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Million miles impossible?

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Old Feb 5, 2009 | 08:45 PM
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Million miles impossible?

i was reading a post on the site about how many miles they have and i remember a friend of mine that was a member of the Cummins Million mile club he drove for a living. so i went to search for a online list of members of this club. didn't find it but i stumbled across this site with an article about how the CEO of Chrysler went to see this gentlemen about the miles on his 3500.

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/04/03/c...ile-dodge-ram/

After reading the comment people were saying there is no way it was possible.

i work on class 8s for a living. i was thinking to myself, our drivers put on 20k miles in about 3-4 weeks and they only drive 5 days a week. 200 miles a day is nothing. drivers can be in service 14hours a day, and if my memory serves me they can only drive 11 of those 14. now a driver going the speed limit(like that ever happens) if he started his day with full tanks a driver would go 605 miles(11*55) before he had to stop. again say he was one of our drivers, only works 5 days a week. 605*5=3025(check my math now, doing this in my head) now lets say our drive only work 40 weeks a year(due to holidays, vacation, truck down time, ect) 40*3025=121000ish miles per year, and people think its impossible. do people not understand people drive for a living?

Our company has 14 trucks that we operate with 120 van trailer. and each truck minus one(yard mule) has a driver. since we are a small company most of our trucks are older and have over a million miles on them. One Detroit had never been overhauled and still runs strong(uses oil but still works hard) is it because gassers are not worth it past 250k miles that people assume this is not possible??



What is your opinion??
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Old Feb 5, 2009 | 09:16 PM
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Jeff in TD's Avatar
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There are some odd things...

The spedo is marked MPH but goes up to 200? I don't have a dodge of that era sitting here, but I don't think the analog spedos went to 200 mph?

If they did have a 200 mph speedo, I'm sure they didn't have 160 listed twice.

A million miles is easily possible with a Dodge pickup.

I suppose most scrapped vehicles could have been repaired or rebuilt and kept on the road, but at some point the vehicle's value vs the cost of repairs made junking replacing the vehicle a better value financially.
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Old Feb 5, 2009 | 09:30 PM
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It's not the Cummins engine that wears out before a million, it's the Dodge part of the truck.
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Old Feb 5, 2009 | 10:47 PM
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My buddys dad has a 1989 ford 1ton F-350 6.9L IDI Diesel with 899,555kms on it.
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Old Feb 6, 2009 | 07:42 AM
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Originally Posted by Number47
i was reading a post on the site about how many miles they have and i remember a friend of mine that was a member of the Cummins Million mile club he drove for a living. so i went to search for a online list of members of this club. didn't find it but i stumbled across this site with an article about how the CEO of Chrysler went to see this gentlemen about the miles on his 3500.

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/04/03/c...ile-dodge-ram/

After reading the comment people were saying there is no way it was possible.

i work on class 8s for a living. i was thinking to myself, our drivers put on 20k miles in about 3-4 weeks and they only drive 5 days a week. 200 miles a day is nothing. drivers can be in service 14hours a day, and if my memory serves me they can only drive 11 of those 14. now a driver going the speed limit(like that ever happens) if he started his day with full tanks a driver would go 605 miles(11*55) before he had to stop. again say he was one of our drivers, only works 5 days a week. 605*5=3025(check my math now, doing this in my head) now lets say our drive only work 40 weeks a year(due to holidays, vacation, truck down time, ect) 40*3025=121000ish miles per year, and people think its impossible. do people not understand people drive for a living?

Our company has 14 trucks that we operate with 120 van trailer. and each truck minus one(yard mule) has a driver. since we are a small company most of our trucks are older and have over a million miles on them. One Detroit had never been overhauled and still runs strong(uses oil but still works hard) is it because gassers are not worth it past 250k miles that people assume this is not possible??



What is your opinion??
Not impossible, but made unlikely by a number of factors. Seems to me the main one is this: on your way to a million, many of the systems on the truck are going to fail. If it is an electric window motor, you know it has failed and you know what the downside is (window won't go up, you get wet and cold). OTOH, if it is an internal engine part, or an oil pump or a head gasket and you are going at speed and you do not know you have a problem right away, the engine will be eaten up by the time you know you even have a problem.

