In every state I've lived in, if you want to title and register a vehicle from another state, they have to visually verify the VIN's. I think you're going to have to have it shipped, and I agree with Josh that you won't save anything by driving it. Put a pencil to it, gas at $3.80/gal and figure at most 10 mpg; hotels, meals, etc. Plus that many days off work where you could be earning money.

Crossing the Sierras and the Rockies in a truck with unknown brake condition would be enough to have me writing the check.

 

ACT 1:
Payson, AZ, a late Sunday afternoon, 19...95?
ME: "Gas gage work?"
PO: "Yeah, works fine."

ACT 2, SCENE 1:
About 10 mi. east of Quartzsite, AZ, about 4 hours later, easing to the shoulder of westbound I-10, not enough momentum to crest the hill & coast into town.

ACT 2, SCENE 2:
Me, walking along shoulder of I-10 with a real bad case of gout, pitch black, wearing dark clothing. Trucks are the only traffic, they go REAL FAST on I-10 at midnight. The desert is VERY NOISY with animal sounds when there are no trucks around. Only 5 miles to go...... will they ever find my body?

ACT 3:
Corona, CA, the next morning. Arrive home, call in sick to work, collapse in bed.

 

Seems to me that all the good advice given will nonetheless be ignored by the OP.

 

when i titled my f100 it was just a paperwork and money exercise, nothing more, and that was title about a month after i had it shipped from idaho to north dakota, so as long as i have a title, it should be good,

as for road trip, i know what you are all saying, and in the long run it would be better to ship it if i buy it, but no were near as much fun,

i came to america for a road trip in 2008, bought a conversion van cheap as it had an unknown running issue, and set off in said van, visited the shoulder 3 times aand was towed in 3 times, but 6000 miles later i was still glad i had been on my road trip, so even after all said and advise, i would still enjoy the road trip, and if i go for the panel as well, i can drive it north up the pacific highway,

 

Sounds like a plan. Might be a good idea to find members along the path in case you need some hard to find parts, or if nothing else it would make for a cool road trip to post on here as you meet a bunch of people

If you're looking for the road trip and know what it might entail and still love the idea, then by all means go for it and have a great adventure. I'm generally the same way, I have a tendency to test out things on long trips that have to be done in a night that I shouldn't, lol. I think more than anything my opinion is effected by the road trip I had a week ago where it was 1,000 miles in a day. Spent like 19 hours driving. Burnt me out on the idea a little, lol. Not the first time I made it, not the last, but right now break time for me, lol.

 

road trips are fun, and i could do with a break from work, 15000miles in the last month alone, i could take a week off and it would be fun meeting members along the route, thats a great idea. is the f500 any bigger cab wise, or are all the cab bits interchangable with the f100

 

Cab is the same until the F700 I believe where the mounting bits are different.

Not sure what route you're heading but I might be on it (if you go through the north though I'd be a bit out the way, Sheridan is pretty close to all the main roads that go through)

 

the f500 is in LAKE MATHEWS, California, the panel i want to look at is in San Andreas, california, so would be going north in cali, then go north east, i've driven in 39 of the 48 states of mainland america, 2 i need to visit are WY and UT, so that ticks another mission on the road trip, so sheridan would be a good place to pass through and maybe stop for a night, any cheap motels in town

 

That thing will be huge lol

 

The only Lake Matthews in CA that I'm aware of is south of the 60 freeway...south of Riverside CA (south of I-10), about 65 miles east of the Pacific Ocean. I live about 25 miles west of Lake Matthews, bought a '63 Galaxie off of ebay there.

San Andreas is in the CA gold rush country-Sierra foothills, on Hwy 49 ENE of Stockton. It's rather remote, not an easy town to get to. If in no hurry, you can take I-80 west to Auburn, then south on Hwy 49 to San Andreas.

Then from San Andreas, southwest to I-5, then south to the 60 freeway interchange just east of downtown LA.

There's a Holiday Inn in Sheridan WY, stayed there a coupla days when on a road trip thru MT and WY. North of Sheridan in MT is Little Bighorn (formerly Custer) Battlefield...an eerie place to visit.

I've driven throughout the US, Canada, England, Wales, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany.

 

The trip you're contemplating reminds me of the movie "The Straight Story", based on a guy who rode a riding lawn mower 240 miles to visit his brother! (true story, btw) Slow, high chance of mechanical breakdowns, and a big wad of cash to continuously feed that motor with $3 a gallon fuel. ($3.90 here in CA).
+1 on the odds it will be quite a bit more expensive to drive than ship.

But life experience/adventures are priceless, if that's what you're after.

 

i see you guy keep saying about fuel 3.90 a gallon, to me thats so cheap, its like water, back home its around the $9 a gallon at the moment, at $9 a gallon it would be to much to do the trip, but at such a low cost, i have no problem with filling up many, meny times

 

the guy has been trying to sell ffor so long, and the price has been dropping over the weeks, i will go in with a real low ball offer and work up if needed, so it seems like it could be a bargin and i get a great adventure out of it as well, by having a hire car when i make first contact in cali, i can get to the stores to buy any parts i need, and once i'm happy, i can drop car off at hire company and set off, if i need towing in a few times on route so be it, i'll take tools with me and a few basics to do simple repairs if i need to.

 

If you get it and go for the road trip adventure. Be sure to take a camera and take lots of pictures and video and post everything.
I'm not sure I would be brave enough for that long a trip, but it could be a very memorable adventure. If you are aware of and prepared for possible trouble it could be fun.

 

as it is, i came to america not knowing anyone, so i'm on an adventure everyday, driving the highways of america, never knowing if my semi will be on the shoulder for a few hours, so i guess i'm more at ease with the trip than most would be, so me its just another bunch of miles under my belt, with the possibility of a break down and meet some new friends, you never know, i could end up finding a wife and end up getting a green card rather than just a visa, have to look on the bright side of life