Early Detection
for your trailer emergency.
Using an accelerometer to detect
movement, vibration or shock, early
detection of trailer tire tread
separation, broken suspensions, wheel
bearing problems, loose...More....
What
do you need to know about diesel fuel, winter, maintenance?
Read about filters and oil while you're here.
Scroll down Duramax owners, I've got good
news for you! More on oil for gas engines below.
Because diesels explode fuel instead of igniting it like gas engines, they
need the heat from glow plugs or manifold heaters to aid in warming up the
cylinders for starting. In very cold conditions, (-10 F) you will need to
plug in block heaters and be sure you are using blended fuel, #2 and #1.
Normally diesels run on #2 diesel. #2 has lubricating qualities that make it
oily, smelly and stays on your hands for a few days. #1 diesel is like
kerosene or jet fuel and less oily. The lubricating properties in #2 are
what gels when extremely cold. This is why a blend of #2 and #1 50/50 is
used in the winter by most service stations in states that get cold. But if
you go to a warm state, (California, Arizona, Florida, etc,) in the winter
and buy fuel there before coming home, you may want to use a diesel
additive. If you are out of your area, buy your diesel at a truck stop. They
should know what you need. Then Oil is the life of your truck. In a Ford
Power Stroke diesel, engine oil provides the pressure for the injectors and
with the 6.0L PS, it also powers the EVRT turbo. My research lead me to
Amsoil, the pioneer in synthetic oil.
If you have never experienced gelling up a diesel in the winter, be happy. I
have had this experience on my farm tractors. I had to use a hair dryer to
liquidify the fuel in the injector pump and then “crack” the fuel lines to
bleed the fuel through the pump and injectors. Most states don’t get cold
enough to plug in the block heater on your diesel. But if you are in the
colder areas and need to plug in your diesel, I like to use a timer you can
buy from Wal-Mart for $12 to $15. You only need to set the timer to turn on
for a couple of hours before you’re ready to use your truck.
"Filters are the life of your
truck, it can be short or long!"
In my research to find the best truck
products available to sell on my web site, I looked for the best filters and
oil. These products we all need on a regular basis and they are a major
factor in how long your truck will last. Just as we all know about the
exaggerated stories we are told about trucks by salespeople, the same wild
stories are told about filters and oil. I have seen and used the best and
the worst. Decades ago I remember John Deere bringing a lawsuit because Coop
was guaranteeing their oil in diesel engines longer than manufactures wanted
to guarantee their engines. And back then manufactures tried to make you use
their brand of oil, (even though they didn't make it,) in order to enforce
their warranty. It evolves around forcing you to buy their products. Like
auto dealers telling you, you have to change your oil every 3000 miles so
they can make more money off you in their service departments. Read more
about "The Truth about Oil."
More Power for
Pulling Trailers.
Filters, filters, truck air filters,
they are the life of your truck. Diesels require 18,000 gallons of air for each gallon of fuel.
I appreciate a product I can look at and see the quality difference.
That was the first thing I noticed about the aFe OEM replacement
air filter, the polyurethane seal was thicker, and softer to fit the
trucks air box completely for the seal to convert all the incoming air
threw the filter. Several new filters and intake systems from
aFe
are out now for all the new trucks introduced this year.
The best, easiest, safest, quickest, and cheapest
way for more power, read more....
If
you want to join the "300,000 mile plus club," here are the rules.
The diesels I used on the farm were the
most expensive equipment I had. I paid close attention to maintenance.
Filters were a lot cheaper than diesel mechanics and who could afford the
downtime!
I'm still learning. When I as a feed
manager for a cattle feedlot a few decades ago, they sent me to oil school.
I learned about API (American Petroleum Institute) and SAE (Society of
Automotive Engineers) and pour rates and viscosity and sulfur content and
all that. Each year I learn a little more about oil and filters.
Manufactures are coming around. Ford was
probably the pickiest with synthetics. The Ford Power Stroke diesel by
Navistar, uses engine oil pressure to activate the diesel injectors. But you
can use a long lasting high quality synthetic. You will see more
recommendations of synthetics by manufactures. Now Ford recommends only
synthetic oil in their new 4.6L all aluminum V-8 in the 2002 Explorer and
even in a Ford Focus car, the recommended oil for a transaxle is synthetic
oil.
