From: Don Bowen KI6DIU <don.bowen AT earthlink.net>
To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [Homestead] Drive your car over 200,000 miles and save money
Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2007 15:03:14 -0700
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.