Ever wonder why all the million-mile trucks used dino oil??

[Hohn]

I was thinking about this, and it made perfect sense to me.



1) Most folks who are putting on enough miles to hit the 1M mark are driving a LOT-- the engine is almost never turned off. Therefore...



2) The mileage that these engines are seeing is some of the easiest miles an engine will ever see-- constant oil temps, no cold starts, always operating temp, etc. Therefore...



3) A dino oil works perfectly well in an application where the engine is being babied. Some may argue that towing in hot climate is not babying the engine, but compared to constant cold starts and short trips, it's a VACATION! Therefore...



4) There's no cost incentive to run a synthetic, and those who rack up LOTS of miles actually have the LEAST need for a synthetic oil.





Anyway, it's somewhat ironic faster you accumulate miles, the more likely to last is the engine-- and the benefits of a synthetic may be insignificant.



Anyway, it just sorta hit me. Anyone agree?





jlh

 

[RustyJC]

Well, I've been driving 45 years, and conventional wisdom has always been "highway miles are easier on a vehicle than in-town stop-and-go driving".



Rusty

 

[nps]

Anyway, it's somewhat ironic faster you accumulate miles, the more likely to last is the engine-- and the benefits of a synthetic may be insignificant.



Anyway, it just sorta hit me. Anyone agree?



jlh

Nah - it's just that if you are running that many miles you can't afford synthetic.



Honestly, most man-made things work better and 'last' longer if kept running. Electronics (computers, TVs, etc. ), airplanes, even Cummins. Back in the Marines we had the most problems from airplanes that flew the least - keep em in the air and they don't break.



But philosophically, what is 'last'. If you rack up a million miles in a year, did that engine 'last' longer than one still running after 10 years but only has 20,000 miles?



So I think 3 things are at play (or maybe even more) - 1) synthetic benefits are not as significant in this use profile, 2) highway miles are 'easier' miles, and 3) eliminating the heat-cool cycles make all the parts less likely to fail after initial burn-in.

 

[fox]

Or, looking the other way, can these trucks go 2 million with a better oil??!!!

 

[MKoth]

Most gen sets that run 24/7 go two or three times the hours between overhauls as the same engine in an application that requires constant rpm variance or lots of starts and stops.



I think the only benefit for using a synthetic in a constants over the road engine is longer oil change intervals.

 

[bmoeller]

Another thing to consider, would be that many of the OTR trucks have by-pass oil filters on them.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

All the trucks I've seen featured in TDR or posted about have been at stock or close to stock HP, which with the older trucks is not a ton of power.



A million miles is a heckuva lot. That's thousands of hours. Believe me if you did not have a quality oil I seriously doubt you'd see a million miles out of any Cummins, no matter how ideal the running conditions.



Vaughn

 

[mhenon]

I'll bet the guy's using dino oil compared to synthetic is 100 to 1. That alone would put the odd's in favor of conventional oil hitting the million mile mark more often than synthetic.

If all diesel engines where running synthetic oil. . you would just see more rigs going over a million miles.

Mike

 

[Ted Constantine]

also if you are not running most of the time on the highway you are not going to have any dodge left around your cummins at high mileage.

 

[I SPEED]

also if you are not running most of the time on the highway you are not going to have any dodge left around your cummins at high mileage.

This the one I agree with.



We've all heard... "It's a million mile engine in a one hundred thousand mile truck. "





Also,

If it's not taken care of and maintained on a regular basis, it will not last.



IMHO, the trucks that are going 20k, 30k, 40k+ with synthetic are not being maintained to Cummins' specs. (this is my opinion, not looking to start a war here)

 

[Joe G.]

This the one I agree with.

We've all heard... "It's a million mile engine in a one hundred thousand mile truck. "

I don't agree with that at all. Mine has almost 240K miles on it. The truck is un excellent shape. No rattles. No front end problems. No brake problems. Interior in good shape. I do take care of it, but not an excessive amount of work to do so. Just normal regular maintenance. A few years ago there were more of the older Fords on the road around here than Dodges. Now the older Dodges (chrome mirrors, 12 valve engines) out number the older Fords.

