My old Truck is like old Me.

[Blue2Orange]

Seems like the twice a year I take my truck in for basic maintenance service the mechanics note an issue or impending issue. Seems like when I go in for the "annual" physical the MD finds a new issue.

I had the dealer switch my winter to summer wheels and tires. One front and one rear brake caliper need replacing. They were fine last late Autumn. Now outside of sticking the pads on the defective calipers are a couple millimeters less than the good caliper wheels. Diligent mechanics. I didn't notice any issues driving. Beats having a seizing or worse brake later.

For those that are unaware. New guidelines set last IIRC August for what is considered "normal" blood pressure. Normal is now less than 120/80. My BP has been creeping upwards over the past decade. That combined with the lower new guidelines put me into the elevated to hypertension stage 1 depending on the day. New, young MD. Into the modern algorithms and aggressive treatment. Age, elevated BP, lipids at the high end of normal are my negative indicators. Algorithm noted a +20% higher risk of a cardiovascular event. Me. Old school. Treat the patient, not the objective data. Also, Rx only if beneficial with minimal to no side effects and the patient wants. Their decision. Plus one needs to factor absolute risk v. relative risk. Or benefit. So I asked for a C Reactive Protein blood test. An indicator of inflammatory state. More info noting that abnormal high CRP might be a significant risk factor. Came back on the low end of low. So no cholesterol lowering RX for my elevated, but not "clinically" high cholesterol. But I did start on a low dose calcium channel blocker to deal with continuing upward BP trend. As of today. Down to only one real objective risk factor. Age.

My Truck and Me. Slowly degenerating due to age. Could be worse. Totaling the truck or a major CV incident.

 

[jimh406]

Fwiw, some MDs recommend a slightly higher BP for seniors to prevent dizziness and falls. You might check into some of the nonstandard care. A new MD is likely following the guidelines to the T. YMMV.

For vehicles, I'd rather have a minor fix from time to time than have the payment.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

My Truck and Me. Neither is going to last forever. Get as much useful life out of each as possible, while they're here.

 

[Outnumbered]

My truck is 7 years younger than I am

 

[Orangeglow]

The older I get, the more I realize most doctors are drug pushers. Has anyone else noticed how quik doctors reach for the prescription pads to write up new ones to fix up any issues instead of suggesting alternative natural ways to fix your problems. Up until a few years ago, I didn,t even know that doctors got kickbacks for drugs they prescribed. In hindsight, I wish I would of questions my doctors suggestions on taking statins and asked more about alternative natural ways to fix any of my issues. How often has anyone been given a prescription, and then over time been taken off of it ? It seems they have become more dealers, less healers.

 

[KubotaHawg]

A very wise teacher told me in training:

Have patients on
As few medications
At lowest possible dose
With the least side effects
At the lowest cost to the patient.

Has never failed me. He also said “I would rather stop a medication than start one.”

Medicine and vehicle manufacturing have both lost common sense, I couldn’t agree more with all of the above comments and thoughts.

My independent one man Toyota mechanic agrees, his MO is if it ain’t broke don’t try to fix it.

 

[D2Cat]

It's interesting to see the history of statin drugs and changes in what is considered "NORMAL" blood pressure. It sure seems like the pharmaceutical companies have influence over the numbers. They indoctrinate people to believe cholesterol in BAD.

 

[Blue2Orange]

Fwiw, some MDs recommend a slightly higher BP for seniors to prevent dizziness and falls. You might check into some of the nonstandard care. A new MD is likely following the guidelines to the T. YMMV.

For vehicles, I'd rather have a minor fix from time to time than have the payment.

"Standard care" can be quality care. Just not as common as it should be. Just maybe a biased impression that evolved over a few decades of being part of the system. Mergers, acquisitions, insurance companies, benefit administrators, excessive pay for executive level personnel has eroded the overall quality of care. Health Care has become more of a Health Industry. Too many segments making way too much money. End result. Lower overall quality of care and highest cost anywhere on this planet.

It was common at the clinic I worked at to be a bit more "conservative" with Seniors like what I am now. Quality of life expectations, hope were important. Bit more "holistic" approach. The various departments communicated and worked as one. More than just physical and mental health. Sometimes the basic things in life. Like food and shelter issues. System sets unrealistic limits on the primary care providers to adequately spend quality time with their patients. The common elements of all us at the community clinic were we all took pay cuts, but still more than adequate salaries to live in the Northwoods. Big benefit. Most nights could you could go to bed and not feel so pissed off at the state of the system.

About a decade ago. My now mid-90s Mom when she decided to have see a Geriatric specialist who become her primary provider. He basically stopped all her medications. When she told me she noted that she should have listened to me a decade or two earlier. That is, find a primary care provider who is willing to invest time and thought evaluating your needs. Standard care that from my Mother's perspective was great care.


....

 

[Blue2Orange]

It's interesting to see the history of statin drugs and changes in what is considered "NORMAL" blood pressure. It sure seems like the pharmaceutical companies have influence over the numbers. They indoctrinate people to believe cholesterol in BAD.

