Although I really,really like my pickup I do not use it that often. I have it mainly for towing a 22' TT on 4 or 5 relatively short trips each year. Based on my last truck's usage I will only put about 3k miles a year on it. My 93 Chev K2500 PU had only 48K on it when I sold it a couple of months ago.

The truck sits inside without any use for 3 or 4 months a year. During the rest of the year it will sit in the garage for two or three weeks at a time without any usage. This lack of use was really brought home when I printed out the maintenance schedule from My GMLink and it showed I'd be due to replace spark plugs in 2039 and should have the serpentine belt inspected in 2056!

I'm sure this lack of use is not good for the truck. What are the forum's thoughts on how often should it be driven and when it is driven how long a trip should it take. Would a 30 mile trip once every two weeks be appropriate for instance? What other actions should I take to minimize troubles?

Although the truck is kept in a garage, it is about 100 feet from salt water. This corrosive atmosphere is of concern, for example the last truck would get lots of rust on the serpentine belt idler tension pulley belt surface which would contaminate the smooth side of the belt with rust. Body rust was not an issue.

As a minimum I would run it once a month. I do the same thing drive my car most of the time and the truck sits. I usually will drive it every other weekend. Or when the finace/wife needs to tow the horses to a show somewhere.

I'd drive it every couple weeks,and when you do be sure to drive it until its FULLY warmed up.

Since you won't be using much gas,I'd also use a fuel stabilizer and keep the tank topped off to prevent condensation.

I live in Everett,and have a friend that lives on the beach near Kingston. His HD is garage kept about 200' from the Sound and he has had no issues with any kind of corrosion.

I'm the same way with my HD. Had it one year this month, and it has 2875 miles. I'm interested in following this thread; I've often wondered if it would get "sitting damage".

when the truck sits for months at a time you could put it on jack stands to unload the suspension and tires.

Thank you for your comments. I am going to try to be sure that I use it at least once every two weeks and that it does get warmed up when I do. I am still faced with the 3 to 4 month period when I can not use it.

Mossy, I appreciated your comments on the salt water environment and the use of a fuel stabilizer.

Does GM have a fuel stabilizer? I've used Sta-Bil for small engines in the past. Which fuel stabilizer is favored these days?

Catch2otwo, I sure can put my jackstands to use for the long time period of non-use of the truck.

It seemed that on my last truck I had a number of seal failures due to lack of use including rear axle seals, pinion seals, and rear brake cylinder seals. I know the new truck has a totally different rear axle and rear brake setup and hope I don't have a repeat of those problems.

Any thoughts on corrosion problems associated with the aluminum cylinder heads, Dexcool, and antifreeze additives and long term storage?

http://www.musclecarclub.com/library/show/storage.shtml

This site offers tips on vehicle storage. It also reccommend washing and waxing just prior to storage to help prevent rust (good idea in salt water enviroment).

santelikk,

Thank you for the storage link, a very good summary for vehicle storage. I should schedule my oil change just before we leave, a point made on the link. The wash and wax makes sense as well.

I guess the very simple answer is to drive it. That is why you bought it.. Otherwise sell it, let someone else get some use out of it. No need to let it go to waste. You can rent trucks to tow when you need them.. Just IMO..

I put more than 2875 miles on my truck the first month I owned it...):h

I guess the very simple answer is to drive it. That is why you bought it.. Otherwise sell it, let someone else get some use out of it. No need to let it go to waste. You can rent trucks to tow when you need them.. Just IMO..

I put more than 2875 miles on my truck the first month I owned it...):h

I hear ya, lol. I wish I could drive it more, but I pull my landscaping trailer everyday, and I use the 1500. Much better gas mileage. The money I save on gas pays for the 1500 completely each month, plus some, and I'm not putting the wear and tear on the '05 by working out of it. Hell, I've had my bike a little over two years and it's got less the 3000 miles too. lol Someone want to come drive some stuff for me? ):h

LOL, my wife who has followed this thread said she had forgotten what the truck looked like because she hadn't seen it for so long. So, we took it on a hundred mile drive yesterday, What a fun vehicle to drive!!!!

It will get to work next week pulling our travel trailer over the North Cascades hiway to Eastern WA. (5100' pass). But when we get back it will get put to bed for a while. I've got a pair of 3208 CATs that are tired of sitting around , they want to push the boat up north for the rest of the summer.

My 17 YO grandson has offered to keep the GMC excercised but I declined his offer until he gets a little more experience. I appreciate all your comments about caring for the truck given our unusual usage and
GMC2500HD I certainly agree with your comments that I need to use it more.