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what is the scheduled oil change interval for the 18-wheelers? Imagine changing the oil every 5,000 miles in one of those. At my previous job we had bi-weekly deliveries of tubing from Oregon to Long Island.
They'd have to change the oil on the return leg?
If you run full synthetic and have the oil tested every 5,000 miles, and replace the additives accurately, why would it need replacement?
My uncle says his company(Crete) goes 30,000 with Rotalla 15w-40. The only thing I don't know is how much oil they hold. That would make a bit of a diff. I imagine they hold a lot more than our PSD's.
If it is 20, not much more than us then. Of course, it is all on the road and he did not say if they swap filters at 10k or anything. I went 5k once and the oil looked terrible and after a change, the motor quieted down a bit so I go 3500-4000 now depending on usage.
the hardest thing for oil is start and stop driving, and shutting the engine off. it thins the oil. if replaced and using a bypass filtration system (which most truckers do because of longevity), one can run up to 30000 miles on a change. see, most of the time the engine is started up once a day, or sometimes it just runs (example, when sleeping, leave it idle for cab heat), and that keeps the oil "thicker" in retrospect.
I use to work for Crete Carriers. They only change oil every 30000 with no filter changes in between. Their engines look terrible on the inside. Really black and sludgy. Almost all of the large over the road trucks hold about 40q of oil. I work at caterpillar now and the suggested oil change depending on useage is 15000 on cat 15/40 or rotella. I personally change every 5000 miles and my oil looks brand new with 145000 on it.
My time at sea each summer during college (maritime college) showed me some cool stuff to keep oil clean -
like a centrifuge for the gear box. The bull gearis 21 feet across and is the final gear that the propeller operate from. There is an awesome kingsbury thrust bearing between the shaft and the bull gear but that oil is changed like every 5 years.
Our emergency electric was supplied by a 1200kw cat 16cylinder and it help something like 50 or 75 gallons.