Decided to keep that ST. What maintenance to do??

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CountyMounty

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Looking for suggestions for DIY maintenance.



It is my "turn" to get a new vehicle but I really like the Trac and it makes more sense to upgrade to a SUV for the growing family and replace my wife's car. So after some deliberation I'm going to keep my ST. It is a 2004 4x4 XLT with just under 75,000 miles on it. It has been pretty good to me, other than a tranny rebuild at about 50k. So I am going to keep it and put some money into general maintenance. Its going into the shop next week for new tires, alignment and a coolant flush/change. I am going to look through the projects section for things to do myself. I have a garage, good tools and my mechanical ability is improving lol. So my question is what would you all recommend I do for both preventive maintenance or any easier DIY stuff that might improve the overall ride or whatever. I replaced the shocks when I bought it (might try to get Monroe to replace them under warranty they have 60,000 miles on them). Otherwise I have not done much to it beside real basic maintenance. I also intend to replace the rusted push bar, and replace or refinish the step bars. Lots of work to do but I plan to have it a couple more years now.
 
hmm then maybe I shouldn't have them do a coolant flush Tuesday then? I was looking through projects I think I'm going to do sway bars and intake cleaning, also going to do plugs and wires for sure.
 
Be prepared for shop to tell you that they can't align it because you've got worn ball joints. Could happen. I'd go ahead with the coolant service - if you're going to replace the thermostat housing later, just save the drained fresh coolant for reuse. When's last time you changed fuel filter? Had battery checked? If you've not serviced your differentials and transfer case you're overdue. Replacing spark plugs and plug wires would be good, as would throttle body cleaning.
 
Shocks if it still has the originals. You mentioned it had a rebuilt tranny at 50k, I would get it flushed every 30k. If yours is a 4x4 you should change the front and rear diff lube and the transfer case. I did a Member Project on changing the t-case lube, it is easy to do yourself if you get a suction gun to fill it with. I use Mobil 1 ATF. The rear diff is doable yourself, better if you get a Lube Locker gasket and a torque wrench. Mobil 1 75w-140 and friction modifier if it is a limited-slip. The only way to change the front diff short of pulling the whole thing out of the truck is to go to a Valvoline Qwicky-Lube where they do it with a suction machine for $49.99. There is not enough room between the diff cover and the crossmember to get it off. Or just drop $100 and have them do both axles (if you have a 4x4).



75k, heck that's just broken in. My '08 has 85k on although that includes a trip from PA to FL every year since new.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, I have a "lifetime" alignment package and get it aligned every 4 to 6 months just because its free and yes its seems they are almost always finding something wrong so they cant align it. I suspect that they will find something wrong Tuesday as its been a while and its been rough winter driving so I am cringing just waiting to see what they say.



I think I will still do the coolant flush and make sure I know what they put in it in case I need to replace any with a thermostat issue in the future.



I have never changed the fuel filter but bought one to do it several weeks ago and haven't got to it yet so that is on the list. I did the rear diff last year so that should be good to go, I will probably do the transfer case that seems simple enough. I guess I should get someone to do front diff as that has not been done but last year the shop noted a small leak in my front diff seal it seems to be more of a seep to me but they said it needed to be replaced but I will see if they say anything this time, I looked into doing that fix myself but looks more than I wanted to tackle.



I was going to do a tranny pan drop and filter, fluid change myself instead of a flush.



Shocks I'm not sure. I bought new Monroe to replace the OEM's when there was under 10k on it I think I would like to see about getting them replaced under warranty, they are not broken but I think worn enough to justify it, but I'm guessing that will be a pain.



I have to fix the seal on the Tonneau cover, maybe a few paint chips. I just ordered the full front inner fender covers as I only had the little ones (didn't even know the difference until I saw on the projects last night). There are some other little things but I am going to tackle them slowly as I am also doing house stuff. For a while I'm guessing my list will get longer instead of shorter as I add stuff I want to do to it, hoping for another 2 to 3 years at least out of it.



75k but 9 years old and 8 of them driving in the northeast winters not the best on vehicles, I cant complain its been pretty good to me.



Thanks again guys.
 


Shocks I'm not sure. I bought new Monroe to replace the OEM's when there was under 10k on it I think I would like to see about getting them replaced under warranty, they are not broken but I think worn enough to justify it, but I'm guessing that will be a pain.
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It has been awhile, but. I never had trouble with monroe replacing shocks that had at least 45k on them. If I had them installed. Labor is not included.
 
I would install the shocks myself I have looked everywhere for my receipt for them and so far no luck, I bought them from JC Whitney so its not like I can just take them back to have them look at and replace. I'll keep looking I'm sure I kept the paperwork, I keep everything, but its not with my other stuff.



Well not surprising the shop found a problem, they couldn't do an alignment because I need a upper control arm so going to try to tackle that myself, doesn't seem too hard. I keep adding to the to do list a lot I want to do to make sure its going to provide me more years of service. They wanted $145 for the control arm I can get the same from Advance for $80 or a Dorman one for $50. I pretty sure I can do it myself for half the price or less even factoring in $50/hr for my own time.
 

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