I run into this dilemma all the time about
aftermarket add-ons and maintenance schedules and warrantees. There are laws
to protect your rights to be active in deciding what's best for your truck. The burden of proof is with
the dealers and manufactures and it has to be in writing. We can help you
not be abused by dealer tactics. Amsoil stands by their warranty.
You are the one who pays for maintenance.
With the right oil, and the right filters, you're on your way to getting the
best value and lowest cost per mile. You will be able to service your
vehicles less often, saving time and money. On my farm and ranch, trucks had
to pay for themselves. I wish I had Amsoil then. Of course I'd still be
driving some of my pickups from the "seventies!"
I serve a 90 mile mail route in eastern Colorado. I
still have my 1985 Jeep Cherokee with 158,000 miles on the odometer. I
started with 101,000 miles. At 137,000 miles I switched to Amsoil. I
changed the filter after 12,000 miles and now have 19,000 on the oil
change. I know it says to change at six months which I plan to do but I
will send a sample to be analyzed. Before, when using Castrol GTX. I had
to add oil every 2,000 miles. I add oil every 7,000 with the Amsoil. I
have been completely satisfied with the product and will use it in all
my vehicles in the future. Thank you Mr. Truck for leading me to this
great product. Paul G.
8/04 Update Paul now has over 200,000
miles on his Jeep with Amsoil.
Your
diesel drinks 18,000 gallons of air for each gallon of fuel.
"This is the best value of the (lifetime air
filters) I've found." MT
If you're not ready to try synthetic oils yet, start by checking out the
quality of the filters. I couldn't find better filters or a better warranty.
The internet gives you so much information. Each company has their sales
pitch. Look for the standardized tests and make sure the products involved
are the latest models. I see comparisons all the time where company A is
comparing it's best new product to company B's old model.
Increase your Ford's performance with Ford diesel parts from AmericanTrucks.
GM Duramax Owners help is on the way!
Protect your investment.
On my farm I had Chevy 454 cu and 366 cu. engines. The 366 was in a medium
duty 2 ton truck, (C65.). The 454 cu engine was in a 1 ton truck, (C30.)
These engines were very similar. The 366 cu used a heavy-duty 2-quart oil
filter. The 454 cu called for a 1-quart filter. The 366 cu seemed to last
longer and have less down time. Since the engines are practically the same I
started using the same oil filters on both of them. This at least gave me
one more quart of oil for the 454 cu engine to help cool it down, filter
more and dilute the dirt in the oil. One problem with GM, they never have
the oil capacity. The same size engine as Ford usually holds a quart less
oil. I like more oil. There is a reason semi-trucks hold over 20 quarts of
oil. I'm thinking the same thing now for the GM Duramax diesel. The 5.9L
Cummins in the Dodge holds 12 quarts, the 7.3L Power Stroke in the Ford
holds 15 quarts and the GM Duramax once again only holds 10 quarts. I've
looked up under the Duramax and there is plenty of room for a longer filter.
Dodge and Ford already have a 2-quart filter.
Amsoil has a way to increase
your Duramax's oil capacity and your other trucks. It's a kit that screws into your present oil
filter base and flows thru two filters, one a full flow filter, the other a
bypass filter. This will give you an extra two quarts of extra engine oil to
cool and lubricate. The bypass filter will remove particles down to
1/10th of a micron (nearly 100% of
particles down to 3 microns). The majority of full flow filters on the
market are still based upon a cellolose media which will be efficient down
to about 25 microns at best, most are more like 30 to 40 microns.
Some oil filters such as the AMSOIL SDF, Mobil 1 High Efficiency and AC
Delco UltraGuard Gold use a glass, synthetic fiber and cellolose blend media
which offers high efficiency filtration which will remove the majority of
particulate matter down to about 10 to 15 microns.
