you have one of the units that saves the map in its memory and then I would still print directions.

Kingsoup

Should be no problem, just check the things they mentioned, oil change now or then shouldn't matter at all.
I bet that'll be a pretty uneventful trip, its a common car so even if something does break you should have no problem finding someone who can fix it.