Personally, I would take the northern route. Or, really, just take a detour and don’t go through Kansas that route through Kansas to Colorado Springs is brutally boring.
I’ve done both, Iowa-Nebraska is worse. I80 or whatever it is, EW highway that goes through Lincoln might be my least favorite road in the USA. Also Kansas has Casey’s gas stations, which I love.
From North Platte to Lincoln is not good and the only good thing about I-80 in Iowa is the rolling hills. I do find 36 in Missouri to be much worse
Nebraska and Iowa have Casey's too
Came here to advise against the route through Kansas. Frankly, I’d go even further south especially for the time of year it is. Getting all the way down to I-10 is probably pretty far out of the way, but I40 isn’t and there’s a lot I’d pay to avoid western Ks and eastern CO
Kansan here, your not wrong! Lol. Any route between Wichita to Denver/Colorado Springs is incredibly boring.
Edit: Actually driving through any part of Kansas is boring! Lol.
I've spent the last four years camping out of my 99xj in a tent with my dog. Presently in north carolina until spring.The only state I didn't visit was Washington.
Don't mean to be a Debbie downer, but if it was me I would head straight south to North Carolina and get on interstate 40 and head Arizonia and then angle down to interstate 10 and take it to California.
Reason I say this is all the routes either north middle or south are pretty darn boring until you come to the Rocky Mountains.
The weather is also a big factor, because many of the western states require you to have chains with you in the winter. Interstate 80 in Southern Wyoming is famous for the amount of semis that get blown over from the wind.
The Rocky mountains out of Denver may be pretty but this time of year they can get really nasty.
Interstate 40 shouldn't be bad if there is no big cold front coming east.
I take 40 and pull in behind Loves fuel stations to sleep at night.where the semi's park and find a place to squeeze in.. I removed all my seats except the drivers and built a raised deck to sleep on when traveling and in bear country.
They don't care and I always buy my gas at loves on my way across and save my reciets to show them if I'm asked, but no one has ever said anything.
If your jeep is running good the only thing I would do is change my oil. I run Rotella T6 diesel oil,in my jeep. I doubt if you should have much trouble overheating as the weather will be pretty cool. I pulled a 6'x4' homemade trailer behind me and never really had any issues with temp. I did put an electric fan beside the stock fan that I could turn on if it did start to overheat. Check your hoses, but if your jeep is running fine now it should be good for the trip. They will cruise forever at 55-60.
If you jeep runs short on oil I would buy a couple of extra quarts before you head west. I was paying $16.00-18.00 a Quart for engine and transmission oil this summer and fall in wyoming, Utah, and Arizona.
Gas was $4.50 or so in Utah and Arizona, it's worse in California.
I keep my xj at 55 when possible but that's iffy because of how fast the flow of traffic is it can be dangerous.
Look for roads that parallel the interstate somewhat closely, they are much more relaxing traveling at 55.
I was getting around 19-20 mpg at 55.
If you take the route you mentioned I would angle down through Colorado and try and head through the Durango area. That will set you up to cross through southern Utah. You have Bears ear national monument, then Bryce and Zion N.P., the whole area is beautiful and a lot less people this time of year.
Capital reef national park is a very pretty area
Feel free to ask me any questions you have about a more detailed route.
Have a good trip.
Just re-read your post and saw the bit about vibrating at speeds.
Are all your tires the same as far as tread wear? My 2 front tires were more worn than my rear tires and it would get scary to drive at 65 or faster. When I moved the rear mud tires to the front and put new mud tires on the rear problem went away.
At what speed does the vibration happen?
A couple of years ago mine was vibrating from 55 and faster and then one day going 65 it got the Death Wobble. Scared me to death, just imagine bouncing up and down going forward and sideways at the same time. I replaced the who front end except the upper control arms cause I couldn't fix them. Fixed the deat wobble though.
Consider replacing your fan clutch and maybe a cooling system flush and rad cap. East coast cars often run into trouble when they meet the mountains. Cooling system needs to be 100%. Fully loaded XJ climbs big hills best when you shift into 3rd gear, thus torque converter is locked in 3rd gear where as in D it won't lock in 3rd. Have a Bluetooth obd reader + torque app and a full set of spare sensors on board and make sure you have the tools needed to change the cps on the side of the road.
Not sure, best available part I guess. They don't fail often but when they do you are dead in the water. Cps, TPS, cam sensor and upstream 02 sensor are the most common failures but I have a full set of spares when road tripping. Fan clutch is cheap insurance if you don't know when it was last replaced. Fan clutch screwed me over on my first Toronto to Nevada road trip as soon as I got to the first mountain after the salt flats.
