[Homestead] Drive your car over 200,000 miles and save money

Don Bowen KI6DIU don.bowen at earthlink.net
Sat Sep 1 18:03:14 EDT 2007


My pickup is a '98 Dodge that I bought new.  I got it for a very good price 
because it is a manual and it had 107 miles on it.  A sticker showed that 
it had been pulled from the line "for quality control tests."  It now has 
166,000 miles on it.

At about 30,000 miles I replaced the OEM front Pads.
At about 80,000 miles I replaced those pads,
At about 150,000 miles I replaced the pads again.

Shocks were replaced at 90,000 miles.
Plenum gasket replaced at 110,000 miles.

Pitman Arm replaced at 161,000 miles.
Air conditioner compressor and clutch replaced at 163,000 miles.
Water pump and hoses replaced at 165,000 miles.

If it ever cools off here (112 today) I will be replacing the ball joints 
next week.  One lower is bad but I will do all while I have it apart.

Sometime in the next month or so I plan to replace the clutch.  There is no 
detectable problem with the OEM clutch but with pulling the trailer it will 
make me feel better.

It currently burns about one quart of oil in 4000 miles and has from around 
90,0000 miles.  The starter may need rebuilding and the parts will be on 
order Real Soon Now.

 From the first oil change I have run Castrol Synthetic engine oil.  The 
transmission has Red Line MTL synthetic and the rear has Castrol synthetic 
GL-5.  The only modifications I have made to it are a hidden hitch with a 
U-Haul wiring harness (I liked it because it has LED indicators and a block 
for the U-Haul connectors), Tenshodo trailer brake with a harness I picked 
up at an RV shop, and a battery isolator for the charge line to the 
trailer.  I have also added power lines with Power Pole connectors and a 
dual band antenna for use with armature radios.


Don Bowen              Awl Knotted Up                       KI6DIU
http://www.braingarage.com


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