2000 Ford E350 Wheelchair Truck maintenance pulled

Well we are going to be pulling out of the driveway in 3 days with our Goshen Coach Wheelchair Van pulling a 30 foot toy hauler RV on a nearly 2,000 mile round trip.  So tonight I found the time to change the oil and lube up the truck and pull some other maintenance.  The 7.3 Ford Powerstroke motor is a needy machine when it comes to lubricants

I drained the oil out and slapped on a brand new Motorcraft FL-1995 oil filter.
filled back up with 14 quarts of Rotella T 15W40 motor oil leaving behind my delo 400 LE oil I have been using.

Replaced the 2 Motorcraft FA-1618 air filters.

Added 1.5 quarts of 80W90 gear lube to the rear differential... I used a $5.99 manual fluid transfer pump from harbor freight to put the oil in there it was a breeze!

Greased up the steering joints with my trusty grease gun.

Tracked down why my turbo boost gauge doesn't work the tube had come loose from where the jacklegs Tee'd it onto what is it the manifold pressure hose?  unfortunately and expectedly at the same time there was no wire ties used in running the tubing for the boost guage so when it came loose it fell all the way back against the exhaust pipe and burnt the connector off the tubing... So I have to wait until I can get to a hardware store and find some super small compression fittings to mate it back to the rubber hose.

Well that's all for now, I've still got to hitch up and drag the whole rig to where I can all the tires aired back up to 80 psi and we should be good to go.

upcoming Ford E350 Wheelchair Truck Maintenance, Walt Disney World Trip Baby!

Well we are T minus 3 weeks until we are leaving for Walt Disney World in our 2000 Ford E350 7.3 Liter Turbo Charged Powerstroke diesel powered cutaway bus pulling our 30 foot 2005 Campmaster toy hauler aka our wheelchair accessible home away from home.

Charlie our Merle Great Dane sporting our latest Mickey Ears!

I just started ordering the consumables we will need for our trip, 2 new Motorcraft FA-1618 air filters. Then it's off to Walmart to round up 4 gallons of Rotella 15w40 Motor oil and an FL-1995 oil filter. Stuff I wish I had done but won't is I have a Gulf Coast bypass oil filter that I have meant to install but haven't (I have the one that holds a roll of paper towells, a serious depth filter).

I recently purchased a friction sway controller to mount on the hitch I'm really hoping it's a more pleasant pulling experience this time, as our truck and trailer combined length is 53' of all wall without the benefit of large truck drivetrain.

 Our Travelling Rig all hitched up September 2011 when we went down to trick or treat the Magic Kingdom

I do believe the biggest problem is we don't travel with any "toys" in our toy hauler so the weight is off, combined with the large overhang off the real dually wheels and you can see this thing is scary fun when a semi blasts by you... the only redemption is this truck is wicked powerful With the 7.3 Liter Turbo Charged International Powerstroke Diesel and if you want you can stay ahead of the semis or match their speed some... Anyway we are looking forward to our upcoming trip, I just purchased my rain ponchos off ebay (to save on the ones they sell in the park) Don't think I'm wishing for rain, I'm not, it's just that it rains some almost everyday in Central Florida.

One thing we are planning on doing while in the Orlando region is we want to maybe talk to a realtor about moving down there in the not so distant future.  I'm at a toss up atm about living in the city near dr's offices which we tend to go out for the most.... or living in the country and having about 5 acres of land.... We've allready decided after modifying our house here for wheelchair access that a modified house is not suitable for wheelchair access it's just managable, not the best of living.  I got my eye on an 80'x40' steel building package which I will make half a garage rv storage and half a house, with mostly open space.  This housing choice can easily pass the wind load requirements for Central Florida, plus have the cheapest per square foot building cost.

Please leave me some comments if you have handicapped housing you like or information on how you maintain your wheelchair vehicle.  I will say our truck is 12-13 years old and diesel is expensive but the main motor is the least of my worries when I travel as it's a tough beast... now I've put on 2 a/c compressors and an alternator and a starter on the machine (hey you can't have everything) but the truck through it's ex fleet appearance and noise level can't be beat for reliability. (Please read some of my other posts on this truck, I have made a large number of them.)