Driving ~6400kms for christmas, Anything mechanically I should worry about?

[99Yuk]

Well, this trip is over.
7840kms round trip.

It took three days to get there and three days to get back. I have numb bum!

I love my truck! Plenty of power and 4x4 to pass those imports in the snow. Plenty of space in the interior for the kids and dogs, etc.
On the Newfoundland island I went from sun shine to rain to snow blizzard in one hour, and then I went though it again. Comming back thru Quebec/Ontario there was a massive snow storm, but we pulled right thru it!

And I packed up a massive safety kit, and didn't have to use a single item.
The only trouble I had was while in Marystown, NL, the rear axle was acting like it was locked up, wheel hop while turning corners, etc. I brought it to a local shop who charged me $160 to adjust the rear brakes, and replace the pinion seal. Not bad at all!

The lady working at Marine Atlantic (The ferry) who gave us our tickets said that in all of her 17 years of working the drive thru ticket booth, she has never seen Christmas lights on a vehicle.
Then the ferry crashed into the dock as we watched from the top deck. Punched a 1foot hole in the hull 15feet above the water line. Ferry service was shut down for three days after that. We were lucky that we were on that last ferry, we made it in time for Christmas, others didn't.

Goobies, NL. Gas/washroom stop.
These ferrys are huge! See that transport in the background? Compare that to the size of the ferry!
Newfoundland alegedly has alot of moose. This was the only moose that we saw.

All in all a good trip. Nothing major happened, and it wasn't me in the ditch, no accidents, no nothing, just us mosying along at 10 over the speed limit. Pretty uneventfull really.

 

[92__silverado]

Glad the trip was so uneventful. Sounds like kind of a fun excursion honestly, glad you did not have to use any of your safety equipment. If i had not bought a Tahoe while you were on your excursion this would definitely have sealed the deal in my mind. Congrats on your trip, and welcome back!

 

[99Yuk]

BTW, If anyone was kinda curious to know what a trip like this costs, I've updated my estimate to reflect actual costs. It can be found HERE.

Glad the trip was so uneventful. Sounds like kind of a fun excursion honestly, glad you did not have to use any of your safety equipment. If i had not bought a Tahoe while you were on your excursion this would definitely have sealed the deal in my mind. Congrats on your trip, and welcome back!

Thanks. It was fun, and I'm glad to be back home.

 

[92__silverado]

Expensive trip for sure. Wow. The fuel and ferry prices really knock it up there. I guess one man alone could knock down the fuel cost slightly, as well as the food and if you didn't have to ride the ferry it would help bring the price down. You got me thinking I would like to do something like this in the states.

 

[ravingmadman]

Nicely done. You know if you hadn't packed any of that stuff though, you'd have needed it all... Murphy's Law sucks.

 

[99Yuk]

Expensive trip for sure. Wow. The fuel and ferry prices really knock it up there. I guess one man alone could knock down the fuel cost slightly, as well as the food and if you didn't have to ride the ferry it would help bring the price down. You got me thinking I would like to do something like this in the states.

I'd actually recommend that someone do a trip like this.. It's not as bad as you might think.. I just took my time, made sure I was prepared for anything that may come up, and I used the GPS attractions/fuel feature alot.
It was pretty cool having the gps though. I'd hit a major city, click on attractions, and it would point out the list of tourist traps in the city, I'd pick out the one we wanted, add it as a waypoint, and follow the arrows/voice. I got to see/visit many places that otherwise we would have just driven by.
I could have saved about $300 by not taking a bunk for the ferry crossings, but after spending two days in the truck, a bunk with a private shower was a good thing!

---------- Post added at 10:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:03 AM ----------

Nicely done. You know if you hadn't packed any of that stuff though, you'd have needed it all... Murphy's Law sucks.

Haha, You know it! Yup, I was thinking the same thing, if I didn't have that stuff, murphy's law would have bit me in the ass for sure!