Well boys, I did it... R.I.P.

[gwuhesos]

You drove 220,000 miles in one year? 600 miles a day on average, every day? WTF were you driving around to earn extra money doing? How much did you make on that huge investment in time and the value of your truck?

Yessir... And plan to do that, if not more each year for the next couple of years...

Just a small logistics company... More lucrative than any 9-5 I could get right now.

Made enough, but not enough at the same time. Building the business and hoping to grow it at some point.

 

[gwuhesos]

Crate engine from Ram, AND/OR (if you have time and resources), tear down and completely rebuild the former.

JMHO, YMMV

Yessir, that's the route I wound up going... I decided to let them keep the old block, no extra time or resources to rebuild... I was definitely considering it though... they wanted a grand for it, I wasn't in the mood to shell out the extra cash... still on the fence though, being how much they tried to charge for me to replace the collapsed lifters and camshaft... or even a reman'd engine... I could likely still go and grab it, or not... what's done is done with regards to that...

Thanks for the RIGHT advice given my circumstances.

 

[gwuhesos]

With so many miles on it if you like the truck and plan on running it til it rots in half throw a used low mile engine in and go about your way not worth a rebuilt/new engine.

I like where your head's at, except they wanted to much money for a used engine, and I would be taking a huge chance on an uncertain scenario and crap warranty... I still owe on the truck, and it's in pretty good condition considering it's mileage. It is after all only 6-7 years old... Long way till it rots away... but had I not owed on it, I would consider moving on... Thanks for the advice.

 

[gwuhesos]

313k miles? my opinion is putting a new engine in it is like putting lipstick on a pig. The engine might be "new" but everything mechanical on that truck is worn out.

even an engine swap isn't going to bring you the $$ you want out of it.

you asked for opinions, i just gave mine.

Well, this little pig got the princess treatment.

It's really not bad... everything was inspected and serviced by the dealer.

They warrantied all the parts they installed with an unlimited mile warranty for 2-3 years depending on the parts (3 years on the engine)...

The engine is NEW, not "new". Not sure if you meant that there's a difference.

My intention was to get more life out of the truck I still owe on. Mission accomplished.

While most certainly, the other mechanical parts are worn, they are fully functional, safe, and will be repaired or replaced little by little for as long as I can manage. For the time being, everything has been laid hands on by the dealer. Anything that needed attention got it.

Can't afford to pay for a truck that doesn't drive, lose my source of income, and buy a new car all at once.

Appreciate the input though.

 

[G-Ride990]

Here's some info for clarity... I mispoke when I said Nascar, it was Roush Yates that this was delivered to... I simply live in "Nascar" country... but once I did some research, this is what I found... excuse me for mis speaking.

The company I contracted with is called Tempest Aero Group, feel free to look them up - https://tempestplus.com/product/spark-plug/ they make aviation-grade products... clearly working on some prototype stuff, including for my truck... will keep you guys updated on that.

Yes, it had that many miles, and the engine was tired, and hanging on by a thread. The rest of the truck was actually gone over by the dealer, and given the stamp of approval. Had everything checked and serviced. If they found anything too wrong with much else, I likely wouldn't have dumped the crazy money for a new engine.

I couldn't get rid of the truck as I still owe on it, and it's not worth diddly to anyone but me with this number of miles. Had no choice but to repair it, figured best best was brand new from the dealer.

I am very proud of the amount of miles I got out of it also... with this 3 year, unlimited mile warranty they gave me, and the money I paid to get the work done, MANY more miles will be put on it. Will keep you updated on that. I have a feeling it will get near a million miles in the next three years.

All good man, happy you're happy.

