A little love for White Lightning.......

[gsbrockman]

Try some OEM premium MOPARS once. At $5.25 each......I don’t see the Trico as any contender, especially if you’re going through that many sets per year.

 

[nukegm]

the mopar blades are worth every penny. puts the bosch, rain x, and others i have tried to shame - and they last a lot longer in the sun ( like high elevation U.V. sunlight here in colorado ) cheers!

 

[Wayne M.]

Try some OEM premium MOPARS once. At $5.25 each......I don’t see the Trico as any contender, especially if you’re going through that many sets per year.

Well, I looked up your blades and they are 22’s and I see the Mopar item @ $16.XX. I do not see Mopar items for mine, which are 24’s.

 

[AH64ID]

Are the MOPAR ones the same blades that come from the factory?

 

[nukegm]

Are the MOPAR ones the same blades that come from the factory?

as far as i know yes. cheers comrade!

 

[gsbrockman]

Are the MOPAR ones the same blades that come from the factory?

It was explained to me that the premium ones are what’s installed on the line, not the value line. Based on the longevity and quality.....I can certainly agree with that.

 

[AH64ID]

It was explained to me that the premium ones are what’s installed on the line, not the value line. Based on the longevity and quality.....I can certainly agree with that.

I don’t know if the previous owner changed the blades in the 2.5 months they owned the truck before me or not, but I wasn’t impressed with what came on my 18. They only lasted a couple months before I replaced them with rain-x blades, which are now 9 months old and still doing great.

 

[gsbrockman]

Just today I serviced the ol’ AS69RC once again with a MOPAR 68224232AA sump filter and 13 quarts of Mobil 3309. White Lightning is currently at 257,448 miles, 646 idle hours, and 4,477 drive hours. Saturday night I rolled in from a 3,032 mile run, and I was actually overdue by about 2,000 miles plus or minus. All I did was drop the drain plug from the PML pan, allowing it to drain for about 19 hours before dropping the pan later today.

As usual, I received the P0868 code, but I did also encounter a 2nd code this time that I’ve never gotten.....a P0731 code “gear 1 incorrect ratio”. Previous sump filter changes have always yielded the P0868, and occasionally a P0869, but this P0731 was brand new.

In any event, I received the usual hard slamming of gears from park to reverse, then from reverse to drive. I cleared the codes and took it for a test drive to double check the fluid level after reaching operating temperature.

My 15 mile or so test drive yielded nothing out of the ordinary. It shifted perfectly and showed no signs of any incorrect gear ratio.

 

[Wayne M.]

I can understand the P0868 line pressure code when dropping the fluid, but the 0731 I hope is not a sign of things to come. Will Alfa OBD graph transmission functions? You might be able to see how or why 0731 is happening.
The newer Ford 6 speeds are very finicky after a fluid drop. I have a landfill road I use where I’ll put it in 4lo (gotta test that anyway) and that will tickle all the shift solenoids a couple of times without going fast or far. I wind up adding to the sump level after that. No codes get set on those.

 

[gsbrockman]

I can understand the P0868 line pressure code when dropping the fluid, but the 0731 I hope is not a sign of things to come.

I guess I’ll find out later this morning.....heading to Elnora, IN to Corn Pro to pickup three trailers.

 

[gsbrockman]

I guess I’ll find out later this morning.....heading to Elnora, IN to Corn Pro to pickup three trailers.

535 miles later.....and all is well. Shifted perfect today while towing a 6+21 tilt gooseneck, 20+5 gooseneck, and a 14’ dump trailer. Unsure on exact weights as I had no MSO’s and didn’t look at the VIN stickers that closely. I’m guessing about 17,500 to 18,500 lbs of trailers though.

 

[gsbrockman]

White Lightning is at 325,612 miles and 5,679 drive hours.

Today it received a 68224232AA transmission sump filter, 68214914AA pan gasket, and 12.5 quarts of Mobil 3309 transmission fluid. I had used the OE transmission pan gasket four changes previously, so I decided to swap it out this sump filter change.

I ran out of time to drain and fill the transfer case....but that’ll get done later on Friday.

 

[SnoKing]

White Lightning is at 325,612 miles and 5,679 drive hours.

No cross member in the way like the pickups!

 

[gsbrockman]

No cross member in the way like the pickups!

....and it’s nice!

 

[Wiredawg]

Greg,

As you know, I decided to keep my monster hauler/puller and easy maint is part of it. Since I'm not a Sasquatch, I cant just reach the topside fuel filter, but with help of my Topside Creeper, I can do it pretty easy. Even with our anemic power, we still can haul/tow some pretty amazing loads.

Now looking for that big 500K mile post.

Thanks for posting, Ron

 

[gsbrockman]

May start looking for a replacement around 400k......but that’s not that far away. I’ve already received an interest in purchasing my truck from a guy about 3 miles from me. He says the mileage doesn’t bother him as he knows I’m NUTSO about my maintenance.

 

[Wiredawg]

I just received an email from the salesman who sold me my truck asking to buy it or trade it on for one of theirs. Big demand around here for 4500s/5500s by hot shotters, ranchers, and local construction. I'm going to thank him and keep it.

Nothing wrong with a well kept high mileage rig, especially for local use.

I'm keeping the 60 gallon aux tank on it... was considering moving it to the MH, but BIL just built a 25KW diesel genset with 250 gallon tank on a trailer for our family at the coast. I can use it to transport/transfer fuel for extended outages

Hope you share the search for replacement... Cheers, Ron

 

[Cummins12V98]

GS how many miles you going between changes?

 

[gsbrockman]

GS how many miles you going between changes?

Right at 13.5k to 14.0k......but my drive hours for this last interval was only 250.

 

[gsbrockman]

GS how many miles you going between changes?

I may have misunderstood you.....and posted my engine oil change intervals in post #99 above.

I’m still shooting for 30k drain and fills and 60k sump filter changes on the ol’ AS69RC.....although I miss them on occasion.