Good to hear of your progress.
I'm wondering about the mechanicals and fluids, those need to be in good shape to get you back home. For me that stuff is of higher priority. Our last trip we traveled for hours on 2 lane roads without cell coverage and barely saw other vehicles - no guarantee things won't break but at least I've done my best to mitigate risk.
I almost always buy good used vehicles , but I always set a new baseline of maintenance, meaning everything gets a going-over, anything questionable or unknown (like transmission and differential, oil/filter, brake fluid for example) get replaced. I do all my own work so it's just cost of parts that's easier on the wallet and I keep records of maintenance and receipts for parts. My approach is methodical and boring lol. Consider coolant, hoses, belts etc as well, condition of brakes, suspension, steering in this baseline. It gives you a known starting point for vehicle condition. Just because something is working for the moment doesnt mean it can be assumed to be in good maintenance condition.
On the propane system for example, the regulator and a couple of the fittings had very small leaks. It was more straightforward to replace both regulators (main and BBQ outlet) plus the hoses and redo all fittings with fresh Rectorseal) than mess around with partial work. Doing this gave me that baseline I referred to, related in this case to the propane system.
I'm wondering about the mechanicals and fluids, those need to be in good shape to get you back home. For me that stuff is of higher priority. Our last trip we traveled for hours on 2 lane roads without cell coverage and barely saw other vehicles - no guarantee things won't break but at least I've done my best to mitigate risk.
I almost always buy good used vehicles , but I always set a new baseline of maintenance, meaning everything gets a going-over, anything questionable or unknown (like transmission and differential, oil/filter, brake fluid for example) get replaced. I do all my own work so it's just cost of parts that's easier on the wallet and I keep records of maintenance and receipts for parts. My approach is methodical and boring lol. Consider coolant, hoses, belts etc as well, condition of brakes, suspension, steering in this baseline. It gives you a known starting point for vehicle condition. Just because something is working for the moment doesnt mean it can be assumed to be in good maintenance condition.
On the propane system for example, the regulator and a couple of the fittings had very small leaks. It was more straightforward to replace both regulators (main and BBQ outlet) plus the hoses and redo all fittings with fresh Rectorseal) than mess around with partial work. Doing this gave me that baseline I referred to, related in this case to the propane system.
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