Prepping for a long drive

[bigred88]

I'm going to be moving out to California in a few months, and I wanted to know if there is anything more than routine maintenance that anyone would recommend I do before making the drive. I have an 88 K5. It runs well enough around town (as it should- the engine was just replace a year and a half ago), but I don't want to risk any break down on the way, especially since I'll be making the trip with who will then be my wife of less than one week. Any thoughts?

 

[dyeager535]

Take your truck for a couple of long runs....100 miles plus. Up hills, down hills, flat ground, hot weather (if possible), cold weather. Basic tune up if you haven't anytime in the near past (plugs, wires, cap, rotor, fuel filter), and a good visual inspection of the truck...brake lines, fuel lines, vacuum lines, electrical wires you can see, tires for objects that have penetrated, and so on.

Anything that doesn't happen in that, is complete chance and nothing you could prepare for.

Save up money so if something major dies (transmission, t-case, etc.) you have the money to cover the expense of paying someone to replace it, and the lodging, food, time off work, etc., that invariably comes with being stuck.

 

[imiceman44]

I'm going to be moving out to California in a few months, and I wanted to know if there is anything more than routine maintenance that anyone would recommend I do before making the drive. I have an 88 K5. It runs well enough around town (as it should- the engine was just replace a year and a half ago), but I don't want to risk any break down on the way, especially since I'll be making the trip with who will then be my wife of less than one week. Any thoughts?

As was mentionned, test your truck for longer than you have so far, but also try and find people to contact on your way.
Where in CA are you going to?
I live in northern CA and I travel the I80 to Salt lake city all the time, if that will be your route, I can give you my cell phone and you can contact me if you need help.
I do that trip at least once a week sometimes twice a week. So the chance of catching me on the road is pretty strong.

 

[bigred88]

iceman- thanks for the offer! I'll be heading down further south to the Vandenberg area though, so I'll be driving mostly on I70 and I15. dyeager- thanks for the advice. I'm a little worried about the tranny- its got 161K on it, and I may be towing a small U-Haul trailer.

 

[4X4HIGH]

iceman- thanks for the offer! I'll be heading down further south to the Vandenberg area though, so I'll be driving mostly on I70 and I15. dyeager- thanks for the advice. I'm a little worried about the tranny- its got 161K on it, and I may be towing a small U-Haul trailer.

Install a good stacked plate tranny cooler, the larger the better. The 700R4 DOES NOT like heat, it would be nice to install a trans temp gauge also so you can monitor the trans temp and pull over if it starts getting too hot before you smoke a trans. This is the one i would recommend. http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=BMM-70266&N=700+115&autoview=sku

 

[imiceman44]

iceman- thanks for the offer! I'll be heading down further south to the Vandenberg area though, so I'll be driving mostly on I70 and I15. dyeager- thanks for the advice. I'm a little worried about the tranny- its got 161K on it, and I may be towing a small U-Haul trailer.

Yeah I only occasionnaly go that way maybe once a month.
So if you are worried about the tranny, you could do what Scott said and be confident it will be fine.
If you don't want to or don't have the time, then don't use OD unless it's perfectly flat or downhill, if you feel you are on a hill that is causing you to shift a lot up and down hold it in that lower gear manually until you finish it.
Hunting for gears is the problem with the 700, it's what gets it hot.
I would at least do a fluid change and filter for the tranny to start it with fresh fluid.

 

[dyeager535]

One thing to mention is that you've got an '88. Unless it's been swapped out for something older (fairly unlikely) your 700 is a lot better than the earlier ones that gave them their horrible reputation.

It's no 4L80E, but it's still a decent tranny. I'd say 161K COULD be pushing it if original (you can always crawl under and see if there is a tag on it, or it's painted at all which indicates a rebuild) but if it's been maintained/treated well, 200K is easily possible. But at that point, the transfercase is just as likely to fail as the tranny, and IMO it's a just chance whether or not it makes it if there is no indication of abuse or failure now.

 

[Thunder]

Change your fluids! engine oil, Tranny, xfer case, and rear diff, I would never think of towing across 3 or 4 states without fresh clean fluids. Lube front end.
Also check/lube U joints!