[StockCummins006]

Another note. I’ve also wanted to get some glow shift gauge,the pillar with 4 options,since my stock Gauge cluster is pretty much faulty.

 

[steve05ram360]

If you want it to serve you well, keep it stock height and tune the motor so it is not pushing limits. Forget what the "kids" are doing, you dont know the whole picture.

(1) 50k Service & Costs | Dodge Cummins Diesel Forum (cumminsforum.com)

Here is my truck with 482k on it, photo taken 11/1 when new tires went on.

How I got there..

(1) 11 years, 345k on the clock, time for a makeover... | Page 11 | Dodge Cummins Diesel Forum (cumminsforum.com)


On the engine... Hot Shots stickion Eliminator in the oil and ATF/2SO in the fuel (see newbies guide).

 

[StockCummins006]

Mine just doesn’t like me. I do religious maintnence as well. There’s always some mystery problem nobody knows how to cure with my truck

 

[mattswaggs]

Mine just doesn’t like me. I do religious maintnence as well. There’s always some mystery problem nobody knows how to cure with my truck

Get a different truck

 

[jeffgerritsen]

I've replaced the front end ball joints twice now and only have 155K on it - go figure!

 

[s10010001]

rough country? Glow shift? Stop buying cheap crap and it might last longer! Stock height will eliminated a majority of the problems people have.

133k here, I just got up and drove 3000miles round trip to pickup my daughter and move her home. Didn’t think twice about it, didn’t even check under the hood before I left. Zero issues.

 

[johnstangl]

if you baby the truck you'll never really know how much abuse it can take. heard a story that talked about a wife being paranoid about a burglar entering their house and after 10 years it finally happened, the husband went down and told the burglar how his wife had been waiting 10 years for him, moral of the story, there's no point in worrying if the truck will break if it's working fine now. all you can do is maintenance. watch some of the old whistlin diesel videos when he used to try to destroy some trucks for fun, trucks are a lot stronger than people think lol.

 

[s10010001]

if you baby the truck you'll never really know how much abuse it can take. heard a story that talked about a wife being paranoid about a burglar entering their house and after 10 years it finally happened, the husband went down and told the burglar how his wife had been waiting 10 years for him, moral of the story, there's no point in worrying if the truck will break if it's working fine now. all you can do is maintenance. watch some of the old whistlin diesel videos when he used to try to destroy some trucks for fun, trucks are a lot stronger than people think lol.

Yup and most of the stuff that "breaks" is the owner's fault. Either via improper use, or unrealized side effects of modifications

 

[DarkLeftArm]

A 5" lift is gonna eat u joints and wreak havoc with your steering components. Great big tires are gonna eat brakes and wheel bearings. If you wanna play you're gonna pay.
I know it's an old adage but it holds up.

 

[hpitt74985_1181]

My 2003 tows one triple axle Cyclone 5th wheeler and a 37ft 5th wheeler I tow from Calif to Iowa several times a year. I did injectors at 234k. Most every thing I have done is standard maintenance. Don't be afraid of using your truck.
Howard

 

[Xiang]

Maintenance and how it is used has a lot to do with how it will perform .... Stiction eliminator in the oil and the atf/2so (the mix... newbies guide thread) in the tank. . read that 50k service cost thread i did. My unloaded daily driver had more performance related problems in the first 300k or so miles before doing the 2 things listed. Now at 482k performance never changes and it has become a rock solid truck.

Beyond the driveline, for me stock is king...

I must agree on STOCK is king bought my 04 brand new and at 170k on her routine maintenance yea 3 rd set of ball joints but she plows snow ,,,, regular oil and fuel filter changes at 5k miles religiously she runs and performs awesome and I don’t baby her
Except for the damn stupid RamRust she’s a beast

 

[jlm3811]

I ordered a '05 Laramie reg cab rwd and have owned it since new. It now has 430,000 on it all still looks good, spends winters in AZ so no rust. The last 11 years it has had a Lance camper on it and I tow a 9,000# tall box trailer about 10,000 a year. I have put in 4 - 48RE transmissions that I consider cost of driving. First one was warranty. Last one the torque converter came apart, up until then it was fine & had 125,000 on it. I went back with Jasper reman & put their 3 disk converter in it too. No issues. I lost the motor at 337,000 with an injector that stuck opened & filled cylinder with fuel & bent a rod. That sucked but again in checking for available engines, Cummins only had long block with no turbos or injectors available. Again I put Jasper reman in that was run for a day or 2 on their in shop Dyno. It has 90,000+ on it now and the only issues have been the exhaust manifolds have been changed twice. They replaced the first one no problem as less than 2 years. But it was same non-oem they sent engine out with. It warped, leaked and cracked 3,000 miles ago in a hard pull out of Rapid City pulling the trailer and manifold cracked then and was replaced again with a thick flange 2 piece the shop liked to use. Truck mostly is sitting now as a car is used in AZ winters. Standard front end replacement parts and front bearings twice since camper on it all the time. For me it's been a good truck and I have no plans of getting rid of it, I'm not rich and it still works good. I did find out that injectors don't last forever so will change around 200,000 miles as suggested by mechanic. Back in with OEM for it then I suppose.

