G'day guys,

I know this is a fairly general question, however I have a decision to make about a truck I currently own and Im looking to take back to Australia when I return there in 2008.

I have a 2004.5 Cummins 2500. It is used as recreational vehicle, daily commuter. The only towing it does is a jet ski (embarrassing I know). I bought it new and it currently has 50,000 miles on it.

I wanted to get an idea from fellow owners as to mileage I can expect from the vehicle before things start going wrong. I have hard firgures of 250,000 miles plus but I wanted to see if this was realistic.

What is the weak link? What tends to break and at what mileage?

Any stories from high mileage owners would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys,

 

My 2001 in my signature pulled 5000 plus almost every mile of its life, wished I could have kept it. 250,000 no problem

 

Yeah, that should be a hit in Australia... I'm assuming they aren't available down there.

I'd make the decision to go out and buy a remaining 07 5.9 if you can't get one down there to replace the 04 and just hang on to it.

 

Heck a few of the Freightliners in my station's FedEx truck fleet are rapidly approaching 400K miles (the rest are between 120k & 250K) with far worse service/maintenance than we give our babies. They all have various versions of the mighty 5.9L CTD. These trucks are used six days a week, up to 200 miles a day, every week of the year, even harder during the Christmas holiday rush. I would not worry about the engine... Now the other bits I can't comment on.

 

Batts, keep your truck and don't look back. If you just give it reasonable maintenance and don't abuse it, it will last a LONG LONG LONG time. A Million miles is not impossible at all. Several have that many!


The common failures on the 04.5 trucks are the factory lift pumps, track bars, and ball joints which I would guess (generally speaking) around 100k miles. These can all be fixed/corrected/improved on. But that can happen with any truck.......even a relatively new one.

Members Road Traveler and GMScott have each put over 250k on their trucks.

 

250,000 miles? I hope it's 2,500,000 miles.

I've gotten easy 250k out of my gassers and have seen many gassers over 400k

 

I currently have 265,xxx with 95% pulling heavy loads. by heavy I mean 15,000 -20,000 lbs loads. Original Transmission no bombs. She pulls as she should going for a 750,000 mark.

Scott

 

Batts I know of trucks that are still being used as Hotshot trucks with over 600,000 on them now. Not saying they dont have there problems but the engines have never had to be rebuilt. It's all in how you take care of your truck mostly. PM work pays for itself in the long run. I have 1 question for you though. Which side Right or Left down there? I was all the time catching myself pulling up to stop signs on the right side when I lived in Scottland. You're are on the Left too aren't you?

Mark

 

Good luck with the truck.. what would it cost to ship a truck over there by cargo ship??? LOLOLOL I have taken many many vacations In Australia and Love it!! I would love to see a Dodge Cummins pull up to a stop sign down there. But you'll have to sit on the wrong side to drive it! LOLOL I remember in Sydney a few of the ferry boats had the " CUmmins Power" logos on them. THose are the only ones I would feel safe on!!

 

If the trucks aren't down there, I would not take it at all. How are you going to get parts if anything goes wrong? You probably will be better choosing a truck down there. The engine computer is specific to the Dodges and I don't think can be read by Cummins software.

 

Hey guys,

Thanks for the replies and feedback. Very reassurring knowing these rigs are doing such big miles.

Unfortunately I have to convert the truck to RHD (right hand drive) which costs around $15,000usd in Australia. However this is easily offset by the cost of buying a truck in Australia. The only trucks sold in Oz are the Ford range, and then only the F250's and F350's. And you cannot buy a crew cab with the 8ft bed, 6ft bed only. These trucks in diesel cost around $80,000usd.

My main concern was taking a truck back that was already "tired". I have never owned a truck or a diesel, hence I had no idea what sort of life I could get out of them.

Thanks so much guys.

 

If it were me I would seriously consider a FASS with 2 micron filtration or a GDP with the 2 micron kit. I'm not sure about your diesel down there but these trucks will fail on sub standard fuel and someone already mentioned the lift pump. This would be a great upgrade for you and kill two birds with one stone. Good luck.

 

I think at 50K miles you are just getting it broken in.

 

$80k for a new truck. We could make a killing!!

 

that was 80,000 USED, not new. ouch