Maintenance/Upgrade Priorities?

longwool · 07-19-2023, 12:05 PM

So a little background...

2002 7.3psd E350 w/ Quigley 4x4 ~350k Miles, ~70k put on by me over the last 4 or so years. Including a 7mo cross country excursion with quite a few miles off pavement. Got a few maintenance/upgrades that I have been wanting to get taken care of and am hoping to get some opinions on how to prioritize things.

FWIW I am decent with a wrench so will be doing most if not all of the work by myself if I can.

1. Injectors - New injectors are on the horizon, when the van was new to us we had issues with cold starts and eventually found out it was due to worn injectors. Money was tight at the time so I did some research and found out you can shim them to get some extra life out of them. Spent a long weekend learning how annoying working in the doghouse is, but got the job done. Honestly this has worked like a charm and we haven't had problem since, but I know a long term solution is required before they do become a problem. After putting the shims in, I am fairly confident I could do the injectors myself even though I know it can be a pain.

2. Agile RIP kit - suspension is definitely ready for an upgrade, pretty much just dragging my feet to place the order because I had a big unexpected repair bill for the commuter car a couple weeks ago

3. Swapping to a full float rear - heavy van, high mileage, and I enjoy bumpy roads so it seems like the smart move. But also still trying to decide gearing for this as I would like to size up (on 285s but would like to go to 35s). The annoying thing here in regards to my wallet is the added cost of possibly regearing and probably throwing in a rear locker while I am at it. Is it worth it?

4. Wheels/Tires - Our cheap steel wheels have just caused quite a few headaches with being hard to balance and consistently throwing weights causing other problems, etc. Ready for new tires but was waiting to get new suspension first to help with some uneven wear.

5.Hydrachip Tune - mostly interested with this in regards to gearing and tire size to try some different tunes to see how it feels, but thinking this will be the lowest priority

Any thoughts on what I should prioritize? Are there any headaches I am not foreseeing with these changes? Anyone got a money tree I could pick from?

simplesez · 07-19-2023, 01:08 PM

I would prioritize suspension and some aluminum wheels first. Put aside say like $3000 for getting that done. It's your connection to the road.

REF · 07-19-2023, 04:31 PM

….how’s condition on ball joints, ujoints, sway bar bushings?
But yes, maintenance, suspension and some wheels/tires before performance mods

longwool · 07-20-2023, 08:17 AM

Alright cool, that is mostly what I was thinking.

Ball joints and Ujoints are looking good, sway bar bushings are definitely on the list when I do the agile kit.

deserteagle56 · 07-20-2023, 10:19 AM

Depending on how much lift you already have...35s may be a problem. You may have to add more lift to clear tires that size, and perhaps move the front axle forward. For sure if you do go to 35s you should have the full floater under the rig. Those tires would be much more stress on the axles.