New owner of a 2020 RAM with 212k…Best preventative maintenance tips?

[Grams]

I doubt the cluster unit has been replaced unless it was done by someone OTHER than a dealer… (BTDT) … as the TIPM/PCM will show otherwise and a re-flash by the dealer would reveal that.
The seat cover and brake/accel-pedals are a clue as to actual “drive time” versus a TOAD….but that truck is Not Likely to have been a TOAD as it is too large/heavy for that service.
Meanwhile…. I had a 2012 Ram 1500 (bought it new) which had 205K miles on it and drove like a new truck. I did regular oil and air filter changes using WalMart Supertech mineral oil…never synthetic….and 100K mile spark plugs. Other than tires, batteries, brakes, etc…. it had no other major work on it…tho’ I DID change the rear axle shafts when a right-rear bearing became noisy at 150K miles towing an Airstream trailer with a heavy tongue-weight. (The Ram 1500’s have wheel/axle bearings that run the rollers Directly ON the axle-shaft…no “race” at all… and the failed bearing scored the shaft. The OEM axles were replaced with Yukon axles ($500 ea) because OEM axles were back-ordered. No further problems….and I sometimes towed a heavy boat treailer and a 10K Dump trailer even.
Bottom Line: You stole that truck. Drive it accordingly. Avoid “magic” oils and snake-****… and be realistic about that truck lasting you forever. …. That’s what I THOUGHT I was planning….when the 87-year-old alzheimers man ran the red light and totaled my truck. Insurance settlement was no where NEAR what I Personally Valued that Truck.

 

[JHoward]

Alot of times you can judge how accurate the shown milege is,by the wear and tear on things like the drivers seat / pedals / steering wheel / carpet etc,and by the looks of what i see on his interior pictures,the truck sure doesn't look like it has 212,000 on it.

... or maybe the mileage is reading km and actual miles is more like 130,000 miles?

IMHO, that is still a lot of miles for an 2020 year model.

 

[markabby]

Nice photos.
Surprised that you didn't include one of the odometer. No matter.

Something definitely doesn't add up here.

Just the fact of 212,000 miles would have pushed me to a much lower mileage vehicle. Just the worry of what can go wrong at this mileage, would prevent my purchase at any price.

i always felt the same way...until i moved into south kentucky. People drive hundreds of miles just to get to a shopping mall or someplace else. If i drive to lexington, it's about 100 miles one way via 75North.

My point it used cars/trucks down here have high miles on them. Neighbor bought her Kia around the same time i bought my truck. She has almost 80k on it, where I just turned 30k

But, the OP showed the body of that truck in excellent condition. The engine compartment is clean and looks original. The truck could have been towed behind an RV. Down here i see a lot of pick ups towed behind them.

 

[nlambert182]

i always felt the same way...until i moved into south kentucky. People drive hundreds of miles just to get to a shopping mall or someplace else. If i drive to lexington, it's about 100 miles one way via 75North.

My point it used cars/trucks down here have high miles on them. Neighbor bought her Kia around the same time i bought my truck. She has almost 80k on it, where I just turned 30k

But, the OP showed the body of that truck in excellent condition. The engine compartment is clean and looks original. The truck could have been towed behind an RV. Down here i see a lot of pick ups towed behind them.

Could've been... but that wouldn't explain the mileage. It doesn't increase miles when being towed since the signal is from a tone ring to the computer. There's no signal being passed when everything is off.

 

[markabby]

Could've been... but that wouldn't explain the mileage. It doesn't increase miles when being towed since the signal is from a tone ring to the computer. There's no signal being passed when everything is off.

good point, i didn't thin k of that. you have a mystery truck for sure: a mint condition truck with allegedly 212k miles. lol

 

[Marshall]

I have about 85,000 KM = about 53,000miles on my 2014 and its not that clean, You see it on the edge of the seat and door edge, floor mat is poor where my heal sits at the gas pdl.
I did not see what you paid, don't matter, I have never worried too much about mileage, had a couple with 300,000 miles on them , never had a major problem, a couple head gaskets, and timing chains/ belts. odd starter , alternators, old ones I just fix them.

