Finally had a chance to run the numbers, and as you’ll see on our RV Road Trip Budget Expense Report for January 2008, we are still under budget, thanks to workamping. Our biggest expense was for the big ol’ truck: new brakes, a steering gear box, two tires at $220 each(!), and servicing. This appears to have put a fat dent in our monthly budget, but since we budgeted for truck maintenance and spread the cost throughout the year, we had it covered. We based our truck maintenance budget after reviewing the cost-of-ownership reports available free at Edmunds.com. We hiked up the average cost for our Dodge, based on the extra wear and tear we’re putting on it.
Now that we’re on the road again, we are beginning to feel the pain of high diesel costs and park rents. But it’s most definitely worth it.
Sounds like you messed up your steering box getting stuck in all those mud holes on the ol’ farm Rene 😉
BTW Dodge now has a Lifetime powertrain warranty.
//A
Hi Henry,
Oh man we were so pissed about that. The truck just hit 45k miles. We think that their diagnosis was a load of crap, and so does my Dad (a retired diesel mechanic). Yes, the truck was steering funny, but the box shouldn’t have gone out so soon. Not that they intentionally screwed us, I just think that they were too lazy to investigate further.
A huge part of the problem of being on the road constantly is that you really don’t get the chance to find a hometown mechanic you can trust. Rather than take a wait-and-see approach, knowing that the truck is towing our LIFE behind us, we bit the bullet and shelled out the $500 for the new box.
Otherwise, we’ve never had another problem. Our Dodge ROCKS and we love it. Get the Dodge, you’ll be glad.
How many miles do you have on the truck to need a new steering gear box. I have thought about buying a Dodge.