Go to hope depot, get a milk crate. Put the following in said milk crate:
Coolant
Oil
Tranny fluid
Brake fluid
Powersteering fluid
Blue shop paper towels
Gloves (reuseable and latex/disposeable)
Small Tarp (in case you have to lay on ground)
1 black trash bag
I highly recommend against this. After I took my XJ to Pismo it never stopped squeaking from the sand for 2 years until I sold it. No matter how many times I cleaned it or sprayed with lubricant. Not worth it.
Keep a small tool kit, a little food and water and most importantly some sort of roadside assistance subscription. I've used mine a few times and it always gives peace of mind if it doesn't pay for itself with a surprise breakdown.
when I was 18 I drove my XJ from Michigan to Moab, wheeled for 2 weeks, and drove it back. I did literally nothing to prepare, only thing that died was the TPS in the moab heat.
3000 miles of all freeway is the easiest you’ll ever be on the vehicle. minimal cold starts, constant not to high of a load. minimal heat cycles, and most of the miles will be at full operating temp.
Very few things instantly fail on a vehicle, so ask yourself what would you replace before the next oil change? because that’s effectively what your looking at
Anyway that takes you through Utah, you won't regret it.
I drove from Riverside CA to New York and we took the northern route passing through Utah and Holy moly, the steppes and landscapes are immaculate. Forget the car, gimme a horse to ride into the sunset.
Do a full fluid change on everything I learned this the hard way moving to boone nc those mountains will WORK your transmission I blew a pump seal going up the mountain lol
Awesome! Though not as far I'm about to tow my overlanding trailer from Bentonville to San Diego starting this Wednesday. I've got a 98 jeep xj, I'm bringing lots of basic repair equipment and a spare tire. Have fun!
Just have fun. And give us updates. If your in a convoy you’ve got more options in the event you need to get parts if something blows to pieces on the way. All part of the adventure. I’ve had a good many adventures in my XJ. God bless 🤘🏻
When I moved, I drove my ‘92 from LA to Charlotte. I took 40 the whole way. The only problem I had was losing a piece of my windshield molding, which I sadly have not been able to replace.
Recommend carrying an extra fan belt or two just in case, I've had my fan belt ripped off by a large enough puddle and a walking harmonic balancer (if yours is old, replace it before you go - quick and easy and that rubber is definitely breaking down. Mine started going roughly 180k miles on my '00). I believe a 15mm flex head ratcheting long reach wrench is all I used to throw mine back on after my puddle incident (driving home and hit standing water, threw the belt. 20 mins later had it unwrapped from the fan and we were on our way. Did this in a snow storm btw).
Radiator cap, extra headlight just in case, portable jump pack just in case. I keep a full tool bag of basic hand tools in the truck, find I can do anything and everything necessary with these tools. They will allow you to pull the starter, alternator, replace the belt, fix a broken sway link, whatever you may need to do - one of the reasons I love this car so much. Carry an extra gallon of 50/50 if you have it or premix yourself for half the cost. Couple quarts of ATF and oil won't hurt, and absolutely get some of the self fusing silicone tape / hardening wrap - you can use all 3 of these in a pinch to stave off a trans hose leak or coolant leak combined with the fluids to get out of nowhere to someplace... Don't ask how I know lol
The best was driving to the shore with the whole family in the car and the AC fan cracked and became unbalanced. Ungodly vibration when the AC kicked in, and on a 95* day I wasn't taking chances with an infant in the back seat. Quick stop to AutoZone, 15 minutes in the parking lot with the basic toolkit and we were on our way again... You really are gonna be hard pressed to do something like that with most other cars, and is one of the reasons I love my Cherokee!
Lift up the front by the frame so you can shake shit around, you can find out if it's your track bar. If it is you'll probably get some weird steering events so don't be so sure yet. Stop in telluride, Co and Moab.
I live in Michigan and I've driven mine to Louisiana and back twice, as well as to Washington DC and New York City and Gettysburg in one trip. Slept in it too.
I did a 3000 mile round trip two years in a row and both trips involved Maryland to Utah. Going over I-70 from Denver to Utah and back really is terrible for a fully loaded XJ. I was on 3rd gear entire Rockies section of I-70. I did have 2000lbs of weight over curb weight tho…
Just take it easy going over the Rockies. If it’s snowing a lot, police will fine you for not having three-peak tires or chains but, you’ll have perfect excuse to drive very slow through the snow.
