Have you considered taking it to a shop in the meantime to try to determine the problem? I've had car trouble on the road before, and the anxiety of possibly being stranded somewhere has usually had the effect of me not enjoying my trip as much. I guess it just depends on your comfort level and familiarity with what could possibly be causing the problem.

How many miles since you changed the trans filter?

I'm not on the site all that much, so I'm not aware of your noise-after-lift problem. Is it possible that the lift has caused a cv or u-joint to start binding somewhere? Have you lubed those joints recently? Lubing all the cirk (sp?) fittings I could find cleared up a noise I had on a Toyota 4x4 I used to own. I think it was a slip joint on the drive-shaft that wasn't being properly lubricated that was causing that problem/noise.

Sixty miles isn't all that far away, but it can sure seem like a lot farther when problems start popping up.