I've seen a lot of threads regarding when the best time to switch is etc. I'm curious when YOU switched to synthetic on your 3rd gen truck.

I haven't towed much weight at all yet, and have 9900 miles. I was telling myself I'd wait till 15k , but my amsoil dual remote kit and custom mount kit/billet adapter from John Strenkowski are sitting here..and its eating away at me. Dying to drop that lovely Delvac 1 in the crankcase.

In any case, I drove from Ft lauderdale to Sarasota last night - and was in a group of 7 cars (sorry officers) that were going 90-95mph. I had the ol cummins at 90-92 for a SOLID 20 MINUTES straight. THe pedal was pretty mashed - as I had my quad in the bed, which has a huge storage box on the back rack, and acts like a parachute brake. The DPP was singing! I wonder if this little run would have seated my rings I wished I had gauges at that point to see what was up. I just figured as long as I was stock and had scotty3 and DPP, I would prob be ok

 

Lightman, just do it! Then check it every month and possibly change it in '05.

 

Bula - no need to check it every month, that's a little excessive IMO. Then again I'm experienced with bypass filtration and oil analysis to know when to do what.. I will run the first run for 10k, drain and sample it. I'm sure it will be pretty close to perfect oil at that point, however I want to drain out any contaminants and garbage left behind from the dino oil. This process also lowers TBN a lot. In any case, once that is over, I plan on doing 10k full flow filter changes and 20k Bypass filter changes, with total oil change at 40k. We'll see what the samples say, but I'm SURE that's conservative - especially on an engine that is recommended by cummins to go 15,000 miles on dino under light conditions(i really do fall into the light duty schedule).

Just wondered when ppl switched...

 

I do a lot of towing( 10000 +) and some hauling and switched at around 7500. And i was comfortable with changing it then. If I wouldnt of worked it I would of waited at least till 15. I used rotella 5-40 full synthetic and mopar filter. I would wait for a few thousand miles more before changing to synthetic. But I would at least change it at 10000 with normal 15-40 just to get the break in stuff out of there. How do you like your exhaust?

 

Airgrabber - I've done a few dino oil changes already to keep everything clean in there, in preparation for the synthetic switch. In a few weeks I'm going to tow a 5500lb travel trailer, with my quad in the bed and truck loaded with gear. Iknow this isn't a huge load but it will be a lot more than running around empty as the truck is used to. I am definitely going to wait till after that weekend of towing - which should be around 500 miles @70-75mph. I'm thinking after that I should be good.

PS airgrabber- not to change the direction of this thread, but don't use the word 'full' when describing rotella synthetic - because thats just legalese. It's a group 3 'synthetic' made with petroleum base stocks. a

The exhaust is sweet, loving it so far, driving with the windows down =]

 

I switched at 20K. Didn't do much towing until around 10K-15K.

Made the switch at the 20K change using Rotella T syn. Can't seem to be able to find anybody that carries Delvac 1 in the SE VA area. I did find someone that handles Aimsoil in the area, may switch to that at the 30K mark.

 

butchera - www.avlube.com is where i get mine - shipped right to my door, how easy is that? Same price as the place 2 hours away that carries it here in FL.

 

{sigh} here we go again ......

 

I would have bet on it . . .


The Boss Hog
( . . . . .)

 

Changed over between 6800-7200 miles....
Don't put on 315's and try to run that fast...only speed rated to 87mph.....

 

Settle down boys, no oil wars here =] I couldn't resist. Thanks for the replies on when you changed guys. Rossn - don't worry, I dont have any plans for 315's yet at this point, and don't normally ever drive that fast! I'm typically around 75. Good to know about 315's tho.

 

That's strange....according to BFGs website, the 315's are an R rated tire which is good for 106mph. If they were S rated, then 87mph would be their top speed. Personally all of the BFGs I have seen are R or Q rated.

 

Speaking of speed rated tires, there's a guy on the dieselstop who's taken his PSD Excursion up to 140 on an unused runway. He wasn't running any aftermarket speed rated tires either. Either way, its not something I'd recommend.

 

That guy was a moron, a split second from death at any moment.