Protect your investment, increase you
oil capacity two quarts with the best filters you can buy. Check out the
following description and
pictures of the oil filter conversion. The conversion part # is
BMK-17, the full flow filter is
SDF26, and the bypass filter is
BE-100. Stay tuned for more products to
protect your Duramax!
Pulling trailers stresses your truck. I know I've
stressed the heck out of a lot of them. Install the Amsoil bypass system
filter kit and add years to your trucks engine. Double your oil filter capacity and dramatically
increase the filtering efficiency and increase your trucks engine life.
And you don't have to do those messy oil changes as often.
My dealer # is 1063230 when they ask for
it.
Toll Free Ordering:
1-800-956-5695
Your vehicle is probably your second largest purchase with that wonderful
monthly payment attached to it. A routine preventative maintenance schedule
is your best assurance of years of pleasurable, virtually trouble free
driving. Prevent major repairs, increase reliability, durability and resale
value. Then when your truck is twenty years old, you can put it on my page
4, "For sale one owner, 300,000 miles runs great!"
"Mr Truck, I just purchased 99 F250 diesel. I was wondering what the best
choices are for oil and filters for this truck are? I have to get a owners
manual for it. Thanks Bob p.s. I,ve just found your site an it's great!"
"Hi Bob, I was looking for filters too. Filters are the life of your
truck. I've seen pathetic filters after you cut one open and I've seen major
oil brands that are supposedly used in race cars that totally clog things
up. I guess they might work in a race car, seeing how it will get overhauled
after the race anyway. The discount auto parts store where I'd been buying a
German oil filter that I liked, switched to the worst oil filter I could
think of, I decided it was time to find the best oil and filters and but
them on my web site. (I'm almost done preaching,) It took about 6 months to
settle on a brand. And I decided to settle on a synthetic. I remember when
synthetics first came out. There was a national brand that introduced a oil
that wouldn't need changed for 25,000 miles. Funny thing happened a few
months later. It seemed that the oil companies figured out that changing oil
more often made them more money than this 25,000 mile thing. So then that
company changed their claims to 5,000 miles or what ever the wise auto
manufactures might recommend. Well anyway it's your $4000 diesel and you
know what I think about believing what corporate America thinks is best for
me, like watching pizza commercials and getting hungry. I built a page just
for oil and filters because it is very important. Go there and see what I
recommend and ask questions, if I don't know the answers I'll get them for
you. Don't forget to check out the life time air filters too. How many miles
does your truck have on it now? There are some things you can and cannot do
depending on the mileage. Conventional oil used for 80 -90,000 miles, may
have dry, cracked seals and gaskets. Having used conventional oils for so
long (even with 3,000 mile oil changes), the sludge and deposits from oil
burn-off may have caused a build-up to occur which is plugging the gaps
around these seals and gaskets and preventing leaks. Check out this page. I
want to see you in the 300,000 mile club! Good Truck'n. MT"
"Ok, MrTruck my 99 F250
has 81,000 miles on it. I have no idea what was used in it. The truck is
new looking clean in engine area, not pressure cleaned. What do you
recommend I do to make this my last truck. I believe, in one of your
articles that the detergent in synthetics would break loose deposits
causing pluggage of oil ports?"
"Hi, actually the better synthetic oil
will clean up the deposits and tarnish that petroleum build up over the
years. These deposits harden the seals and cover them so now they are
part of the engine. If you switch to a good synthetic oil after that has
happened, which usually is after about 80,000 miles, the synthetic oil
will clean up the deposits and tarnish which could cause the hardened
seals to leak. This is why sometimes you buy a vehicle and switch brands
of oil, it will cause the engine to use more oil. Even different oil
brands have enough different additives though they are the same SAE
rating that they react with each other and break down some of the
tarnish and sludge deposits. With the miles on your truck I would
recommend blending synthetic with petro oil or buying a blend. You can't
go as long as with a straight synthetic but longer than just petro oil.
I certainly recommend the Amsoil filters to get the longest life out of
your investment in your truck. If you find better filters let me know.
