Well, I will be driving from Nova Scotia to Ontario in about a week. Approx 1700km. My truck is a 92 F150 4X4, 302 E40D, with 205K. What should I be checking before I go? I have only owned this truck for about a month, and only put about 500km on it. So I am a little apprehensive since I don't know the truck as well as I would like to .So far since owning it I have done this work:
-Some new brake lines
-Oil & Filter
-New engine oil pan & gasket
-Transmission fluid & filter
-one u-joint on the rear driveshaft

It runs great, shifts pretty good, has a fairly new radiator and alternator. I was thinking of changing the spark plugs and air filter, mainly because I want to get good mileage. Anything else??

Norm

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/a...ictureid=11318

 

make sure to inspect tires and adjust pressures and you should be good

 

Check your coolant too.

 

Don't forget the serpentine belt - look closely at its ribs where it sits on its back (such as over the water pump pulley), if you can see even small cracks it's time to replace the belt.

 

Also check your hoses. Just inspect them to make sure there isnt anything wrong like leaks, bloating, crackling..etc....

 

I'd throw some spare hoses, a belt, and some fluids in the back for good measure.

 

Checked the hoses, and belt, they look good.

One thing that I found out that was not a good surprise is, the fuel tanks leak a bit when over half full. I am debating trying to change at least one of them before I leave.. But on the other hand it runs well the way it is, I can just fill up more often. I ram coming back to NS in Oct, I can just change them then. Thoughts?

The plugs are getting changed after work tonite

 

check your fuel pump gasket first before just replacing the tank. my rear tank leak and come to find out it was the pump gasket. changed it and no more problems. good time to inspect the inside as well..

 

or where the filler hose goes into the tank. possible leak there as well...

 

I had a look underneath, the rear tank looks quite new so, it could very well be the gasket or filler hose. The front one however is pretty ripe and will be changed. If it will only stop raining

 

Well I had my road trip 2000 km each way with about 1500 km in between.

I never did change the spark plugs before I left, they were too tight and I didn't have time to soak them in penetrating oil before I left.

Around the time I was supposed to start the return trip the truck developed a slight miss that got worse as time went on. It got to the point where I began to wonder if something serious was wrong. But I checked the codes nothing wrong.

So I decided to change the plugs. And knowing they were super tight I tried to change them without trying to soak them in penetrating oil, because I was in a hurry. Well wouldn't you know it, the first one I tried snapped off. The whole porcelain came out, leaving the metal threaded part stuck in my head.

Anyways long story short, I had it towed to a shop, and fortunately they were able to extract it. But that one one spark plug wound up being pretty expensive..

Lesson learned --- If I had taken the time to do the maintenance properly before hand the truck would have ran a lot better. It's not a good feeling to see your truck being towed away to an unknown shop the day before you are supposed to leave for home 2000km away!

 

Any lesson that ends well is a good lesson, if you learned something, right?

Glad everything turned out alright.

 

I admire the courage that it took to take a truck that was basically unknown and had that many miles on such a long trip.

Tim

 

A guy learns something new everyday man, and dont worry, this forum is FULL of guys that are DIY's and you wouldnt have been the only one that tried changing them and snapped a plug!

How did the truck run after? Did you replace cap and rotor at the same time?

 

preppypyro the cap and rotor were changed before the trip. After I got home I changed the plugs and the plug wires too. I also fixed a vacuum leak. The Truck runs like brand new now! I should have done those things before I even left the driveway..

I am in the Army, driving old, unknown vehicles on long trips is pretty much what we do