F350 Super Duty achieves 1,020.00 Miles.

[csv8]

There are milestones and then there are "million milestones."

With the economy still wobbly for many folks, there are some vehicle owners not only delaying purchase of a new vehicle but trying to surpass all expectations for how long they cam make their current wheels last.

And for a handful of pickup owners, adding a seventh figure--yes, more than a million miles-- to their odometer is all in a days work. A million miles is more than a big deal. It’s like driving to the moon and back twice and still having 97,512 miles to go. On a more realistic basis, it would take 10 years, driving 273 miles every day to hit the million mile mark.

Gary Mueller was told by his friends to get a new truck when his 2002 F-350 Super Duty hit 300,000 miles. But he didn’t listen, and now, he’s got 1,020,000 miles on his truck.
http://autos.aol.com/gallery/million...?ncid=webmail8
“This truck isn’t just a truck; it’s an extension of me,” said Mueller. “I take care of it and it returns the favor. I see no reason at all to think about retiring it.”

Mueller, who retired from Ford in 2000, had planned on traveling around North America and enjoying his retirement. But when he lost nearly 70 percent of his investments, he had to find a way to supplement his income.

That’s when he started hauling recreational vehicles and campers, delivering to them to customers around the country. For the past 10 years, he’s visited 48 states and seven provinces in Canada. Traveling during his retirement, without actually retiring.

It takes dozens of sets of tires, scores of oil filters, and thousands of gallons of fuel, these million milers say.

“I’ve gone through three water pumps, five alternators, a couple of starters, a U joint and a couple of ball joints,” said Duane Thalen of his 1999 Ford F-250 diesel Super Duty. “Things wear out.”

Thalen, 47 from Grand Rapids, Mich., delivers campers and hauls other things on a weekly basis, averaging more than 600 miles a day Monday through Friday.

“I always make sure I’m home for the weekend,” he said, even as he was driving through Pennsylvania with a boat in tow headed for Minnesota.

“I bought this truck used in 2004 with 100,000 miles on it,” Thalen said. “Now, it’s at 1.2 million miles and just keeps going. It just keeps going.”

[SSD-85]

Take that Government Motors....

Ford should exploit this, in light of that GM "apocalypse" ad.

[nb_351]

Could be a rerun of the xp durability test
70000 miles or whatever they did back then

[mik]

Built Ford Tuff !!! ...edit: over a million miles, it looks very good nick , it`s a credit to the guy, he obviously look after it.

[Iggypoppin']

AU's clock the million klm(not the same but still impressive) quite regularly as ex cabs and old family haulers I was led to believe?
Good on the F truck for making it that far and to keep going!

[NX74205]

Originally Posted by Iggypoppin'

AU's clock the million klm(not the same but still impressive) quite regularly as ex cabs and old family haulers I was led to believe?

Just out of curiosity, can the AU's odometer show a 7 digit reading? Or does it revert back to 000000 when it hits the million kilometre mark?

[Mechan1k]

Reverts back to Zero again.

Got to think though ... a million miles is very different to a million km out here.

As mik said ... it looks in OK condition ... would have been good to see some more pics of the truck ... at least he kept it maintained.

[OzJavelin]

Originally Posted by Scotty85

Take that Government Motors....

Ford should exploit this, in light of that GM "apocalypse" ad.

http://media.gm.com/content/media/us...24_sierra.html

I think that a million miles of one of these big pickups isnt that uncommon.

[DJM83]

[Yellow_Festiva]

This has been posted before I think? I remember reading an almost identical article a few years ago about the same guy and truck. Perhaps back then it was at 800k miles? That sort of smooth long distance driving will make an engine last a long time. Lots of short drives and poor maintenance will reduce the life of a motor dramatically.

[mik]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

This has been posted before I think? I remember reading an almost identical article a few years ago about the same guy and truck. Perhaps back then it was at 800k miles? That sort of smooth long distance driving will make an engine last a long time. Lots of short drives and poor maintenance will reduce the life of a motor dramatically.

very true, i think many people even with the best of intentions
A. don`t really know how to maintain a motor vehicle.

B. lose interest in maintaining a motor vehicle as it get`s on in years.

C. can`t afford to maintain a motor vehicle properly, and hence due to A,B,C, not to many make it past 300,000 k`s before making a final trip to the wrecking yard.

[Jack960]

Pretty incredible. Ford definitely make a durable engine.

My mates AU falcon has just clocked over to 1,000,000km and runs perfect.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by DJM83

image

Yeah

Also, 1,020,000 miles converts to 1,641,530 klm

[OffRoadFalcon]

Anybody know engine it has? I know the 7.3L V8 diesel lasts a long time, very reliable.

My uncle's got a red 05 7.3L dual cab F250 he bought new, done over 500,000kms and drives and sounds like new! Brilliant engines those 7.3s, gotta be my favourite sounding engine ever.

[flooded one]

wonder if my both my AUs will reach a million kms

[SteveJH]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

This has been posted before I think? I remember reading an almost identical article a few years ago about the same guy and truck. Perhaps back then it was at 800k miles? That sort of smooth long distance driving will make an engine last a long time. Lots of short drives and poor maintenance will reduce the life of a motor dramatically.

I remember K&N were going on about one of their filters lasting 1 million miles in a big american pickup a couple of years ago?

From memory they bought the guy a new truck?

[smoo]

Originally Posted by Jack960

Pretty incredible. Ford definitely make a durable engine.

fwiw the 7.3 V8 aren't a Ford motor they are from International trucks. Still, I'd buy a 7.3 F250 4x4 tomorrow and source aftermarket parts out of the states but an FPV GS ute is a bit more practical.

[chevypower]

I actually prefer the softer sound (but still distinctly diesel) of the 6.0 Powerstroke, it brings in a more noticeable turbo sound than the 7.3 too. The 7.3 sounds like an old school bus and the turbo is hard to hear (cos the engine is so loud), must switch off at the drive through too. Even the 6.0 is one you might want to switch off. Went in the inlaws' 6.0 the other day actually. Pulling a 5th wheel trailer, you couldn't feel it. Kept under 2,000 rpm for the most part, even towing that huge trailer. Occasionally hit 3,000 rpm for really steep hills - I'm talking big mountain passes, not your average little hill. All I can say is, I want a diesel!

Originally Posted by smoo

an FPV GS ute is a bit more practical.

That just depends on what you want to do with it. If you want to carry more than one passenger, load a 4 Wheeler on the back or a heavy load and tow a decent size trailer on potentially slick roads, I would hardly call the ute 'practical.'

[Kryton]

Yes, it does the rounds yet again - its a repost.
This happened several years ago, it isnt "news", its been and gone.
Pretty sure from memory, Ford gave him a brand new truck for his efforts and the publicity he got the brand.

[RASER]

All good, but the P1800 Volvo [i roll] is knocking on the door of 3 million MILES.

Had 2 engine rebuilds, so not sure it's that good a honour for Volvo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irv_Gordon

[RASER]

Originally Posted by Mr. Grinzy

Anybody know engine it has? I know the 7.3L V8 diesel lasts a long time, very reliable.

My uncle's got a red 05 7.3L dual cab F250 he bought new, done over 500,000kms and drives and sounds like new! Brilliant engines those 7.3s, gotta be my favourite sounding engine ever.

+1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hf46Jbdxvo

[flooded one]

not having a good at holden here but has anyone ever come across a commodore say from about the VL series onwards that has reached a million kms??? there would surely be at least one you would think??