Truck Maintenance

Reliable equipment is key to enjoying any overland trip or even just a weekend excursion. There is nothing worse than having a potentially debilitating and expensive breakdown in a foreign place.

Based on decades of experience I will share what has worked for me with my wallet reasonably intact. You may have other ideas or tips. By all means share them with me.

Our truck

A bit of history. After running the legendary Cummins B-Series 12 valve engines with some high-horsepower tweaks for many years, I opted to use the 24 valve 6.7 Liter common-rail engine in a Dodge 3500 4×4 as a base in 2008. A $300kplus Unimog or similar overland WoMo wasn’t an option, and never will be. I purchased it virtually new and immediately threw out EGR systems, DPF etc etc, replaced the exhaust with a 5″ pipe, added a Smarty tune, freed the whole thing up to give me the performance I was accustomed to. A 6.7 with a P-pump would be my ideal…

After schlepping an eight ton 40 foot fifth wheel to about as far as you can get to the Darien Gap and back to Vancouver Island, 40,000kms, I learned in the Idaho mountains that horsepower is one thing when pulling hard, altitude and heat is totally another. Enter a cylinder head rebuild, some fire rings and ARP head studs. Thank you Cam at Adrenaline Performance in Shelley, ID. That was the only rapid unscheduled disassembly I have ever had. Many tweaks and enhancements since. And I have leaned that OEM products aren’t necessarily the best. We are fortunate in North America to have some excellent aftermarket products that far exceed manufacturers’ specs and design. Finding them is another story.

These days I produce 540hp at the wheels, a staggering 1400ft.lb of torque at 45 psi boost.
I know every square millimeter of my pyrometer gauge intimately. NEVER above 1300F
I use zero oil between changes, have zero blow-by at 260,000 kms
I can smoke those 35′ wheels in third gear if I am not careful
I would be hard to convince to run any other engine
I hate snow

Anyway, let’s get into some detail of the things that work for me. I can talk ‘maintenance’ all day but I’ll try be succinct.

Engine Oil

Shell Rotella T6 Full Synthetic 5W-40
I never use anything else. I always carry enough to do one oil change
I change religiously at 15,000 kms. I never have more than a slight brown color.
Oil Filter either Fleetguard LF9028 or Baldwin BD7317. Both are dual-flow bypass filters allowing longer change intervals. Oil analysis and filter tear-down analysis has shown almost identical performance. I wouldn’t think of using anything else. These are good for the latest Cummins engines too. But then lubrication is like a religion…

Coolant

Tired of replacing a waterpump every 50,000kms, even OEM? I was. So I added a coolant filter, decided to run only OAT coolant, upped thermostat temp to 200 degrees F.

Waterpump Gates 42291, the best longevity so far.
Thermostat Gates 34212 200F. The engine loves higher temps. May go to a 205F Mishimoto MISH-MMTS-RAM-99H yet…
Coolant OAT (Organic Acid Technology) HDExpert/Recochem premix. 16-324 in Canada, 86-324 in the US. 5yr/250,000km change
Coolant Filter Baldwin B5090 5″ 40mic on a Luberfiner LWHB4861 screw-on base. Plumbed it into the original EGR cooler line.
Serpentine Belt. Nothing but Gates Fleetrunner K081246HD, a heavy duty racing belt that is way quiter and smoother than anything else.
Idler Pulley Gates 36315
Belt Tensioner Gates 38285
Radiator Drain Dorman 61134
May go to a Mishimotor radiator (and tranny cooler yet)
New radator hoses are this summer’s maintenance items with some nice 1″ stainless band clamps. Gates 22892/3 respectively. All my other coolant plumbing is marine-grade hose.

