Road Trips In Your Charger

[JMF]

Any of you guys ever done a cross country road trip in your Charger? Any pics and stories? How reliable was the car etc?

[NYCMille]

Yep... did 2 last year - Montana to Mexico: Total mileage was 4850, then NYC to Montreal to Key West and back to NYC... that was a long one at around 5500+. Car was stone cold bulletproof - didn't even burn a drop of oil. 

[Back N Black]

Yep... did 2 last year - Montana to Mexico: Total mileage was 4850, then NYC to Montreal to Key West and back to NYC... that was a long one at around 5500+. Car was stone cold bulletproof - didn't even burn a drop of oil. 

Thats awesome! thats the way it should be. Drive it! 

[moparjohn]

I'm a road tripper, I live in NJ and in the past 6 years I've put on 40k miles on my Charger. We've been to Wi, then to Tx, (1 trip) Ga 3 times (2x in 1 year) Texas again last year, Ohio nats 3 times, Tenn a couple of times. If I thought longer there's probably more. The car has been REALLY reliable considering I've done all this with 1 breakdown in all.  I did use some oil because of a leak, but otherwise no problems.John

[Brock Samson]

Went to the Charger Meet in Eureka last Aug.
Being the last weekend of the summer the going was exceptionally slow for the first 70 miles, creeping along in stop and go traffic till it finally lightened up... Temp was approx. 100 and it took nearly three hours to go that first 70 miles... then my speed increased intill I got a ticket about 50 miles from my destination,.. only for 82 MPH, though i was really bombing along well north of 100 just a minute prior to getting snagged... Though she might go fast then 110, i don't think it prudent to exceeed that, on public highways and the way the Charger is set up,.. too floaty for my tastes. She's a fine cruiser at anything below that magic 110.
We did a slow cruise through the redwoods on Sat. then went to the drags at Samoa Dragstrip on Sunday where i won four out of four against slow chevies in the street tire catagory... consistant 14s with my highway gears and a packed trunk. then after a steak dinner I bombed home on a deserted Hwy. 1.
My only trouble was running out of gas at the end of the cruise but Blue Pentastar following in his chase truck had my back...
  My concern about long drives is my tendancy to drive fast and by fast i mean north of 80 MPH, with blasts up to 100 because that's my car's sweet spot,.. It feels right tooling along at 82 plus,.. In a real cross county haul I could see getting tickets every few hours of so...
The charger attracts so much attention makes a fair amount of noise and and loves to pass traffic she, I mean I, simply ain't happy pokin along...
I wouldn't be worried about the cars durability at all.


 

[69chargeryeehaa]

After selling my old charger, I lasted about 8 months and then saw my old charger at a local cruise night....then i HAD to have another charger....
So within a few weeks, i sold my Porsche, and found a really nice original 69 charger r/t with 50000mi.  The only problem was the car was in Minnesota, and i live in Toronto.    After i got my passport re-newed, and flight arranged, i flew down and bought the car, drove it home...boy that was a trip, last august in a major heat wave, driving a 40yr old car i've never seen until i got there....i spent 2 days getting the car road worthy in hotel and auto parts parking lots, the owner was nice enough to lend me some tools, ect....and then i was off on my 1300mi journey home...In Chicago, i thought i was going to die of HEAT, i had jugs of water and coolant, black vinyl seats, and the heat was stuck on just a little, it was 115*deg out, and i hit traffic!!!  i dumped about 2 jugs of water on myself, forget the car!!!!  The traffic was nuts, about an hour into it the car started running 210*, i was just about the pull over and let it cool down, but traffic started moving about 20mph, just enough to keep the 440 at 195*.  Let me tell you, as much as a pain in the butt it was i had a blast, after 3 days of driving at 60mph (trunk was loaded with parts, and diff was vibrating over 65mph) and no radio, we bonded...the rest is history.

