Driving my 2004 on Route 66

[dody]

On April 22nd I purchased a 2004 Thunderbird with 35,000 miles from a Ford dealer about 300 miles from where I live. Using the suggestions that everyone on this forum gave, I asked the dealer to put the car on a lift so I could check the brakes, tires, suspension, and the underside for any leaks or damage. I had the dealer remove the hard top so I could see the operation and condition of the soft top. We took the car for a road test and during the road test I drove the car aggressively to see how the transmission operated and it seemed to shift normally. We also checked the operation of the air conditioner and every electrical component on the car. The dealer also let me connect my scanner to the car's Data Link Connector so I could check to see if there were any fault codes in any of the control modules.

Since the ignition coils are an issue, I replaced all 8 ignition coils and the spark plugs. I replaced the engine air filter and the cabin air filter. Since the temporary spare tire is original, I replaced it with a new one from MAXXIS. After clearing the engine control module memory, I drove the car through the Ford Motor Company driving cycle and all of the readiness monitors passed and set.

The reason I am mentioning all of this is because in September my wife and I plan on driving our 2004 Thunderbird on Route 66 all the way from Chicago to Santa Monica and back. So I can learn everything about my 2004 Thunderbird I have been following the posts on this forum, and frankly you guys are starting to scare the hell out of me. The post in particular is The Top Five 02-05 T-Bird Problems.

So my question is should I drive my Thunderbird on this 6,000 trip or am I just asking for trouble?

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

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[Mach5]

Sounds like you've taken the right steps to make sure you're ready for just such a trip. I like to run the Torque app on my phone so I can more closely monitor temperature, etc. as I go. My 2004 has 64,000 miles and I wouldn't hesitate to make that trip. (Heck I would love to make that trip someday!) Take some pictures and post them in the photo gallery!