preperations!!

Well as the 5th drew closer we started to think about a lot of things……….like can we do this, should we do this? Well those of you who know me well know that “come hell or high water” we are going!!! The first thing we started to think about was do we really want to drive approx. 30 hours in our beloved Discovery, risk damage and breakage and then drive another 30 hours home!!! Considering that we will drive approx. 4500 miles over the next two weeks we decided to look for a suitable tow vehicle and trailer. After a very short search on the internet we found and bought a 2002 Ford f350 crew cab dually with the almighty 7.3 liter diesel engine. Of course I would never just buy a vehicle and head out for a trans continental trip with the proper preventative maintenance. Ok well this means different things to different people as I have learned in my current line of work(car repair shop owner)!! We changed ALL the fluids, filters, hoses, checked the jack and spare tire, then threw on a new set of brakes. Good to go!!
Next would be getting the Discovery ready to go. Well it needed a good refreshing up after 105 thousand miles. To me that meant going through the engine and checking all the other fluids/systems. First I knew the head gaskets were leaking and Moab was not were I wanted to test my luck with an over heat!! I decided to replace the head gaskets. This turned out to be just the beginning!! Desiree wanted in on the job! Yes boys and girls Desiree jumped in and disassembled the engine for me!! Does she kick ass or what?! While we were at it we changed the timing cover and chain, oil pan gasket, radiator, water pump, all coolant hoses, lifters, throttle plate gasket, thermostat, all fluids, belt, and pulleys. Ahhhhhhhh that’s much better!! Now she’s ready to go!! Oh I forgot there were a few other things on my list to get the truck ready….The winch did not work, front lights not wired up, cb antenna needed to be relocated and my wheel flares needed to be reattached!! Just a few small things at the last minute to add to the stress level!!!! Well with the help a good friend we got it all done in time and even added a few cool things like an onboard co2 tank for airing up the tires as well as a dash mounted winch control switch!! Sweet