I was in the parking lot of the Nashville TN airport a couple of weeks ago. Parked there was a '70 F-250 4x4 Ranger. It was a really nice truck, 4-speed, air, (probably 360 or 390), lift kit, wheels, etc. What was unusual was the license plate was from Washington (state). I was trying to picture driving it that distance.

 

Drove my 67 from Wyoming to Omaha-800 miles with no air, radio, or sanity by the time I got home!! It had the 300 six in it, and I could go a whopping 60 mph! I think if it would have had a few more amenities, it woulndn't have been so bad.

 

I live due north or Raleigh NC, and believe my 66 would make it to the Pacific ocean and back if I were to head out there. These old trucks are a hardy bunch.

I would rather drive my car because it rides better and gets better gas mileage, but my truck would make it. IMHO


John

 

I tried driving my 70 Highboy last year from Billings, MT to the Bay Area, California. Unfortunately the freshly rebuilt engine's cam went flat in Elko. Tigerdan helped tow it home the rest of the way.

After having that repaired, I would trust it to drive to... Sacramento. Give me a few more thousand miles of experience and I may be willing to drive it anywhere (without selling my house for gas money.)

 

Yeah, there is that gas issue to think about!!

 

i got out of the service a few months ago and drove my beast from seattle to orlando. people said what? your driving your truck that far? i said "yes as a matter of fact i am" only problem was in yellowstone i ran low on oil, the valve covers leak, so it starting running rough, i'm talkin the oil was low. luckily they have gas stations inside the park, and i filled er back up. oh and a huge rear tire blowout going 75mph in kentucky. that was scary. talk about mellowing out to some simon and garfunkel while your buddy is in the passenger seat snoozin. then WHAM! SWERVING ALL OVER THE PLACE and i headed for the grass to get the heck off the road. slapped the spare on there and carried on into the wayward sun. there were times at night when the wind was still we would be hauling *** going 80 mph through the country, and hills were no problem either. we had a little cooler set up sitting on the transmission hump in the middle of the cab with some uh beverages, and also hit up mt rushmore along the way. but then 5 days after we get here my buddy has trouble finding a job so he wimps out and flys back home to washington. it was a fun trip in the ole f100 and the gas didnt cost me a dime. they have to pay to send you and your belongings back to your home of record, be it by plane train or automobile.......you just have to do alot of preventative maintanance before you leave, and inspect your vehicle, any vehicle that you plan to take on a long trip. even your belts, hoses, little stuff needs to be taken care of.

 

I have a pal who has driven the same 1954 F100 223/overdrive every day in LA traffic for 28 years. He's also driven it to NM, NV, AZ, even UT on several occasions.

It all depends on how vehicles are maintained. Some prolly won't make it out a the driveway, some will go anywhere.

In 1975, I drove an all original 1941 Packard (356 cid straight 8 with O/D) from the intersection of S/M Blvd and Ocean Av in Santa Monica to Chicago's Wacker Drive...and back again.

These two locations marked the beginning and end of Route 66.

In NM, some fellow asked me at a rest stop..."Did you bring that Packard all the way from CA?"

"No, I replied, it brought me!"

 

back when i was going to school and working in santa cruz i would drive from Orange county to santa cruz and back about 3 or 4 times a year, 450 miles EACH way, did 55 MPH and loved it, just the open road and me and my truck....