230K maintenance before cross country road trip

Fully loaded 24/7 Nissan courier truck with filthy never changed 1984 tranny fluid for 10 years of highway mileage. Your results may vary

 

Mostly fluids. If those are good LBJ's are a good thing to check. Battery will certainly be a weak spot given it's age. Have it load tested. Lube your driveshaft too. Other than that you're good. Maybe check your brakes? Dunno...you know your truck, soooooo...

 

https://tinyurl.com/y6kvt8hq

 

Grease the drive shafts.

 

Alternator checked out good at AutoZone and I'm planning to pick up a voltmeter. I'll have them double check it in the shop when I get ball joints replaced.

Should I consider having the brushes (or whole thing) replaced preemptively? I'm afraid to mess with too many things right before I go, but definitely want to weigh that against the likelihood of it giving me trouble anytime soon...

 

I’d put in a new alternator and keep yours as a spare. It’s gonna happen, you know it. Replace squeaking pulleys, too. AAA for sure

 

I honestly don’t think that it’s worth all the hassle for one trip. If you weren’t going on this trip, what are the odds of something breaking in the next 6k miles? Very little in my opinion, but that’s just me.
In my experience, once you break into something because of high mileage, and with the thought of preventative maintenance and durability in mind, you’re going to end up creating a domino effect that will have someone still working on your truck when you get back from your trip in a rental.
For example, if you’re doing lbj’s, why not go ahead with uppers as well? Along with inner and outer tie rod ends, wheel bearings, sway bar links and bushings, upper and lower control arm bushings followed with an alignment, and call it a front end overhaul?
If you’re good on your normal maintenance, and would feel comfortable with this truck as your daily driver for the next 6k miles, then go ahead with your trip, and enjoy it. Otherwise you’re going to give yourself a panic attack! Lol
I bought my truck at 98k miles. I have 256k on it now. I’ve never changed the alternator or starter. I have done some major work, the front end overhaul that I mentioned, but I did it at 250k miles, and found nothing about to fall apart, just normal wear.
Have the truck serviced, and let whatever shop you take it to know about your trip. “I worked at a ford dealer and did this all the time”
Given that repair order on your truck, I would change your engine oil and filter, and look your truck over from top to bottom for something that was about to break. Belts and hoses, brakes, wheel bearings, front end play, leaks would be on the top of the list, but not really in further detail than the last vehicle I worked on, or the next.
Remember, interstate miles are the easiest miles to have on any vehicle. You’re simply cruising at a high rate of speed, miles are clicking faster than time clicks normally, you’re not on the brakes much, your transmission isn’t shifting much, easy miles.
One thing to have someone check that often gets overlooked is your radiator, condenser, and coolers. Air flow through these is what I’m talking about, but that all depends on the environment that you normally operate the vehicle.
No one knows your truck better than you do. You drive it every day, you put all those miles on it, ask yourself if anything seems different or out of the ordinary.
Believe it or not, you subconsciously do this all the time. 9 times out of ten, something has been screaming at you long before it breaks, and most people notice something out of the ordinary right away.

 

You know what? It’s a Toyota... just drive the sum bitch and let us know how it goes!

 

Exactly!

 

Yeah, it's too late to worry about things at this point. AAA would be good insurance just in case something breaks. Just make sure coolant level is good, oil is good, belts are good. If you get stuff worked on now there's the possibility something doesn't get tightened correctly or they put in a new defective part. You might be better off going with what you've got rather than adding some variables in before you leave. If you had a few months to plan you could get stuff worked on and test it locally before taking the longer trip.