This one's a keeper ......here's the pic of the car that made me loose a lot of sleep:

[RD]

After selling my old charger, I lasted about 8 months and then saw my old charger at a local cruise night....then i HAD to have another charger....
So within a few weeks, i sold my Porsche, and found a really nice original 69 charger r/t with 50000mi.  The only problem was the car was in Minnesota, and i live in Toronto.    After i got my passport re-newed, and flight arranged, i flew down and bought the car, drove it home...boy that was a trip, last august in a major heat wave, driving a 40yr old car i've never seen until i got there....i spent 2 days getting the car road worthy in hotel and auto parts parking lots, the owner was nice enough to lend me some tools, ect....and then i was off on my 1300mi journey home...In Chicago, i thought i was going to die of HEAT, i had jugs of water and coolant, black vinyl seats, and the heat was stuck on just a little, it was 115*deg out, and i hit traffic!!!  i dumped about 2 jugs of water on myself, forget the car!!!!  The traffic was nuts, about an hour into it the car started running 210*, i was just about the pull over and let it cool down, but traffic started moving about 20mph, just enough to keep the 440 at 195*.  Let me tell you, as much as a pain in the butt it was i had a blast, after 3 days of driving at 60mph (trunk was loaded with parts, and diff was vibrating over 65mph) and no radio, we bonded...the rest is history.

This one's a keeper ......here's the pic of the car that made me loose a lot of sleep:

what an awesome story, thanks for sharing!

[69chargeryeehaa]

what an awesome story, thanks for sharing!

  It's funny, i thought i'd never find another charger for a good price, i posted a wanted add, and then i got the email.....did i mention i got the car at a VERY good price?    It's a 2 owner car, 50000mi, original V2 r/t, 440, 727, 8 3/4 suregrip, i got the original bill of sale, fender tag, ect.....life is good.

[peepsrock]

We took a FEW trips in our 66 in 2007 (lost count exactly how many).  Total 20,000 miles for the year, drove through 27 states (several of them more than once).  Longest was 6,000 miles to California, then St. Louis, then home.  Most of the trips were to go to TDC Charger Meets.

Only problem we had (other than a severe tendancy to pull into gas stations) was a fried alternator, in the driveway at the in-laws house in St. Louis.  (I think it was the Charger's way of telling me that 4 stops at the in-laws in one year was enough!)

[Rack]

Yep... did 2 last year - Montana to Mexico: Total mileage was 4850, then NYC to Montreal to Key West and back to NYC... that was a long one at around 5500+. Car was stone cold bulletproof - didn't even burn a drop of oil. 

What part of mexico did you go to? No way in hell would I drive my charger into mexico. I wouldn't drive anything into mexico. I live on the border of mexico (Laredo, TX) and white people don't do to well over there. There's a big "Drug war" taking place across the river (been going on a few years now) and you're liable to get shot going over there either by mistaken identity or just getting caught in the crossfire. If that doesn't happen you'd probably get kidnapped and held for ransom (I shit you not). It happens OFTEN over there people getting kidnapped and held for a small ransom (1K or so). I haven't been over there in years and I never will again.


Now, back on topic, I plan on taking a few trips in my charger when it's done. The furthest I'll go is probably Somerset, KY though, which is (just guessing) about 1500 miles from me? Hopefully it holds up as good as Mike's charger. 

[GreenMachine]

   Wow, that's impressive 'Peepsrock'!    

  I have taken 2 road trips in my '70 Charger. One to Las Vegas from Oklahoma City and one to Colorado. The trip to Las Vegas was with a friend of mine, but was supposed to be 3 of us but one backed out last minute. It was in April '05 and had no problems with the car at all. We drove through Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, & Hoover Dam. We got to Las Vegas at about 11:00 PM and couldn't find any rooms available so ended up sleeping in the car the first night. It was a coincidence and luck that Mopars at the strip was going on at the same time!! Also checked out the Shelby museum. Ended up staying about 4 days.

[FLG]

Some great stories. Only had mine for about a month, so nothing really to fun yet...man green i would LOVE to be on that long stretch of road and open her up....

