24,000 Troublefree Miles On An '08 "Grocery Getter"

[HBarlow]

A fellow TDR member who says he is not very skilled with computers called and left a message for me yesterday.

I returned his call today and answered his questions about contacting my favorite internet Dodge parts supplier, MOPAR4LESS which is Advantage Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep in Farmington, NM.

We talked awhile and he told me about his '08 pickup. He says he rarely drives it, his wife drives it and has put 24,000 miles on it primarily as a short trip grocery getter. He said the only time it has ever towed was to pull a car on a dolly when they moved from Lubbock to Albuquerque a couple years ago. His truck has experienced zero problems, no CELs, no smog issues, no dealer visits for anything.

I was glad to hear his story. I wonder if some of our members who have reported problems with their ISB6. 7s are getting less than clean fuel in the region of the country where they live? Or perhaps some other external cause we don't know about?

I like the good news stories.

 

[Simplysmn]

Working on 81,000 trouble free miles here

 

[MTapia]

me too. i got 15000 trouble other than the recalls. but never any cel liights or anything on the regen either.

 

[TulsaOkie]

323k this week. The weather is great up here in Bismark

 

[HBarlow]

Ahhh yes, I remember spending a few nights in a Motel 6 in Bismarck (I think it was Bismarck) as I pulled trailers to the Pacific NW. Mid-July is a good time to be in Bismarck. I think winter weather can begin by October.

 

[KEpperly]

Im on my second 6. 7 motored dodge and neither of the motors have had any problem and i would say that 65% of my driving is back road to city driving. Back roads by me are about 40 mph roads

 

[Garlic]

Got 51,000 this week and issue free. Dang, what a great truck/engine combo.

 

[daverobb]

My '07 has 103000+ KMs. It is my daily driver and stock with the exception of a gutted intake tube and a 4" hole cut in the bottom of the stock air box. I have had no problems.

 

[MoparBob]

I like hearing these stories... makes me feel better about selling the '05 and moving into a newer truck.

 

[Shelby Griggs]

Does anyone know what their average ground speed is on these trouble free trucks. I have checked quite a few tanks on my 2001 used for work, lots of stop and go on job sites, etc. , in 230K I have averaged about 30 MPH, looking at the overhead timer and the trip ODO to compute this. When I finally replace the 2001, I expect about the same usage pattern out of a new truck, my driving style might be considered grocery getter, LOL, even though it is rarely used for that. It would be good to know number of hours along with the miles on the trouble free reports OR any report for that matter.



SHG

 

[HBarlow]

Shelby,

I had completely forgotten about it until I read your post but two or three years ago a long running thread addressed your question. Somebody, perhaps Mike Mullenax, pointed out the average mph obtainable by dividing odometer miles by engine operating hours available in our instrument panels.

Lots of us calculated and posted ours at that time. I don't remember now but I'm thinking that most of us reported calculations around 45 to 47 mph. My memory may be way off.

My own truck experience may not be very helpful to most because it is a cab and chassis with less restrictive emissions crap. I have about 83k on it now, all trouble free. I'm thinking my average speed was in the upper 40 mphs when checked two years ago when Mike Mullenax did a reflash.
You might want to search for that old thread. Your average operating speed sounds a little low. Maybe someone remembers who the OP was and what the original subject was.

 

[BNolan]

2007.5 Grocery Getter

I am one of the members who lurks most of the time, but wanted to throw in my . 02 worth.

I have 22560 trouble free miles on my truck, paid off and just off of warranty this month so I hope it continues. the only issues I've had were recalls for ecm updates. I drive 12 miles back and forth to work, only towing twice in 3 years. I run with the engine brake on all the time and shift so the RPM stays around 2k.

my avg MPH is 31. 6, wish I could get it up higher

I have been very happy with my truck, only thing I would do different would be the 6 speed auto over my 6 speed manual, I didn't trust the auto when it first came out

bruce

 

[HBarlow]

I have a pet theory that the reason some trucks are perfectly trouble free and some are very trouble prone under similar operating conditions is not the truck but the owner's driving style or the fuel used.

Every American man believes he is an above average or excellent driver but obviously we can't all be above average or excellent. Everyone has a different driving style. I wonder if driving styles influence the issues.

I also wonder if the content, quality, and cleanliness of various regional or local fuels differ enough to contribute to the problems we read about.

I have zero evidence to back my theories, actually more questions than theories, but I can't help wondering why some trucks never set a CEL and others are continually back to the dealer.

 

[Shelby Griggs]

Harvey, I suspect you are probably right in your theory. Look at how some 24V trucks ate VP44's and others are still going at 1/4 million miles with the original VP44 pump, driving styles, maintenance of fuel filters, staying on top of the LP fuel pressure, who knows, but I think the difference is likely due to some or all of those things.



BTW, I found at least some of the previous miles vs. hours threads, the numbers vary a bit, BUT quite a few members reported around the 30-35 MPH average range.



SHG

 

[Ram4Sam]

Don't forget to add luck to the equations. Some trucks get built with all the best made components on the shelf, some with the worst and some with a combo of both. Throw in assembly quality on the factory line the day your truck is made, be it a grumpy/hungover worker or a happy one who is happy to have a job. Lots to ponder.



Sam

 

[AHarris]

36K trouble free miles here since I took delivery in Nov '07 with 6 miles on the clock--never a CEL or a hiccup. Regular maintenance and normal driving. Mostly "grocery getter" duties and occasional RV towing. Fuel mileage finally improving as the big beast gets broken in. Quiet, powerful, still looks like new and 100% trouble free--and paid for! I love my 6. 7!

 

[rraulston]

10 K miles on my grocery getter. Never towed a thing. NEVER had a CEL EVER!!! I just keep putting lots of fuel in it and drive it to work and back every day!!!

 

[DBithell]

'08 grocery getter with 40k!!!

only minor problems: a couple O2 sensors, a bunch of reflashes, some forced regens, egr related cleanings, a couple recalls, turbo cleaning, new turbo, new cp3, tpms module, key fob problem, and radio replacement... . glad I bought new

 

[mickeyblueyes]

Harvey, Its my thoughts that any problems that arise with these vehicles(or any brand for that matter) is the same issue we experience when we go tool shopping or buy a appliance for our homes. manufactures of the supply chain are under pressure to keep cost down down down , so Profits can go up up up, corners get cut with cheaper materials , employees are harassed to work faster and meet quotas set by pencil pushers. If everyone took pride in what they did this would be different times.

 

[DBithell]

mickeyblueyes: What you say makes alot of sense, and would apply to alot of problems for example 1) a bad ball joint - sollution: replace it with a better ball joint & problem is fixed. We can conclude that the original ball joint was of lesser quality (to save the company $'s) and perhaps installed by a worker under duress with a hangover. Should there have been a problem ball joint? No. Is it fixable? Yes.



But, when I'm on flash number x+26 that would imply the problem might not be fixable especially when x+26 is after a few years of trying. If I ignor that possibility (that the problem(s) can't be fixed) I then start to question the quality of the fuel I get which I have no possibility of answering/understanding any more than what this month's flash does.



'08 megacab