Guys, I bought a new/used truck from Florida and I'm bringing her back home to her birth place, lovely Flint Michigan (well not quite Flint but close enough). It's a 96 Chevy bagged crew cab with 454 and she'll need some light work but just cosmetic stuff.

My plan is to fly into Orlando on Monday get the truck and just start driving north for 12 or so hours. I'll sleep (probably at a truck stop since I'm trying to do this on the cheap) and then finishing my trip on Tuesday. I know your asking youself why did a buy a truck so far away but its because everything up here is a giant ball of rust and I'm always up for a stupid adventure.

Anyway, here is my question. My plan is to stop at the first Sears or Walmart to pick up some tools and stuff to keep in the truck with me. Just the minimum type stuff, but what is the general consensus on what I should get? This is what I'm thinking:

Duct Tape (of course), Cheap wrench and socket set, big adjustable wrench, cheap screwdriver set, a thing of antifreeze, a quart of oil and a quart of trans fluid... Maybe some zip ties. Missing anything? Remember, I'm trying to roll on the cheap.

Also, any of you Vortec 454 guys, what kind of MPG are you pulling unloaded on the highway?

That small list is good, but id also stop in at a autozone and get some radiator hoses(never know) and belts.


with that 454 you arent going to get very good mileage, figure less than 10 on the highway.

Sorry about a reality check, but you are buying a dually so MPGs shouldn't be in your thoughts. Turned off, rolling down hill, with a tail wind you will not get any better than 10.

for a small comparison, i have a SMALL BLOCK 350 in my dually, im lucky to get 14 highway with the wind on my back.

LMAO, Mine must be special ???

I averaged 13.2 on my CA to TN
trip last June in my 454 Dually.

I get around 11 driving in town
to work and back and 9 towing.

I'd put you up for the night if
you were coming bye, but I'm
on the wrong end of TN for ya.

I took nothing on my trip except
a Serp. Belt Tool mainly because
of the Road Hazard my Insurance
provides. Might wanna check into
that because I'm covered up to
30 days from date of purchase
without even having a policy as
long as I have existing polices.

Best of luck to ya and take pic's

Wife went on trip with me and
her exact words afterwards was
"Where are we getting a vehicle
from next time?" (I'm so lucky)

CC

Yeah, what did you pick up in Florida? Sounds good. Good luck, have a safe trip.

congrats on the truck man. pics... yea 10mpg safe bet. have a safe trip !

I will start a fresh topic on Monday and document my trip home, complete with updates (*and pics) where ever I can grab some free wireless.

I bought a 96 Chevy Crew cab 2wd that is already bagged. My original intent was to buy one and do everything myself so I bought a 95 last year that needed some rust replacement and other stuff but I quickly found that when I weld I basically make holes and magma. That combined with my lack of time meant the truck, even though it was a diesel and ran like a top, had to be sold in lieu of something more done.

This one is mechanically sound and the body just needs some odds and ends fixed up plus I want to change some stuff around, make it my own type thing. I'm pretty excited.

I wasn't too worried about the MPG since this is my 2nd vehicle, I was more curious then anything else. I just plan on driving it to work a couple of days a week and having something kinda cool to cruise my family in when we check out car shows and such.

Thanks for all the support guys, keep your eyes peeled for the thread about my trip.

mine has a 454 in it and on road trips i can go about 320 miles on a tank of gas. right about 12 mpg and thats running about 75 with the cruise set.. and not getting overaly excited to step into.. basic essentials would be the small assortment of tools, a belt possibly, check the one on it before you roll out, check the oil and tranny fluid. a gallon of antifreeze if needed and prolly have a quart of each like you said..

hope all goes well on your trip and be safe... post lots of pics..

Good luck on your trip. You may be bringing the truck back home but it's heart is from just up the road from me in Tonawanda,NY. Can't wait to see some pics. When I moved to NY from NC I averaged 8.3 mpg. Of course most of my trip was through the mountains. You may want o bring some extra air line and a few fitting just in case as well.

post some pics of the truck your going to get...alot of the ppl on this forum have seen alot of the duallys out there and can tell you if the truck has had recent problems or if they know any insite on it

if its a real long trip i suggest having a small oilservice done to the truck before the trip just to spot stuff like brakepads thickness and leaks to grease the fittings and check/replace blown lightbulbs
bring lots of bottled water (for youreself and to trow in the radiator if needed) engineoil transoil stopleak for the radiator brakefluid zipties gaffatape steelwire a piece of threaded rod with some nuts and big rings hoseclamps 2nd sparetire (whont be the first time someone drives across one piece of glas with front and rearwheel ) an old (big piece of ) innertube and knife/scissors chewinggum (to fix holes) flashlight/hazzardlight spare fuses basic toolbox a good bottlejack (the stock screwjack isnt real safe and often missing) a beachtowel and plastic trashbag (to lay on under the truck ) and a piece of plywood (to put under the jack on soft soil) a filled gascan and wetwipes/babywipes
check if you got the right lugwrench that fit all the lugnuts on youre wheels (i seen different sizes lugnuts and anti theft nuts on there) most of the stuff you can get localy so you dont have to haul it with you on the plane and leave room for underwear and fresh t shirts sunglasses favorite cd's/mp3player (verry important) and the sorts

As far as pictures, I don't have any intersting ones besides the ones in the ad. If you go to mautofied and search "bagged dually" its the white one marked sold. Besides taking all the stickers off I think I'm going to get rid of the simulators and just run black steel wheels with stock chevy center caps. Also its a chevy, I verifed it with carfax but that grille is screaming GMC at me? Finally I want to rearrange the tank setup and finish the bed.

Anyways, thanks again for all the suggestions guys.

heres the truck folks, i like it man, congrats on the new purchase! it looks like it has a big ass dent in the back passenger door though?

http://www.mautofied.com/1996-Chevrolet ... 100343031/

And yes that looks like a gmc grill, as both gmc and chevy are both gm you can swap grills out pretty easy.