Why not doing your own repairs will make you go bankrupt.

I would say generally a mechanical engine with the same maintenance and overall condition of a similar emissions engine will be with out a doubt more reliable.
If you think about it the parts that get the job done are virtually the same and the mechanical engines don’t have all the other bs to cause problems.
I know that my old l9000 with a big cam hasn’t missed many or actually any days at the rock quarry due to engine problems. Now the one with the m11….&$@?!!#%$&@. And yes there are occasional other problems that can’t be fixed with pm but really they apply to all trucks.

 

You said it was luck

 

No I said .. Lucky you.. meaning you were fortunate enough to get by for 4.47 for a entire 12 mth peroid most people I know are not that fortunate
I guess your a special kind of super trucker because your PM program is Superior to everybody else's
Feel feel to enlighten us on your skills

 

That’s the thing. For example, my neighbor has a 2018 Duramax pickup. He runs his own auto shop and uses the truck to go pick up/drop off customer’s cars that are disabled for whatever reason. The pickup is nice, don’t get me wrong, but I would not want it. It has a little over 200k miles and looks like a nightmare to work on if you ask me. But it has been relatively trouble free for him. Emissions intact and all.

By comparison, I have a 1998 GMC 2500 4x4 with the good old 350 Vortec. I can disassemble and reassemble that engine nearly blindfolded. But I’ve never had to on this particular truck. It has only 132k miles on it and I bought it off the original owner two years ago. I have, however, had to change both axle seals on the rear end, both wheel cylinders, both front wheel hubs, rotors/pads and drums/shoes all the way around, sway bar end links, and next up is just about everything else on the front end. It also has a slight oil leak coming from the back of the intake manifold on the passenger side as the starter bolts usually have a piece of a drip hanging off them. But never actually drips anything, even if it sits for weeks on end.

Now it’s a nice truck, leather interior is flawless, dashboard is all there with no cracks, paint is in excellent shape, only one very very small ding right under the driver’s side tail light. But it is a 25 year old truck at the end of the day. As soon as I put it to work at the level my neighbor uses his pickup for, it’s going to protest and want things done to it. However, it is much simpler to work on than his Duramax from my perspective. But his Duramax keeps chugging along without needing to be wrenched on.

My point is, familiarity with a truck or a certain vintage of trucks, does not mean other trucks are not better. Just one generation newer pickup than mine has the LS style engines which are superior to the original small block Chevy in nearly every way, including cost. I just don’t like the looks of the newer pickups. But as much as I don’t like the looks of them, they are much easier to work on, especially the engines.

Same goes for big trucks. The engines themselves haven’t really changed all that much. It’s the tools and knowledge that changed and people, for reasons of their own, didn’t move with those. So they stick with what they know. And that’s okay! It doesn’t mean that someone else cannot find a better way with newer equipment though.

 

That’s still you saying it’s luck. I can’t help you with denial, you’ll need professional help with that one.

However, my PM program is thus:

PM myself every 15000 miles. Shell Rotella T6 5w-40 synthetic. Only Fleetguard filters. Fuel filters are changed every PM. In winter, Davco filter usually only last 8000-10000 miles before I need to change it. Full grease job once a month and with every PM. Delta P, DEF doser are checked cleaned once a year. DEF filter and crankcase filter are changed once a year. Desiccant changed once a year. Serpentine belt changed once a year. Batteries replaced every two years. Alignment checked/adjusted twice a year. Shocks replaced every other year. Trans/rear end oils changed per manufacturer schedules. Less than 5% idle time. When loaded, loaded to gross and then some. Keep my foot in it to keep it hot. Carry an OTR diagnostic tool for the road. Have Insite 8 at the house.

Same program I had with my old trucks. Except back then I had CAT ET instead of Insite and didn’t need the OTR tool for reading codes. And yet, the old trucks needed more work. Because, shocker, trucks with a million plus miles tend to get worn out. Why does the simple fact my 2019 and 2022 trucks have more uptime than my 2007 W9 (at 1.3 mil) or my dad’s 2005 379 (1.6 mil before it burned) upset you?

 

My thoughts on all vehicles.. New or Old, get rid of shop queens and keep a vehicle that’s reliable until it isn’t .. The mindset it’s just a few repairs away from being perfect often gets expensive. New cost me more than old on a 2015 kw t680 . Nowadays I company drive because I got tired of shops eating my bank balance on that truck . Warranty doesn’t cover everything btw.

 

Just to add to this.
Think about all the 50 plus year old mechanicals that fire up and run while sitting in a rusted out junk truck. That won’t happen in a newer computer truck. It needs all that wiring that the rats ate years ago to run. A mech does not. Fuel is all it needs. It just runs. It doesn’t need something to tell it how to.

 

I keep trying to get this done, but every time I get a moment that #### winter air blows back in!...

O Springtime, Springtime... Where art thou Springtime?

 

I will concede that to you and I really do respect the knowledge that you seem to have on old trucks. But an old mechanical engine is not nearly as efficient, doesn’t produce nearly as much stock power(pound for pound), will not go nearly as far between rebuilds. And when mechanicals ruled the road shops were still full of trucks.

 

H

a ha that’s pretty neat honestly. I love the older stuff Very interesting how they made everything work back in the day.