long, long trip with old truck

[mountainsam]

We are planning a very long trip with our new 8000 lb 5er. Leaving northern CA and ending in Maine and return. We have an 05 Dodge with Cummings diesel and automatic transmission. I had a Banks engine brake installed. We have owned this truck since new and have had it serviced as manufacturer recommends by authorized diesel machanics. The truck is stock as it came from the factory. I have pulled trailers for thousands of miles but rarely long distance. My question is, is there anything besides normal pm maintainance I should consider doing? Transmission, cooling, etc. Should mention brakes are all brand new and the truck has never required any repairs except ball joints last year. It has 160,000 miles. Thanks for your feedback.

[mountainsam]

Thanks for the encouragement with all the posts. Now I wish we were leaving tomorrow. We now are planning a couple intermediate trips possibly to Washington State to get the new trailer all figured out. On the trip to Maine we plan to do a lot of family history along the way so now we are thinking at least 6 weeks and possibly as much as 10 weeks. Maybe I will see some of you along the road. Happy RV'ing

[restlesswind]

I have an 04.5 Dodge RAM CTD,with 165,000 on it.With well over 65K towing our 14k fiver.
I would not give a second thought to doing that trip. We will probably do more than that next year,as another trip to Maine and the Maritime Islands is in the plans.
It looks like you have maintained your truck better than a lot of us.With your 8K fiver the truck will be loafing,even going over the mountains,
The Banks will make the trip down hill a breeze.
I did put a screen on the front of the radiator,it helps keep the dead bug population down.
Relax and enjoy your trip!

[wilber1]

mountainsam wrote:
We are planning a very long trip with our new 8000 lb 5er. Leaving northern CA and ending in Maine and return. We have an 05 Dodge with Cummings diesel and automatic transmission. I had a Banks engine brake installed. We have owned this truck since new and have had it serviced as manufacturer recommends by authorized diesel machanics. The truck is stock as it came from the factory. I have pulled trailers for thousands of miles but rarely long distance. My question is, is there anything besides normal pm maintainance I should consider doing? Transmission, cooling, etc. Should mention brakes are all brand new and the truck has never required any repairs except ball joints last year. It has 160,000 miles. Thanks for your feedback.

Who knows with a 8 year old truck with 160K but it sounds like it is running well and you have maintained it properly. 8000 lbs is way below what truck is capable of hauling. If something happens, it happens but I wouldn't spend time worrying about it. After all, a long trip is just a bunch of short trips back to back.

[john_bet]

mountainsam wrote:
We are planning a very long trip with our new 8000 lb 5er. Leaving northern CA and ending in Maine and return. We have an 05 Dodge with Cummings diesel and automatic transmission. I had a Banks engine brake installed. We have owned this truck since new and have had it serviced as manufacturer recommends by authorized diesel machanics. The truck is stock as it came from the factory. I have pulled trailers for thousands of miles but rarely long distance. My question is, is there anything besides normal pm maintainance I should consider doing? Transmission, cooling, etc. Should mention brakes are all brand new and the truck has never required any repairs except ball joints last year. It has 160,000 miles. Thanks for your feedback.

I have the same truck except an '04.5 with 154k and counting. We are three weeks from leaving on a trip to Great falls, MT. and back. Truck and 5er got new shoes yesterday,trailer suspension checked and fixed,tranny service next week, fuel filter change over the weekend, wash and wax the 3ed or 4th of Oct.,leaving the 5th, 2 weeks and 3800 miles later we will be back home. Not one bit worried. Next May we are headed out again, but will be gone 3+ months with no worries. Oh, my 5er is 12k and we are 19,800 GCW. Happy travels.

[mountainsam]

I do the tranny every 50,000 miles. First time was 15,000. Now the issue of fuel has been brought up what's the thoughts on fuel additive. I used a diesel additive in Missouri when I was doing custom brush hogging but I did so just because I used it in my tractors. Since I moved to CA I have gotten out of the habit of using additives.

[jasult]

xPIXx wrote:
I have always heard if you change the tranny fluid you need to do it regularly if you haven't done it then don't. This comes from guys who work their trucks daily. I guess the reason being once you open the system it is never the same. Sounds pretty strange to me, but that's what many have said. I change mine every fall no matter the miles, but my truck always has a work trailer on it or pushing snow in the winter.

