Cross Country Trip w/4.0 Mustang - Reflections

[linesma]

I just completed my move from California to Virginia with myself, two dogs, and my Mustang. I had an interesting drive. In the trunk was a 2'X4' fully loaded duffle bag, large Samsonite suitcase, small Samsonite suitcase, 2 ton hydralic jack, 20" widescreen LCD computer monitor, and 5 lbs bag of dog food. In the back seat was my large gaming computer, garment bag of uniforms, laptop bag, and a small duffle bag. All this gear and the 2 dogs weighed about 500lbs. Needless to say, the car was loaded down. It had no problems with the mountains, I was able to maintain 80 mph 95% of the time. It only had a slight problem going through the Continental Divide in Colorado. I averaged 26.5 mpg using 90 to 91 octane gas. The only problems I had were the following: 1. The automatic transmission needed to be adjusted in Nebraska. The tranny was conatantly shifting up and down. This is to expected when you go up a hill, but it was happening on level road way. The dealership reprogramed the computer, and that took care of it. 2. The front end needed alignment. The dealership in Iowa, had to modify the front end in order to align the wheels, par directions from Ford. As the car came from the factory, you could adjust the toe (front to back alignement of the tire), but not the camber (top to bottom alignment of the tire). So they had to modify the camber area of the front suspension in order to make this adjustment. 3. Wiper blades (factory originals) died somewhere in Indiana. Total out-of-pocket costs for repairs was $200. This is the third time I did this drive, and I have to say that it was by far the most fun. This car was a blast to drive even loaded down. I love my Mustang.

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[07 Stang]

I know you were weighed down, but what was your average gas mileage?

[linesma]

My average MPG was 26.5. That was with the A/C blowing, using the cruise control, and loaded down.

[cam2904]

Not bad mpg wlecome to the east coast. what branch?

[linesma]

Thanks for the welcome cam2904. I am in the Marine Corps, and it is my second time stationed at Quantico, VA. The traffic here is much less than LA's. I do not miss it at all. Granted, I only ran into it on the week-ends, I was stationed at 29 Palms aka the middle of nowhere Mojave Desert, but it still sucked

[oshkoshbajawsh]

iowa and indiana? why did you go all the way out of your way for those states? might as well come to minnesota if you were in the area.. and what kind of dogs chiauawas.. howd you fit all that

[linesma]

I went to Iowa to visit my family. If I had known you were from Minnesota Oshkoshbajawsh, I would have visited you too. My family lives about 2 hours from the Twin Cities on I-35. I have two Beagles. One rode up front, and there was a a bag on the floor in front of him, and the other was in the back seat. As far as how I fit everything into the car, I just pretended I was loading gear into a C-130 and played tetris. It all fits, but there is not room for anything else. I had to ship my foot locker containing my field gear to my new address.

[ndnboy]

sounds like a blast, welcome to the DC area, the beltway may not be as bad as LA but it still sucks at times...LOL!

[linesma]

I had a good time driving. With the 800W Infinity System blasting out both kinds of music, Rock and Hard Rock, the road just flew by. My male beagle enjoyed singing (howling), along with Led Zepplin's "Immigrant Song".

[oshkoshbajawsh]

wow where in iowa mason city.. 2 hours from twin cities must be way north in iowa.