So after finally of making it a whole year without any big ticket repairs I decided instead of throwing down on a T4 setup that I'd be better off getting a "beater" as it will keep the mileage and hopefully repair bills down on the truck, after putting 48k on it in just under 3 years.

What I want to avoid is creating problems related to leaving it sit...

My thoughts currently are to drive it to work at least once a week (35 miles each way) but looking for input on if that's sitting too much, or if even limiting it to once every other week would be ok.

What types of sitting related problems do I need to be on the lookout for?

When we get to camping season it will sit considerably less, and get much more extended workouts...I just don't want to develop a bunch of new issues related from me retiring it from daily driving duty...

 

Once a week is not sitting too much. My truck sits for up to 90 days sometimes...

Use a battery tender/charger if you don't have confidence in your electrical system. I installed AGM batteries 2 years ago and just a month ago installed a NOCO Genius1 Mini on-board the truck. This is in an effort to prolong the life of the batteries and make starting a bit easier.

We use our truck for camping, hauling firewood, dump runs and traveling cross country with the 5th wheel. That is it... We have 4 vehicles between the two of us and each has their own uses. I think it is a GREAT idea to get a beater. I had a 2002 Mercury Sable that had 255,000 miles on the original engine and original transmission when I finally got rid of it. I burned up the road with that thing and didn't give a crap about what happened to it.

You can see what a beauty she was in the image below...



Back to the truck, I set mouse traps in the cab and engine bay and check them once a week or so. I put one over the vacuum reservoir and the other near the air box. The one in the cab is just on the floor on the passenger side. We have pets and a lot of wildlife, so I stay away from poisons or mixtures of things that would be harmful to our furry children.

Just keep the batteries charge and the rodents out of it and you will be fine.

One last note, a more advanced turbo will make your towing experience so much better, trust me on that one. You don't have to go T4 if you don't want to spend the coin, but there are many options out there that are worth their weight in gold when towing especially long distance. We are headed to the Atlantic ocean beach next week and then to the Great Smoky Mountains shortly after that. Towing with the more advanced turbo has removed most of the fatigue I would get and I don't even keep an eye on the gauges any longer. Operating temperatures are down, shifting is reduced, speed is maintained up grades, EGT's are down, etc... I wish I had done this years ago, but we live and learn.

 

Have a dedicated plow truck and a separate daily driver. If the plow truck isn’t used, I just drive it once a week to get it up to temperature, charge the battery, engage the 4wd a little, etc.

Never had any issues other than chipmunks chewing my air filter during the summer, so keep an eye in that.

 

You have the right idea. I have been doing the beater car for years. I bought my truck new in 2002, just turned 176k.
Sitting for 2 weeks doesn't hurt anything.

 

I don't have any access to power where it will be parked, well at least not without a 200' extension cord that I'd have to mow over/around ... I am worried about the batteries though, they're 3 year old interstates...anybody have experience using a solar style trickle charger through the aux power port?

I imagine I'll still drive it at least once every 2 weeks, just because I LOVE driving my truck...

Here's my "beater"



'04 "WJ" Grand Cherokee...213 k on the body and trans...one owner who was a Jeep certified master mechanic for 10 years while he owned it and religiously maintained it...dropped a valve seat/cracked head gasket at 198k so instead of just redoing what needed done, he rebuilt the entire engine and cooling system...it's a "beater" in the sense I paid a (relatively) small amount for it in cash and plan to drive it till the wheels fall off...added plus that jeeps have just about as good a community of DIY'ers and still old enough to be relatively easy to work on when needed.

 

Re:T4 kit / upgraded turbo

That was my original plan for the money I'd set aside in the truck fund, but we've always struggled when one of our vehicles was down for repairs, needed to borrow from family or rent, and I felt like the more responsible thing to do at this point was get something to help in that regard.

Still definitely in the future plans though...mostly leaning toward the T4, but I am intrigued by the KC300x drop-ins, though I'd need to redo the pedestal and still have stock uppies on it anyway which brings the cost a little closer together with the T4 setup...that's a bridge to cross the next time I get something back in the truck fund lol

 

No 120v can be an issue, but not a deal breaker. You asked about the solar powered chargers. That is what I would use, but my truck sits under an RV cover at the tree line and gets sun for about an hour a day. Luckily I have a shed about 100' with 120v power that I ran a wire from to use with the on board NOCO Genius1 Mini.

One of our prominent members @cleatus12r stated this about solar chargers in December.

We had a 2000 Jeep GC just like that years ago. It was a great vehicle until the V8 blew a head gasket 500 miles from home. Since then we have been Subaru people, but the Subaru is not our beater.

I WISH I had done the T4/SXE years ago when I replaced everything from the up-pipes and into the turbo. I would have been well ahead of the game, that is for sure. Although, I was able to sell off the take off parts because they were still relatively new and what people were buying. It all worked out...

If you guys get up @Ridedan2 when camping, perhaps he can show you what a 363SXE can do for you.

 

Yeah that’s the issue with the aluminum heads on cast blocks. They can only take so many hot/cold cycles before they give from even normal/maintained use. Was what actually attracted me to this one being that it was already done and done right.

on the camping note I feel like someone ::cough:: you ::cough:: should really set up a 7.3 owners camping GTG....I can’t commit to anything out west but if it’s within 10hrs of DC and in the summer/no school season I’m in!

 

You have a bit of a cough there sir... in my experience a nice 34 degree IPA does that cough pretty well...

Maybe one day we can do a camping GTG, maybe one day...

 

I feel like I’ve seen/read of enough of us (those with RV’s) East of the Mississippi that it seems like a great idea!

I can recommend several places in the mid-Atlantic region!

 

Heck, come on down to Assateague Island and do some real 4x4 camping right on the ocean

 

Love Assateague, grew up in OC and spent many nights “fishing” and wheeling in my old jeep.

these days I prefer the amenities of castaways or frontier town lol electric and water are minimum amenities.

 

Driving your truck around once every two-three weeks will be fine.

I notice that you have a 2018 Salem Hemisphere. I have a 2013 Hemisphere. I have pulled my Hemisphere all over the country. Up and down the Rockies and over the Smokey Mountains. One thing that I did not know was that I have Forward adjusting brakes on this camper..... Used a lot of brake going down the Smokies into North Carolina. Lost the bearings on the back axle because they over heated. Destroyed one brake assembly on the back axle. you may want to look into your brakes for dragging on your camper when you grease the bearings before the camping season. I now do not go any where with out my tire monitoring system on the camper (I also have them on my truck when pulling the camper). Pulling a camper like this, sometimes it is really hard to tell if there is a flat. This has saved monitoring system has saved me several times from heavy damage, except for the time a camper tire gatered the tread but did not leak air...…. hole in the fender well, fender destroyed.... bummer...
https://tsttruck.com/

 

i thought forward adjusting brakes were a good thing on electric drum brakes? That they self adjusted and didn’t need manual adjustments every 3K? No? Admittedly I’m not as up and up in camper mechanics as both winters we’ve had it it has been at the dealer for warranty work so it’s been easier to just have them do their annual service package because I’m usually bombarding their phones daily come mid-March to get them to finally FINISH the darn thing.

I will never buy another FR product again...but that’s a different story for another day.

 

Yes, I can be the T4 BW representative for New England area haha. Seriously I would be happy to.