My eyes are bleeding from reading a gazillion threads on mods and maintenance. I'm trying to assimilate it all into a to-do list, in priority order, that makes sense for my needs and goals. Background:

I bought the truck new in '01 and in the next couple of years did most of the mods in my sig. It was my daily driver and the truck carried a camper while towing a boat or four horse trailer. Around '05 I bought a TDI Beetle for the daily driver (45mpg better than 15), and eventually the horses went away and the kids left the nest. The truck has been getting barely 2k miles/year and now totals 68,000.

My wife and I are planning on doing some big trips (for us) with the camper on, starting with Yellowstone this fall, and I want to both improve the truck and have it in tip-top shape for junkets like that. Here's my list:

1. Clean and degrease currently grimy engine, then watch for leaks.

2. CCV mod, with trap then returned to intake, to keep engine from getting grimy again.

3. New intercooler boots from Riffraff if old ones appear to need it.

4. Kill door chime with key in ignition and door open. (Drove me crazy the other day.)

5. Hutch mod. Reading threads on this gives me a vague worry about what is happening to my injectors if I don't.

6. Harpoon mod. While doing Hutch.

7. Chip (DP F6 or PHP Hydra, can't decide yet)

8. Sound insulation - strip interior and do Dynamat

9. Door seal tubing mod

That's what I hope to do before the Yellowstone trip. After that:

10. 4" Exhaust

11. AIH delete

12. FRx mod

13. Fuel pressure gauge

14. AutoEnginuity (?)

15. Dash cam

16. _________ ?

17. _________ ?

18. _________ ?


Anything I've missed? Does the priority order make sense? Any suggestion to add, delete, or reorder?

Note: I don't want a race truck, cost must be spread out over time, and on a mechanicking-skill scale of 10, I just might be a 3 (on a good day).

On edit: Crap, 5 minutes after I posted this I had to go back and add something else. I'd better stop doing that right now.

 

When is the last time you flushed the transmission fluid? I'd also consider an auxiliary transmission cooler before your trip to the mountains.

Raamat is a less expensive version of dynomat if you want to save a few pennies.

 

better air filter.
spare CPS in glove box.
HPX
Up pipes

 

Thanks for the replies.

Transmission fluid flush: Once since new, I'm out of town and can't look up my mx records.

Better air filter than the one that comes with the Ford AIS kit?

CPS = Cam Position Sensor? They fail often? How much $$ for spare?

Up pipes - do those with 4" exhaust?

 

did not see the AIS that works great no need to up grade.
CPS is best to order them for Clay at riffraff of Bob at diesel orings $23.00
the up pipes are easier to do with the down pipe gone so it is a great time to do it. just make sure to get the bellowed pipe.

 

Unplug fuel bowl heater and tape up pigtail. This way you don't have to worry about blowing a fuse and be stuck on the side of the road. Cost for that = free.

 

I don't have the CCV mod, and I'm managing to keep the oil out of the engine bay... it might be the fact that my RRD CAC boots aren't porous like the stockers.

I saw a biggie way down the list - Hutch and Harpoon. I did mine late, and I wish I had done that early. I'd have gauges before a chip... so I know how the truck behaves before and after the chip. That fuel pressure gauge turned out to be surprisingly important for me.

From your 100% title, I'm assuming you already read "Chip Chasers" (Custom Tunes link in my signature).

Your truck has oodles of ohs on the odo, and crow's feet around the headlights... you need to reset your thinking when you take a vehicle this far (most gassers are gone by 200K). You could run into things that would never cross your mind... like sensor/regulator failures, wire harness wear-through, tired pumps, etc.... I'm not saying you've garnered a garage glutton, but I'm saying a question mark doesn't fit after a scan tool or scan gauge... an exclamation mark does.

 

I'll go check on fuel bowl threads - I hadn't come across that subject yet.

Tugly:

68,000 miles is "oodles of 0's" ?????? (See OP)

I have gauges, 6 of 'em. (See sig)

Yep, I read your "Chip Chasers" thread and have been influenced by it. That's why I want to clean the engine bay up, to check for and keep watching for leaks. That's why I want to do the CC - to help keep it clean.

I'll move the Hutch up the priority list based on your recommendation, but I'm somewhat intimidated by it due to my limited wrenching skills. The threads I've read give good instructions right after "drop the tank", for example, but I have no idea how to go about dropping the tank.

 

Once you crawl under the truck and start looking at the gas tank, it's pretty self explanatory. Just remove the bolts holding the shield [if you have one] , remove the fill hose/tube and the tank straps and gently lower it with a floor jack...not a good idea to do it when full of fuel. To me it was easier to remove the fuel supply and return lines after I had lowered it a little. Oh, yeah get a fuel line removal tool at your local auto parts store. It's really pretty simple...just go for it.

 

I to have been a little scared about the. Fuel tank, even though I've dove as far as replacing all the tie rods my ball joints and wheel bearings, been under the valve covers ect. I've done everything to my truck but still find the fuel tank intimidating lol

 

Uh... er.... I don't know what happened there, unless I got another thread mixed with this one. I had 190K on the brain. Oh... I remember. That was before the coffee hit bottom.