Can’t Afford a New Adventuremobile? This Is the Ultimate Guide to Rig Maintenance.

New cars and trucks are more expensive than ever—the average price of a used car was just shy of $50,000 in January, according to Kelly Blue Book. Interest rates to finance a vehicle are ballooning as well. To this car enthusiast, out of control costs sounds like a good argument for hanging on to your current vehicle, and taking care of it so you can keep driving safely and comfortably. And while maintenance often sounds intimidating, it really doesn’t need to be.

With 35,000 miles of off-road driving, plus big trips like last year’s three-month epic through Baja under its belt, my heavily modified 2021 Ford Ranger is starting to feel a little beat. Like anyone whose truck is squeaking, driving poorly, and becoming a pain to use, I started to plan on buying a replacement. I pondered my options—maybe a little bigger truck, probably with a more comfortable camper, definitely brand new. But with interest rates still exceeding seven percent, vehicle prices at an all-time high, and signs of a recession creeping in, the thought of adding an expensive payment to my monthly budget just no longer seems prudent. So I’m doing something else: I’m keeping my truck.

But choosing to keep my truck does nothing to eliminate its squeaky bearings. So I decided to give the Ranger a makeover. And even if you’re not a truck enthusiast, here’s how you can do the same.

1. Make a List

You don’t need to be an expert to do this. Just write down everything you don’t like about how your vehicle is performing right now. Every creak or problem or task you can come up with.

Mine looks like this:

• Sticky ginger-ale explosion residue all over windshield, headliner, seats, dashboard, buttons
• Goose Gear Seat Delete plate system squeaking. Smoothie residue in nooks and crannies
• Dog hair everywhere
• Headlamps bulbs older than one year
• Intermittent check engine light
• Worn/squeaky suspension bushings on all four corners
• Oil/filter change overdue
• Differential fluid front/rear probably needs changing
• Fog lights have rattled out of alignment
• Camper interior lights broken
• Solar panel(s) broken
• Broken bumper swingout retention pin
• Bent bumper swingout latch
• Apply yellow film to rear work lights so people can see me during blizzards
• Intermittent clunking over bumps
• Decked drawer system loose and clunking, filled to brim with mess

2. Diagnose Problems

Even if you’re not an amateur mechanic, you can likely tackle more of these jobs than you think. But, you have to figure out what’s wrong in order to fix it. Don’t be intimidated; diagnosing your car’s issues is easier than you think.

Any car or truck made since 1996 includes a standardized electronic Onboard Diagnostic port called an OBD-II. Diagnostic ports were mandated as part of a drive for more stringent vehicle emissions standards—check engine lights are typically related to a vehicle’s intake or exhaust systems—with the intention of keeping these complicated parts owner-serviceable. OBD-II readers can be purchased for as little as $20. But odds are good one of your friends or neighbors already has one.

To use an OBD-II scanner, just plug it into the port below the steering wheel while the vehicle is fully off, then turn the key or push the ignition button to turn the car on in accessory mode, without starting the motor. Then follow the instructions on the screen.

Some modern vehicles may also push fault codes out to a smartphone app, along with a brief explanation.

Once you have that code or smartphone alert, all you need to do is perform a simple search. Put your car or truck’s year, make, model and trim (i.e. 2021 Ford Ranger XLT) into Google, along with the fault code or name, and you’ll find help immediately.

My OBD-II scanner pointed me toward an exhaust gas pressure sensor, and a search sent me to a thread on the vehicle’s owner forum detailing the problem: the sensor can fill up with moisture created during fuel combustion. A new sensor costs $19, and following instructions on the forum meant replacing it was as simple as removing and re-tightening two bolts. The entire job took about half an hour, and the only speciality tool needed was a step stool, so I could comfortably reach all the way into my lifted truck’s engine bay.

Mechanical problems are even easier, but they typically require help from another person.

For noises, start by parking the car safely, with the engine off and parking brake engaged. Then crawl underneath your vehicle while a helper bounces whichever front, rear, or corner you think might be home to the problem. Once you can track down the noise to a specific area, like the suspension controlling a single wheel, then you’re ready to diagnose the specific component. Grab a can of penetrating oil—WD40 will do in a pinch—and carefully squirt it into and onto any part that moves, until the noise stops. When it does, you know the last component you hit with that oil is the culprit. Anything made from rubber or plastic—like bushings, rubber isolators that reduce noise and vibrations—will need to be replaced. Anything metal can likely be loosened, lubricated, and adjusted.