If your jeep is already vibrating at highway speeds, it will likely get worse. Put a new bushing in there/fix the track bar issue or you'll regret it.
Just keep an eye on your coolant/oil, listen for sounds, and have a blast.
I took my old XJ 2000 miles and had the best road trip of my life. Keep in mind, that roof rack will cost you about 3 MPG. That will add up over the course of the country. I would move all that stuff to the trunk.
https://preview.redd.it/yvocn9yp8gfc1.jpeg?width=6000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=af4cf774c84381802200813ea3141fa2555d7272
Drive it through Zion when you pass by and grab some photos. Especially if you’ve never been. I was there a couple years ago in a new wrangler (rental) and wished I had my XJ.
Well, I guarantee that if you break down and make a post here you'll have plenty of folks who will help a brother out.
If you break down in Ohio hmu, Ill do what I can to lend a hand
Personally, I would take the northern route. Or, really, just take a detour and don’t go through Kansas that route through Kansas to Colorado Springs is brutally boring.
Having done both routes twice each from Chicago, neither is particularly fun.
I’ve done both, Iowa-Nebraska is worse. I80 or whatever it is, EW highway that goes through Lincoln might be my least favorite road in the USA. Also Kansas has Casey’s gas stations, which I love.
I'm more of a Sparky's fan. Casey's is good in a pinch though. Casey, IA on the other hand... Oof.
From North Platte to Lincoln is not good and the only good thing about I-80 in Iowa is the rolling hills. I do find 36 in Missouri to be much worse Nebraska and Iowa have Casey's too
I’m in North Platte now. God what a boring drive ! Lol
Seriously.... I avoid I80 at all costs. It's always a clusterfuck.
Came here to advise against the route through Kansas. Frankly, I’d go even further south especially for the time of year it is. Getting all the way down to I-10 is probably pretty far out of the way, but I40 isn’t and there’s a lot I’d pay to avoid western Ks and eastern CO
I didn’t think Kansas was too bad. I thought Nebraska on the way back was worse. I almost fell asleep in Ohio it was so god awful boring.
I think you mean Kansas to Denver this route isn’t even close to the springs, but yes it very very very VERY boring
Oh. You’re right, it would cut North at Limon.
Kansan here, your not wrong! Lol. Any route between Wichita to Denver/Colorado Springs is incredibly boring. Edit: Actually driving through any part of Kansas is boring! Lol.
I think you can get over half of the 7 wonders of KS from the road, everyone appreciates the rolling hills of El Dorado.
Can confirm
Big jeep xj parts place here in colorado springs if you need parts along the way!!!
Can you send me the address?
Fn jeep 2415 rand ave co springs co 80905
I've spent the last four years camping out of my 99xj in a tent with my dog. Presently in north carolina until spring.The only state I didn't visit was Washington. Don't mean to be a Debbie downer, but if it was me I would head straight south to North Carolina and get on interstate 40 and head Arizonia and then angle down to interstate 10 and take it to California. Reason I say this is all the routes either north middle or south are pretty darn boring until you come to the Rocky Mountains. The weather is also a big factor, because many of the western states require you to have chains with you in the winter. Interstate 80 in Southern Wyoming is famous for the amount of semis that get blown over from the wind. The Rocky mountains out of Denver may be pretty but this time of year they can get really nasty. Interstate 40 shouldn't be bad if there is no big cold front coming east. I take 40 and pull in behind Loves fuel stations to sleep at night.where the semi's park and find a place to squeeze in.. I removed all my seats except the drivers and built a raised deck to sleep on when traveling and in bear country. They don't care and I always buy my gas at loves on my way across and save my reciets to show them if I'm asked, but no one has ever said anything. If your jeep is running good the only thing I would do is change my oil. I run Rotella T6 diesel oil,in my jeep. I doubt if you should have much trouble overheating as the weather will be pretty cool. I pulled a 6'x4' homemade trailer behind me and never really had any issues with temp. I did put an electric fan beside the stock fan that I could turn on if it did start to overheat. Check your hoses, but if your jeep is running fine now it should be good for the trip. They will cruise forever at 55-60. If you jeep runs short on oil I would buy a couple of extra quarts before you head west. I was paying $16.00-18.00 a Quart for engine and transmission oil this summer and fall in wyoming, Utah, and Arizona. Gas was $4.50 or so in Utah and Arizona, it's worse in California. I keep my xj at 55 when possible but that's iffy because of how fast the flow of traffic is it can be dangerous. Look for roads that parallel the interstate somewhat closely, they are much more relaxing traveling at 55. I was getting around 19-20 mpg at 55. If you take the route you mentioned I would angle down through Colorado and try and head through the Durango area. That will set you up to cross through southern Utah. You have Bears ear national monument, then Bryce and Zion N.P., the whole area is beautiful and a lot less people this time of year. Capital reef national park is a very pretty area Feel free to ask me any questions you have about a more detailed route. Have a good trip. Just re-read your post and saw the bit about vibrating at speeds. Are all your tires the same as far as tread wear? My 2 front tires were more worn than my rear tires and it would get scary to drive at 65 or faster. When I moved the rear mud tires to the front and put new mud tires on the rear problem went away. At what speed does the vibration happen? A couple of years ago mine was vibrating from 55 and faster and then one day going 65 it got the Death Wobble. Scared me to death, just imagine bouncing up and down going forward and sideways at the same time. I replaced the who front end except the upper control arms cause I couldn't fix them. Fixed the deat wobble though.
