Any tips for a 600 miles drive?

Hey all,


I'm picking up and driving my M1009 from San Francisco area and driving it back to San Diego. If you have any suggestions or procedures I should be aware about or follow, please post them before thursday.



Thanks,



Warren

Music!!! if its a 'stock' M1009 there is no radio!! :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

I did this only 1200 miles... I took my laptop with me and hit walmart for a cheap set of computer speakers. (had my inverter with me). I also hit Home Depot and bought a nice all in one tool set for $70, as flying with tools was too big of a hassle. My other stop was Walmart, for spare fluids, and such. If you will be driving with someone to go get it, it might be wise to take a good battery with you, as the right kind of alternator failure could really mess your trip up... :banghead: I was lucky that mine went after I got home... :hop: I do know my M1009 loves to run about 75-80.. just as smooth as can be. See if there is a spare tire, jack, tire iron with it, if not bring one with you. (if you can) I was checking fluids, kicking tires, and such everytime I stopped. I figure I estimated between 16-18 MPG, but alot of that my have to do with the higher speed. Although I only get a consistant 16 around town... so who knows, that may be unique to my M1009 or my driving habits... [^]

Another handy thing would be to find friends (from online or however) that may be along your path and willing to help. Get phone #'s, and addy's just in case. Most of my trip was overnight, but everyone on my path was willing to get that 3am call if need be...



Hope this helps... and drive safe!

Have a copy of your vehicle's Operators Manual with you for reference in case you need it. I expect an M1009 is close enough to civilian to not seem real strange. Picking up my deuce, I was happy to have something on which to to fall back.

Aside from the blackout light switches, there is nothing different about driving the 1009 vs its Civvy counterpart.

I'd suggest keeping your speed to 60 mph or less. The truck can cruise all day long at 65 mph, but, since you don't know the truck, it would be wise not to push it...especially on its maiden 600 mile voyage. Good luck. I bet you'll be fine. The M1009s are great highway vehicles.

Bruce has a point.... I will say that for the first 100 miles or so on my trip I did do just that... but there came a point with 1100 miles to go, and a time deadline, (not to mention getting run over) that I made the executive decision to bump it up a bit...

fill her up, bring some oil and coolant, spar tire, and GAS (diesel) IT!!! my m1009 will do 85 no problem all day long.

Thanks guys! I am really looking forward to this trip.

Since I'm flying into Oakland (Yuck), I will be packing my M1911A1 45cal. I bought a one day pass for the trip from the DMV for $15.00. It allows you to drive your unregistered vehicle from point A to point B legally. This 1009 has not been titled yet.

Warren