 

[gwuhesos]

Check the value of the truck. And price out options for a new engine. It is hard to divorce yourself from feelings, I doubt I could do that myself if it happens to me knock wood, but setting feelings aside you will be pumping money in the truck that will surpass it's value. If you take your miles, good condition which is all you will get with 330k miles, and standard ops the top out of value is 11k. If you take the same truck but with average per year miles 10-11k miles per year and label it very good condition, the value jumps to 25k. That is what miles does to value, so if you put an engine in there even when done, the value of the equipment will still be less then the engine you just purchased, there is no extra value for having a new engine versus a functioning engine. Perhaps there should be, but in the financial world this doesnt exist, need to take paper out on the truck the value is the value, need to trade it in the value is the value.

You are pretty dead on with the value numbers. It's worth squat to the next guy. But it's worth its weight in gold to me.

There were little to no feelings involved, I am way too far upside down on the truck to have let it die, replace it, trade it in, or anything other than fix it... figured my best bet was a brand new engine from the dealership and went that route.

Even got a 3 year, unlimited mile warranty on the engine, with other unlimited mile warranties on other various parts they changed.

It's a shame that dropping a new engine would really not mean much to the next guy when he sees 314K miles on the dash... but I know what the truck has been through and what it can do. To me, it was 100% worth the swap.

Thanks for the advice! It was pretty much the same advice across the board...

Given my circumstances, I think I took the best route.

 

[GTyankee]

Have you ever seen this company ?

Focused On Safety & Professionalism | Patriot Certified Pilot Cars LLC

Patriot Certified Pilot Cars LLC is focused on safety, professionalism & a higher level of service. All Patriot pilot cars are New York State certified escorts. We embraced technology, offering video surveys & video documentation of your run. We provide route surveys, GPS guidance, etc. Contact us.

patriotcertifiedpilotcars.com

Headquarters
18 Bancroft Rd, Sandy Hook, Connecticut, 06482, United States

If i ever move back to Connecticut, i will be applying for a job with them, as a sub contractor

I always see Pilot Cars standing by at the Newburgh Beacon Bridge, when i travel back there.

 

[gwuhesos]

Have you ever seen this company ?

Focused On Safety & Professionalism | Patriot Certified Pilot Cars LLC

Patriot Certified Pilot Cars LLC is focused on safety, professionalism & a higher level of service. All Patriot pilot cars are New York State certified escorts. We embraced technology, offering video surveys & video documentation of your run. We provide route surveys, GPS guidance, etc. Contact us.

patriotcertifiedpilotcars.com

Headquarters
18 Bancroft Rd, Sandy Hook, Connecticut, 06482, United States

If i ever move back to Connecticut, i will be applying for a job with them, as a sub contractor

I always see Pilot Cars standing by at the Newburgh Beacon Bridge, when i travel back there.

I have... I am too "go, go, go" I see them stopped quite often... I would have to look into it to see if it's worth changing up my game-plan. I have thought about it before though...

 

[Docwagon1776]

Yessir... And plan to do that, if not more each year for the next couple of years...

Just a small logistics company... More lucrative than any 9-5 I could get right now.

Made enough, but not enough at the same time. Building the business and hoping to grow it at some point.

If you need a truck for whatever it is you're doing, you're one of the few an eco-diesel is likely the best option. I'd probably look for a 2wd eco-diesel, put the lowest rolling resistance tires on it you can, and try to eek out any fuel economy gains I could via driving style.

 

[ramffml]

you're one of the few an eco-diesel is likely the best option

No offence, I agree with "diesel" but I disagree heavily with "eco-diesel". I'd sooner jump ship to a gm 3.0 duramax, same idea, but much better engine that we know of to date.

 

[GTyankee]

I have been happy with my 2016 Ram quad cab eco diesel

It gets better mileage than the other Ram engines & it keeps up to the others on the highway.

The only thing that i think about, is that the dealers can't get the parts to do the recalls.
I do think that some of that is because the dealerships are not really trying their best to get those parts.

 

[Burla]

Since now you are truck poor, get you a super bumper at least protect yourself for some azenhiemer totaling your truck from behind. No they aint purdy, but one of the first things I bought for my truck. I tow my landscape trailer with it as well, have a locking pin.

