While-you-are-in-there-itis....
 

Where do you draw the line when doing maintenance or working on your car/truck/???

I’ve got 110k on the clock with my ‘14 F150. Oil and filters are always changed on schedule.

I’m due for tires soon, as I have 60k on the set and 110k total. While it rides well, I’ve been thinking of replacing all the wear parts and bushings or more likely, all the front end parts that come with bushings...shocks, lower control arm, upper control arm, sway bar end links, hub bearings maybe?, etc. Parts are cheap.


Do you swap out everything or wait until it’s an issue?

I replaced the shocks on my 2012 F350 with the PSD at 88k, when I took the stock Ranchos off one one was completely shot.

I say do shocks at a minimum.

When i bought my Duramax, I decided to do everything so I know when its done and go off that for the future. I did all youo mentioned including the beefed up aftermarket tie rods and ball joints. I even replaced the steering shaft,Pitman and idler arm and bump stops but not hub bearings. There's nothing like car trouble, so I get after them on schedule and when I feel they are about to go bad, they get changed out with a better stronger aftermarket product.

I'm not the kind of guy who replaces perfectly good components with new ones. But if it needs to go, it gets replaced. I'm a big fan of having a really good look at things on a fairly frequent basis. Some vehicles front ends are played at 100K, others seem to make it much longer. Depends on where and how the vehicle is used. My GMC Sierra didn't get front end parts until well past 200K. It did get front wheel bearings about every 90K.

Putting on new shocks at your mileage seems very sensible.

I'm binary....my 911 gets TLC...suspension & brake jewelry, etc....DIY with care.

My DD ancient F150 was purchased with <90k now has 100k more. I will NOT touch it myself, oil changes and replaced the tranny with a salvage tranny (in good shape) 50k ago...

That's it....;)

I bought a $100 mower and my neighbor bought the same one. I did no maintenance except replace the blade once and top off the oil a couple times. He changed the oil and put in a new blade and plug every year. 20 years later, we both had old mowers that ran just fine...but he had a lot more time and parts invested in his.

It seem like every time I put a bunch of unneeded parts into a car/truck, something happens to make it a huge waste...someone hits me and totals the vehicle and the insurance pays the same (or some other issue).

If it is a “toy” or an “investment” (like a collector car), that is something altogether different. Similar for performance upgrades. Otherwise, it is an appliance. How often do you replace the icemaker of your fridge just because “you are in there”?

I’d like to level the front end and have read I can use 4WD front struts in my 2WD, since the perch is about 1-1/2” higher. The price is the same, but I’m still trying to confirm it. That would kill two birds with one stone and I wouldn’t have to use a strut spacer or big dollar aftermarket struts.

If I was gonna keep it "forever"... I'd do whatever I wanted to....I just wouldn't pour $ into a DD truck....that's just me.

.....or do ALL that stuff....then sell it to me :)!

My 86 El Camino is my daily driver. I just turned 365,000 miles on it. I have owned it for almost 28 years. I have not made a car payment on in since 1993.

I really can't blame the previous owner for much anymore.

Off the top of my head the only items that have not been adjusted, refurbished or replaced is the brake master cylinder and the rear trailing arms. I replace the brake fluid every other year. Every single system on the car works as designed or better. The OEM carb is up in the attic, and is replaced with throttle body fuel injection I cobbled together. The original engine wore out at 300,000 miles and I put a $1,700 brand new crate engine it it. The transmission was upgraded to a 4 speed with full lockup 200-4R the rear end was rebuilt into a higher ratio positraction unit. The carpet need to be replaced inside again.

It takes me a couple of hours to do an oil change and lube. Mostly because I inspect all the suspension, brakes and any system I happen to notice. Many times I am in the middle of an oil change, and I notice a wire connection somewhere that needs attention, or a some item that needs attention. Part of owning a car that old and high mileage is the hobby of keeping it running and looking like a car people ask to buy on a monthly basis.

