I love my 04 Ram and don't plan to replace it any time soon. It has 106,000 miles and for no other reason than preventative maintenance should I replace all my belts and hoses? They all look good, no cracks in the belt, but after all it is 11 years old and I do a lot of off road driving in very remote areas.
What are your thoughts?

 

I have 100k on my 06 and replaced the belt this summer, the old belt still looked just fine, will keep it for a spare. hoses all look okay so left them.

 

I replaced mine at 100k miles even though they "looked" ok, but I figured I had more than gotten my moneys worth out of them by then and I'd much rather replace them at my convenience if you know what I mean!

Preventive maintenance is good from my point of view.

 

Thank you. Your thoughts parallel mine. Also, I replaced all four ball joints at about the same mileage. The replacements must be better--no problems so far.

 

You might consider a "Goodyear Gatorback", available at Summitracing and other places. I installed one on my last truck, a '98 12v, when it was new and it was still going strong at 170,000 miles when I sold the truck. I kept the factory belt for emergencies but never had to use it. Gates also makes a HD belt that I believe is called "Fleetrunner", but I have no personal info on this belt.
John

 

I think there is a lot of variation based on usage and climate. The following webpage has a good section of things to look for that I found helpful:

Belt and Hose Failure - Consumer Reports

At 112k, I replaced my belt with the Gates Green Stripe variety based on the recommendation of others & RockAuto favorites ( heart ). Original still looks usable so I kept as spare, now realizing I should keep in the truck along with an emergency fuel filter. The "B" service schedule says to "inspect drive belt, replace as required" starting at 67,500.

Sven