The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Maintenance , How often do you?

Rotate your tires, Im running radials

change your spark plugs

Grease king pins

Tune up

I realize some of these schedules are in the manual, just curious what real world pratices are,

I have about 6500 miles on my radials, have not rotated them yet.

My 50 been running well, avg 16 MPG the last 3 months.

Frequency is a factor of how much driving you do. On avarage I put 3000-4000 miles on my truck per year. For the last 6-7 years I have been changin oil at the end of the trucking season. Typically when I return from the Tri-State show (last of the year) I pull into the garage and remove the drain plug.

During the winter I rotate the tires and get my grease gun out and spend a morning greasing it up.

There are about 19 grease points/fittings that are supposed to be greased every 1,000 miles (4 of which are the king pin grease points). I do all the grease points (including the brake/clutch pedal shaft, of course) once a year when I get the truck inspected in the Spring.

Turn the distributor grease cup and check transmission and rear-end levels.

It's been about 9,,000 miles since I packed the wheel bearings, so that gets done this year.

Tune-up, including valve lash this year, and maybe adjust the steering gear.

It it supposed to be a good idea to change the oil before winter (hibernation time for my truck). Change the oil and run the engine until it is warmed-up - this supposedly reduces the amount of acids in the oil (maybe not a big deal with modern oils?).

Same as Sweet and Tim end of every year lube,oil,good cleaning inside and out,wax job once a year in the spring.I have not rotated tires in two years I should do it this year.

Pete

Most fast lube places recommend to rotate your tires every 6 thousand miles. At least every year and or 12 thousand miles is a good guide. Spark plugs should last 50 thousand miles with the old AC 45 spark plugs and no carb problems. New cars last 100k miles. That said I would tune up at 50k miles and follow the 1000 mile guide for greaseing all fittings. I realize this is my opinion. Mike

I do a tune-up once a year, oil change and lube twice a year. That's a good time to look for any leaks and check stuff out. My 38 ain't a daily driver - but I do start it up weekly and cruise around the neighborhood in the winter months (weather permitting). I always take look under the hood before a drive, and I will make sure all the lights are working if I will be driving at night.

In my opinion, if you drive it regularly year around I would change the oil every 3 months. I would also check the point gap and clean points and re-adjust every 3 months if driving on a regular basis. Rotate the tires once a year.

If your truck is stock or mostly stock, go with what is in the manual.

BillyBob Maintenance log

-W

Oil and lube every 1000 miles. No oil filter. Change the in-line fuel filter and oil bath oil annually. Oil the generator every 500 miles and turn the grease cup on the distributor now and then. Lube hinges and door/window regulators annually. Rotate tires about 3000 miles (bias-ply). It is all cheap insurance.

I change the oil every 6 months but average less than a thousand miles a year. I have heard reference to the distributor grease cup but where is it? '53 235

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Ahhh... now I remember that. Thanks DADS50!