My MIL lives 100 miles away. 95% of the time when we go to visit her we go in the Elky. 98% of the local trips my wife and I go on, are in the Elky. I do not hesitate to drive it anywhere. I will admit it is not a great highway cruiser, with a lot of wind noise. It just rolls along fine at 75 MPH.

So to answer the OP, how long do you plan on keeping the vehicle? Plan accordingly.

I just replace what needs to be replaced, and anything that looks like it is coming up. All of my vehicles get a good look over annually , and the daily work truck usually a couple times a year.
I try not to go deep for daily drivers . at 215 k, my sliverado has needed only wheel bearings up front and a pitman arm. I keep it full of grease , and investigate any unusual noises, smells, or vibrations johnny on the spot .

I wouldn’t call it a forever truck but I got 225k miles on my old truck and it was 13 years old when I traded it in for this one. I plan on keeping this one a long time as well and I don’t want payments.

In my old truck, the only “had to replace items” were the alternator, fuel pump and trans rebuild (at 180k). I did replace the spark plugs and front suspension parts at about 100k for grins. It was a good truck.

The only long term concerns I have on the ‘14 are the electronics. My ‘01 F150 was much simpler.

When we go on trips, we always take my truck. It fits four adults, drives great and gets decent mpg. Luggage goes in back under a cover.

I do what's necessary on my Taco, but the Ducati gets more pre-emptive care than the truck.

I’m usually like that but my thought was if I replace the struts, I might want an alignment with my new tires. If I’m going to get it aligned, I might as well swap everything for quality parts and align it one time. 🤪

I’ll do all the work myself to save money.

I do my suspension when it gets 'clunky', not based on mileage. But I do everything at once. Ball joints, tie rod ends, struts, mounts and all the rubber bushings.

And then it drives like a new car.

I have 171k on my 2012 f150, put Bilsteins on it. See no reason to rebuild any of the suspension it’s all tight. It’s even 4x4. Last time I did brakes
I checked it all and no play

If you are wondering about purchasing more reliability, or preserving resale value.....scheduled maintenance is all you need.

If you are wondering about driveability, then.....all new cars drive the same until the later five-digit miles. If you want to keep the car into the hundreds of thousands of miles, then suspension and steering rebuilds make sense. Brakes and all kinds of stuff. Even engine and transmission replacements. It is cheaper to love a car for twenty years than to love six cars in that time. Women may be similar. Or not....

^this is my M.O. too

my '98 E300 Benz was getting clunky with nearly 110k miles. I particularly noticed how much quieter my other Benz cars of similar age (but each less than 50k miles) are...

So, new shocks all around, new front sway bar bushings, new drop links, ball joints, front lower control arms, and new outer lower control arm bushings in the rear. rides like new again. it was a decent amount of DIY time and the parts bill was probably equal to 15% of the car's current market value. I don't care because the car is paid for and I hope to drive it to 300k miles or more, if it doesn't rust away first.

Ha. Just did struts (one broken spring) on a newer Kia Sorento SUV and drivers CV front shaft because of a torn boot slinging grease.

On test drive was clunking. She was squawking, "That noise is still there". One $20 drop link and a half hour later she is ecstatic. "OMG, that noise has been there for a year and it's gone"

On her drive home I call. How is it doing? "It's not leaning and it rides so smooth, it steers so nice".

99% $20 sway bar link, 1% $400 loaded struts/springs. Go figure.

On topic......

Wait until 160k to do the Full Monty.

Agree with shocks now.

Shipwright's disease

Goes something like this:

Sailor owns boat.
Boat has burned out light in galley.
Sailor decides to change bulb.
Sailor notices socket is corroded, decides to change socket.
Sailor notices wiring frayed while trying to change socket.
Sailor decides to change wiring.
Sailor notices galley ceiling slats are rotted while changing the wire.
Sailor decides galley ceiling slats need changing.
Sailor notices ...

this goes on and on and on and on and pretty soon, Sailor is undertaking a
major renovation of his boat because of a burned out lightbulb. [wz]


Jaguar diseases