I took my truck in today to Kal Tire to have it inspected before heading to Mexico next month. What I learned boils down to I’ll be somewhere between Gillette and Cheyenne Wyoming in it this time next month. 🙂

The news was excellent. Yes, the rust is bad and it’s not worth, say, putting a new engine into this body, but it’s still totally worth doing basic maintenance on it. I was rather embarrassed to learn that I had a flat I hadn’t noticed and was told that I really should consider replacing two of my tires before getting many more miles under me. I also have leaking rear axle seals that will need to be looked at but are not something that need immediate attention.

The only bad news is that my clutch is on the way out and I’ve got a 50/50 chance of getting to Isla with it. The mechanic I spoke to today asked me if I have a mechanic I trust at the other end of the journey and I replied in the affirmative. “The guy who did your brake work recently?” Yes… “If I was you, I’d take the gamble that I was going to make it and have him do the work as soon as I arrive.”

So did you hear the good news in that? The mechanic on Isla did a superb job on my brakes. 🙂

The bad news is that a clutch job on a Ranger is about 1,000CAD. If I get to MX, it’ll be a fraction of the price, but if my clutch goes out on me while I’m in the States, I’ll be stranded until my October money lands. I’ll cross that bridge if it ever materializes. 🙂

If I choose to buy my tires here, which I likely will because I just won’t have time to deal with them en route, I’m looking at about $250 to put into my truck before departure, a cost that I can easily absorb, on top of the $76 I spent today on the inspection and the flat tire change.

Soon as I get my November payment for the October work, I’ll head to my Isla mechanic to schedule not just the clutch repair (because I am going to get to him!), but also the AC repair!

I can’t stop staring at the inspection report. Everything is green except for my tires, my wheel alignment (not dire), and my air and fuel filters, which are yellow. The only ‘red’ items aren’t on their checklist, the rear axle seals and the clutch. I was certain that my truck is reasonably mechanically sound and I was right. Ah, peace of mind is a lovely thing!