RamCamper
New member
jrsteffes said:
I used a Preluber (almost exactly like the one above) for a while.
Pro: it was very reassuring to have oil pressure before I cranked the engine in extremely cold weather or after changing the oil filter (although it often took several minutes to suck enough cold oil to produce any pressure), the preluber was an easy way to cool my turbocharger bearings in hot weather, and my engine oil did not seem to get black as quickly as it does without the preluber.
Con: I was concerned about the pump feed take-off from the drain plug location. Although I never ripped it off on the trail, it always looked very vulnerable and it would dump all of the engine oil if I ever snagged the line. My preluber was not very reliable for the three years I used it. After I had to remove, disassemble, and repair the oil pump motor twice, fight with occasional line leaks, then build my own controller after the original died, I decided that the whole preluber idea was a solution to problem I did not have (i.e. the life on my Cummins engine is easily at least 250,000 miles without any help from a preluber, so how much additional life was I really going to get by reducing start-up wear?).
Additional advice: If you decide a prelube system is what you need, look carefully at the system plumbing, consider possible failure modes in a remote area, and plan accordingly with spare parts, fittings, lines, etc.
YMMV! Dave
1994 Ram 2500 set up for extended off road camping.
New member - have had a wonderful time digging through the message boards. Great site!!! :clapsmile