[GreenMachine]

   Here's a few more pics:

  1. Pumping Gas
  2. Cadillac Ranch outside Amarillo
  3. Same
  4. Pumping Gas
 

[GreenMachine]

   The trip to Colorado was a little more eventful, I had a wiring fire. The Alternator output wire got smashed in between the distributor and the head. The car filled up with white smoke so I pulled over and disconnected the battery. It fried the wiring through the bulkhead connector, welded link, back to the starter relay, and the alternator itself. One of my fears is to break down and leave my car on the side of the road and come back and find it's gone. So I had all sorts of crap in my trunk including spools of wiring. After about an hour, I was on my way again. Unfortunatly, this is just about the only pic I took of the car on that trip.

 

[Hemidog]

i LOVE your car Greenmachine! especially the stance! and the pictures!

[tan top]

this has made for some good reading & great pictures  , thanks for sharing guys ......... ......    more more  more ....

[moparjohn]

I have done some of those trips with the Peepsrock car at my side, the best trips are with the TDC!!

[GreenMachine]

I like the unusual color of your charger. You must have been haulin' ass for the clear coat to start flaking off! 
I miss my old '70 R/T. Its in mopar heaven now.......

Mark

  That color grows on you. I bought the car in 2001. I'm thinking it was restored in the 80's and really needs to be restored again, it needs a lot to get it right though. I just can't stand to put it out of commision for the time it takes to restore. I drive it quite a bit and I hear "When you gonna paint that thing" all the time.  Here's a pic of it shortly after I bought it

[dads_69]

I hear you there, the when you going to paint it comment. Next time tell the person soon as they pay for it.  I think it is a '70 color. I had a friend w/a charger that color on his but w/a white top and int. here. 383 car also. His name was Greg,I can't remember his last name right now. He was in the Air Force and flew F-15 jets. He died during a training mission in August 1985 sadly. The car was here for a while for sale but I missed out on getting it for myself. If I can find the photos of it, I'll post them.
Mark

[Blue Pentastar]

IN 2005 my wife drove our charger on it's first long road trip to Madison, WI (for a TDC meet) from Jefferson City, MO.  We did this as the 2 car trailer had 2 other chargers on board - one (an 86 Shelby) was being transported to it's new owner in Madison, WI.  Our charger got to board the trailer in Madison to head out on the 2005 TDC Road Tour (Madison, WI to Boerne, TX). 

The charger performed extremely well - got 15mph    and handled like a dream, while putting other cars to shame. 

The charger was put on the road in 2002 and was only driven locally until this trip.  I would trust driving the charger at anytime - anywhere.

Mike

[NHCharger]

Drive my 72 to Carlisle every year. 1,200 miles round trip. Except for some real bad gas on one trip (not me, the car) never had a major problem.

[70charginglizard]

Done two on my 70 charger

One from Western Washington state to Vegas and back

Another from Western Washington state to Idaho.

Both with small problems. but nothing major.

Lost brake power on the vegas trip due to a unclamped vacume line to the brake booster and a small over heat.

and I lost the fuel pump on my trip over to Idaho.

All of which were cured thanks to doing the trips with good mopar buds. 

[JMF]

Nice story here

http://brcook.com/_wsn/page3.html

[genlee1970]

I drive the heck out of mine as well. It's been from Rhode Island to the Nats twice (1,200 miles round trip), Carlisle 4 times (850 miles round trip) , The Year One Experience in Atlanta Georgia one time (2,200 miles round trip), as well as Dukes Fest in Tennessee(1,600 miles round trip) one time as well. Short trips, like those to XV Motorsports or English Town NJ (3-5 hrs) don't even qualify as road trups any more.

Performance has been flawless, 16 mpg and effortless cruising at 100mph with the 2.76's out back, though 77mph in PA. cost me $157.00 on the way home from the Nats one year.

Drive em guys, that's what they were made for!!! 

[471_Magnum]

Two Power Tours, one partial and one Long Haul.

Five round trips to Columbus, OH for Mopar Nationals.

Numerous out of town shows.

Don't own a trailer. Mine got driven a bunch... I'm thinking over 24000 miles in five years. Took some hard licks along the way, but never went down for the count.

