5K miles trips in summer | What to prepare and bring?
 

So wife and I been talking about taking a long trip in the summer. I calculated roughly last night about 5K miles. We are not sure if we will bring the LS or Land Cruiser. I am leaning towards the LS because the gas mileage almost double the Land Cruiser, but wife likes the LC better since it sits taller, so we get a better view of everything, plus it has a big trunk space and roof rack for even extra cargo if needed.

Assuming we are taking the LS, I am looking for advice what I need to prepare for the trip? The LS will have ~130K by the beginning of summer with fairly new 4 shocks and new lower control arms bushings.

Before trip, will replace:
- 4 new tires. I been reading up on different tire threads here, currently leaning toward Michelin Premier.
- serpentine belt (still looks ok, but unknown age)
- HID bulbs, probably Philips Extreme/Osram Nightbreaker
- new oil and filter
- OEM air and cabin filter

The LS is currently driving fine, so maybe these are not needed?
- sway bar bushings
- endlinks
- any preventive maintenance you would do before long trips?

I will have a small box with some basic sockets, wrench, pliers, flash light. Anything else I need to consider carrying?

Fill up on washer fluid, and consider buying an extra gallon for the trip.

I also always have a blanket in my LS, whether it's summer or winter. (You never know where you might want to lay down that blanket and act like a teenager, if you know what I'm saying! :) )

I also have the pre-moistened glass cleaning cloths in the front passenger's seatback, so you can easily clean your front windshield of bugs, and also headlights with the cloth.

Why not change the rear diff oil? It's a SUPER EZ DIY.

If you don't have an air pressure gauge in the LS, now's the time for one.

Top off your radiator/overflow tank if you need to.

Since you're going to be laying out the blanket and acting like a hormone enraged teenager, you should also bring bug repellant, lol.

Since it's about 2,700 miles from east coast to left coast, sounds like quite a trip you'll be navigating! Care to generally tell of your destinations?

Here are a few more ideas:
1. Check all fluids – replace or top off as required
2. Check tire pressure – including the spare
3. Re-torque lug nuts – one or more lug nuts may have been over-tightened and you may not be able to change out a flat tire on the side of the road.
4. Check to make sure you have the jack and tool to replace a flat tire.
5. Check windshield wipers and washer fluid
6. Check all exterior lights and horn
7. Check battery terminals for corrosion
8. Check radiator hoses
9. Bring a roll of quarters and small bills to pay toll

If you've followed the required maintenance, just drive it as usual. My car is always ready to drive wherever, whenever.

Check cooling system, coolant level and condition of your radiator and hoses. Very important!

Make sure you have enough lining on those brake pads. Especially if you are going through aomw mountains.

- Good point with lug nuts being over tighten. This usually wont be a problem since I rotate the tires myself, but I will be getting new tires, and the installer usually over tighten them.
- Will make sure to have jack and tools (sockets/wrenches/pliers etc) including breaker bar, torque wrench and tire pressure gauge.
- Roll of quarters and small bills to pay toll - added into my list. I usually do not carry cash lol
- Pre-moistened glass cleaning cloths - added into my list. I am sure we will hit lots of bugs in the summer. Although I notice the LS is not as bad as my Land Cruiser where bugs just got splattered everywhere. I am guessing because the LS is a lot more aerodynamic (I am guessing?)
- Rear diff fluid was replaced last year, about 10K miles ago.
- Radiator/overflow tank is topped - I monitor them pretty close because something was leaking when I bought it last year, but figure out that radiator cap is the problem (cap was replaced). I will take a closer look at radiator and hoses.
- Good point about brake pad lining - should be ok, checked a few months ago when I rotated the tires, but will recheck. Cheap and easy, will replace if it looks thin.
- I just checked all of the lights this past weekend as the weather is a bit warmer. I see that one of the little bulb for the license plate is dead.
- I may replace both wipers. Works fine, but unknown age.
- Wife has a meeting in Las Vegas, so assuming we are not flying there, the general route is KY to Las Vegas (~2K miles one way). I am hoping to make like a giant oval/circle so we can hit as many places as possible in between. We will spend a few days in Colorado for sure because we never been there, but everything else is up in the air. We most likely will just drive, and stop if we see anything interesting with no real schedule in mind. We have pretty flexible timeline.

Thanks guys! Keep them coming...

Really excellent advice here.

My suggestion is a deviation from others. Do you have a survival or bug-out-bag? I carry one in the boot with emergency/survival equipment (food, water, knife/machete, para-cord, 1st aid, etc.).

@aypues
Osram Night Breaker Laser Xenarc - I take it there is a noticeable difference from the stock bulb?

We have a big cooler, and will have enough water, juice, my kid fav snacks, bars, sandwiches for 3 of us. We like to visit parks and do our small picnic.

Yes to a knife, and first aid, duck tape, no machete or paracord.

Definitely oil and filter, but imho air filter, cabin, not necessary unless they are due. Tires, not necessary unless worn. Brakes good idea to check, coolant make sure topped off since our cars naturally evaporate. Really with AAA Plus (I have had since 2014 and always said what a waste but lately they do check for the membership when you get a AAA hotel rate), if anything were to happen, which does not seem to be the case with the LS430, you are not totally dead in the water. If it were me, I'd be more concerned with the toll situation, because unlike red light and speed cams, it seems there are many places now where tolling is completely automated, and they have made mistakes and fined people under the premise they violated, when they didn't. NYS is one of those offenders near Canada.

Maybe take a baby trip 100-200 miles away from home to verify all is ok with the vehicle. Because it seems with the LS, 200 or 2500 is the same due to its longevity! Most of the stuff is PM so the worst that could happen is the PM wasn't necessary but done anyway, so cost is the downside, that's about it.

p.s. again I am more concerned with the peripherals. Make sure to have a GPS enabled dash cam, proper micro sd memory cards, laptop to offload any needed video, possibly an old GPS that shows red light and speed cams, and everything needed for smartphones and DSLR and video camcorder, etc...

Agree with the tires, but the current Michelin MXV4 are worn out. Too bad these are not made anymore. I really like them. Air and cabin filter will be close to due, but I am just going to replace them. We are planning to pass thru AZ, NM, and other southern states on the way back, and guessing some of those will be dusty. I have asthma, so inside air quality is a priority.

Oh great point on AAA. I used to have AAA many cars and years ago, but discontinued the membership since I become wiser, smarter and switch all my cars to Toyota and Lexus, and not worried about being stranded on the side of the road.

We been driving the LS 3-400 miles on short weekend trips with no problem. The LS really shine when cruising on highway. Yes we have a GPS that will have the latest map updates. I will need to see about the toll situation.

Snacks, Water, First Aid Kit, Blanket for the car, Safety Triangle and Vest in case of breakdown, Spare lamps (just in case) and all the other stuff that was mentioned..

Have a blast!