Also, with such problems as major auto tranny failure, think of this: your truck has 890,000 miles. The interior is hammered, the rust is getting through, the universals are clunking and it needs a brake job soon. One day Mr. T. Mission decides to lay down and die so that you are looking at rebuild, valve body, TC, the whole enchilada. $5 thousand give or take. Unless you are both extremely sentimental and wealthy, that is a repair that will not be made. the truck would have make a million, but it will be in the junkyard or parted out instead.

The recipe would seem to be lots of low stress highway miles, a patient driver who starts and stops gradually, and a very meticulous maintenance schedule carried out by an owner with an acute sense of the truck and whether there is anything wrong at any given time. We all know this type of person and wish we were more like that.
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Old Feb 6, 2009 | 08:54 AM
  #6  
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From: Hobbs, New Mexico
Originally Posted by Jeff in TD
There are some odd things...

The spedo is marked MPH but goes up to 200? I don't have a dodge of that era sitting here, but I don't think the analog spedos went to 200 mph?

If they did have a 200 mph speedo, I'm sure they didn't have 160 listed twice.

A million miles is easily possible with a Dodge pickup.

I suppose most scrapped vehicles could have been repaired or rebuilt and kept on the road, but at some point the vehicle's value vs the cost of repairs made junking replacing the vehicle a better value financially.
Come on man, the picture of the odometer is just for show. It's not a picture of the odometer on that truck. Think about it, how many odometers do you know that have SEVEN digits (not including the decimal digit)?
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Old Feb 6, 2009 | 09:30 AM
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From: Stephenville / Harlingen Texas
A million miles is possible. There is a handfull of members on our very own DTR who have gone above and beyond the million mile mark and still running.
I think the last thread to have numbers posted was in the 12v section.
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Old Feb 6, 2009 | 12:41 PM
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rebal's Avatar
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From: Yuba city Kalifornia


Im hoping to hit 1 million truck still runs great
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Old Feb 6, 2009 | 04:30 PM
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From: Thamesford, Ontario Canada
Originally Posted by randallp84
Come on man, the picture of the odometer is just for show. It's not a picture of the odometer on that truck. Think about it, how many odometers do you know that have SEVEN digits (not including the decimal digit)?
Some older Peterbilts are 7 digits, as well as some of the older Freightliners.

Regular at our shop had 1,5XX,XXX on his odometer when he was finally getting his bottom end rebuilt...and yes it actually showed the 1 million. Same with a Peterbilt we usually do work on. Last time I saw it it showed 1,3XX,XXX on the ol' girl.

Unless you are talking about pick ups and cars, then no you don't see 7 digits I don't think
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Old Feb 6, 2009 | 05:59 PM
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Number47's Avatar
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i know million miles is possible, i have a friend who hauls RV and cars for a living and he has a 95 with over a million on it. I just cant believe how many people think its not possible to do at all regardless of engine type
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Old Feb 7, 2009 | 12:28 AM
  #11  
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From: Austin, TX
Originally Posted by Number47
i know million miles is possible, i have a friend who hauls RV and cars for a living and he has a 95 with over a million on it. I just cant believe how many people think its not possible to do at all regardless of engine type
Just read the comments on that link. What a bunch of idiots.
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Old Feb 7, 2009 | 12:49 AM
  #12  
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From: Valparaiso, IN
A million miles possible in a CTD? Definately! Most people will probably never hit that mark but there are a few who have and will hit 1 million. I have 146K on my truck now and its 7 years old, with my driving it would take me almost 50 years to hit 1 million. I do plan on putting the most miles I can on this truck, I know it will need a trans some day, or a rear end, or a new whatever. I know alot of people that still belive a vehicle is junk after 100k no matter how well it runs.
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Old Feb 7, 2009 | 10:01 AM
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From: L-town, NOR*CALi
the workers at my buddies shop claims they have worked on a 94 that a guy car hauled with that had 1.2 million...hope my truck goes that long!
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Old Feb 7, 2009 | 03:50 PM
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The people who posted those comments on the article are idiots. But who can blame them? Most people don't know squat about how the world operates then go preaching about saving the planet, etc, etc.
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