5,000 mile road trip review. 5079.4 miles in 10 days

[Wild Horses 4x4]

Epic Adventure

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[Scopebit]

"Steak, potatoes and whiskey at night."

Well done! Epic trip, can't wait to take a similar adventure.

 

[2020FordRaptor]

5079.4 miles.
Pictures below.

Pensacola -> Killeen, Tx -> Carlsbad Caverns -> Phoenix, Az - Grand Canyon -> Zion -> Moab -> Arches -> Denver -> Breckenridge -> St. Louis -> Pensacola.


Needed a break before going home for the holidays. Picked a buddy up in Texas and hit the road for some camping, hiking, and skiing. Gotta love road tripping in -32°.

Bought the bronco back in September after ordering November 21’. As you can tell by the pics. I’ve definitely been putting the miles on it. Dealership couldn’t believe I took it in to get serviced already with 10k miles.

Brought the basics, cast irons, jet stove, chairs, table cold weather gear for skiing in CO.


Bought an air mattress on Amazon that fits jeeps and bronco’s. Installed some Paracord grab handles and hit the road.



MPG: headed northwest, I was getting about 18.5 - 19. 2.7 with Sasquatch. Whenever I was headed from Denver to St. Louis we were in a hell of a headwind. (During the massive cold front that hit the entire US). Averaged about 15.5mpg on that leg of the journey. That one hurt the wallet. Otherwise very happy with the gas consumption. I bought it for the capability not to save the planet.


The 10” air mattress slept great. One thing I wish I would’ve done prior to the trip was build a platform to level the trunk area with the back seats. Other than that, I put rocks under the rear tires to level the bed. Worked great.



The drive was incredible. The factory mud terrains rode great through all of the terrain I had it in. (Snowy fields, colorado snow storms, ridge trails in la cruces) I never once felt like I wasn’t in control. My buddy and I were the people in the left lane passing all of the jeeps going 65 in the snow covered lane. Loved every bit of that.



With all of the extra driving. I estimated we spent around $1200 on fuel for the trip total. Which was fine considering we saved so much money not getting hotel rooms. We also didn’t get fast food the entire trip. We lived on eggs by the campfire in the morning. Sandwiches throughout the day. Steak, potatoes and whiskey at night.



I built the platform I spoke about previously just this past weekend. Bought a 4’ x 8’ high density foam insulation board. Cut it to fit the width of the trunk area. Then cut into equal 24” sections. Hit it with some loctite spray adhesive then wrapped it with some spare fabric I had. It’s a pretty crude job. But I have bigger plans for that space later down the line (custom starboard drawer system).



The sync system was the weirdest part of the trip. I have so many gripes with the CarPlay in this vehicle. When connected wirelessly, the sound cuts out when going through congested cities or just stops working entirely. You can’t plug your phone in before the wireless CarPlay connects or else it won’t connect at all. There’s a learning curve to the wireless car play.



One thing I bought for my phone was the proclip dash mount with the magic mount. I bought the magic mount that has 12 magnets in it because I didn’t want my phone going anywhere on this trip. I’ll post pictures below of the mount. The fit is amazing, no wiggle, no sounds of any kind from it. Rock solid design.



WeatherTech mats saved me countless hours of cleaning post trip. WeatherTech has a reputation. No need to go into depth with this.



BUY A RADAR DETECTOR. Brought one on the trip and it’s a peace of mind luxury on long trips. You know what you can do when you can and you know when you can’t. That’s all I’ll say (governed to 101).



I know I’m missing so many things. I should’ve taken notes on the things I liked/didn’t like. But I was too busy having a good time. Please ask questions or feel free to share your holiday road trips. I did this trip pretty minimally. I like to make it up as I go on big trips. No need worrying about when you’ll get to where you’re going if you’re focused on how you’re getting there.

That's really neat!

 

[Rjacks258]

Very cool.

 

[BroncoTrail]

 

[Mike5681]

5079.4 miles.
Pictures below.

Pensacola -> Killeen, Tx -> Carlsbad Caverns -> Phoenix, Az - Grand Canyon -> Zion -> Moab -> Arches -> Denver -> Breckenridge -> St. Louis -> Pensacola.


Needed a break before going home for the holidays. Picked a buddy up in Texas and hit the road for some camping, hiking, and skiing. Gotta love road tripping in -32°.

Bought the bronco back in September after ordering November 21’. As you can tell by the pics. I’ve definitely been putting the miles on it. Dealership couldn’t believe I took it in to get serviced already with 10k miles.

Brought the basics, cast irons, jet stove, chairs, table cold weather gear for skiing in CO.


Bought an air mattress on Amazon that fits jeeps and bronco’s. Installed some Paracord grab handles and hit the road.



