I have a 2006 Supercab 4x4 6.0/auto I bought new, has 114k on it now. Been a really good truck for me, served a my daily driver and weekend warrior tow rig until this last spring. I've always done oil and Racor filters at 5K intervals, Racor fuel filters at 10k (once got into a batch of fuel with a lot of water in it, changed the water separator filter three times in less than 1k miles), trans filters at 25k intervals, trans fluid at 50k intervals. Coolant changed every 50k. Keep a close eye on everything with my Scanguage II, ect/eot deltas holding steady at 10-12 degrees for now. New batteries at 80k, FICM never drops below 47.0 volts. Based on the above, I think I am in pretty good shape overall. Will do a Blackstone oil analysis on my next oil change to confirm the motor isn't shedding metal faster than it should be.
Now, to the point of my post - setting up a new maintenance schedule for the truck's current usage. Or non-usage, rather. This summer I switched careers after 12 years - I went from being a desk jockey to buying an Alaskan commercial salmon troller and permit, meaning I'm now spending the spring and summers on the water up north and the fall and winter at home here in the Seattle area. So, my truck just sits for about 6 months, and gets used daily for the rest of the time. This includes infrequent towing of my commercial vessel (yep, it's trailerable with a permit) out to the Washington coast for winter fisheries - a 130 mile trip with 13,800 of boat and trailer. The 6.0 and 5r110 handles this job just fine. I definitely know it is back there, tho!
My question for the gurus on here is - given the long periods of just sitting, and described usage of daily driver/tow rig when I am using it, what changes should I make to my maintenance schedule? Is it time to go with a synthetic blend oil?
Thanks in advance,
Chris

 

Well, we will sure want pictures of her pulling that beast of a boat.

Same routine, put her away with fresh oil, change oil and fuel filters, full tank of diesel with fuel treatment is best to prevent condensation from sitting over time. If you store it inside, it wouldn't hurt to put a few dryer sheets inside the cab, moth ***** under it on the the ground to prevent vermin.

I would look at changing coolant and other fluids on the same schedule as normal, by mileage. One thing you may experience is brakes giving you hiccups sitting so much, especially if outside in the damp weather like Seattle. Don't park on grass and don't leave it outside if you can avoid it. If you can't avoid it being outside, make sure it's on concrete or gravel with no grass and stuff which holds moisture.

Got a trickle charger you can put on a timer? The cats meow for keeping those two batteries in good shape is a trickle charger on for about 8 hours a day would be lots, you don't want to over charge, just maintain the batteries so they are god to go to start it. Alternative is to bring the batteries home and put on a trickle charger once a month at home, if someone can do this for you.