My first road trip with my vintage pup

[phantom_yj]

We're making a 3000 mile road trip in a few weeks, we're going from British Columbia to Saskatchewan, and returning through Montana, Idaho and Washington. We'll see mountainous terrain and prairie. I'm not expecting it to be too hot weather wise however, I am wondering what I can do to hopefully avoid any major problems with my 40 year old PUP.

I've repacked the wheel bearings and installed bearing buddies, I've got new brakes on the TV. I've stripped as much gear weight as I am comfortable with leaving at home.

What else can I do? All input is welcome as all of the camping I've done in the last 15 years has been long weekends within a couple of hours from home.

 

[phantom_yj]

I forgot to mention that I serviced the whiffle tree and my tire pressure is bang on

 

[RotnMom]

I'm no mechanic, but I did want to wish you a safe and fun fun fun trip!!

If I had one that old, I might check in with a trailer company, and ask if they could inspect all the critical things on the trailer itself. Test all the appliances and gas lines, water system, outlets & lights, etc. Otherwise, make sure your tires are good and don't exceed 65 mph. These trailers are NOT made for high speeds! Oh, and a swaybar if not already using one.

Good luck and photos would be great when you get home (or even along the way)!!

 

[phantom_yj]

Thanks! I'm sure it's going to be a great trip.
The appliances and electrical all work great, I've replaced almost everything in the PUP. It's just the running gear I was concerned with. I was just looking for someone to chime up about something I have overlooked

 

[PNW Family]

Sounds like you hit all the main points. My suggestion is kind of out there, but I say it because I've seen it with cars, and PUP suspensions aren't all that different:

Check to make sure your u-bolts and springs are in good shape. Just the sheer age of the unit is my concern. Plenty of years for them to rust and crack, unless of course they've been maintained and/or replaced.

 

[phantom_yj]

Thanks for that info PNW

 

[Faced]

Just did a VERY similar trip last summer.
From Winnipeg to Vancouver and back over 2 weeks. What a great trip it was. Towed my vintage 70s Lionel with a Santa Fe SUV, my best advice it remember that you are towing a camper. And if you can go 8 hours driving without one, chances are after 5 or 6 with the camper, youll want to stop.

Food we picked up locally on the way, other then some drinks and sandwiches for just in case moments.

You can NEVER have too many tarps. Our vintages can sometimes spring a leak at the worst of times, dont get angry tho, just be prepared and ready to deal with it and move on.

I cant say I know of many people that go as far as your going, that have not had a flawless trip. Myself I almost lost a wheel in Kamloops, and had racooons attack the missus in Hope.

Make sure you have the proper wrenches for your spare tire and your camper tire.
DW says bring oven mits, now that I think of it thats one handy thing to carry in the pup. (always burning myself on something)

Still memories for life, for our family. Enjoy your trip and be careful going thru Alberta at the moment with all that is going on.

 

[chippers]

I admire your sense of adventure!
We 've made it our mission to see all the OH KY and IN state parks, mostly because I'm too nervous about towing our vintage PUP more than 4-5 hours.

Good luck!

 

[phantom_yj]

Thanks Faced
Those Hope raccoons are a wild bunch, I live about 45 minuted west of Hope.
I'm not looking for a flawless trip, stuffs gonna happen, but I just want to be sure I've dotted all my t's and crossed all my i's and can avoid as much as possible

 

[phantom_yj]

Thanks Chippers
I did a t on of work on the pup last year, so I'm somewhat confident it can handle the trip. If not, I'll have a good argument for DW to let me buy a new project

 

[Faced]

Curious what is your destination in Sask? Is it family or is there a place to go see?

Been tryin to plan into Sask, but really nothing jumping out as exciting to see

Another real good thing to have, espically now days. Is gasbuddy app for your smartphone if you have one. Can end up saving you plenty of $$ on fuel over the entire trip.

 

[phantom_yj]

Curious what is your destination in Sask? Is it family or is there a place to go see?

Been tryin to plan into Sask, but really nothing jumping out as exciting to see

Another real good thing to have, espically now days. Is gasbuddy app for your smartphone if you have one. Can end up saving you plenty of $$ on fuel over the entire trip.

There is no place I've found yet that makes SK a destination
I have family there in a small town called Porcupine Plain.

I'm going to look into that app, thanks for the tip

 

[phantom_yj]

Well we made it back in one piece and the pup performed magnificently! The the radiator in the TV is another story, but we made it home safely!

 

[blackbear]

I heard that area is especially beautiful . Maybe someday .

 

[West Coast Canuck]

My wife has tons of family in Sask in and around Melfort...their family had a huge Homestead and they did a family reunion there back in 1998. Never did a trip there with our TT yet.... wife would like to, my concern are the storms that we encountered as we travelled thru Alberta and Sask back in 1998. Fortunately we not pulling our pup at the time because we were caught briefly in a bad convergence of 3 storm cells in Alberta. Never seen anything like it, we had a cell following us, one from the North and a massive storm coming up from the South.....i actually sped up to 140 kmh to try to beat the storm. Lightning hit a telephone pole across a 3 lane highway that we were on just as we were about to pass it... super freaky but amazing at the same time. We almost made it and got caught in it for about 3 minutes, sky went dark with large fairly soft hail hitting the car and then heavy rain and wind. The weirdest thing was that everything in my rear-view mirror went black, could not see the road behind me, ahead of me, I could see light and kept racing for it. We were East of Drumheller at the time and when we got to Calgary, the tunnels were flooded and there was still hail on the ground everywhere... that was the weekend of the Calgary Stampede. I wondered why accommodations were so expensive. We have been Leary on crossing the Prairies since. On that note , I am glad your trip went well.