In October I will be leaving to Connecticut to attend Baran IT. It is 950 mile trip each way and plan to come home every so often. Flying is not an option so I must make the trip in the truck. I plan on doing a whole bunch of things before I leave, but I would like to get some input on other thing I should concern myself with for the journey.

I plan on spark plugs, wires, oil lines, battery, tie rods, ball joints, coolant flush, and all around new brakes/rotors. I have done ALL of my fluids recently, trans flush, front & rear diff, t-case.

Is there anything else I should change/look over before I leave? I understand my truck has lots of miles, 156,000, but she should make it. I do have leaky head gaskets, and I hope they hold up, cause I cant really do a engine swap right now.

any other advice is welcome. 98 4six expy

thanks

 

Everything you mentiond sounds about right, except maybe for the oil lines which I do not understand..I would suggest you have the head gaskets replaced if your positive they are bad...There is no need for an engine swap as head gaskets are a replaceable item...Think about it...

 

Oil lines leak like crazy. Its one of the most biggest problems with our trucks, almost everybody has them. I fear to change the gaskets cause the heads most likely need to be milled along with the block.

 

Please tell me what oil lines you are refering to.I have owned Fords for the past 20+ years, and even retired from Ford and this is the first I have ever heard of this..You shouldn't have to do any machine work ( milling or surfacing) to your truck. I have changed many head gaskets in my 50+ years and have never had to surface any heads..Someone is giving you the wrong information..

 

The oil lines from the remote oil filter under the bumper. Also known as oil cooler lines. they come into work all the time and have ot be changed. My lines are always soaking in fresh oil after every drive, in some cases they blow out.

As for the head gaskets, I have been told numerous times that most of the time the gaskets leak since burrs in the cylinder head rip through the gaskrt after being torqued down. After many engine cycles, this burr digs deep into the block causing a dimple. Hence leaving the heads and block useless. There are many others on here that know what I am talking about.

One of my core plugs is also leaking.

 

For sake of disagreeing I will just tell you that I have never had an issue with oil lines.
As for the head gaskets and freeze plug, I suggest you repair both before setting out on your road trip...Never saw a burr on a head or block....Most head gaskets just deteriorate over time....good luck on whatever you choose...

 

As soon as other chime in, you'll see what I am talking about.

Since you have done many cylinder head gasket changes, how much do all the gaskets cost? I work at Ford and can get a discount, but I'd need to know what all else has to be replaced. I can do the job myself, but I dont know what all to buy. I really really do not want to do this since I do not want to sink money in this sorry excuse for an engine. Rather run her til she dies then 5.4 swap after school.

 

For less than $200.00 you can get everything you need to do the job. You may be able to get a better deal on the head gaskets if you buy them from a parts house rather than at the dealer....

 

Any big things I have to worry about such as keeping the chains in time, stuff like that? I dont like removing old exhaust manifolds. The studs tend to break off in the head. Any big issues I have to worry about?

 

It is very unlikely that the heads will need any resurfacing as long as the engine has never overheated. The problem was in the gasket. That is why Ford redesigned the gasket. It wasn't robust enough around the rear oil passage in the back of the head. Some people used the chips as an excuse until Ford came out with the real fix for the problem. A MLS gasket.

 

any more suggestions

 

Change the head gaskets and soft plug. Are the tie rods and ball joints shot? Or are you changing them for piece of mind? Once that head gasket starts leaking into the block your all done.

 

Everything is pretty much sucked dry. All the boots are cracking and sucked in. One lower ball joint is loose so why not just do them all. What is the "soft plug"?

 

The rubber oil cooler lines are a common failure on engines equipped with a cooler.

As far as the head gaskets go, you'll need head gaskets, intake gaskets, front cover gaskets, valve cover gaskets, and head bolts. The gaskets themselves are a lot easier to do with the engine out of the truck.

 

Camarothatcould:

I think you replied to my post one time about my oil lines that were leaking. They connect to the oil filter up front. The picutre below is where they tie back into the engine. Just backing you up on your point about leaking oil lines...