Fuel and Air

Fuel filter. Nothing but Fleetguard FS43258, every 30,000kms. Expensive but clean diesel is what makes me get places.
A $500 FASS pump/filter did nothing for me but introduce another point of failure hanging in the dirt
Air filter. I fitted a S&B Cold Air Intake in that I like the box surrounding the reusable filter element. 75-9053. Lots of similar items out there. One of the first things I did. Fuel plus Air minus Exhaust equals Horsepower! Clean and re-oil with K&N 99-5000 or KN-9050 once a year
Fuel Heater. Yes I heat my fuel to coolant temperature. I used a marine hydraulics heat-exchanger that I plumbed into the water line. Hot fuel equals better atomization, better efficiency. More on that subject some other time.
Fuel additive. 5ppm sulfur ULSD diesel might work in Europe where they know how to refine diesel. One of the biggest issues on common rail engines in North America. I use 1ml / liter of diesel of Stanadyne 38566C lubricity EVERY TANK FULL. When I drive mountains i add their Cetane booster.
Locking Fuel Cap. Yep, people do mean shit out there. Gates 31836D
Crank Case Ventilation. When is the last time you changed the CCV filter? I decided not to blank it out, but replace the filter every 50,000. My intercooler, intake lines, intake manifold are dry and spotless. Baldwin 15010. $120 but hey…
A grid-heater-delete system is next. I have no intentions of ever being in -20 again…

Greases etc

Grease gun. It astounds me how many overlook the need for grease. Only use a manual grease gun. Not electric, not pneumatic. Manual. More is not better…
Grease Shell SRS2000. A synthetic grease designed for extreme use. It has stood the test of time for me. I lube front ball joints every 5000kms ( A Dodge thing…) More on that later.
All my u-joints have been replaced with Spicers that have grease fittings on them. I have twenty three grease nipples on this truck…I never replace u-joints. Grease them at oil change time whilst I am dirty.
Differential Oil. Motul ML105778 full synthetic racing oil. Every 40,000km. $20 a gallon. Cheap maintenance. Motul has given me a 10db noise reduction inside the cab over other GL5 SAW75W-90 oils. I’ll take it. My AAM diffs are like new.

Mechanicals

If only everything on this Dodge was as sound as the Cummins Engine.
Transmission. A pos 68RFE that I nurse with a flush every 50,000km. A BD performance replacement will happen in the next two years, $10,000. I’m trying to put it off. My kingdom for an AISIN or ZF.
Front end. The Dodge owners’ plight. Tired of replacing one Moog joint after the other on a cycle-thru basis, I eventually replaced all steering linkages with a Dodge Offroad system that uses heim joints. The verdict is pending, 20,000kms and counting.
Ball joints. Another aspect of a Dodge owner’s nightmares. A set of Carli joints fixed that problem many years ago. Need grease every 5,000 kms but hey…no slop, no death wobble, no bangs and thumps.
Tires 325/60/18 BFG KO2 AT. Coming up to 100,000 kms on them. I will replace them in the next few months with a Maxxis AT RAZR 35/12.5/18 12 ply for a stiffer sidewall. I run them 45/35 f-r when empty, 60/60 with the camper on and fully loaded at 11,000 lbs.
On board air. 140psi over 12 gallons, all plumbed with hydraulic line on stainless JIC fittings. Bullet proof. Using a top of the line VIAir compressor but will replace that this year with an Extreme Aire unit, and add some more tanks. I expect to need to air up/down a little more frequently in Mexico. The VIAir is fine for bags and airhorns but a novice-consumer toy beyond that.
What else? Air bags. Air Lift 7500lbs in the back. I love them, run them at 40/50psi when loaded depending on surface. I will go to a Kelderman front bag in the next year yet. The front springs are getting tired and I need to add a winch mount, cradle and 17,000lb winch yet.
Electrical. I use only tinned marine grade wires/cable, shrinky connectors and a real crimp tool. Vaseline, never a di-electric grease. Believe what you may.
Start Batteries. Very much a consumable in my eyes. I use a name brand, replace them every 30-36 months or so.
Shocks. Rancho 9000s and nothing else. Love the adjustability.

And that Dear Reader, has to be it for now. Drop me a line to discuss things if you wish. I claim to drive a pretty bullet proof work/play truck that I can rely on. What are some of your go-to aspects of maintenance?

Truck Maintenance