Should I take this truck on a road trip?

[Buggyman]

I am planning a trip from Lexington Kentucky to Grand Isle LA which is about 80 miles SOUTH of New Orleans. I plan to visit some friends in Dothan AL and stop by Baton Rouge on the return trip, its going to be about 2300 miles round trip. My only options for transportation is my 98 Ranger or my dads 2004 F150. I would love to take the ranger since its a super cab and I have two friends coming along, but it has 215,000 miles on it and some brown crud in the antifreeze that comes back after flushing. The F150 has only 40K miles and is in mint condition, but gets 15 MPG and is a tight squeeze for 3 people and 36+ hrs of driving over the next week

How do you think my ranger would do? Its a 4x4 V6 manual. Last time I drove this route with it was when it had 150,000 miles and my clutch bit the dust once I reached Mississippi. It gets about 18-19 MPG on the interstate. I just dont want to break down halfway.
Thanks for any tips

 

[86ford]

go over the truck with a fine tooth comb and replace anything that needs replaced. mite cost a few 100 bucks but its well worth it. flush the fluids ALL the fluids etc.

86

 

[triumphrider-1]

I took a trip from my house to Charleston SC and back last year with no glitches (1100 miles roughly each way).

Things I did before the trip:
-changed oil and filter
-changed transmission fluid and filter
-flushed the coolant and ran a cleaner through it, then flushed that and added new coolant (my brown crap went away after I used the cleaner)
-rotated tires
-checked all other fluids and toped off where necessary
-made sure all lights were in proper working order, and brought spares.

Something you may want to check is your spare, I did not do that before the trip, but had something happened I would have been screwed (it only had a couple pounds of air in it this summer).

 

[bobbywalter]

its hot.


make sure the clutch on the fan is good.


flush the cooling system well, have a shop do it if you cant and put a new t stat in.


if you been keepin up on oil changes and its running ok this wont be hard on it at all driving legal speeds.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I would take the F-150, personally I as a passenger I would rather sit in the middle of it than in the back jumpseat of a Ranger. It has many fewer miles and is in better shape... for me it would be a easy call.

The brown stuff in the coolant is a red flag, if it comes back pretty quick after flushing, it will get really nasty after 36 hours of consistant run time. At least get it checked out before you leave if you do take it.

But I already own both, borrowing someone elses truck makes me leary in case something would happen to it.

 

[truckman]

If it was me i'd just drive it but i just don't worrie, Hell i drive my shit box tercel 4-5 thousand miles a month across 3 states don't even have a spare tire and i finally have 4 or the same size tire. all i do is add oil when the light comes on add gas change the filters every 20,000 miles or so, and the oil just cycles its self about every 1000 miles.

But if you like to play it safe NOTE THE SMART WAY. Change the oil check coolent level, look for any leaks aka the water pump,trans pinion seal, oil pain. Once you checked every of major importance check all fluids and top off or change if it needs it. Next look at ur belt if it looks bad replace it and buy an extra to keep in the truck. If it doesn't look bad buy an extra and keep it in the truck along w/ tools to change it. I've always carried an extra set of belts in every thing i own. Next check your tires make sure they look good no funny wear. Check air pressure, jack up the front end give every thing a good greasing. check the oil and some gas and u should be good to go.

Don't be afraid to take it on a long trip heck if its been running good this long it'll keep going.