This past Sunday, Maggy finally made it to Tahoe!
What should have been a 2,200 mile drive ended up being a 4,000 mile odyssey for my son and my 2002 SR5 Sport, aka Maggy. The Tahoe basin was evacuated two days before my son was to arrive, which gave him the "opportunity" to divert from the Salt Lake KOA to Seattle to stay with family until Cal Fire was able to get the Caldor incident under control.
Having watched and listened to every report and radio call I could find online, I think all of those hot shots, smoke jumpers, etc. need their salary and resources doubled. Such fine work by brave men and women doing what needed to be done, THANK YOU! Sadly, so much more work for them to do in other parts of the state...
Maggy rolled out of the midwest on 27 August with just under 189,000 on her odometer. In summary, to prepare her for the journey, I did the following maintenance items:
engine air filter replacement
engine oil and oil filter change
read diff drain/fill
front diff drain/fill
transfer case drain/fill
coolant flush and fill (Toyota red!)
transmission drain/fill (4 qts)
front brake pads and rotors
brake fluid replacement (dealer did it, I ran out of time)
checked tire pressure
washed every damn window inside and out with Windex and a hand towel
(was going to clean MAF, but the damn little screw stripped and it pissed me off to much to remove it...)
All in, I spent about $525 for supplies/accessories to perform the above myself. Had I gotten all the work done at a dealer or other shop, I estimate it would have been $1,400 at least. (based on promotions/coupons/quotes I received in my area)
Still waiting for the data files from the OBD Fusion app...will be interested to see what engine/coolant and tranny temps were during the ride. Off the top of his head, my son said the engine was consistently in the mid-to-upper 190s, which I think is fine given four people and a ton of luggage in the vehicle.
If anyone knows of a trustworthy mechanic in the South Tahoe/Carson City area, please post a link or PM me. I'd like to have an oil change done at this point even thought I used Mobil1 extended life oil and filter. That should set her up for winter.
Thanks for all the support and advice over the past couple of weeks!