That's how this started, I tried to find better filters. Sounds like
you're on your way to the 300,000 mile club. MT"
"Love your web site and the article about women
and trucks. I have an older vehicle, 1988 F-250 Diesel purchased in
Tampa, Florida in 1995 (feel comfortable with it as I'm an older model
myself...almost 70), along with a 1985 5th wheel RV. Miss Sadie is my
German Shepherd and only companion, but we travel all over the western
states now and still have a good time. I have been using Amsoil products
in my vehicle since the week after I bought it, and am very happy with the
results...wouldn't use anything else. I was introduced to owning a diesel
(and using Amsoil products), by a friend and Amsoil Dealer, TG of Tampa.
I can't thank him enough. I love my diesel and it's performance. I
bought the shop manuals after the truck purchase...and do the maintenance
and most of the repair work myself...love learning about my truck. Thanks
for a great web site...will ad it to my 'favorites'. GA"
Extend oil change intervals to 25,000 miles and beyond. With a by-pass
oil filtration system some people have gone 200,000 thousand miles or more
without an oil change.
When you use extremely high quality additives that don't break down, 7
different synthetic base stocks that don't cause gum, sludge, and other
contaminates to form AND you keep the oil "squeeky clean" at all times
(backed by oil analysis) you really don't need to change the oil!
Reduce oil consumption as much as 42% or more
Reduce necessity of frequent oil disposal
AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants will save you money and give you the peace of
mind that comes from using the best. Today's engines produce more power from
a smaller radiator and a smaller volume of oil to cool and lubricate them.
They need more protection from heat than conventional oils give them.
Conventional oils keep engines from failing most of the time, but there's a
big difference between marginal failure prevention and the total wear
protection that AMSOIL delivers!
AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants Provide:
Superior Stability:
You may lose about 1/5 the conventional oil you put in your engine
because it boils off at engine operating temperatures. When that happens,
oil consumption and engine deposits skyrocket, while wear protection and
fuel economy plummet. AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants don't boil off like
conventional oils do. In fact, a recent laboratory test showed AMSOIL 100%
Synthetic 10W-30 passed the stringent European volatility tests with an
exceptionally low volatility of 5.9%.
Superior Wear Protection:
AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants provide a thick oil film every time your
engine operates in high temperature, high speed or high load conditions,
protecting your hard working engine from heat and wear.
Superior Fluidity:
AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants' natural tenacity and anti-wear agents form a
protective molecular layer on metal surfaces, protecting engines from
initial start-up wear. And AMSOIL's cold temperature fluidity gets the oil
flowing throughout the engine fast for ready protection, even in the bitter
cold.
Superior Overall Economy:
AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants are formulated so well, they can be used for
25,000 miles (35,000 miles with our new Series 2000 0W-30), or even more
with a bypass filter and oil analysis. That saves you money and time on oil
changes.
Superior Oxidation Resistance:
AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants resist oxidation and sludge formation so they
keep engines clean and working right.
Superior Operating Temperature Range:
AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants reduce friction and heat more effectively
than petroleum oils do. With AMSOIL, engines run cooler, wear less and get
more horsepower and better mileage than they can with petroleum oils. And it
doesn't matter if it's hot or cold outside. AMSOIL always helps engines run
their best. AMSOIL remains stable in extreme heat and fluid in extreme cold.
Superior Fuel Mileage:
You may experience as much as a 5% increase in your fuel mileage with
AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants (with our 0W-30 that increase could be from 10
to 40%). By boosting your vehicle's mileage from 20 to 21 mpg (a 5%
increase) at $1.20/gallon you would save $72.00 over 25,000 miles.
Huge Savings!!
The facts above tell it all. AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants will save you
money on oil, gas, repairs, etc. And, they will save you an immense amount
of time that would ordinarily be spent performing those oil changes and
repairs. It's a win-win situation. Why not give it a try? What have you got
to lose? NOTHING!!!!
"Uncle Jerry" farming the depleted
soil. Not too many "Buffalo chips" left. This is where I would love to be! I
could fill a web site about what I miss from turning over spring soil to sorting and branding cattle!
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This
is an ideal electrical
connection for
your trailer.
