High Mileage Rigs And Legendary Powerplants

Murphy Slaw

Murphy Slaw

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Southern Illinois
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I owned a 1994 Toyota SR5 2wd pickup for 13 years. That little 4 cyl. 2.4 was supposed to be capable of 300,000, but after about 160,000 I had a lot of issues with that truck and it was serviced quite well. It was the last year before the Tacoma however, I think, and that's been quite a success for Toyota.

After that I owned a Dodge Caravan, was a touring musician, and that thing was awesome for a musician. I always say the people who made fun of mini vans never owned one. Gear was never in the back of a leaky topper like the Toyota, the V6 was peppy, and everything was easy to get to. 3.3 engine was trouble free, my wife stole it when she became a soccer Mom literally and we ran it for over 170,000 bulletproof miles. One of the reasons we're a Mopar family to this day.

My current 5.7 Hemi is not known for super high mileage dependability, however there are certainly exceptions and examples, but it is a mean mofu when you need to GO. I'm not as hard core as some of you and haven't actually been getting out much the last few years due to paying for college for said soccer kid, so I only have about 50,000 miles on the Hemi. I'm running Amsoil in everything. The wife's Patriot with the 6 speed and 2.4 is now pushing 160,000 trouble free miles and has made many, many trips to the Gulf Coast.

I've heard really good things about the 3.6 Pentestar V6 engine Mopar is using in everything. One thread in the Ram Forum spoke of over 400,000 miles on that engine with normal maintenance.

What cha got ?
 
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I had 268,000 on a '95 Bronco, the 5.8L 351windsor. Plenty on that truck had been worked on and plenty more needed some attention but it hung in there.
 
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I have a 96 F-350 with 310,000 miles on it, it's got the 7.3 Powerstroke in it.

I've had great luck with small block, Chevys, the 305 in my Willys had 175,000 on it when I pulled it and sold it to a buddy. He's put another 45,000 on it since he got it.
 
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225,xxx on my 05 highlander v6. Replaced valve cover gaskets, but thats about it. eats about .5 qt in 3-4k miles.
 
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Currently my main driver is a '17 Tacoma 4X4 with 62K miles. I have an old '93 Toyota pickup 22R engine with 200+K miles with never a wrench on the engine. Replaced manual transmission. Just use it down on the farm to work out of and haul trash, etc. I also have a '90 Chevy 1500 Z71, 5.7L?/350 with 378,000 miles on the odometer. Still runs great but everything has been replaced at least once or twice if not more. Pulled boat to coast and back Sunday and almost made it back when fuel pump quit. No problem. Luckily I have an ace mechanic that came and got it and is presently fixing it. He likes working on the older stuff but he can fix anything.
 
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Have a 07 Jeep Commander and a 00 Jeep Grand Cherokee, both have the 4.7 V8 and over 200k, both have needed alternators and throttle position sensors, otherwise have not touched the engine, trans, or transfer cases both super reliable vehicles. Also have a 91 F250 7.3 with over 400k with only an injection pump rebuild, no issues with any of the powertrain and still on original clutch. I tend to believe that reliability across most brands of vehicles is good, but can be greatly improved or diminished by the maintenance done over the life of the vehicle. I have always been the one to fix issues as soon as they appear and do my regular services, and tend to own all my vehicles for a very long time.
 
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I had a 2003 Dakota with the 4.7L engine. It had 290k when I finally had to get rid of it a couple of years ago. The engine and transmission were still going strong. It was all the other issues with the rest of the truck (mostly age/rust related) that forced me to get rid of it.
 
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FishinCrzy said:
I have an old '93 Toyota pickup 22R engine with 200+K miles with never a wrench on the engine. Replaced manual transmission. Just use it down on the farm to work out of and haul trash, etc.
Click to expand...

22R, yep that's what my '94 had. My manual transmission started jumping out of gear, and when I checked, it was low on fluid from the factory, no leaks, just low.

That Toyota gave me a lot of trouble, and they were so highly rated, I've never bought another one.
 
My 88 4runner with the 3.0 v6 just rolled 300k on the original motor. Only engine work ever done were valve cover gaskets. Uses half quart of oil every 3k miles and purrs like a kitten.

The 85 I had before it I swapped in a 7mge from a Supra. Engine had 290k when I got rid of it.
 
