Early September NJ to Colorado Rockies, Moab (Arches) and Back to NJ

[gmc]

Hello Roadtrip America,

This is my first posting, just found this site. Excuse me in advance if I have not searched first for this info, but I thought maybe I could get many of my questions answered with this one post?

As in the title, going from NJ to Arches Nat'l and back here. With my girlfriend. Sleeping in back of pickup (have a cap on back, and platform to sleep on with storage underneath. Bringing Coleman stove, cooler, etc.

Two main questions,

#1 Our truck is a 1995 Ford F150 with 150,000 miles. What do I need to look out for, regarding the truck? I am putting new steel wheels on and the tires are relatively new. Anything else I should be careful about? How to feel confident that this truck will get us there and back?

#2 We will be going through the Rockies and visiting friends in the Buena Vista, CO area. How cold are we looking at in early September, first and second week?

Hope these questions are not too vague and thanks in advance.

Gary

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

If you are familiar with the truck [owned it a while] and are content with it's overall reliability and condition, you shouldn't have too much to worry about. That is of course if you check the servicing is up to date and you check all your fluid levels, [top up or renew if needed] and that the water has anti freeze in it, the brake pads/discs and the smaller items like wiper blades etc.

As for the weather, I would take layered clothing because as we all know, weather is unpredictable at best. The changes in elevation can make a huge difference to the conditions in a State such as Colorado. I'm sure nearer the time you can get a better indication of what you can expect to encounter and your friends should be able to keep you updated, but even then nothing is a certainty.

For me, I consider it to be a great time of year to travel and you should be in for an amazing time !

[gmc]

Great advice, thank you!

[Southwest Dave]

If you want some peace of mind and don't already have road side assistance membership, you could consider joining up to the AAA.

thank you!

You're welcome. If you have any other questions just ask, if not have a great trip !

[gmc]

Thanks again, AAA is a must. I plan on documenting the trip via photos and maybe can post it somewhere on this site. Already have photos of the transformation of the truck bed into a sleeping/storage/living space.

The photos below show a platform we built, painted and got ready for the road. Other photo shows the curtains that go on/off with velcro straps (I happened to be using my framelock knife that day, so posed with it :) There is also a posed photo of our tail gate "tray" with some Coleman dishware on it. Sorry for the bad photography, hope you guys find it interesting though.

Gary

[Southwest Dave]

We have a 'Roadtrip field reports' section where you can update from the road [or when you return] with a few notes and some pictures.
It's always nice to have a follow up from members trips, so will look forward to it.

Thanks for the conversion pics, it's pretty cool !