NOT TRUE
if the trans was never maintained or flushed the damage is all ready there. Starting to maintain a damage trans will not fix but maintaining a good trans will sure save it.

[path1]

Maybe others don't have this problem but I did, so bear with me. Make sure you get the right fuel. Sounds simple enough but sometimes its not. My state has green handle for diesel fuel. Never gave it much thought. Over the years, just grabbed the green handle and pumped. Noticed when going from WA to CT I always reached for the green handle. Mistake! Double check before you put fuel in. And many states have more choices of diesel than the green handle. Number 1, number 2, bio, etc. Just a heads up to double check the fuel nozzle to get what you want. We did it in our 2001 3/4 ton 5.9 auto. Love that thing. Had one problem and was able to fix after looking up on TDR. (ABS light kept coming on, turns out just loose connection). TDR has paid for its self many times over. When we got on east coast I wanted a oil change and had to go to several to get the oil I like to use, so you might want to bring your own if you use a certain type you like. Oil filter might help also. And if any toll roads rip you off, I actually got 50 cents returned to me after 3 months, it became a project. Not the 50 cents worth of money, but it was the fact that they ripped me off. And the State of Indiana toll roads aren't even ran by Indiana, believe it or not some French or Greek company.

[rhagfo]

mountainsam wrote:
We are planning a very long trip with our new 8000 lb 5er. Leaving northern CA and ending in Maine and return. We have an 05 Dodge with Cummings diesel and automatic transmission. I had a Banks engine brake installed. We have owned this truck since new and have had it serviced as manufacturer recommends by authorized diesel machanics. The truck is stock as it came from the factory. I have pulled trailers for thousands of miles but rarely long distance. My question is, is there anything besides normal pm maintainance I should consider doing? Transmission, cooling, etc. Should mention brakes are all brand new and the truck has never required any repairs except ball joints last year. It has 160,000 miles. Thanks for your feedback.

Well if you haven't had issues with the transmission to this point, it will likely be fine. 8,000# is not that heavy of a 5er. The recommended service should have included trans adjustments and fluid changes.

mountainsam wrote:
I must correct my statement of the 05 being old. I grew up in the 50's when 100,000 miles was junk yard stock. Before I retired I bought the 05 diesel thinking it would be my last truck. Since then i have put it through heck pulling a farm tractor around the Ozarks. Now I have retired for the second time and the 05 has weathered much better than I have. So reading all your replys I see I need to keep the faith. It hasn't let me down yet.

It is hardly broken in, look at my signature, I don't think of my 01 being old or ready to retire! It only has 262,000 miles and still pulls our 11,000# 5er just fine, strong really.

[deleted-2]

mountainsam wrote:
I must correct my statement of the 05 being old. I grew up in the 50's when 100,000 miles was junk yard stock.

That Cummins won't let you down.
I've ignored maintenance with ours a few times and it's still cranking away.

[mountainsam]

I must correct my statement of the 05 being old. I grew up in the 50's when 100,000 miles was junk yard stock. Before I retired I bought the 05 diesel thinking it would be my last truck. Since then i have put it through heck pulling a farm tractor around the Ozarks. Now I have retired for the second time and the 05 has weathered much better than I have. So reading all your replys I see I need to keep the faith. It hasn't let me down yet.

[BobsYourUncle]

Barely broke in!

That Cummins will make a million miles and then it may only need a gasket or two....

Drive it and forget about your nearly new truck giving problems. It won't!

[time2roll]

That Dodge is barely broke in. Old? You are free to go now and do it again in ten more years as you approach 300,000 miles. Regular maintenance is all you need. Lots of good shops along the way so no worries to do something early.

[gdavidg]

RV towing coverage up to date. Good Sam or other.

[Mike_LeClair]

Gee, if yours is old then ours is ancient! See the rig in our signature? We are heading to California with it in about three weeks. I have unwavering faith in our RAM except for the torque converter which is causing me grief right now. The Cummins is good to go as are all other systems like brakes, tires, shocks etc. We will take it easy and if the TC continues as an issue I will get it repaired as necessary. We can hardly wait to let this years adventure begin!

Cheers!

Mike and Carol