Well, after reading all the great advice all over this board I decided the best way to get my Durango to 500,000 was to totally make it synthetic. This weekend I added:
Transmission: Amsoil Synthetic Universal
Differentials: Amsoil 75w-90 Synthetic Gear Lube
Transfer Case: Amsoil Synthetic Universal
Power Steering: Amsoil Synthetic Universal
Engine Oil : Mobil 1 Synthetic 10w-30 (To be changed when the dual bypass is installed in a couple of weeks).
The vehicle has the 4.7 liter motor and 12,000 miles. i am done buying new vehicles for awhile because I am sick of car notes. I am going to attempt to get 500,000 miles out of it. Any suggetions or ideas anyone has are welcome of course. I will keep posting to let you know of my progress as I continue on this journey. I will be doing extended drains of course and look to the knowledgable ones here as to when would be a good time to schedule optimal fluid changes. I don't think that 25,000 mile changes are realistic. It is my daily driver and I don't drive that hard. 95% highway mileage to and from work.
I Finally Did It !!!
- Thread starter thunderchild
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That's a good thing you did with all synth.
However, 500K is unrealistic due to fender benders, and various car accidents, deer running into your vehicle, rust, etc.
My vehicle is at nearly 200K, runs really good but looks like h3ll due to deer attacks. I can probably keep it up to 300K miles if I so desire.
Oh Yes, I am using Amsoil SDF15 oil filter and the Amsoil new foam Air Filter.
I think that trying to get 500K out of that engine is unrealistic. I mean, of all the car manufacturers out there, very few of them make it that far. From what I'm understanding, you'll probably go thru a couple of transmissions and a rear axel or two. But, I think the secret to some sort of longetivity would be no redlining and as many highway miles as you can get.
Well deer not withstanding, i think if I avoid as many accidents as possible I should be able to get the mileage. I know she won't look as good as she does now but I am not really concerned with the looks. I will keep her waxed and cleaned as well as I can during the years. I usually do around 30,000+ miles a year.
Schmoe: I agree with the tranny part but like I said this is pretty much an experiment. I am going to get as close to 500,000 as possible. If it does not make it, oh well. If it does the HOORAH!! I just won't be purchasing another vehicle for as long as possible.
500,000 is a good goal but remember you have to keep the truck up. Look at the drive train as a 250,000 mile investment anything over that is a bonus. With trucks especially you need to stay up on the body. I had my car gone over at 200K and had everything fixed and re-painted. Each year I drop the car off at my Body guy to check the car over for any hidden rust spots and touch up the nicks. Usually it costs me anywhere between $150 and $175 a year for him to fix any of the little stuff that is popping up here and there. Right now there isn't a rust spot anywhere on the car. I only have 299,250 miles on my 1987 Volvo wagon.
I did drop in a new motor at 283K miles since the car was in such good shape. $15 a month to my body guy is cheap insurance to keep my car for 500,000 miles. And like you there's M1 10W30 in the motor, Redline MTL in the tranny, and Redline 75W90 in the rear end. With the way new cars are depreciating there is no way I would ever buy a new car. Right now my car has cost me around 13 cents a mile to drive including purchase price and all repairs over it's life. I don't include normal maintnance or wear items like brakes, tires, struts & shocks(105K miles on them), light bulbs, and clutch in that figure.
Let's see.....30K a year, that means the Durango will have to last for 16.6 years. I was kind of like thinking like ALS....you get to a point where you have other costs that come into play...add that all up and then ask your self...is it worth it? It will be like this, either you make monthly new car payments, or you pay for parts and labor....just depends on what it's worth to you. Good luck!
As I approach the 300,000 mark with my Toyota Cressida I think 500,000 is a reasonable expectation for any car that is extremely well maintained. Most of our cars fall into that extremely well maintained category. ![[Big Grin]](images/icons/grin.gif)
Thanks for all the advice and keep it coming everyone. Well you know you have to include everything else around the drivetrain. There will be alot of small repairs but if I stay on top of them I should be able to keep it in pretty good shape. She does sleep in a garage every night so that is no problem. I am going to keep on top of all maintanance items also. Question, what do you think would be a good interval for tranny fluid changes with the Amnsoil? I know they say it lasts 3 times as long but with 12,000 miles on my Durango, what would you all recommend as a safe change interval for the tranny? Thanks all and keep em coming!
quote:My mom has a 99 Park Av with 7,800 miles on it. It has dropped $22,500 in value since 99 and I figure it has cost her $2.88 a mile to own. It's going into the dealer this week for it's semi annual oil change and detail. This will be the cars 10th oil change in 5 years. Average of 780 miles on each oil change.
Originally posted by Schmoe: Let's see.....30K a year, that means the Durango will have to last for 16.6 years. I was kind of like thinking like ALS....you get to a point where you have other costs that come into play...add that all up and then ask your self...is it worth it? It will be like this, either you make monthly new car payments, or you pay for parts and labor....just depends on what it's worth to you. Good luck!