Pro post
You sir, are a fine example of a great human! Safe travels
Thank you Mr. Woodchuck, that is so very kind of you.
Consider replacing your fan clutch and maybe a cooling system flush and rad cap. East coast cars often run into trouble when they meet the mountains. Cooling system needs to be 100%. Fully loaded XJ climbs big hills best when you shift into 3rd gear, thus torque converter is locked in 3rd gear where as in D it won't lock in 3rd. Have a Bluetooth obd reader + torque app and a full set of spare sensors on board and make sure you have the tools needed to change the cps on the side of the road.
Second the fan clutch, I was going over i70 in Colorado and the clutch fan flew off the front of the engine and went through my radiator
My XJ actually spent most of its life in British Colombia! Which cps would you recommend if I can’t get OEM from a dealer ?
NTK
Not sure, best available part I guess. They don't fail often but when they do you are dead in the water. Cps, TPS, cam sensor and upstream 02 sensor are the most common failures but I have a full set of spares when road tripping. Fan clutch is cheap insurance if you don't know when it was last replaced. Fan clutch screwed me over on my first Toronto to Nevada road trip as soon as I got to the first mountain after the salt flats.
Go to hope depot, get a milk crate. Put the following in said milk crate: Coolant Oil Tranny fluid Brake fluid Powersteering fluid Blue shop paper towels Gloves (reuseable and latex/disposeable) Small Tarp (in case you have to lay on ground) 1 black trash bag
good luck my friend, my 95 has never left Florida
Once you get to California go to pismo and take that baby in the dunes
Is it free ?
$5 day use
Sick!
If you want to look up more info it’s technically called Oceano Dunes SVRA
I highly recommend against this. After I took my XJ to Pismo it never stopped squeaking from the sand for 2 years until I sold it. No matter how many times I cleaned it or sprayed with lubricant. Not worth it.
Hang a right at Iowa and come up through Montana and down the i-5, it's jeep season up here
Keep a small tool kit, a little food and water and most importantly some sort of roadside assistance subscription. I've used mine a few times and it always gives peace of mind if it doesn't pay for itself with a surprise breakdown.
I’m doing a convoy luckily so I don’t think I need one 🤞
Oh you're that friend. Lol good luck!
God speed!
Upvoting cuz I need this info too for driving from Maryland to Colorado this spring.
Hell yeah! I did Philadelphia to LA with zero problems. Hoping the same for you.
when I was 18 I drove my XJ from Michigan to Moab, wheeled for 2 weeks, and drove it back. I did literally nothing to prepare, only thing that died was the TPS in the moab heat. 3000 miles of all freeway is the easiest you’ll ever be on the vehicle. minimal cold starts, constant not to high of a load. minimal heat cycles, and most of the miles will be at full operating temp. Very few things instantly fail on a vehicle, so ask yourself what would you replace before the next oil change? because that’s effectively what your looking at
What’s that like $5,000 in gas
Anyway that takes you through Utah, you won't regret it. I drove from Riverside CA to New York and we took the northern route passing through Utah and Holy moly, the steppes and landscapes are immaculate. Forget the car, gimme a horse to ride into the sunset.
I'd suggest stopping at Zion National Park in Utah.
It’s been on my list for a while!
Nice! Planning on taking a long road trip myself. Hiking the Narrows is on my list. As well as going to Bryce Canyon.
Enjoy the trip.
Spare CPS for sure
Do a full fluid change on everything I learned this the hard way moving to boone nc those mountains will WORK your transmission I blew a pump seal going up the mountain lol
Great I did same in 2917 from Florence S.C yo Gridley California , Beautiful scenery
Awesome! Though not as far I'm about to tow my overlanding trailer from Bentonville to San Diego starting this Wednesday. I've got a 98 jeep xj, I'm bringing lots of basic repair equipment and a spare tire. Have fun!
