Just realized I hit 500,000 miles on my old Cummins today

I was just doing a routine oil change on my 2002 Dodge Ram 2500 and glanced at the odometer. It rolled right past 500,000 miles while I was draining the pan. That truck has been through two transmissions and three turbos, but the block itself has never been cracked open. I bought it for $3,500 back in 2015 from a guy in Bakersfield who used it for hauling hay. Half a million miles feels like a weird milestone, but it got me wondering how many of you have hit that mark. What's the highest mileage diesel you've personally kept running?

3 comments

3 Comments

ryantorres1mo ago

Wait, have you ever had to rebuild the injection pump on that thing? Those VP44s are known to eat themselves alive way before 500k, so I'm real curious if you got lucky or if you found a good rebuilder somewhere. I'm asking because I'm at 387k on my 2000 F-350 7.3 and I'm paranoid about the fuel system next. But more importantly, what's your secret to keeping the bottom end together that long? I've heard those Cummins will rattle themselves to death if you let the oil pressure drop even a little bit. The fact you never cracked the block open tells me you must religiously change that oil and never let it overheat.

phoenix_grant341mo ago

Yeah @ryantorres I've never touched that VP44 but your 7.3 doesn't have one so you're worrying about the wrong pump.

olivia3981mo ago

The VP44 thing is a common myth actually... those pumps weren't really bad until people started running them low on fuel or putting aftermarket lift pumps on that pushed too much pressure. I've still got the original VP44 on mine, just kept the stock lift pump and never let it run below a quarter tank. Your 7.3 Powerstroke doesn't even have a VP44 though, it's got the HEUI system with that high pressure oil pump instead. Different animal entirely. 387k on a 7.3 is solid though, those things will go forever if you watch your ICP pressure and keep fresh oil in it every 5k.