I do know a fellow that drives 400 miles per day a few times a week picking up mail/boxes.
that would add up . Where we are , in winter you could be running on a bit of salt, not that common when real cold.

 

[sticknrudder]

The title and the car check revealed it was owned by Emkay, a fleet leasing company based in Chicago. So apparently this was a fleet lease truck. There’s very little wear on seat, none on floor. The only thing that has some visible wear is the steering wheel. I got myself a RP 20-820 filter. Still trying to pin down an oil to use. I’m in southern MI, basically Indiana so I’m thinking I’d probably be good with 5w30 all year. -20 would be a very rare occurrence, typically doesn’t even go below 0. I Have a couple gallons of Castrol Edge Extended 5w30. I’m thinking of running that and the moly additive, unless someone can give me a reason that PUP, M1 or Redline would be better

I listened to the truck and there is noise on start up, like piston slap but goes away when oil pressure is reached.

 

[Burla]

Redline would be worse choice with that info, it is something you keep in the bank for a rainy day, the rainy day being hemi tick, absent hemi tick no need for redline. The reason I said 0w30 for year round was because you are in piston slap area, and this is the best proven piston slap quencher. Often it will not eliminate piston slap but tends to make it way less prevalent. Lubegard biotech is the only known oil soluble light ester additives which is solid science. When it comes to 0w30's the base oils matter, if it is pao there will be less vii's, which is a good thing. m1 esp 0w30 or amsoil 0w30 Ms for euro is another stand out. You will want to use biotech with these for moly, many euro formulas omit moly. That amsoil is real nice if you felt so motivated to join amsoil. Basically, you owe it to yourself to try it once, don't be married to 5w30 even though that is a great choice, in snow states we have many forum Members who have helped cold piston slap with 0w30's in those same hemi's 5w30 would slap slap slap soon at temps were as high as 35f all the way down to -20f. That can be the cold piston slap range in some hemi's, all been reported on the board.

Don't forget that redline si-1, for an old fleet truck you want to address that combustion chamber.

 

[sticknrudder]

Excellent! Very comprehensive answer to my questions. For the price I’m leaning towards M1 esp 0w30 with lubeguard biotech.

A couple new questions come up:

1. It’s possible I will only drive this truck 5,000 miles a year. Not a main driver. Will the 0w30 still work in the summer if I still have well under 5k miles by then? I plan to do 5k or 1 year changes.

2. Regarding using Redline SI1, I remember you said it’s good to run it for 500 miles prior to an oil change. Oil is clean looking but no idea when it was last changed. Would you ad the Redline then wait another 500 to change the oil or change it asap? In that case when would be best to run the redline?

Thanks

 

[Marshall]

I will let Burla answer that, but if’s clear looking, I would just add it and drive it for a while
Fleet trucks are usually looked after quite good from what i have seen
Serviced on a regular schedule

 

[Burla]

When ever you decide to change the oil put the si-1 in 500 miles prior.

Yes 0w30 is just like 5w30 in an engine at operating temperature. In fact, many 0w30's are best effort oils because of the demanding euro specs that really force them to make the best possible product. The only knock is sometimes you will find a formula that omits moly from the formula, so to be safe 15 ounces biotech will square you there. You can look at MSDS and see euro 0w30's are built better, example being m1esp versus their advanced fuel economy, one uses group 4 base oil as in the euro formula and one doesn't last time I checked. A lot of those German cars use the 0w30's, if the oil is spec'd for merc, Porsche, and bmw it is a good hint the oil has a high standard.

 

[sticknrudder]

Excellent, thanks Marshall and Burla! Si1 on order and I’ll run that and change the oil 500 miles later with M1 0w30, lubeguard biotech and a 20-820. I’ll just plan to use 0w30 year round as long as the truck is sounding good. Just not enough miles to switch oil seasonally. Thanks!

