jbrill

when you get into vancouver let me know! theres a great 944 owners group around here!
and watch your speed in vancouver... the cops can be horrible

Mamooguy

Duly noted!

hpservertech

That's going to be a long trip! What you could do as part of your planning is pick some big cities to stop in, then let everyone know. Can't imagine that you wouldn't be far from members during your trip.

When are you planning on taking this trip & how long have you planned it to take?

Mamooguy

I'm leaving in about 2 weeks, and I expect to be gone about a month. I'm kind of on a tight schedule up till the first week of June, as there's going to be a week of volunteering in New Orleans and several days in Los Angeles (with a fixed date for my friend's wedding). After that I 'spect I'll be taking it a bit easier.

hpservertech

Well if you go through St. Louis, stop by! Will break out the bbq & beer. And if ya need to, we can do an oil change in the garage.

silverBean

I agree with bringing tools and spare parts, especially the hoses. I lucked out on my trip and didn't need one. It was from Chandler, AZ(suburb of phoenix) to Show Lo, AZ, back through Phoenix straight to San Diego(lemon grove area), then to Tijuana then up to temecual and back to Chandler. That was fun!! These cars are the ultimate roadtrip car. With my sport seats I hardly got fatigue, and thats when I pulled the 600 mile straight shot. Did stop for gas and to check fluids, and drain fluids, halfway, but that was it. Have fun!!!!

theedge

Make sure you get your belts retensioned before you start out (dont replace and start the trip). Drive for a few days or a week after major work.... I once did an 8 hour drive with a dead thermostat that I installed just before I left.

Bring a can or two of that fix a flat goo.

A tool kit of course. With a knife.

Duct take and zip ties if youre worried about coolant hoses. You can fix coolant hoses with duct tape and zip ties. Bring some spare hose clamps and sections of large diameter rubber hose (old coolant hose for example) if you want to get fancy.

Electric air pump (youd be surprised at how often a gas station doesnt have an air compressor when you need one... Trust me).

Toilet paper.

hpservertech

Man, just did your trip on yahoo. Over 7000 miles! That's going to be lots of driving. Have some good music with you, cause the drive through TX is going to be long and quite.

I would put a new set of wheels on the car though and get the road hazard insurance with them. Make sure wherver you get them they have locations all over the US though.

You should be going through some states though where there a a few guys always parting out some cars, so bring a laptop along with you in cause you need to get online and get a part or two.

Oh and get the AAA Premium membership. It's amazing what they will pay for and could make things much easier in case something happens.

KuHL 951

You are going to be traveling in the Southwest where temps are much higher than your home turf and larger cities are spaced farther apart if help is needed. If your large coolant hoses and thermostat are new you are good; it's those pesky heater hoses, water pump, or a thermostat that didn't get replaced that will kill you. Try to carry a length of generic heater hose that match up with the OE just for an emergency. The reservoir cap should be replaced before you go if you haven't done it yet. What temps does your car run now under normal driving and heavy traffic? If it runs warm now it will only get worse on a hot drive from New Orleans to LA and I feel it's better to be prepared. I'm not trying to be a nag; I just know that good prior planning for a trip that long is a wise move.

That being said, have a great trip and post up your travels along the way :

Mamooguy

Oh yeah, the (C)AA association for sure, I just got a new set of tires, and I have an 80 gig iPod that's mostly full of music, a laptop, a tool kit, duct tape, zip ties ... I've been thinking of an air pump to fill up my air mattress (for camping), maybe I could get one that does double duty with tires too.

Good tip about retensioning, I'll definitely do that.

The DareDevil

Road trip!

Jfrahm

Don't use headphones, you can get pulled over for that in some states plus you cannot hear if something is going wrong.

Air compressor and a tire plug kit, multimeter, wire, etc. A tow strap, decent jack...
Check a few things for tightness. Battery cables, starter, belts...
Check the fuel lines for age/cracking. Do not run it low on gas, don't believe the gas gauge under 1/4 tank.

Have a great trip!

early85944

Go for it some of the best times I have ever had where when I took my 944 and 911 on road trips.

Mighty Shilling

Mamooguy, no problem. make sure the car is in good order, then go nuts!

my 924S has taken me to:

Helena, Montana
Terre Haute, Indiana
Long Beach, California (x2)
Mansfield, Ohio

each of those drives is 14 hours or more... generally 1200-1400 miles each way. and I was ballsy. did all of those trips w/o tools...

Good luck and enjoy the drive!

Mamooguy

Thanks for the advice, guys! I'll go knee my doubting friends in the *****.

By the way, I of course won't be using headphones on my iPod. I've got a direct-connect to the stereo, a Sony XPlod system with iPod control through the head unit (and a remote control).