 

[gwuhesos]

If you need a truck for whatever it is you're doing, you're one of the few an eco-diesel is likely the best option. I'd probably look for a 2wd eco-diesel, put the lowest rolling resistance tires on it you can, and try to eek out any fuel economy gains I could via driving style.

Let me know when you are ready to sponsor me by buying a new truck and we will go from there. If I had originally intended on driving this many miles, I would have sprung for a 2500, but we are where we are. Let me know about the sponsorship

 

[gwuhesos]

I have been happy with my 2016 Ram quad cab eco diesel

It gets better mileage than the other Ram engines & it keeps up to the others on the highway.

The only thing that i think about, is that the dealers can't get the parts to do the recalls.
I do think that some of that is because the dealerships are not really trying their best to get those parts.

Up until its last day, it was getting 24-25 mpg empty, and the worst gas mileage I saw was a 3,500 mile one way trip to Montana through Colorado, from North Carolina, where I saw 5 mpg... dragging a blunt nosed enclosed trailer. On average, with the things I towed, I would get 13-15 mpg. Not sure how that compares to an eco-diesel rig, vs reg. cummins towing similar weights, but I was not let down by that truck at all. Got exactly what I expected and then some in terms of capability.

 

[gwuhesos]

Since now you are truck poor, get you a super bumper at least protect yourself for some azenhiemer totaling your truck from behind. No they aint purdy, but one of the first things I bought for my truck. I tow my landscape trailer with it as well, have a locking pin.


View attachment 530875

Not a bad idea... looking into heavier duty bumpers or some sort of a bump step thing, I like this one... Will consider

 

[Docwagon1776]

Let me know when you are ready to sponsor me by buying a new truck and we will go from there. If I had originally intended on driving this many miles, I would have sprung for a 2500, but we are where we are. Let me know about the sponsorship

The eco-diesel is the smaller option in the 1500s. Unless you need a 2500 for capacity, zero reason to buy one and a lot of reasons not to, all starting with $.

You're probably figuring this out, but a one truck trucking operation is a pretty rough business to make a living on. If you're truck is down, you're cut off from income and your racking up expense. A single flat tire can cost you a contract. A single crash can bankrupt you. It doesn't take much to snowball when you're a one truck operation. You *have* to make enough money to still turn a profit once you've ground your truck into dust, which you will. How much longer you expect the transmission to hold up behind that new motor? What's that going to cost? Are you incorporated or LLC? Are you taking tax advantage for all this depreciation and repair expense? Would it make sense to lease a truck as a business with the tax advantage of doing so? Do you have a CPA to run the numbers for you?

I've watched a lot of folks think they were making money until they hit the reality wall of replacing the asset that keeps them in business, getting slammed with taxes they didn't see coming, etc. Sole proprietorship is *hard*, and less than 3 trucks makes it harder. YMMV but I saw enough struggles that I had zero desire to enter that world. Or farming. Watched that crumble for a lot of folks as well, but irrelevant for this. So, no, not a benefactor or an investor. Just someone with a little insight into watching family members hoe this row with various levels of successes and failures.

 

[gwuhesos]

The eco-diesel is the smaller option in the 1500s. Unless you need a 2500 for capacity, zero reason to buy one and a lot of reasons not to, all starting with $.

You're probably figuring this out, but a one truck trucking operation is a pretty rough business to make a living on. If you're truck is down, you're cut off from income and your racking up expense. A single flat tire can cost you a contract. A single crash can bankrupt you. It doesn't take much to snowball when you're a one truck operation. You *have* to make enough money to still turn a profit once you've ground your truck into dust, which you will. How much longer you expect the transmission to hold up behind that new motor? What's that going to cost? Are you incorporated or LLC? Are you taking tax advantage for all this depreciation and repair expense? Would it make sense to lease a truck as a business with the tax advantage of doing so? Do you have a CPA to run the numbers for you?

