Power Tour 2026

[TotalyHucked]

Yeah, I guess the route/what venue it is plays a big role too. I heard lots of horror stories from Charlotte and Atlanta Motor Speedway. I'd say most people are still positive about it but I do hear more and more grumbling as time goes on. One of these days I'll try it myself to see first hand how it is. My dad's getting older so I'm running out of time, gotta get some AC in the truck and then do it

 

[straydog371]

Not part of "Power Tour 2026" but similar since it's related to the 100th Anniversary of Route 66.

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Derek Bieri from Vice Grip Garage is the one that motivated me to find and save a squarebody. It's a pretty long video and unfortunately the ending isn't what he'd hoped for. You can scroll forward to around the 1hr 10min mark when he explains what happened.

Apologies in advance for hijacking the original thread.

 

[bucket]

Yeah, I guess the route/what venue it is plays a big role too. I heard lots of horror stories from Charlotte and Atlanta Motor Speedway. I'd say most people are still positive about it but I do hear more and more grumbling as time goes on. One of these days I'll try it myself to see first hand how it is. My dad's getting older so I'm running out of time, gotta get some AC in the truck and then do it

I ran all of '24. I traveled with a guy that had been doing the tour for many years. He didn't complain about it at all, but he did mention a couple times how it used to be much nicer, just due to the smaller croud. My wife and I though, we absolutely loved it. We had our 1 year old son with us too. A couple venues weren't very well prepared (Bowling Green and Nashville, iirc) but it was still a great trip. Great enough that we immediately planned to run '25 as well.

And then we ran '25 as well and had just as much fun (other than a mild breakdown on the hottest day). Not only did we have our 2 year old with us, but also our 3 month old twins. Getting into all the venues was easy last year.

We were really looking forward to going this year too. It sucks that we couldn't.

 

[bluex]

Yeah, I guess the route/what venue it is plays a big role too. I heard lots of horror stories from Charlotte and Atlanta Motor Speedway. I'd say most people are still positive about it but I do hear more and more grumbling as time goes on. One of these days I'll try it myself to see first hand how it is. My dad's getting older so I'm running out of time, gotta get some AC in the truck and then do it

Do it! I had always wanted to an had a buddy that had done several. We did get to go on what turned out to be his last one. Some of my best memories are from that trip an it was the most fun automotive related trip I have ever had.

The complainers are all your ever going to hear from because the people enjoying it are to busy having fun to post. 100% make sure your cooling system is in tip top shape. If it cant idle in 100*+ heat with the ac on max for 2 hrs your gonna have trouble.

Go, enjoy the drive, the sights an dont stress over the "time". We left way early one morning to "beat" the traffic an it was the most boring day. No spectators out on the route, we did get in the venue easy an got to watch alot of the cars roll in. So I guess it depends on how you want to do it. Just dont let the negativity online keep you away from it.

 

[82SquareBurb]

Next year hoping to hit the tailgate tour, GM truck fair in Greeneville and possibly C10's in the city down in Atlanta when I get my rig back on the road.

 

[Hunter79764]

100% make sure your cooling system is in tip top shape. If it cant idle in 100*+ heat with the ac on max for 2 hrs your gonna have trouble.

What is this "ac" you speak of? I thought we were all (mostly) men here?

jk. I had a semi functional AC system the first year when my wife went with me. The Monte's AC was sub-par to begin with, and needed electric fans for traffic. Based on how that went, the wife had no desire to go again, and I was too cheap to install AC with the engine swap, so me and my buddies just toughed it out every other trip. Not recommended, if you have the option.

For the Suburban project, my wife told me if I spend $10,000 on that truck and don't have cold air coming from the dash in summer time, she's never riding in it and good luck getting another one approved, so AC it is...

 

[Terlingueno]

The AC compressor in my Suburban died in 1996. I should have fixed it then, but I didn't. One would think a rational person that has lived in the hottest deserts in North America for the past 30 years would have seen the light at some point. Still not fixed...

 

[Hunter79764]

The AC compressor in my Suburban died in 1996. I should have fixed it then, but I didn't. One would think a rational person that has lived in the hottest deserts in North America for the past 30 years would have seen the light at some point. Still not fixed...

Vent windows and low humidity are actually a pretty decent system. Trucks designed for no AC as an option really are much more comfortable without. I had the black squarebody and my silver 2004 Yukon Denali both with failed AC in the early summer a couple years ago, and I 100% hands down would pick the square in the afternoon for a drive, because you can open the vents, crack some windows, and get moving and it felt fine. The 04 with windows all the way down just felt like it was smacking your head with the same invisible bag of hot air over and over again. If I go on PT again though, I'm "middle aged" now and I do think I want something with AC though.

 

[carnutjw]

I went for three days each in 2017, 2018, and 2024 with my sons. Long Haul w/ wife in 2021, Long Haul solo (like the whole time- no group- nothing) in 2023. Bowling Green is always a mess- there's only one road in and out. 2024 Nashville Superspeedway was the worst for me-three hours getting in to the venue and they sent participants across the dirt parking areas when there's a paved four lane road all the way around the property and multiple entry/exit points. Still not happy about that. The next day in Louisville- in the city- U of L campus, right in and out! Not sure why the larger venues, that have large crowds frequently (Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville) have the most issues.
It's been fun, and I will do it again, but ensure your vehicle's cooling system is top notch, windshield wipers are good, and you have a sh*t ton of patience. The drive and road side spectators are the best part.