Now I'm searching for my next Road Warrior to pick up where the Charger left off.

[Nacho-RT74]

Since Venezuela has allmost same size than Texas LOL, I can't tell about that long trips, but I use daily my car ( when, at least untill June last year ) and have travelled around the country without even check oil level, water, brake fluid and air pressure from the begining. I trust TOO MUCH on my Charger conditions.

[Crazy Larry]

This is a great thread - c'mon, any more stories and pictures? That's my dream - to take the Charger and hit the road. Run the entire country, from Cape Cod, to Manhattan, to Montana, through the Rockies, down to Rt. 66, up to Vegas, across Desert, up to San Fran and Red Woods.....

Oh that would be a dream.

Someday

[bigroge1]

   Wow, that's impressive 'Peepsrock'!   

   I have taken 2 road trips in my '70 Charger. One to Las Vegas from Oklahoma City and one to Colorado. The trip to Las Vegas was with a friend of mine, but was supposed to be 3 of us but one backed out last minute. It was in April '05 and had no problems with the car at all. We drove through Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, & Hoover Dam. We got to Las Vegas at about 11:00 PM and couldn't find any rooms available so ended up sleeping in the car the first night. It was a coincidence and luck that Mopars at the strip was going on at the same time!! Also checked out the Shelby museum. Ended up staying about 4 days.

thats my dream vacation after my charger is done. just taking the back roads like vanishing point 

[volk68]

I would love to road trip my Charger, but I'm not sure she's ready for a major haul yet.  I still feel like I'm working out the bugs.  Still, whenever I take her out it I put at least 70 miles on her.  I take her to a lot of the same places I usually go, but when I'm in the Charger, it always feels like I'm seeing everything for the first time

A pic on my way to work:

[suntech]

I did one trip with my Charger last year. I started in Paw-Paw IL, just west of Chicago, and ended in Reading, Pa, after swinging by Bay City MI for a boatrace
Did not look at the odometer, but i would assume it is app 1000 miles??
Didnt miss a spark.......... just checked the fluids before i left, again in Bay City, and again in Reading. Used a quart of oil on the entire trip!!

[Bandit72]

i have full intentions of taking mine to carlisle at least once

[Mefirst]

Back in 2002 I did a roadtrip from Stockholm/Sweden home to Finland. A 650 mile round trip..

The Charger ran nicely the whole trip... Back then the engine was an old 400cid smogger, no power but worked ..

Here Im waiting to get onboard the ferry...



My home town....



/Tom

[Brock Samson]

you sure got some tiny lill' ol' countrys there Tom, Heck, why 850 miles here wouldn't git ya' outta' california... 

[moparjohn]

Volk68, where are you located ? , it's beautiful.  I would drive there for a good show/cruise vacation.

[Crazy Larry]

I would love to road trip my Charger, but I'm not sure she's ready for a major haul yet.  I still feel like I'm working out the bugs.  Still, whenever I take her out it I put at least 70 miles on her.  I take her to a lot of the same places I usually go, but when I'm in the Charger, it always feels like I'm seeing everything for the first time

A pic on my way to work:

Where is your work?

That is an awesome pic, like something out of a movie - are those the Rockies? I see you have Colorado plates, so I'm guessing that is Kenosha Pass, about 50 miles south west of Denver?

[volk68]

Volk68, where are you located ? , it's beautiful.  I would drive there for a good show/cruise vacation.

It's the San Luis Valley in Colorado.  It's a huge valley, so there are a lot of open spaces and long, straight stretches to open a Charger up    Pretty much anywhere around this area is going to have some amazing scenery.  The only thing to think about with a car like a Charger is the carburation due to altitude (I live at 8,000'), and having good brakes for the mountain passes.

I think the next road trip I take in the Charger will be to the Black Canyon in Gunnison, CO.  It's pretty close to home for me, and it's a pretty incredible sight to see.  I bet I could get some wicked pictures with the Charger...Check it out here:

http://www.nps.gov/blca/photosmultimedia/index.htm