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Pretty much stock condition from nice lady in Pahrump, Nevada in March 2017. 95K miles. Van had some deferred maintenance. Added new steering box, front suspension components (2017, and again in 2025) immediately to make road worthy. You can see all the stock decals, wheels, and old TV antenna. Awning fell victim to high winds at Walker Lake, Nevada.

Van pictured above at George’s Alignment, Las Vegas circa April 2017. You can see I started removing the decals already, see front door… missing stripe.

While storage was affordable, I did store covered for about five years. Gave me a spot to work on it plus keep from driveway jockey-ing vehicles (which I do now.)

Quick overview of our travel rig.

1998 Leisure Travel Wide Body Class B. Dodge 5.9L V8 Magnum power plant. 157k miles. Purchased at 95k miles and brought it back up to road-worthy standards.

Just recently completed front suspension work, fixed Air-Ride system (rear end lift inflate/deflate), complete tune-up, oil change, and transmission fluid drain and refill. Second transmission service since ownership. First one at 111K miles. Good shifting, no issues.

Usually travel in van at a comfy speed of about 58-59mph. Ideally I like to keep engine load under 30% and RPMs when cruising about 1800+-. Temps ideally at 195F or lower. No hurry.

Have seen as high as 15.7MPG all highway, but I usually figure 14mpg just to be on the safe side. 420 miles register on the odometer, I’m filling up.

Gearing up the old van for our biggest trip ever.

We’ve traveled quite a bit through the Southwest USA, hitting many major spots but never enough leave time to get out and stay out. We are making changes.

We thought the 100 Year Anniversary of Route 66 would be a great opportunity to get out as an initial cross country run and see what’s up. Will the van make it? Will only one of us return? Time will tell. Gas prices are at an all-time high, so that part will be a bummer, but we’ll make the best of it.