So I am about to pay off my 16 Ram Dually. I am lucky enough to be able to get a company vehicle to use as my daily driver which has been the plan, which means the dually will become a dedicated tow vehicle and maybe some occasional project hauling. Will be reduced from about 25K a year to 6-10K miles a year, with some sitting around in between. Now I am really concerned about the sitting around part, and it being ready to go when it's time to go. Most of my worry is with the DEF and it's shelf life. Anybody else use their trucks like this? Hows it working out? Any other issues to worry about. It has about 50K on it now, have already replaced DEF pump and injectors once under warranty.
16 Ram CTD Occasional Use
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Treat def like gasoline that you can't stabilize (keep it low and add fresh as needed only).
Curious why you needed new injectors though, or did you mean the DEF injector?
My truck sits for weeks or months at a time. Buddy just bought a 2012 Powerjoke with 13k miles on it. Runs fine. Was only pulled out of the garage twice a year by the original owner.
The one real concern you might have is batteries going dead. I had a fleet of NEW 2014s that got parked for 6 months and ALL the batteries were dead. Most of the other equipment fired up, but idk if that always happens. Easy battery maintainer solution though.
Curious why you needed new injectors though, or did you mean the DEF injector?
My truck sits for weeks or months at a time. Buddy just bought a 2012 Powerjoke with 13k miles on it. Runs fine. Was only pulled out of the garage twice a year by the original owner.
The one real concern you might have is batteries going dead. I had a fleet of NEW 2014s that got parked for 6 months and ALL the batteries were dead. Most of the other equipment fired up, but idk if that always happens. Easy battery maintainer solution though.
Yeah, DEF injector. I figured the batteries could be an issue, I don't see it going more than a month without use, but I would probably still put battery tenders on it. My main concern was not using the DEF in the tank quick enough. Especially down here in the Florida heat. At least I will have some time under warranty to see how it does. I have really enjoyed the truck as a daily driver, but the miles are racking up quick, and I would rather put them on a company vehicle and let the Ram do what it was intended to do, haul heavy stuff around, it seems happy when its doing that!
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If you’re really concerned about it, keep the DEF tank low and occasionally pump it out, mix with water and fertilize your lawn. Put fresh jug back in truck.
just do not fill the DEF tank and you will be fine, it does not go that bad that fast. Its shelf life is a lot longer then people think, the shelf life documented is when it starts to be less potent, but still good for a while. Now heat will seriously shorten that life, so if you are parked in a hot driveway shelf life is even shorter, in a garage I would not worry about it as long as you do not fill it. Let it get into the RED and then put in a gallon and go till its in the red again. 10K miles a year especially if towing you will turn the def over enough not to worry about it.
I did fill mine to the top, which is 2 gallons above the full mark on the gauge, very little driving do to medical conditions sitting in a hot driveway, over 115 all the time because of the cement. I did start throwing codes about the SCR not being efficient I think. Put some fresh def in, problem gone. Now I wait till it hits the red and out in 2.5 gallon jug and no problems since. If I was driving a lot less like before I would do the one gallon.
I wonder why they did not think to include the DEF tank inside the gas tank, the gas would regulate the DEF temperature a lot better when extremely hot and probably better when extremely cold. No proof just a theory.
I did fill mine to the top, which is 2 gallons above the full mark on the gauge, very little driving do to medical conditions sitting in a hot driveway, over 115 all the time because of the cement. I did start throwing codes about the SCR not being efficient I think. Put some fresh def in, problem gone. Now I wait till it hits the red and out in 2.5 gallon jug and no problems since. If I was driving a lot less like before I would do the one gallon.
I wonder why they did not think to include the DEF tank inside the gas tank, the gas would regulate the DEF temperature a lot better when extremely hot and probably better when extremely cold. No proof just a theory.
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