Well, it’s time to update my experience after another 6 months.
In late May I had about 1600 miles on the Expy. Yeah, it is a second car and I drive the X4M40 most of the time. I brought it in for an oil change before leaving. The service greeter told me it did not need one yet, I explained that I was leaving on a 5000 mile trip towing a camper and wanted to get ahead of the curve, and I have paid for 2 oil changes per year as part of my ongoing maintenance agreement, so it got done.
I had a couple of trips towing the camper since then, and I now am showing over 8000 miles, at least 6000 of them have had the trailer behind it.
First of all - I am very impressed with how it pulls a 7000 pound camper. Unless it is very windy, the only reason I know it is back there is that the transmission is in 6th through 8th gear instead of 9 or 10. And the Expy’s gas tank has a hole in it.
We went from South Carolina due west to New Mexico and then north to Colorado. Got into the mountains and dropped the trailer at about 7000 feet elevation. No issues at all with the truck. The trailer on the other had burned up some expensive parts in the water heater…
Got back home for a week, and then left for a visit with some high school buddies in the Chicago area. On the way home we stopped in Indiana to get some more solar panels added to the trailer and at the factory where it was built to get some warranty work done as I don’t like waiting for the dealer to get approvals and get parts to fix those things. I highly recommend that approach with camper trailers - the manufacturers right now are panicking because the market is so bad, and they are happy to make owners happy with them.
So now I need to schedule another oil change, but other than that I am happy with the truck. No other comments or issues to report.
I did find a 12v/110v powered ice chest to put between the second row seats to keep drinks cold in the car. Works like a champ, I unplug it at the end of the drive and plug in again when leaving the next morning. By the time I am ready for a drink it has cooled the stuff in it off. Very interesting, it can be opened from either side and has a small colder chamber at one end that is supposed to be a freezer although I have not had the need to test that.
One question - does the truck take into account trailering miles when calculating when it needs an oil change? Is that considered harder miles and will it tell you in a shorter time it is time for the next one?
In late May I had about 1600 miles on the Expy. Yeah, it is a second car and I drive the X4M40 most of the time. I brought it in for an oil change before leaving. The service greeter told me it did not need one yet, I explained that I was leaving on a 5000 mile trip towing a camper and wanted to get ahead of the curve, and I have paid for 2 oil changes per year as part of my ongoing maintenance agreement, so it got done.
I had a couple of trips towing the camper since then, and I now am showing over 8000 miles, at least 6000 of them have had the trailer behind it.
First of all - I am very impressed with how it pulls a 7000 pound camper. Unless it is very windy, the only reason I know it is back there is that the transmission is in 6th through 8th gear instead of 9 or 10. And the Expy’s gas tank has a hole in it.
We went from South Carolina due west to New Mexico and then north to Colorado. Got into the mountains and dropped the trailer at about 7000 feet elevation. No issues at all with the truck. The trailer on the other had burned up some expensive parts in the water heater…
Got back home for a week, and then left for a visit with some high school buddies in the Chicago area. On the way home we stopped in Indiana to get some more solar panels added to the trailer and at the factory where it was built to get some warranty work done as I don’t like waiting for the dealer to get approvals and get parts to fix those things. I highly recommend that approach with camper trailers - the manufacturers right now are panicking because the market is so bad, and they are happy to make owners happy with them.
So now I need to schedule another oil change, but other than that I am happy with the truck. No other comments or issues to report.
I did find a 12v/110v powered ice chest to put between the second row seats to keep drinks cold in the car. Works like a champ, I unplug it at the end of the drive and plug in again when leaving the next morning. By the time I am ready for a drink it has cooled the stuff in it off. Very interesting, it can be opened from either side and has a small colder chamber at one end that is supposed to be a freezer although I have not had the need to test that.
One question - does the truck take into account trailering miles when calculating when it needs an oil change? Is that considered harder miles and will it tell you in a shorter time it is time for the next one?