5thWheelForums.com

[jimmygee]

Greetings,
For those of you that have bought a used HDT, how much did you spend in updating maintenance of your HDT? What did you have done? I am particularly interested in tires, engine tune-up, etc.

[Motor31]

Not to put you off or anything but there is a better source for HDT info. Go to the escappees web site, http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php? and then scroll down to the HDT section. You do not have to be a member of the club to read it and joining the forum is free.

In short the cost is all relative. It depends on how new or how many miles are on the truck. The condition of the unit will determine how much maintenance is needed. I have a 2000 with half a million miles and have had very little done with the engine or running gear. A friend of mine has a 95 with well over a million miles and he also has had little maintenance done. Both of the trucks were in good shape when we bought them. We both have the trucks checked and serviced (oil lube and brake adjustment) annually at a local shop in Tucson. It cost me about $700.00 the last time but I had a couple minor items taken care of at the same time. There are no tune up's per se. You can get what's called an "overhead" which is a valve adjustment, jake brake adjustment and clean the injectors about every 100,000 miles.

The tires last a long time as long as they are new ones. Mine have over 55,000 miles on them and are still going strong. I did replace the steer tires because of an alignment problem that caused early wear after I had some front end work done. They wouldn't ballance properly and rather than put up with it I changed them.

Cost to set up as a toter depends on you. I did not single the rear axles out. I saw no reason to do so as it rides fine and I like having the abililty to go to 8 wheel drive in loose surface conditions. I also did not go to spend big $ on getting a custon bed put on it. I had a flat diamond plate bed fabricated with fenders for under $3500.00 rather than the heavy full box style that most folks get. The average cost for one of those is between $10,000 and $20,000.

You can either go big $ or low budget on these, it's up to you and your pocket book and how willing you are to look for the best buy.

[billr]

What Mike Said! Additionally, this is a great time to find a good truck at a great price. As for us, our maintenance costs after 1.5 yrs of use have been only routine servicing and new steer tires and new front brakes. Total cost around $1500.00 (I do most all the work myself) I wanted to also change our a few items as preventative such as hoses and belts and a few air related items. Once you change out or rebuild anything on these trucks, it will be for the most part the last time as an owner that will be done at the level of usage we have.

Our truck has 750k on it and never had an overhaul and pulls strong and uses no oil and no leaks.

We did decide to single (remove one of the tandem axles) and set up for RV towing with simple bed and set up the Sleeper for RV registration. Cost was around $4k on top of the truck cost.

Once we were ready to tow the RV we were less than 1/2 the cost of a new 450 Ford. That and the added safety this truck offers really made our mind up. Never looking back!

Check out the HDT forum Mike mentioned. That is the #1 place for info on these gentle giants.

Bill