Book says 5w-20, I have 20k on the 1500 pickup, and have followed the book religously. But I tow, does anyone think a person should switch to 10w-30 during the summer while towing? I had a old retired mechanic tell me I should switch.

 

There is no need to switch, 5w20 as recommended per the manual will be fine. What year and what engine though? I'm assuming you've got the 5.7 Hemi. If so and you've got MDS it needs to stay on 5w20 or else the MDS system wont work properly, according to Dodge.

 

Old retired mechanics know old retired cars. If anything you would want 5w-30 not 10w for use in summer. I'm running 5w-30 in mine but if you have a 2006 or newer, you'll want to stick with 5w-20 due to the mds activation. I get away with the slightly thicker oil because I have mds disabled. i am just using up my stock and then going back to 5w-20. I purchased 3 oil changes when Advance Auto had their sale of $24.99 as I thought it would quiet my "hemi tick" but it doesn't.

 

What he said ^^^

If you have an '03-'05 Hemi you can get away with a SLIGHTLY thicker oil, but if you are using ANYTHING other than 5w-20 in an MDS Hemi and you have an engine problem, the dealer will not honor powertrain warranty.

"Back in the day" we all ran thicker oil as our engines got older and things started getting "looser" in the engine. Kept you from burning and/or leaking oil. I had a couple trucks that I went up all the way to 20w-50 as they got age on them.

But this IS NOT the case any more. Engine materials have gone from cast iron and steel to aluminum and tolerances are MUCH tighter now than then.

Stick to what the book says.

If you want extra protection for towing, use only a good quality synthetic oil in the crank as well as a good synthetic in the differential(s), tranny, etc. and do your fluid swaps at more frequent intervals...

 

My father inlaw is a mechanic and he said he has seen several rams and dakotas where ppl didn't run the 5w20 like they were supposed and after awhile the crank bearings got noisy.

 

Thanks for the reply's! I was kind of thinking, "old dog, new tricks," and didn't want to offend him. When I bought my Dodge and did my first oil change I thought "5w-20"! That's sewing machine oil. But I also believe in the owners manual!

Mine is an 07 1500, Big Horn Addition, I bought it used with 5k miles in late 08. Pretty happy with it, but think if I get a bigger rv, I will need a 2500. Maybe in a few years Dodge will have a bigger v-8 gasser availible.

 

If you've got the Hemi 5w20 is a must if you want any form of Chrysler cooperation should something go wrong as Hammer said.

5w20 for a big @$$ V8 seems lite...BUT...Chrysler would not recommend an oil that did not adequately protect their hardware. The testing was done with 5w20 and they must have felt that it does just fine at protecting your engine. Don't forget that the point of the Hemi MDS is "fuel efficiency" so of course Chrysler is going to try for a thinner oil to shave any amount of friction they can.