91W350
Well-known member
- 4,414
- 57
- 48
- Location
- Salina, Kansas
"You say the truck should be driven for extended periods at speeds above 55. My commute is 12 miles and most of it is highway. That means generally 65-70 MPH. Unlike Sammy Hagar, I can drive 55 but I hate to. "
You might get away with it for a year or two, maybe less. A lot less if the engine already has 100,000 miles plus on it. How is the steering wheel wear? Is the pebbling gone or is the face of the steering wheel still textured. Originally the area on both sides of the groove in the face of the wheel were pebbled. If it has worn smooth, she is past that 20,000 miles
65 mph vs 55 mph would save you 120 seconds on your 12 mile drive, seems like a small price to pay to keep a great truck in good shape.
The reason we are so willing to trade axles is that your truck has killer strong differentials at both ends. It is pretty hard to find much tougher in a lightweight truck.
You will pay a huge premium in fuel for that two minutes a day you are saving at 65. Driving 70 would save you another 36 seconds on your commute over 65.
An open differential has no locker or limited slip, it will spin the tire that is the easiest to spin. With open differentials in both ends you are stuck when one front tire and one rear tire have lost contact or have very little contact with the driving surface.
It is yours and drive it the way you want to. If it blows, it was cheap anyway. The huge failure of the 6.2 is cracking of the main bearing webbing and broken crankshafts. Low geared applications like one ton trucks and big 4x4s frequently have mechanical engine failures. The high geared trucks, like the half ton pickups and Suburbans with over drive seldom had engine failures. One owner will love his 6.2, great mileage, long engine life. The next guy hates it, blew up before 100,000 miles and sucked fuel. The rancher checking his cattle and puttering around all day loves the 6.2 in his 4x4 one ton because he never turns any major rpm. It gives him smooth dependable power and decent fuel economy.
My buddy who has the best engine machine shop around this area calls them junk, he says every single one has a broken block or crank or both. Frequently he used to tell me they never ran 100,000 miles before they puked. I know of several that are way beyond that. No, if it is in good shape, it will not fail today, tomorrow, probably not this week or month. But if you keep spinning it hard, you will greatly reduce its life. Glen
You might get away with it for a year or two, maybe less. A lot less if the engine already has 100,000 miles plus on it. How is the steering wheel wear? Is the pebbling gone or is the face of the steering wheel still textured. Originally the area on both sides of the groove in the face of the wheel were pebbled. If it has worn smooth, she is past that 20,000 miles
65 mph vs 55 mph would save you 120 seconds on your 12 mile drive, seems like a small price to pay to keep a great truck in good shape.
The reason we are so willing to trade axles is that your truck has killer strong differentials at both ends. It is pretty hard to find much tougher in a lightweight truck.
You will pay a huge premium in fuel for that two minutes a day you are saving at 65. Driving 70 would save you another 36 seconds on your commute over 65.
An open differential has no locker or limited slip, it will spin the tire that is the easiest to spin. With open differentials in both ends you are stuck when one front tire and one rear tire have lost contact or have very little contact with the driving surface.
It is yours and drive it the way you want to. If it blows, it was cheap anyway. The huge failure of the 6.2 is cracking of the main bearing webbing and broken crankshafts. Low geared applications like one ton trucks and big 4x4s frequently have mechanical engine failures. The high geared trucks, like the half ton pickups and Suburbans with over drive seldom had engine failures. One owner will love his 6.2, great mileage, long engine life. The next guy hates it, blew up before 100,000 miles and sucked fuel. The rancher checking his cattle and puttering around all day loves the 6.2 in his 4x4 one ton because he never turns any major rpm. It gives him smooth dependable power and decent fuel economy.
My buddy who has the best engine machine shop around this area calls them junk, he says every single one has a broken block or crank or both. Frequently he used to tell me they never ran 100,000 miles before they puked. I know of several that are way beyond that. No, if it is in good shape, it will not fail today, tomorrow, probably not this week or month. But if you keep spinning it hard, you will greatly reduce its life. Glen
It turned out to be a real sweet assignment. After a while the trucks were all in shape but I still played up the dirty nasty act. I would come to lunch at the mess hall in grubby coveralls and tell the other medics about the U joint I had to rebuild or the crankcase that needed lubing. They bought it hook line and sinker not know what a U joint or crankcase was. Ah the good ole days in the Army. Of course there were bad days too. Like pulling ammo dump guard duty over Christmas. As one of the medics with no family overseas, I volunteered to cover the duty through out the holidays so the guys with families could be with them. I forgot just how cold it got up where they stored the nukes. Our stove glowed red but you still froze.