 

[steve05ram360]

I must agree on STOCK is king bought my 04 brand new and at 170k on her routine maintenance yea 3 rd set of ball joints but she plows snow ,,,, regular oil and fuel filter changes at 5k miles religiously she runs and performs awesome and I don’t baby her
Except for the damn stupid RamRust she’s a beast

This... Deep Cleaning/Winter Prep of the Ram | Dodge Cummins Diesel Forum (cumminsforum.com) should be done annually if in the salt belt, and those areas prepped with Fluid Film Spray. Once I saw how much gunk gets in there, I clean it every 2~3 years. What you see in the pics is from 2015 to the date of cleaning in the thread.

 

[steve05ram360]

I ordered a '05 Laramie reg cab rwd and have owned it since new. It now has 430,000 on it all still looks good, spends winters in AZ so no rust. The last 11 years it has had a Lance camper on it and I tow a 9,000# tall box trailer about 10,000 a year. I have put in 4 - 48RE transmissions that I consider cost of driving. First one was warranty. Last one the torque converter came apart, up until then it was fine & had 125,000 on it. I went back with Jasper reman & put their 3 disk converter in it too. No issues. I lost the motor at 337,000 with an injector that stuck opened & filled cylinder with fuel & bent a rod. That sucked but again in checking for available engines, Cummins only had long block with no turbos or injectors available. Again I put Jasper reman in that was run for a day or 2 on their in shop Dyno. It has 90,000+ on it now and the only issues have been the exhaust manifolds have been changed twice. They replaced the first one no problem as less than 2 years. But it was same non-oem they sent engine out with. It warped, leaked and cracked 3,000 miles ago in a hard pull out of Rapid City pulling the trailer and manifold cracked then and was replaced again with a thick flange 2 piece the shop liked to use. Truck mostly is sitting now as a car is used in AZ winters. Standard front end replacement parts and front bearings twice since camper on it all the time. For me it's been a good truck and I have no plans of getting rid of it, I'm not rich and it still works good. I did find out that injectors don't last forever so will change around 200,000 miles as suggested by mechanic. Back in with OEM for it then I suppose.

Welcome to Cummins/forum...

Were you using any additives in the fuel up to when the injector failed?

I have learned that the Power Service Diesel does not do a good job of anything in the fuel on my truck. Switched over to an ATF/2SO mix that has allowed my injectors to out perform the previous 2 sets by leaps and bounds. Both sets went to approx 160~165k miles before needing to be swapped, the first set lived its life on the PSD and made it to 160k, 2nd set had issues as early as 125k which is when I switched over to the atf mix. The current set has lived their entire life on the mix and performed extremely well over their 160k life to date. As of now I do not see any injector issues on the horizon.

Using the ATF/2SO mix from day 1, long term report | Dodge Cummins Diesel Forum (cumminsforum.com)

 

[1whid2]

Generally, it seems that people who work their trucks on a regular basis get better life out of the engine. The injectors do better when they have a load behind them from time to time and can get the temps up enough to burn off the carbon buildup. The u-joints, driveshafts, steering components, suspension components, etc. are really just wear items that will need regular maintenance/replacement. There are upgrades available that can help out a lot but if you keep your truck running then they will need attention. Injectors are also a wear item that usually don’t last more than 150k miles. Some have gotten more and some less. You can look into running ATF and 2-stroke oil in the fuel. Some have had good results and others swear it’s terrible. You can check into it and decide for yourself.

I agree I've had mine since 2004 off the show room floor and I have had to replace the injectors and the lift pump and I have the 305 HO 5.9L 4x4 quad cab and I use it every day and this is not a show toy its for working and hauling. and every third tank full I add a quart of 2 stroke oil to keep the lift pump lubed and ATF to keep the injectors clean. I have 175K of hard miles and have gone through 3 sets of BF Goodrich I use nitrogen in my tires for balancing and better mileage, so if you work the truck and do preventive maintenance she'll last forever.
Just my way of keeping on the road, truck diesels are not cheap.

 

[sdowney717]

I read all replies! My lift kit is a 5” (rough country Frankenstein/other parts) lift. Bilstine 5100 shocks and airbags in the rear that don’t work. I want to get a duel CAT/Baldwin fuel filtration system and a bypass amsoil system. I hear exhaust manifolds crack too. I get my deisel at a popular station where it’s circulated regularly. I’ve put too much money into the “million mile” Cummins to sell it now. I don’t even need a million miles I just want 5000 issue- free miles at a time at this point.

You run dirty diesel fuel with poor lubrication quality, dont expect parts to last.

I run a CAT tertiary filter right before the CP3, left the OEM filter inline as secondary and use Baldwin cartridge, its better, WIX primary filter from a DD 60 series truck, then the intank fuel pump. So far no injector issues. I dont have a lift, the 3500 truck is hign enough already. I have a 2005 dually 4wd 4door SLT with 8 foot bed. Has 160,000 miles and it is in great shape so far.

I have noticed WAWA diesel causes engine to run rougher, so I never use it. Could be your diesel fuel has issues

Even having 2% biodiesel added makes the fuel system lubricity vastly increased. It can make a difference to add lubricity improvers to fuel