Advice for longevity

[Jasfish18]

I have a 17 1500 qc, with 28000 miles, my first ram
The plan is to make this truck last a good long while. What preventive matinance do you guys recommend and at what mileage.
Oh even though it's a 17 it has the 6 spd tranny not the 8 spd.
4x4 isn't used often, mainly in winter
Only tow small boat and snowmobile trailer.

 

[PolarisCobra]

I don't think you need to go crazy. Follow the PM recommendations in the manual, use good quality fluids and filters, you should be fine. I live in the snow belt, and am a fan of keeping the truck as clean as possible in the winter. I use a carwash that does the undercarriage, and hope for the best in terms of rust. For the last several vehicles I have owned, they have rusted out before there were any major failures in the engine or transmission.

I know some don't like the drive through carwash, they can cause some minor scratching, I am willing to accept that to keep the rust at bay.

 

[caulk04]

Rust is your primary concern, being in Mi. It's new enough that you should be able to nip it in the bud, but do a thorough job of treating it with something like Fluid Film or the like.

Maintenance is maintenance, just keep up on it. Since you have the RFE trans I'd assume your truck was built for the Canadian market, no?

 

[Jasfish18]

Yup, canadian market

I did a can of ff under rear wheel wells when I did the eibach springs. But am considering paying for corrosion free or krown

 

[kurek]

I have the RFE trans as well, this is my 2nd vehicle with that transmission. Advise changing the fluid & filters in that at 60k miles, definitely not later than 100k. It's not a delicate box just neglect and abuse will kill it same as anything. Don't slack on the other fluids like brake fluid shouldn't see 10 years, coolant really you should strongly consider changing it at 5-6 years even though it's "10 year" coolant. The anticorrosion additives get used up as time goes by so it's good to get out ahead of that. Don't wait for your dashboard to tell you it's time for an oil change, don't let the transfer case or axles see 100k miles or 10 years with the original sauce in them. ~60k is a better idea for the rear if it has the anti-spin LSD in it, especially if you put it to work a lot (slippery winter roads, etc)

Beyond the fluid maintenance stuff the most important factors in longevity are keep everything clean top to bottom, fix things when they start to show signs of breaking not 6 months after they catastrophically failed, and don't just randomly throw "mods" on like they're Pokemans you gotta collect. That's about it. Clean and waxed paint doesn't gather oxidation and scratches. Clean metal/paint don't retain moisture to accumulate rust. Clean seals/gaskets/wires/hoses don't deteriorate as fast as oil-and-gunk-soaked ones. Plus troubleshooting on clean stuff is infinitely easier than on dirty stuff and repair is easier as well.

 

[62Blazer]

As mentioned above I would be more concerned about rust than anything else. That's what happened to my last truck as the rust just got to it. Wasn't so much the body and cosmetics but parts started failing on it because of the rust....brake lines blew out because of rust, fuel lines started leaking, both the trans and transfer case shifter linkages rusted out, rear diff cover started leaking, E-brake cable rusted off, etc, etc... It wasn't my daily driver but everytime I did drive it more than a few miles something had to be replaced because of rust.

 

[Jasfish18]

Thanks for the quick replies guys!