With time and more long term data change happens. Vioxx(rofecoxib). The "great" new selective COX-2 inhibitor for the treatment of pain, arthritis. Supposedly better tolerated than the existing NSAIDs. Turns out to be a too selective COX-2 inhibitor. Too high risk for CV events. IIRC, voluntary withdrawal.

Sometimes too much focus on a single easy to comprehend relatively objective and easy to monitor data point like BP. Like any other business the Pharmaceutical Industry worldwide likes to be highly profitable.

To the point of questionable morals. Like withholding data beyond a certain time frame end point. Such as the Motrin article in JAMA that required the journal publishing a "note" upon discovery. IIRC, Seroquel and the data after the 6 month end point. List goes on and on...Requiring you to have something more than a simple understanding statistics. Specific case would be the absolute benefits of statins v. the relative risk of not taking if you have elevated cholesterol and at what specific elevated levels. Makes your brain hurt thinking about what you just read or were told.

 

[aaluck]

I have struggled with high blood pressure since I was about 40. No surprise everyone in my family has it. Like everyone else I really hate taking drugs, but not sure what the alternative is. I guess I put faith in the drs to do what's right/best for me but who knows. I just hate that I am now skeptical of everything.

 

[JimDeL]

It's interesting to see the history of statin drugs and changes in what is considered "NORMAL" ...It sure seems like the pharmaceutical companies have influence over the numbers. They indoctrinate people to believe cholesterol in BAD.

Going back about 35 years, my (then) doctors told me that Cholesterol levels should be under 220. The numbers have been coming ever downward over the years.

I recall telling the doctors back then that my 81-year-old Dad had cholesterol test results in the 300+ range. Doctor responded that "We don't usually treat geriatric patients for cholesterol."

BTW, I'm 81 now, and taking two cholesterol drugs and being told that my total Cholesterol level of 135 is 'borderline high.' Thank you Big Pharma!

 

[D2Cat]

Saw this today.
In 2017, the line defining “high blood pressure” was lowered from 140/90 to 130/80. The change added an estimated 31 million Americans to the patient population and made nearly half of all American adults eligible for pharmaceutical intervention.
No biological change occurred. Only the line moved.

They are now trying to put healthy kindergarteners on it!!!

 

[Lil Foot]

This thread made me realize that my truck is old, (23+ years) but I'm 48 yrs older than that.....
Does that make me ancient, medieval, fossilized?
Sigh....

 

[pigdoc]

M880 is still my only vehicle. Chrysler sold about 50,000 M880s to the military in 1977 and 1978,

Concept for mine is, "The truck that Chrysler SHOULD have sold to the military."

Only parts original to the truck (aside from the data plate) are steering column, dash shell, and frame. I converted it to Cummins 6BT in 2007, about 20 years after Chrysler started putting that motor in Dodge trucks. Mine has the 89-up 47RH trans which is an automatic 3-speed with OD and lockup. I had to move the trans crossmember 1.5" to the rear to accommodate the lockup converter. Otherwise, it was a bolt-in swap.

I'm on my 4th motor since then. Son Charlie is a custom Cummins truck maven - see his Instagram page: metalbycharlie. Cutting edge stuff. So, he's used my truck as a test bed, and we done blowed some stuff up. It's not hopped up much, but it's got a US-cast head on it now, with studs. We found out the hard way that those studs need to be retorqued, or they'll stretch and blow the head gasket. I have about 20K miles on the new motor, and we've retorqued the studs...twice. Should be good to go forever, now. Plus a new radiator and custom aluminum fan shroud help keep things cool.

Other goodies:
NP205 transfer case
Dana 60 SureGrip 3.54 front and rear
Power steering
Heavier springs - now has a 9800 lb GVW
4-wheel disk brakes

I'll never own/drive anything else. I'm set to do a 2000-mile drive in late May with the truck. It gets 15 MPG with the smoke screw turned up. We'll lean it out a bit for the trip. Should get 20MPG, then. In OD, it will cruise at 85MPH comfortably.

Here's an OLD pic, from soon after it was built. Now, she's a bit more worn, like us all...


A funny story.
Couple of years ago, I toasted the rear axle. Outer wheel bearing ran dry and melted the L axle shaft in half! I remembered a yard that had a number of Dodge Sweptlines, and sure enough, the 1967 D200 in there still had its rear axle. Bought the axle for $100. Had to swap the rear gears from the dead axle to the replacement, because the donor had 4.10s in it. Both drive pinions were etched with +2. That denotes the factory shim setup. I just swapped the entire drive pinion, with bearings and shims, swapped the chunk, and checked the gear lash. Nuts on! I was back on the road the next day. Never looked back. Gotta love decades-long interchangeability!

Now, because I'm running the old gear cover plate, I overfill the rear to keep the outer bearings happy. Charlie tells me that the newer Dana 60 covers have the fill hole located 1.5" higher! DOH!

-Paul