Taking the plunge. My journey as an O/O.

How many miles are on your air cleaner?

 

I was talking about the air filter for your engine intake. I’d probably start with a new one just because it would make me feel good about a fresh start. But if it’s fairly new anyway, obviously your fine. I think the plan you laid out sounds plenty good. I’d go to 20k miles but that’s just me, no harm at 15k other then the pocket book.

The air dryer filter though if you hadn’t replaced it, I certainly would.

 

Some time next year I'm going to redo the interior again, but I'm actually going to measure things properly and finish the wood. I don't remember what I spent on it, but I want to say it was less than $300 for the wood, hardware, and sink. Removing the old cabinets and upper bunk was the hardest part. I'm pretty sure Freightliner uses vinyl upholstery behind the cabinets, where Volvo just leaves the insulation exposed once you remove the cabinet.

Either way, the microwave is bolted down to the plywood with angle brackets. If you wanted to be extra safe, you could put netting over it when not in use. If I didn't have the workstation, I would build a fold down table. I've got an HDPE cutting board that folds down over the sink that doubles as a table, although I rarely use it. That slide out drawer on the Cascadia is pretty weak.

 

My old boss would always put the winter front on a truck at about 25% open after an overhaul no matter what time of year for the first few weeks. He always swore on running them warm and working the engine. I also have a friend who swears by driving like the cops are chasing you after an overhaul. Not sure if there’s much to the second theory, but I had to overhaul my FLD in Sept of 2012 and I ran the winter front on it from then all through the winter and it never used a drop of oil between services.

 

Properly break it in asap. Like with in ten minutes of getting it back if you aren't familiar with how to break an engine in I'll make a detailed post later when I have 15 minutes.