260K Maintenance?

My truck is approaching 260K miles and I want to make sure it lasts another 260K. The factory service guide ends around 120,000 miles, so what should be replaced/serviced on it? It is a 2002 2.7L 4WD Regular Cab and I'm pretty sure the previous owner (my dad) only preformed minimal maintenance on it.

 

When I bought mine I changed all fluids. Trans, transfer case, front and rear diff, rad. Changed spark plugs, 2 idler pulleys, 3 fan belts, grease all zerks in driveline. Should be good to go

 

Should I inspect the ball joints? I was reading a thread on here last night about ball joint failure and it got me worried

 

You can. Jack front end up and grab the tire and shake it around. Sometime put a pry bar under the tire when it's an inch or 2 off the ground and see if there's play in the ball joint. You can buy a needle for the end of a grease gun to get grease into the ball joints, not sure if the factory ones have grease fittings.

 

Ok! Sounds easy enough to me... Thanks!

 

I believe you should just replace them. Buy oem if possible

 

Around 10yrs/250k is the first time I spent more than $100 on PMCS stuff. (Gen-1, 4cyl, 5spd, 2WD) I didn't do all this at once, but maybe within a month or two as time allowed. It was the most time and $ I ended up having to spend on it. Some was probably grey-area, but I was going for 400k and no surprises or high $ melt-downs (Like a bad bearing causing $2k worth of drivetrain damage (Been there):
- Engine fan/clutch started going south. I just changed it, the pulley and water pump. That was the biggest $ (<$200 I think)
- Cooling system looked real bad, so I flushed it, changed all the hoses (Inc. heater hoses) then within a month or so, had it professionally flushed.
- PCV valve, and it's hose (I still remember it was nasty and now I check on all my vehicles)
- Also cleaned/decarbonized/degunked everything I could get to in the intake/fuel system
- U-joints, changed them to be safe (Easy)

Full disclosure:
- I drove 24k+ miles a year, ~80% highway.
- I usually changed, spark plugs, Trans and diff fluid about every 60-90k, when convenient also repacked the front bearings.
- Around 275k ish?, I remember checking the distributor, shocked how much the cap and rotor were worn away, promptly changed them and wires to be safe, maybe $120 I think, probably should have done this much sooner.
- Around 275-300k, I was horrified to see how much the brake and clutch hydraulic systems had degraded, like the front hoses and plastic bits crumbled within ~ a few months from the heavy 250k PMCS I did. Had to changes front brake hoses, slave cylinder, a couple hardware bits, flushed myself, then had a shop do a good flush later. I should have just replaced that stuff at the 10yr mark

Good Luck. It was pretty easy, I did it in my driveway. And just a few hours each weekend. Paid off in the end I think. Went 379,000 miles, almost 16 years, never had a tow truck ride. Traded it in for 20% what I paid for it.

 

I will probably replace them just in case as I have no idea when the last time they were replaced was

 

Wow! Thank you for all the details! I will defiantly be checking these things out. How often did you inspect under the hood (roughly)?