It really becomes a how many hours does it run thing. 5000 miles when you average 10-15MPH isn't the same as 5000 miles when you average 35-50MPH. We had a customer that changed her oil EVERY 3000-4000 miles regularly and at
100K had to pull the pan, replace the rod bearings and clean out all the sludge. Turns out she sat for a couple of hours everyday in traffic with the A/C on etc. So really it was like 8000+ miles by the hours it was run.
You might be interested in the results of an Air Force study I recently saw. They started an oil test program for about 800 vehicles in their fleet at Hickam AFB, Hawaii and Eileson AFB in Alaska. Their concern was making a well-informed decision about oil change intervals for economic and environental concerns (reducing their waste stream volume).
This study results supported safely doubling, even tripling, drain intervals before tested oil showed appreciable signs of loss of protection. I'm not certain of intervals at the outset, but they are driven as much by "time" as "mileage" variables and you can bet they were as closely consistent with manufacturer recommendations as possible to maintain warranty coverage at lowest operating expenses.
I think this is pretty important: most AF vehicles won't accumulate a lot of miles. Instead, they spend large numbers of hours traveling fairly slowly, idling a lot and include frequent start-ups and shut downs. This is about as extreme of a service as you are likely to find, IMO.
Also, the Air Force buys their POL (petroleum, oils and lubricants) in bulk, to a specification. There is no particular attention paid to brand... whoever is cheapest... delivered... and meets their spec, gets the order. By far most of these vehicles are the same "off-the-shelf" vehicles we buy... nothing special... not even "militarized".
Last: since the Air Force isn't interested in maintaining an image, I don't imagine they "mass" upgrade their fleets on a calendar schedule as do commercial concerns. I would imagine they excess vehicles largely on the economics of total vehicle life cycle costs. That would make them just as interested in reducing unscheduled maintenance costs (repairs) as preventive maintenance costs (oil changes). This is consistent with my experience during my 7 years in the Air Force... my shop had a 10 year old pickup assigne that was only excessed because it had a 3-speed on column shifter! (considered unsafe as you had to take a hand off the wheel to shift).
BuddyW
And we all know how efficient the federal goverment is....
Why don't you tell us? I'm sure you're an expert....
I just as soon -not- follow the advice from a group who will spend $500 for a toilet seat.
Oh, but you do. All the time. You're just a tad to near sited to see it, I suppose.
Most, if not every, component in an automobile owes it's engineering and design heritage to military standards and specifications. One guess who is responsible for development of them; the clue is in the name.
BuddyWh
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