Newbie with New 3500----Needs some advice

[westies]

New truck as below being picked up Thursday. Since 1967 have owned new Ford every 18 months. Last three have been PSD's and question is.....is there much difference in routine maintenance, whats the best oil and oil change frequency, anything I should be watching out for? Other than exterior appearance mods the truck is stock. Will probably be adding new wheels this weekend and maybe Westin Step Boards, but thats it.

[westies]

Sorry,..............In all the excitement around here forgot to say hello to all and thanks in advance for any help.

[Diesel Dave]

First of all..... Welcome to the Forum.
Good to see another Canadian here. Congrats on stepping up a notch. I'm sure you will be very happy with your new DMAX.

As for service issues , you should follow the owners manual. But when it comes to oil changes I like to change it a little more often than is required. I look at it this way, its cheep insurance against that nasty thing we call wear.
Also being in a climate such as ours Cold Hot Cold Hot changing more often gets rid of any mosture/acids that build up in the oil. I have found using a good quality 15w/40 to be quite satisfactory. When shopping for oil/fuel filters shop around. Aftermarket filters will save you $$ ( in some cases alot of $$$$$ )

One last thing, Remember!!!! Your new Dmax uses dexicool coolant. Don't add anything else but dexicool or you can have a mess.

I'm sure some of the other owners on the forum will have some advice also.

Again Welcome & hope
you enjoy your new truck,
Diesel Dave

[Beemr69]

Welcome and please do post a tow report when you get to towing your rv , inquiring minds want to know .

What hitch and brake controller are you using ?

TIA
Tim

[westies]

Using a Hijacker 24-16K and a Prodigy controller. Hijacker is from old PSD and just love it. Prodigy is new so looking forward to its operation also. Hitch going in next week sometime and hope to tow in about two weeks........Like it seems like Xmas without the goofy socks and shirts..........

[bearman]

Hey westies
Glad to se you found your way over here. I got your e-mail about the rims, but I can't seem to send e=mail tonight. Lots of good people and info on this site. I will be picking up my 5'er this friday and will post a towing report after.
Cheers
Bear

[ 04-02-2002: Message edited by: bearman ]</p>

[NutNbutGMC]

Quote:
Other than exterior appearance mods the truck is stock. Will probably be adding new wheels this weekend and maybe Westin Step Boards, but thats it.
__________________________________________________ _______________________

Yea, right...LOL.. Look what happened to mdrag.... Welcome aboard. I'm one of the lead foot's and probably have a few rough edges and few fans here, but you sure picked a good site to hang out. Break it in hard and fast and it will run that way forever.
Thanks for the laugh that I noted in the quote.... :D smile.gif
I'll start with an "I TOLD YA' SO" when you inquire about the stereo upgrade..... Again, welcome to the forum.

[Timberline]

The maintenance will be very much like your PSD's same oil types, break in procedures etc... Like others have said check the owners manual. I personally only run AC-Delco filters and parts on my GM vehicles. I run Shell Rotella-T 15/40.

I am a Chevy man at heart but I did have to switch sides when I purchased a 2000 F-350 PSD because Chevrolet didn't have any real competition but now I'm back where I belong. I had only one complaint with the PSD and that was noise and the only thing that I miss are the tow mirrors. Chevrolet needs to take another look at thier tow mirrors in my opinion.
The Duramax has more power than the PSD. I didn't think that I would be able to tell a power difference but with out a doubt the Duramax has more power.
I LOVE this TRUCK ! :D

[ 04-03-2002: Message edited by: Timberline ]</p>

[01_Duramax_Dually]

Westies,
Welcome to the site and congrats on joining us 3500 owners...

So far the maintenance program is minimal and easy. Break it in, change the rearend lube after 500 miles, I would change the Allison spin on filter at the same time and of course the motor oil and filter.
Then as NutNbutGMC stated(and I am one of his fans :D )

STOMP ON IT!!!!!

I did that from day one..I did not listen to the hype. I bought a truck and I wanna use it as that!
On the other side of that...I can say that these trucks sure ride nice.

Please drop by my website noted below. I added information about filters purchase locations and I would highly recommend, since you are towing, adding the deep Allison tranny pan and Transdyn synthetic ATF.

Any questions let me know..

Jeff

[Calgary]

Welcome Westies - good to have you over here!

Tomorrow will be an exciting day for you. We look forward to hearing lots more from you as you hook the 3500 to the Citation.

Cheers, Calgary

[BobW]

Duramax Dually, I couldn't get your web site to load :(

[01_Duramax_Dually]

BobW,
Please try again. It is a free site and as you know with FREE stuff you get what you pay for. Let me know if you have anymore problems so I can contact the Free administrators... :D

[johns]

Hi westies (assuming you're the same westies on iRV2.com). Over there I'm K-Star


Seems like routine mtce will be the same (I had a `99 PSD). The mtce items are in different places. Looks like the DMAX takes 10 qts of oil (at least that's what the owners manual says) vs. 15 on the PSD. Will save a few bucks here. I plan on changing oil every 3-5K miles. I'll stick with the AC/Delco filters too. Good enough for GM, good enough for me (at least they won't be able to tell me that I used a filter not to their specs).

[ 04-04-2002: Message edited by: johns ]</p>

[ThePend]

westies

In addition to your running boards may I suggest a set of Lucerix Mirrors. Very worth while if your going to do any sort of towing.

[westies]

Well Thursday has come and nearly gone and no new truck................Due to Parts screwup some wrong items came, were installed, and then taken off and right parts ordered. Now good side is that new parts arrive tommorrow at 9 and told boss I need afternoon off as I am sure I will be sick by noon. Leaving Saturday to have boards installed and some misc. items. New wheels are on hold for a week and same with mirrors. Gotta wait until I see Visa statement cause not sure where I am right now.
I have made arrangements to have fiver hitch installed next week as planning to pull next weekend. This is the part I have been waiting for. Another interesting item was that I had a JJ Stainles tube grille insert in my Ford which I removed and now have traded to local bulk plant Shell Oil dealer for 200.00 of Shell Rotella. Gotta Love It..............