Hey All,

My XJ has 242K on the original engine and transmission and we are gonna be moving from East Coast to West Coast and we are still trying to decide to A either drive my Bessy to Laughlin, NV or rent a Jeep Grand Cherokee from Enterprise Rent A Car. I'm not 100% sure my XJ would make it driving Non-Stop for hours. Keeping in mind I will be traveling with my 80 Y/O Grandma (Spunky Lady! Not a sit around Grandma) And my 55 Y/O Mother. Im not the most mechanically inclined either. If I do drive my XJ, what kind of stuff should I carry along with me? ( I already know to carry a Air Filter, Oil, Power Steering Fluid, Brake Fluid, and Coolant.) Just want to get some opinions! Thanks Jeepstas!

 

Has anybody ever done anything like this?

 

Ive done it. I consider myself pretty handy in the heat of the moment though. and i'm able to rig my truck to limp it back to civilization from most any common failure. I carried spare sensors, a spare alternator, radiator hoses, all fluids and all tools i needed. (not that i had to use all those things)

10k miles in one month. 3 people in my rig, completely loaded down. I even wheeled it during that time. No major issues, but anything can happen.

My jeep had 242k miles on it at the beginning of the trip and I knew everything was in good shape when I left. Only thing that went was my a/c compressor clutch. I just made it to a parts store and replaced it.

Its an adventure, and anything can happen, you can only prepare yourself as best as you can.

 

Your rig can most likely make the trek with no problems, but you're going to have an 80 year old lady riding shotgun, I would rent to Grand for the comfort factor for you passengers.

 

just my opinion, although theres a very good chance you will have no problems, it almost borders on irresponsible to put a senior citizen in those conditions. if it was just you id say go for it but thats not something i would risk, suppose the worst, breakdown in 20 degree weather. not something i would want my mom or g,ma to endure rent the grand. although theres no guarantee you wont have any problems it certainly lessens the odds

and if you are carrying all those fluids because you need to add them on a regular basis than definitly rent the jeep

 

I just drove from SC to the Texas coast to Dallas to Las Vegas, the only problem was I got 19 MPG avg lol
Mine has 155K miles, original drive-train and a 3 inch lift.

Enjoyable drive, be sure to use cruise control

 

Shoulda stopped by... Smh

 

I would jump for joy if I had that kind of millage!

 

I'd say go for it! Drive her across country. I'd do a coolant flush first before starting though. And carry basic tools, a jack, flashlight, jumper cables, extra oil and tranny fluid.

But if you are that worried that Bessy won't make it, I'd agree with others that you should just rent out a car considering you'll have g-ma with you

 

I've driven my zj with 200k+ miles from South Dakota to NYC. The only issue I had was replacing the trac bar in New Jersey.... I replaced all the steering and trac bar before i left. I apparently chose a bad brand. Oh, and i found out my ac was shot while being stranded in traffic for 3 hours due to some dip that hit the toll booth for the bridge into Manhattan. Jeep outside temp read 104*. That sucked.... BAD!!

In march of this year, i drove from South Dakota to Salem, OR and pulled a fully loaded uhaul trailer back....

Only issue was bad gas mileage. Lol