Well with my trip set to begin in a week, but now being the legal owner of the next terrible idea, I figured now is a great time to start a thread on the new purchase. Hoping I can learn a thing or three before-hand. After getting far too in-over-my-head on an FJ60 that needed extensive rust repair and a tearful good bye to that truck, I needed a replacement. Living in New Jersey, a replacement wasn't exactly going to be an easy ask considering the new requirement was no rust; and thanks to the paltry sum I got for the Cruiser in a million pieces, a low budget.
And with the intention of researching cars before the trip, I found the (hopefully) perfect replacement for the FJ60. I wanted something that we could camp in, and since getting the FJ60 my girlfriend and I got a dog, which meant space for 2 people and a pup. Add in wanting something neat (read: rad era or earlier) and stick shift, the choices narrowed down to basically full size pickup trucks and square body Suburbans. And I don't have the money for what folks want for clean 'Burbans. Then this showed up. An truck. a 1994 Ford F-150 Regular Cab Long Bed 4x4 with a 300I6 and a 5 speed manual. Slow, but faster than an FJ60. Big, but not as big as a Suburban, and the exact real-life depiction of what an 8 year old would draw if you asked them to draw "a pickup truck." And, most importantly, basically no rust. I sent the buddy we're staying with in Washington to take a look at the truck, who basically told me if I didn't buy it he would, and suddenly I had a title being mailed to me.
To seal the deal, the previous owner Zac was amazing to talk to and is honestly more excited for this trip than I am. He showed me endless receipts, gave me amazing answers to anything I asked for, and most importantly wants pictures of the return trip. The truck isn't perfect, it seems to consume oil at...a rate? He said a quart every other fillup, but with 38 gallons of dual tank-ed fuel capacity that seems like a pseudo-reasonable rate depending on fuel economy. Which is...lower than anticipated. He's getting 8-10mpg on his daily 6 mile commute as his main mileage adder. I'm sure the truck isn't warming up fully during that, but I would think it should be a tad higher. Then again, 33s and a 4" lift will impact economy, as will the brick of a camper shell, so maybe it's my own optimistic projection.
Speaking of, the camper shell. This is what I'm most excited about. It leaks a bit, so it'll need to be rebuilt and sealed, but the majority of what I actually want to do to build out this truck is based on setting up the shell for camping. But that's later, and assuming both the truck and ourselves make the 3000+ miles across the country.
We head out to Washington in a week, and on the 6th of June we start heading back, camping in Butte, MT, Yellowstone, and somewhere in south central South Dakota before staying in a hotel and with a friend for the last 2 nights. I'm sure plenty of folks have done this drive, so any pitfalls? Anything I should watch out for? Any hidden gems worth the time addition? Anyone I can call if disaster strikes? Am I crazy?
