It did it. It made 300,000 today. Truck is a '93 4x4 SR5, 5 speed, Extra, king or whatever they are calling the larger cab now. The V6 is still going strong, but it did have a valve job at
240k. I discovered the stock air filter is not designed for a mile of dirt driveway and hard off-road use. It lets a lot of dirt past and that adds up over the miles. I now oil the filter like you do a dirt bike and the engine is very happy. Spark plugs clean, oil is cleaner, throttle body is perfect, and it runs better.I knew only a crash would stop this truck from reaching 300k, and it about did at 270k. I was not driving it at the time, but a 1ton Chevy ran a stop light and my little Toyota slammed into the drivers side wheel at 55mpg. Both drivers OK, but both trucks totaled. Chevy had a snapped axle and my poor Toyota had the radiator wrapped around the engine.
Before saying goodby, I figured I would see if it still ran. A prybar made quick work of removing the radiator from the engine and duct tape held up the broken, dragging bits. Trucks got heart as it started right up and had no problems going down the road best you could expect with no belts and radiator. How could I send this truck to the scrap yard?
Frame fixed, new body panels and a bunch of new parts to replaced the smashed one, and it's back on the road and drives like nothing happened. Unless it swaps paint with something with 18 wheels, it's going to hit
400k.Oh, and the starter and alternator and most other parts have not been touched in
300k miles. AC gave out at 200k and the power steering pump did not last long after the impact, but that is about it.Why can't Chevy, Ford, Dodge make parts that last this long? I am darn tired of giving friends rides to the shop because the "Built like a Rock" alternator went out yet again and they only have half the miles I do.
I now will step off the soap box. See you at 400k!
-Eddie