That’s what my mechanic (who’s also a friend) and I did to diagnose issues with my bushings. I’m running a complete Old Man Emu BP-51 suspension system, and it turns out the lower bushing up front, and all four bushings for the rear leafs, were totally shot. We also found the source of that occasional clunk off-road: relocating my spare tire to the bumper swingout left the under-bed pulley with too much length in its chain, and that was whacking the underside of the body. Lefty loosey on four bolts and that’s now riding in my giant box of spare parts.

3. Decide What to Handle Yourself

Working on your own vehicle is often much easier than you think it might be. Consult owners forums and YouTube for help, invest in new tools as you need them, and the only significant cost should be to your own time.

Of course, some matters are better left to professionals. Even if you technically know how to fix something, doing so is not always convenient. Since it’s cold and snowy here in Montana, and my truck won’t fit in my garage, I let my mechanic handle those suspension bushings himself. And, try as I might, I couldn’t free the seized collar holding in the broken swingout retention pin (I have an aftermarket rear bumper that carries tools and the spare tire on a pivot), so I handed him that task, too.

I have a great relationship with an independent mechanic, and you can too. Read reviews, ask around for referrals, and chat with a few in your town until you find one that makes you feel confident.

4. Create a Maintenance Schedule

It doesn’t matter what you drive, components on your car or truck will wear out over time. Manufacturers provide maintenance schedules for their vehicles that must be followed to retain warranty coverage. Keeping yours up-to-date is probably a lot more affordable than you think it’s going to be.

Car owners tend to neglect two important maintenance principles. The first is failing understand and manage your vehicle’s maintenance schedule yourself. By relying on your dealer to tell you what work is needed, you end up paying for a ton of stuff that’s either completely frivolous or which you could do yourself for free. A real maintenance schedule includes year and mileage intervals suggesting when it’s time to change out fluids and filters, or replace items like belts. But if you just trust a dealer, they’re going to bill you for the time it takes to check your tire pressure, top up your washer fluid, or change your wiper blades—all easy tasks you can do yourself.

For my truck, I try to change the oil and filter every 6,000 miles. I clean my aftermarket air filter with compressed air after any off-road trip, check my fluid levels whenever I think to do so, and swap my summer and winter tires once every fall and spring. Once my truck reaches 60,000 miles it’ll be time to change the spark plugs, and at 100,000 miles I’ll do a coolant flush. Aside from stuff like my bushings that I beat to hell off-road, that’s it.

The second principle—and this is doubly important for us outdoor enthusiasts—is understanding that maintenance schedules are based on normal driving cycles, and not heavy use activities like towing, hauling a heavy camper around, or driving off-road. So we need to use our judgement, and bring forward certain maintenance to suit the additional wear added to some parts.

Those of us who drive off road tend to abuse our axle differentials. Any time you ask your truck to move a lot of weight, climb steep inclines, or manage traction off-road you’re asking your differentials to work hard. Drive through deep water, and your diffs may also suck in a little bit of moisture, slowly polluting the oil that lubricates them. Replacing that lubricating oil more often than the normal maintenance schedule suggests may help your differentials last longer and work more efficiently. I’ll spend an hour swapping mine out once I have a dry driveway to work in.

Hard driving will have similar effects on brake pads, tires, transmission fluid, your battery, and more. Start with the manufacturer’s suggested service intervals, then modify the timing to suit how hard you use your vehicle.

My Ranger had been feeling pretty worn out. It was squeaking loudly everywhere I went, and had become a real challenge to use daily between all that ginger ale, the broken bumper, and the combination of all the other small issues. But now, after completing my to-do list? I took it out during a blizzard the other night just to play around in the snow, and my truck is back to being the smooth, controllable, extremely capable vehicle I built it to be. Heck, I can even see out of the windows. I think I’m in love with my truck again.

Wes Siler has been writing about topics like cars, trucks, and the outdoors since the early 2000s. You can find more of his work and get his help on Substack.