 

[sticknrudder]

How many oz do you recommend running of the lubegard biotech? Regular bottle says it’s 15 ounce. If you go with the commercial/heavy duty dose looks like its 3 oz per qt which for our trucks would be 21 oz?

 

[js12278]

Nice truck,sure doesn't look like it has 212,000 on it,that's for sure.Get in the habit of washing underneath it at you're local coin-op carwash fairly often in the winter,if you want to keep it looking as good as it does now. Don't let it idle all that much,use a good quality synthetic oil and filter,try not to exceed much more then 5,000 miles between oil changes,when it gets down below about 15f plug it in,as it'll warm up faster,and get the oil flowing all that much quicker,and don't baby it.Wouldn't hurt to look into installing a 100/125 watt oil pan heater on it,they're cheaper to run then a block heater,and keep the oil warm in the winter. Driving a hemi like Grandpa does,is not doing the engine any favours,you don't have to abuse it,but don't be scared to run it up above 3500/4,000 rpm fairly often.

When using Woolwax the last thing you really need to do is wash the undercarriage in the winter.
Woolwax, when applied properly will keep the protected vehicle rust free, keep fasteners from snapping off.
I was happy to read that the owner is a fan of lanolin protection. Woolwax and Fluid Film are some of the best products available to protect vehicles from rusting. I spray my vehicles 2x a year with Woolwax black underneath, touched up at every oil change when needed and Fluid Film inside the pillar posts and door panels.
That truck looks great. Check the transmission fluid condition. Hopefully it’s been maintained.

 

[sticknrudder]

Yes that’s what I hear about Woolwax. I coated my old truck but ended up not driving it in the winter anyway so this will be my first real test of the product in the winter.

Transmission fluid looked great on the stick. I plan to change that at some point and work my way through all the other fluids eventually.

Now it’s just time to order some tires. I’m going with some all terrains, just trying to decide between LT’s or P. The truck has P on it and I have to say I love the ride. I believe it came from the factory with LT’s, which could be nice towing which I do some but more like boats and tractor. Not an RV.

 

[JHoward]

How many oz do you recommend running of the lubegard biotech? Regular bottle says it’s 15 ounce. If you go with the commercial/heavy duty dose looks like its 3 oz per qt which for our trucks would be 21 oz?

... 21 ounces of LubeGard Biotech is correct.

 

[JHoward]

Yes that’s what I hear about Woolwax. I coated my old truck but ended up not driving it in the winter anyway so this will be my first real test of the product in the winter.

Transmission fluid looked great on the stick. I plan to change that at some point and work my way through all the other fluids eventually.

Now it’s just time to order some tires. I’m going with some all terrains, just trying to decide between LT’s or P. The truck has P on it and I have to say I love the ride. I believe it came from the factory with LT’s, which could be nice towing which I do some but more like boats and tractor. Not an RV.

Your 2020 year model truck has an transmission "dip stick", maybe I read that wrong?

Fwiw, my 2017 ZF 8 speed doesn't have one.

To check for proper transmission fill for full, the truck's tranny has to be level by raising the rear end, and then take off the fill plug. If transmission fluid trickles out, then it's full.

 

[nlambert182]

Yes that’s what I hear about Woolwax. I coated my old truck but ended up not driving it in the winter anyway so this will be my first real test of the product in the winter.

Transmission fluid looked great on the stick. I plan to change that at some point and work my way through all the other fluids eventually.

Now it’s just time to order some tires. I’m going with some all terrains, just trying to decide between LT’s or P. The truck has P on it and I have to say I love the ride. I believe it came from the factory with LT’s, which could be nice towing which I do some but more like boats and tractor. Not an RV.

How did you check the transmission fluid? The ZF doesn't have a transmission dipstick (that I've ever seen).