Winterize F250
 

Hello all. I'm a new guy to the forum, and I'm not too computer friendly, so thanks in advance for your patience and help.
I'll be moving from California to Alaska soon (yes I'm stoked!), and I'm trying to get a leg up winterizing before I leave. I crawled under my 96 F250 to get some measurements for heater pads etc, and I noticed that there is not a good place to put a stick on pad on my 5 speed. It sits behind a 460. I know they sell the magnetic ones, but I'm skeptical. Anyone have any suggestions? Also, ANY other advice would be much appreciated (block heaters, pads, battery blankets, etc). I plan on switching the beast to snythetic soon, but I haven't been able to determine if the diffs have it from the factory or not. Anyone know? What's a good weight. I'm thinking of using Mobil 1 in the motor.
Also, I tried to join the chapter a while back, but haven't heard from the leader...... Am I missing something?
Thanks for your help