The car is at the most gets driven maybe at most 5 miles at a time. My brother and I try to burn through a tank of gas (300 miles)when we are down visiting mom. If we didn't the gas would sit in the tank for at least 3 months.quote:Im not real sure of that. I saw a lot of 8 crown vic taxis on ebay. They sold for $8500 for all 8. Id say the average was 325,000 miles. I think a couple had over 400,000 miles. I guess maybe if more of the miles were highway, it might be possible. My brother just got a '96 P73 Police Interceptor which never was a police car. It just broke 120K though it went through a $900 intake manifold already. It still rides like my dad's 2001 Vic except the suspension is even softer on the PI, even though it has a rear sway bar.
Originally posted by jthorner: 500,000 miles is done almost routinely by taxicabs and the like, so it should be doable.
I would recommend getting that Universal ATF crap out of your tranny and get some ATF+4 in there. The transmissions are by far the weakest part of the Dodge/Jeep especially with the wrong fluid. These trans are VERY picky to fluid and the ATF+4 is a very high quality synthetic based fluid. It was designed for ATF+3 or ATF+4 (depending on year) Do not belive the "universal fluid" sales pitch, Dexron/Mercron and ATF+4 have completely different properties(tackiness) and I cannot see how one fluid can satisfy both. Also, the Amsoil Universal is not "meet" the ATF+3 or 4 spec, it is strictly another Amsoil tag line without outside testing.
[ April 19, 2004, 02:41 PM: Message edited by: dagmando ]
quote:Right on! Keep a special eye on the upper ball joints; they had trouble on the previous generation in as little as 30k miles. Don't crank on the steering wheel when the truck isn't moving at all; the friction from the tires creates way more stress on the rest of the steering bits & pieces.
You will also have to stay after suspension parts. When they fail, try to replace them with greasable aftermarket parts if possible. Things like tie rod ends and ball joints can last much, much longer if treated to some top quality grease once every 6 months.
dagmando: I had a 2000 durango and got 130,000 miles out of it with the Amsoil ATF fluid. There are others also that have gotten excellent results with it. Have you had a bad experience with it? I put a hundred miles on this weekend with it and it runs alot smoother. I am aware of the tranny issues with some DC vehicles but not with this type of tranny.
thunderchild: Good luck to you! I have a small piece of advice for the transmission. Chrysler transmissions really need the Chrysler spec fluid. I am a member of a Jeep owners board and the tranny behind the 4.7L in the durango is the same in the Grand Cherokee. That tranny isn't as bad as the older ones but to be safe, go out and find a product called Lubeguard. We have a couple of members who are transmission rebuilders and they recommend Synthetic fluid but advise to use Lubeguard (Lubeguard ATF Protectant) transmission additive. The Chrysler transmission are very very picky. There are a few members who have about 250K miles on their Chrysler tranny (not the same as yours but a junkier model) using the plain ATF+3. I think your Durango requires ATF+4. The new ATF+4 is only made by Chrysler. Adding Lubeguard in the correct manner will help the transmission life. To help even more, add an auxilary tranny fluid cooler, if your don't already own one. An inline tranny oil filter doesn't hurt either. The engine should be just fine. The 4.7L is great. There are few members with 175K miles on them and they are burning a small amount of oil. Once you're at that point, maybe an Auto-RX treatment or a thicker oil maybe a good idea. GOOD LUCK!!! It is possible!!!
EDIT: dagmando is correct. The Lubeguard corrects some of the problems. The ATF+4 specs have never been released to the public for creation of a fluid that meets them. I was just looking, I believe ATF+4 is a full synthetic. A better solution is ATF+4 with the Lubeguard. PM me for more info.
[ April 19, 2004, 04:18 PM: Message edited by: JeepZJ4.0 ]
Patman
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I remember a couple of years ago on the Edmund's board there was a guy who bought a new Camry with the intention of going 1,000,000 miles on it. He was fully serious too. He didn't drive it often enough to rack up that kind of mileage very quickly though, and I heard later on that someone smashed into it before he even reached 50k on it. Does anyone know the whole story on that one?
quote:
I remember a couple of years ago on the Edmund's board there was a guy who bought a new Camry with the intention of going 1,000,000 miles on it. He was fully serious too. He didn't drive it often enough to rack up that kind of mileage very quickly though, and I heard later on that someone smashed into it before he even reached 50k on it.
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If I announced I was going to run a car to 1M miles it would get wrecked before it's first oil change.
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500,000 miles is done almost routinely by taxicabs and the like, so it should be doable.
The biggest thing which would make a difference is to keep the vehicle in a garage when not in use. Covered parking during the day (assuming you are driving it to work) will also make a huge difference.
With all of the plastics in a modern vehicle, sun exposure is a major detriment to long term vehicle life.
Other things which will really help you are to flush the brake fluid every year and the cooling system every other year. These are often neglected areas which lead to expensive failures and repairs in the 5-10 year old time period.
You will also have to stay after suspension parts. When they fail, try to replace them with greasable aftermarket parts if possible. Things like tie rod ends and ball joints can last much, much longer if treated to some top quality grease once every 6 months.
Ditto the driveline. At some point your u-joints will need to be replaced ... go for heavy duty grease fitting equipped ones there as well.
Any time you do need to replace parts, use the highest quality ones you can get your hands on.
500,000 miles is an achieveable goal if a vehicle is really looked after.
John
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