So, Ebrake, new converter and VB, injectors, cause those WILL be going out soon....
Plus add a little more $ for the other unknowns, and now the experts have her sinking a min of $8k into her rig just to make it "roadworthy."
Yes, I know about most/all of the upgrades to make a 3rd gen more capable. Have half of them myself on my truck, but this isn't a cheap venture if the lady follows advice that has her doing all this "stuff" to pull a little trailer.
Guessing she's not as mechanically inclined as, say, burningman, so warm up the checkbook, it'll get a workout.
Again, I'm not minimizing the usefulness of an exhaust brake, but it's not the doom n gloom portrayed here. Unless the hills got steeper in the southwest since we left CO, NM, AZ, I've got several hundred thousand miles driving those states in everything from a 6 banger F150 to a Dmax/Cummins. And I really don't recall the "oh shoot" moments that are portrayed as fact here. I also knew better than to come down Wolf Creek Pass in a F250 gasser with a 10k trailer behind it. I went through Alamosa. Was cheaper than buying a diesel with an exhaust brake!