I've watched a lot of folks think they were making money until they hit the reality wall of replacing the asset that keeps them in business, getting slammed with taxes they didn't see coming, etc. Sole proprietorship is *hard*, and less than 3 trucks makes it harder. YMMV but I saw enough struggles that I had zero desire to enter that world. Or farming. Watched that crumble for a lot of folks as well, but irrelevant for this. So, no, not a benefactor or an investor. Just someone with a little insight into watching family members hoe this row with various levels of successes and failures.

Terrific insight! And much appreciated. I am figuring it out as I go for sure. And staying on top of things as much as possible to avoid failure. Especially while on the road. You are absolutely right that it is not exactly a vacation running this one-man operation, hence my desire to establish my reputation, and showcase my skills in logistics... Ultimately, not sure what this will turn into, hopefully not anything close to what you describe, though those are certainly viable and likely. In theory, I should be able to net enough to fix anything and everything and stay profitable. This work is not for the faint at heart.

So you know, I have dealt with quite a lot in my nearly 2 million miles behind the wheel... flat tires, failed hubs, bearings, rims that break in half, control arm bushings, head gaskets blowing, minor car accidents, and way back in the day, a major car accident (head on collision), amongst many, many other "situations"... all that being said, know how to resolve most issues on-the-fly, and have been lucky enough, thus far, to walk away from everything with a near zero failure rate. Don't plan to tarnish that any time soon.

With regard to the eco-diesel, my truck has roughly the same towing capacity ( a little more ) and am not sure how the eco-diesel performs, fuel economy wise - so unless it's more durable - which I would imagine is yet to be determined being that it's a new platform <-- correct me if I am wrong... but I did get over 300K on the 1st hemi... That says something I think... considering the eco-diesel, according to some research I did is known to last around 200-300K miles, I am not sure if it's worth the more expensive gas, and virtually identical fuel economy... I could be wrong. And quite frankly, most likely am... but I like to blab.

 

[Docwagon1776]

With regard to the eco-diesel, my truck has roughly the same towing capacity ( a little more ) and am not sure how the eco-diesel performs, fuel economy wise - so unless it's more durable - which I would imagine is yet to be determined being that it's a new platform <-- correct me if I am wrong... but I did get over 300K on the 1st hemi... That says something I think... considering the eco-diesel, according to some research I did is known to last around 200-300K miles, I am not sure if it's worth the more expensive gas, and virtually identical fuel economy... I could be wrong. And quite frankly, most likely am... but I like to blab.

Lots of short trips is rougher on diesels now with all the compliance stuff on them. That's why I said *you* were a solid candidate for one, lots of long trips so they stay hot enough increases longevity. Talk to @VernDiesel if you want someone with real world experience with very high miles on an eco-diesel. North of 500k, IIRC. Good post to start here: https://www.ramforum.com/threads/ho...en-your-eco-diesel.144044/page-7#post-2682534 and most anything he's posted on mpg, epa compliant tunes, and getting ridiculously long life out of his trucks.

 

[GTyankee]

In my one man business, my biggest cost, is that i have to pay for a $750,000 Commercial Auto Insurance. That is State mandated, if i want to also operate in New Mexico, i would be required to have $1,000,000 policy.

Because i got Influenza in February 2020, it ruined my lungs.
I have not been able to work, i still lose my voice in a very short period of time, so i can't use my CB Radio, which is another mandated tool.

I once did a job, that started in South San Diego & ended in upper West Virginia, near the Pennsylvania State Line.
That job paid close to $4,000, the job involved moving a Wind Turbine to Storm Mountain.
That job took 6 or 7 days.



Doing longer jobs like that, allowed me to go from owing money.
To being able to pay cash for my last 2 New Rams, a 2009 & 2016 & i have money enough to buy another new Ram.

I also have my SS checks & 33 years of Civil Service Bucks to pay the rent, etc.

This Dump Truck body went from Texas to California, i did not go all the way, unfortunately


The Police that were running Traffic Control, were all on Overtime

 

[chri5k]

I am trying to figure out how you find time to post here. With driving 600+ miles per day and all the other things necessary to run a business. If it were me, this would the last thing I would do.