Driving at low rpms/question for Jake and others

[Jake D]

I was following the diagnosis of Pats car which I'm sure many of you were and ever since I read:

"Pat is at great risk for an IMS issue because:
1- The car is an 02 model with a 2.7 and a single row bearing
2- Its a tip
3- Because its a tip coupled to the fact that the car has been driven very easy by Pat because he didn't want to experience an issue..

When driving this car it shifts into 5th gear when in "drive" mode at less than 45 MPH at an RPM of less than 1800.. That spells disaster for the IMS bearing which sees MORE load at the bearing than at higher RPM."

I have become a little more nervous about my car. Some days I go out and run the hell out of it, and other days I cruise around and often find myself under 2000rpms. I drive the thing daily, and want to do some maintenance to my car but due to recent job loss I don't have the $.

I have an 00 S 6speed quickly approaching 50K. Is driving this thing at lower rpms going to come back and haunt me or should I leave it a lower gear and keep the revs up?

I love this site, but the more I read the more nervous I get about owning this thing. I've had 0 problems so far, so maybe I should quit reading all the threads about issues people are having.

Thanks, Jake