MPG: headed northwest, I was getting about 18.5 - 19. 2.7 with Sasquatch. Whenever I was headed from Denver to St. Louis we were in a hell of a headwind. (During the massive cold front that hit the entire US). Averaged about 15.5mpg on that leg of the journey. That one hurt the wallet. Otherwise very happy with the gas consumption. I bought it for the capability not to save the planet.


The 10” air mattress slept great. One thing I wish I would’ve done prior to the trip was build a platform to level the trunk area with the back seats. Other than that, I put rocks under the rear tires to level the bed. Worked great.



The drive was incredible. The factory mud terrains rode great through all of the terrain I had it in. (Snowy fields, colorado snow storms, ridge trails in la cruces) I never once felt like I wasn’t in control. My buddy and I were the people in the left lane passing all of the jeeps going 65 in the snow covered lane. Loved every bit of that.



With all of the extra driving. I estimated we spent around $1200 on fuel for the trip total. Which was fine considering we saved so much money not getting hotel rooms. We also didn’t get fast food the entire trip. We lived on eggs by the campfire in the morning. Sandwiches throughout the day. Steak, potatoes and whiskey at night.



I built the platform I spoke about previously just this past weekend. Bought a 4’ x 8’ high density foam insulation board. Cut it to fit the width of the trunk area. Then cut into equal 24” sections. Hit it with some loctite spray adhesive then wrapped it with some spare fabric I had. It’s a pretty crude job. But I have bigger plans for that space later down the line (custom starboard drawer system).



The sync system was the weirdest part of the trip. I have so many gripes with the CarPlay in this vehicle. When connected wirelessly, the sound cuts out when going through congested cities or just stops working entirely. You can’t plug your phone in before the wireless CarPlay connects or else it won’t connect at all. There’s a learning curve to the wireless car play.



One thing I bought for my phone was the proclip dash mount with the magic mount. I bought the magic mount that has 12 magnets in it because I didn’t want my phone going anywhere on this trip. I’ll post pictures below of the mount. The fit is amazing, no wiggle, no sounds of any kind from it. Rock solid design.



WeatherTech mats saved me countless hours of cleaning post trip. WeatherTech has a reputation. No need to go into depth with this.



BUY A RADAR DETECTOR. Brought one on the trip and it’s a peace of mind luxury on long trips. You know what you can do when you can and you know when you can’t. That’s all I’ll say (governed to 101).



I know I’m missing so many things. I should’ve taken notes on the things I liked/didn’t like. But I was too busy having a good time. Please ask questions or feel free to share your holiday road trips. I did this trip pretty minimally. I like to make it up as I go on big trips. No need worrying about when you’ll get to where you’re going if you’re focused on how you’re getting there.

Which air mattress did you get? I can't find one that would fit around the console well. Best option I've found is the DeepSleep system but that's a little pricey for as often as I will use it.

 

[Loganbachson]

Which air mattress did you get? I can't find one that would fit around the console well. Best option I've found is the DeepSleep system but that's a little pricey for as often as I will use it.

Sokeface 10inch Ultra Thick SUV Air Mattress Camping Bed, Air Mattress for Jeep JK JKU JL JLU Unlimited 4 Door Toyota 4runner Ford Bronco 2021 2022 Subaru Forester 1998 - 2023 https://a.co/d/eW9LptW

 

[Loganbachson]

Which air mattress did you get? I can't find one that would fit around the console well. Best option I've found is the DeepSleep system but that's a little pricey for as often as I will use it.

The one in the link has a cut out for the console and is super comfortable. Especially if you level the trunk with the seats.

 

[Skezzo]

Left Sarasota, FL on 12/30 going to Big Sky, MT. Arrived back in Sarasota, FL on 01/06. Awesome trip. No problems with soft top. Bronco (Wildtrak) run and run and run…

Mattress: https://www.rei.com/product/181266/hest-sleep-system-sleeping-pad
highly recommended.

Love the 40in double row LED light bar. Life saver late at night.

 

[swooshdave]

Left Sarasota, FL on 12/30 going to Big Sky, MT. Arrived back in Sarasota, FL on 01/06. Awesome trip. No problems with soft top. Bronco (Wildtrak) run and run and run…

Mattress: https://www.rei.com/product/181266/hest-sleep-system-sleeping-pad
highly recommended.

Love the 40in double row LED light bar. Life saver late at night.

I assume you slept in the back of the Bronco? Did you do anything to level the floor?

 

[Skezzo]

Yes, I did and no, not really. I just folded a towel accordingly and that helped. I have this sleep system (https://hest.com/products/hest-sleep-system) which has a pretty sturdy air mattress included, 'brigdeing' gaps and bumps. Love that thing. Together with this blanket (https://vectoroffroad.com/products/2-person-rtt-quilt) I slept like a stone.

I will drive up to Wisconsin soon and will use this set up again.

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