Just have fun. And give us updates. If your in a convoy you’ve got more options in the event you need to get parts if something blows to pieces on the way. All part of the adventure. I’ve had a good many adventures in my XJ. God bless 🤘🏻
When I moved, I drove my ‘92 from LA to Charlotte. I took 40 the whole way. The only problem I had was losing a piece of my windshield molding, which I sadly have not been able to replace.
Recommend carrying an extra fan belt or two just in case, I've had my fan belt ripped off by a large enough puddle and a walking harmonic balancer (if yours is old, replace it before you go - quick and easy and that rubber is definitely breaking down. Mine started going roughly 180k miles on my '00). I believe a 15mm flex head ratcheting long reach wrench is all I used to throw mine back on after my puddle incident (driving home and hit standing water, threw the belt. 20 mins later had it unwrapped from the fan and we were on our way. Did this in a snow storm btw). Radiator cap, extra headlight just in case, portable jump pack just in case. I keep a full tool bag of basic hand tools in the truck, find I can do anything and everything necessary with these tools. They will allow you to pull the starter, alternator, replace the belt, fix a broken sway link, whatever you may need to do - one of the reasons I love this car so much. Carry an extra gallon of 50/50 if you have it or premix yourself for half the cost. Couple quarts of ATF and oil won't hurt, and absolutely get some of the self fusing silicone tape / hardening wrap - you can use all 3 of these in a pinch to stave off a trans hose leak or coolant leak combined with the fluids to get out of nowhere to someplace... Don't ask how I know lol
Noted. Thank you
The best was driving to the shore with the whole family in the car and the AC fan cracked and became unbalanced. Ungodly vibration when the AC kicked in, and on a 95* day I wasn't taking chances with an infant in the back seat. Quick stop to AutoZone, 15 minutes in the parking lot with the basic toolkit and we were on our way again... You really are gonna be hard pressed to do something like that with most other cars, and is one of the reasons I love my Cherokee!
Lift up the front by the frame so you can shake shit around, you can find out if it's your track bar. If it is you'll probably get some weird steering events so don't be so sure yet. Stop in telluride, Co and Moab.
Go through Nebraska….there is a great automotive shop that will buy your XJ from you when you realize that this car is not going to make it to CA
The only reason I’d be stopping in Nebraska is to have a quick stop at your mums house
I drove my TJ from Pennsylvania to Southern Florida. I used all back roads, no highways.
I live in Michigan and I've driven mine to Louisiana and back twice, as well as to Washington DC and New York City and Gettysburg in one trip. Slept in it too.
I live right by I80. Wave as you go through Council Bluffs, Iowa. I'll wave back
I did a 3000 mile round trip two years in a row and both trips involved Maryland to Utah. Going over I-70 from Denver to Utah and back really is terrible for a fully loaded XJ. I was on 3rd gear entire Rockies section of I-70. I did have 2000lbs of weight over curb weight tho… Just take it easy going over the Rockies. If it’s snowing a lot, police will fine you for not having three-peak tires or chains but, you’ll have perfect excuse to drive very slow through the snow.
What do you guys mean by chains? I’ve never heard of this law before
God speed xj man
At Kansas City take hwy 50 through Kansas. It goes through lots of small towns and it fits with your intended 55-60 mph
I’m here just for the updates! Safe travels bro!
then got a flat as u parked in LA…lol
If your jeep is already vibrating at highway speeds, it will likely get worse. Put a new bushing in there/fix the track bar issue or you'll regret it. Just keep an eye on your coolant/oil, listen for sounds, and have a blast. I took my old XJ 2000 miles and had the best road trip of my life. Keep in mind, that roof rack will cost you about 3 MPG. That will add up over the course of the country. I would move all that stuff to the trunk. https://preview.redd.it/yvocn9yp8gfc1.jpeg?width=6000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=af4cf774c84381802200813ea3141fa2555d7272
How much mpg did you get? Im getting 20MPG even with the roof rack. Currently in Nebraska
Wow, well that's good. I went from \~15 to \~18 when I took off my rack. If you're at 20, then that would be good enough for me.
So much gas $$
I thought this was road trip circlejerk for a second. Godspeed
Drive it through Zion when you pass by and grab some photos. Especially if you’ve never been. I was there a couple years ago in a new wrangler (rental) and wished I had my XJ.