High Mileage tow vehicle question
I found myself in need of an extra vehicle and found an old grampa truck (93 GMC 1/2t ext cab 4x4) it was cheap and well taken care of by the previous owner who had owned it almost 20 years. It has 21...
Forum Discussion
Good point made above, repairs are almost always cheaper than payments on a new vehicle. I have a relatively high mile 07 Dodge/Hemi and it seems just fine. I changed all the fluids and inspected everything when I opened it up. It doesn't burn any oil, the magnets in the rear diff and trans pan only showed fine metal fuzz, and not a lot of it. Everything in it works (A/C, power windows, radio, etc), so I'm pretty happy. The body does show some wear and has some rust starting.
That said, its a 4x4, and I paid $7000 Cdn for it, which is about $5400 in USD. It's got 233,000 Km on the odometer, so that's about 140,000 miles.
After I bought it, I did the following, doing all the wrenching myself:
- Rotors and pads on all 4 corners
- Rear shocks
- Added Timbrens
- Changed rear gear oil
- Changed transfer case oil (ATF)
- Dropped trans pan and changed both filters, replaced 6L of ATF
- Rotated tires
- Fixed driver's seat cushion with some new foam
- Replaced the grill
- Replaced the turn signal lever (signals worked intermittently)
- Ditched the "cold air intake" and put OEM one back on
- Sprayed rustproofer in the body where I could get it
- Adjusted the door latches to reduce wind noise
All in all I think I have about $8000 into it, and I have zero payments.
I figure I should be able to get 200,000 miles (320,000 Km) out of it by looking after it, and it pulls our little Hydrid TT just fine.
That said, its a 4x4, and I paid $7000 Cdn for it, which is about $5400 in USD. It's got 233,000 Km on the odometer, so that's about 140,000 miles.
After I bought it, I did the following, doing all the wrenching myself:
- Rotors and pads on all 4 corners
- Rear shocks
- Added Timbrens
- Changed rear gear oil
- Changed transfer case oil (ATF)
- Dropped trans pan and changed both filters, replaced 6L of ATF
- Rotated tires
- Fixed driver's seat cushion with some new foam
- Replaced the grill
- Replaced the turn signal lever (signals worked intermittently)
- Ditched the "cold air intake" and put OEM one back on
- Sprayed rustproofer in the body where I could get it
- Adjusted the door latches to reduce wind noise
All in all I think I have about $8000 into it, and I have zero payments.
I figure I should be able to get 200,000 miles (320,000 Km) out of it by looking after it, and it pulls our little Hydrid TT just fine.
