Calm My hypochondria

[jdraupp]

Ok, I tend to have a severe case of car hypochondria and I'm thinking an 02 box was the wrong car to soothe this.

Anywhoo...I'm in the process of planning two repairs. One soon, AOS may be going bad and is original to the car, so am having that replaced, having the throttle body cleaned while he's in there, and a trans flush and filter (yes, I have a tip).

Second repair was going to be the peace of mind repair this summer, LN IMS upgrade, RMS and probably new front engine mount.

Now I'm reading about the cam pads, lifters, and the like and my head is about to explode. Can anyone tell me what that's all about? Is it a neccessary maintenance job? My box has 84k miles on the clock. I changed the oil myself when I got it and plan to do it every 6 months or every 5,000. I know the AOS needs done, I want to do the IMS and I know I need new tires by fall....but now this lifter and vario cam crap is making my head spin.

Anyone had them replaced as part of maintenance and can give me a cost idea or an urgency factor? Haven't even told the wife the 2000 dollar IMS plan...just got her comfortable with the local guy's 370 dollar AOS change quote. Someone help me out here. Any advice on this is appreciated.