 

[RollOver_Pete]

The cost of buying 10 gallons of synthetic oil once a month or sooner keeps most people from going this route. Some trucks run by teams can see over 20 - 25. 000 miles a month. My 93 Pete with a 3406E has 1. 4 million with an inframe at 800k. All this on Delo 400 15-40 every 200 hrs. At

$15-20. 000, rebuilding (out of frame) is out of the question. I picked up a 2002 3406E with 135. 000 miles still under warrantee out if a wrecked Pete for $13. 000. It sits in my storage and thanks to my (classified) friends at Johnson, we'll still see over 600 to the drivers. My core will be good for $5-6,000 The only synthetic I buy goes in the trans and rears. I rebuilt my super 10 200k ago... . 1. 2 million on a trans... guess I got my moneys worth :-laf

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

I don't agree with that at all. Mine has almost 240K miles on it. The truck is un excellent shape. No rattles. No front end problems. No brake problems. Interior in good shape. I do take care of it, but not an excessive amount of work to do so.

Mine is doing quite well too (378k)

 

[Ted Constantine]

My point is not that you can't run a dodge 500k or 1 mill. but if you read the million mile write ups financially those trucks should have been replaced much earlier than they were. Our engines are far superior to our trucks or any pickup truck for that matter.

 

[Joe G.]

My point is not that you can't run a dodge 500k or 1 mill. but if you read the million mile write ups financially those trucks should have been replaced much earlier than they were. Our engines are far superior to our trucks or any pickup truck for that matter.

Have you any examples to back that up? The way mine is going I expect that it will be in good shape well after 500K miles unless it is wrecked. There was a write up in one of the older TDR mags about the million miler in the Las Vegas show room. The whole truck was in good shape.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

The cost of buying 10 gallons of synthetic oil once a month or sooner keeps most people from going this route. Some trucks run by teams can see over 20 - 25. 000 miles a month. My 93 Pete with a 3406E has 1. 4 million with an inframe at 800k. All this on Delo 400 15-40 every 200 hrs. At

$15-20. 000, rebuilding (out of frame) is out of the question.

All the above are good points - still, the BIG selling point for the synthetics is the famed "extended oil drain" bit - and it would SEEM that eliminating the need to pull off the road for the frequent oil changes needed with dino oils would offset the added expense of the synthetics. Plus the claimed reduced wear and other associated benefits.



I guess the VAST majority of long-haulers simply don't buy the hype...



And in view of the obvious capabilities of plain 'ol dinosaur juice, I can understand why...

 

[Hohn]

Gary, remember that guy that had the 1. 7M mile first gen? He changed the oil every 30K using dino Delvac 1300.



I'd say that if you are ALWAYS on the road and the engine almost never rests, you could probably go every bit of 25K-30K on a change, even with dino, as these miles are SO easy on the oil.



I don't see how syn would be an advantage in this case. It would probably slow the wear rate of the engine, but the cost/benefit is probably not favorable.



jlh

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Gary, remember that guy that had the 1. 7M mile first gen? He changed the oil every 30K using dino Delvac 1300.



I'd say that if you are ALWAYS on the road and the engine almost never rests, you could probably go every bit of 25K-30K on a change, even with dino, as these miles are SO easy on the oil.



I don't see how syn would be an advantage in this case. It would probably slow the wear rate of the engine, but the cost/benefit is probably not favorable.



jlh

YUP - pretty much always been recognized that the long-haul, steady speed miles are the easiest, and around town, short haul the worse for engine life. And in an industry as dollar and energy conscious as the trucking industry, I hafta believe they as an industry-wide movement, would instantly JUMP on a product or method that would save them serious bottom line $$$...



After all, why wouldn't they RATHER keep those $$$, rather than keep putting them on the pockets of others?

 

[amsoilman]

Gary, remember that guy that had the 1. 7M mile first gen? He changed the oil every 30K using dino Delvac 1300.



I'd say that if you are ALWAYS on the road and the engine almost never rests, you could probably go every bit of 25K-30K on a change, even with dino, as these miles are SO easy on the oil.



I don't see how syn would be an advantage in this case. It would probably slow the wear rate of the engine, but the cost/benefit is probably not favorable.



jlh

Check this out:



http://www.amsoil.com/performancetests/gerlach_trucking/index.aspx

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

All that's well and good Wayne - but the fact still stands the the VAST MAJORITY of large trucking outfits have NOT switched to the "excellence" of synthetics for some reason.



I'd be interested in hearing your theory on why that is?



This is NOT meant as sarcasm or to degrade synthetics, but purely as a matter of interest - if the stuff is as good as you and *I* think it is, why don't the big outfits *in mass* use it?