hey guys as some of you have seen on my other post i'm getting our 01 durango ready for a 3000 mile trip and will be towing a small uhaul trailer for half of it. but now i'm second guessing myself. it's a 01 with the 5.9 as far as we know it's all original we bought it at 187k and other then the normal stuff have had many problems with it. we did have a overheating problem a few years ago and replaced all the hoses water pump fan clutch and radiator. it also dropped the 2nd gear band anchor which i replaced and adjusted the bands new filter and atf+4. a few weeks after that we parked it for a year. after searching the entire country for a stepside bed for my daughters 66 d 200 i found 1 in florida in perfect shape and to make it even better the guys is willing to trade for a np540 that i have. anyways i had to pull the valve body yesterday to replace the plastic piece that the range sensor rides on as i broke the old one. then after firing it up for the 1st time it ran for 5-10 minutes then just stalled which turned out to be a bad coil.i also noticed that the fan clutch is stuck engaged and there is slop in the water pump again so i will be changing them plus the bypass hose and belt. and shes getting new tires. so the question is would you drive it that far? is there anything else you would check? since i'll be pulling a trailer and will have the whole family and dog my choice is to take the durango or we have a 2000 1500 van with 156k on it that needs the front end rebuilt ball joints tie rods idlers ect and a new alternator and tires. i'd rather put the money into the durango and even thou i've had dodge engines that had over 250k on them i'm still a little worried about it.

 

If it runs good, and hasn't let you down, why worry?
Both our daily drivers have over 170k on original drivelines. I would hesitate to take either one across the country right now.
High mileage=/=Unreliable.

 

i'm thinking i might change the timing gears and chain since i'll have the water pump anyways

 

I still think you should replace the battery after it sat for a year.

 

i did change the battery the old one was junk and could run the lights but not crank the engine without a jump. so for right now i put the one out of our van in it which is only a year old but is too small to use the hold down. so it will get a brand new one before we go. i'm also thinking about changing a couple of of the steel brake lines as they look pretty rusty. and in the past after cars have sat i've had brake lines blow almost as soon as i put them back on the road. i hate letting a car sit but since we have 5 driveable and 2 that i'm restoring i just can't afford to have them all insured.one my list to do so far is
battery
water pump
fan clutch
timing chain
new tires
brake line
and try to get the spare tire holder fixed. last time we took it to the shop the kid broke the what looks like it might have been a roll pin thru the shaft you turn to lower it. i'm thinking i might be able to just weld a nut onto it but haven't looked at it yet.

 

As with any high mileage vehicle, if you don't have any history of what was done to the truck, do a visual inspection and make your decision on what components needs to be addressed to ensure you do not get broken down during your road trip.

 

I never take long trips in my own car. Rent one. If it breaks down on you, it's on YOUR dime. If the rental breaks down, you're clear AND you get another car to continue.

 

renting isn't really a option in order to get something big enough for the family and dog plus have a trailer hitch the cost is over 200 a day.

 

If you're buddy with a service advisor at your dealership, you can get their rate on a rental. I know on cars or minivans we get them for 30 or 35 per day.

 

wow with that price it would be a different story i wouldn't think twice about renting. i did a couple quotes online and it seems it cost more since we'd be taking it out of state. on a side note i am having no luck getting the stupid spare tire down i've tried welding a 1/2 in nut onto the shaft with no luck and grabbing it with vise grips thru the 2in hole in the floor isn't working either.might have to just cut the cable and throw the tire on the roof for the trip. but we won't be leaving for another 2 weeks so i'll keep playing with it. does anyone know if a 01 had the lock on the tire winch? on our 99 minivan you had to tighten it before you could lower it to undo the safety latch. i'm thinking if so maybe thats how the guy at the tire place broke it by just trying to lower it .