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I had a '99 Ford Explorer XLT with the 4.0L pushrod V6 2wd. I gave it away at 280,000 miles and it's still being daily driven by my friend who I gave it to. Original motor and transmission to my knowledge (I had it for about 60,000 miles). I took that thing places that "more capable" vehicles supposedly had trouble with. Never gave me issues. Only started using oil at the 260,000 mile mark, and even then it was only about 1 quart per oil change.

One time at a gas station I was approached by a guy who was driving a much nicer/newer car who came up to me just to say that he loved the older explorers and had had one just like mine 'til over 300,000. Ford deserves some of the crap it gets for some of its models, but those old Explorers are the real deal. Especially the pushrod 4.0 v6.
 
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My dd is a '96 XJ that is less than 2K miles shy of 200K.

My tow rig is a '95 Cummins with something on the order of 325K.

I would not be surprised to see those vehicles go over double what they are already at. Both the Jeep 4.0L and Cummins 12V are known for their durability and longevity.
 
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A good friend of mine has an XJ and a TJ both with over 500K.
Most of my higher millage rigs had plenty of issues, but thats because I used to be really hard on my junk. For the amount of hell I put it through I was always impressed with my old 1980 Isuzu pickup. I sold it 10 years ago mostly because most repair parts for it dropped off the catalogues, I was needing to order standard service parts from NOS warehouses in Japan. So I let it go for basically scrap price to another early Isuzu enthusiast in hopes it would keep his going. At that time I was driving a P71 Crown Vic which was also very impressive 260K and ran like a champ, up to the point I wrapped it around a telephone pole. Also the 93 Dodge I had was alright, 390K miles, plenty of issues but it always started and ran and did what you needed it to. It was Cummins powered with an automatic trans, sold it last year for 10K.
Currently both of my rigs are under 150K miles.
 
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Murphy Slaw said:
I owned a 1994 Toyota SR5 2wd pickup for 13 years. That little 4 cyl. 2.4 was supposed to be capable of 300,000, but after about 160,000 I had a lot of issues with that truck and it was serviced quite well. It was the last year before the Tacoma however, I think, and that's been quite a success for Toyota.

After that I owned a Dodge Caravan, was a touring musician, and that thing was awesome for a musician. I always say the people who made fun of mini vans never owned one. Gear was never in the back of a leaky topper like the Toyota, the V6 was peppy, and everything was easy to get to. 3.3 engine was trouble free, my wife stole it when she became a soccer Mom literally and we ran it for over 170,000 bulletproof miles. One of the reasons we're a Mopar family to this day.

My current 5.7 Hemi is not known for super high mileage dependability, however there are certainly exceptions and examples, but it is a mean mofu when you need to GO. I'm not as hard core as some of you and haven't actually been getting out much the last few years due to paying for college for said soccer kid, so I only have about 50,000 miles on the Hemi. I'm running Amsoil in everything. The wife's Patriot with the 6 speed and 2.4 is now pushing 160,000 trouble free miles and has made many, many trips to the Gulf Coast.

I've heard really good things about the 3.6 Pentestar V6 engine Mopar is using in everything. One thread in the Ram Forum spoke of over 400,000 miles on that engine with normal maintenance.

What cha got ?
Click to expand...
Our patriot rolled up 100k km this past summer and my wrangler has 139000 on it. All amsoil as well. My wrangler has a small coolant leak around the intake manifold gasket so I have to do that job, next spring. Not messing with that in the cold.
 
when I got married in 89 we bought an 85 celica with about 50 000 miles on the 3SGE motor. Kept that car until 2005 it had over 350 000 on it. only repairs were the aircon (new compressor) and 1 clutch replacement. Replaced it with a 2002 Lexus IS200 with about 25 000 on the 1GFE it now has over 180 000 on it and we have done nothing but service it.
IMG_5632.jpg
 
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WilhelmB said:
when I got married in 89 we bought an 85 celica with about 50 000 miles on the 3SGE motor. Kept that car until 2005 it had over 350 000 on it. only repairs were the aircon (new compressor) and 1 clutch replacement. Replaced it with a 2002 Lexus IS200 with about 25 000 on the 1GFE it now has over 180 000 on it and we have done nothing but service it.
View attachment 174780
Click to expand...
nice altezza!
 
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2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 4.7HO - 201K miles. I have hear so many bad things about it and it has been a very solid engine. My rear main seal needs replacing and I will change the timing chain and guides since that is a known weak point. I did replace the lifters since the valve cover gaskets needed to be changed. That is all I have done besides changing the OIL.
 
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