First a 17mpg tank while towing (total flatland slow speed fluke, but I'll take what I can get), the only issues were really simple (exhaust brake linkage lost a C clip; broken fuel tank strap with no damage done at all), and now.....I was prepared to tear my dash out to get at the top of the heater box to deal with a stuck blend door. I pulled the heater controls first and found a kinked control cable. Detached it, straightened it out, and all seems well. Door moves, not sticky, not jammed, nothing. Hope it stays that way!SCORE! :thumb1:Maybe it's getting ready to treat me better. Maybe it'll treat me well enough that it will get some body work out of me

Sometimes all it need is a bit of TLC and the truck behaves much better...

the last time I was thinking of doing my rockers and fender, it got a motor instead.I was really about ready to practice on the bad spots on my doors last summer when I got to do a trans again.I think it's skeered of being pretty!

Or worse like your Avatar...

I know what you mean. My plans for this Spring took a back seat to getting it running again Diesel shop charges set back other projects... I really want to get my rusted out doors fixed.

Well it turns out I was wrong on the heater controls - not fixed. The kinked cable was a symptom not a cause :banghead:I bandaided that for my trip by putting in a shutoff valve on the heater hose where I'd had a flush port. So at least I can have cool air.Other than that, another smooth Virginia turnaround. 2100 miles in 2 weeks. I'm no Caj, but I'll be catching my buddy's 311k near-twin of my truck quick at this rate. He made the same Virginia trip with me - on the way down his NV4500 started making bad noises in everything but 4th. On the way back, in Selinsgrove PA after we were in city traffic, he said it sounded like something fell through the gears. Made an awful noise and we stopped. It still had all gears, and apparently after that the noise got better No issues the rest of the way home.The third of 5 Cummins trucks in our little group (along with a Chev 6.0 gasser and a PowerStroke 6.0) had his tcase start popping out of gear when running through the gears. bungee cord took care of it well enough but the splines are probably shot now. I'm blaming a loose trans mount but tough to say.I wish we'd had a picture of all of us at once, it was a huge group.'96 Ford F Series box truck, B5.9 175, 5sp with a TJ Rubicon on 35s in the box6.0 Superduty with a brand new 36' deck Vintage enclosed tri-axle +2' height with two CJ buggies inside6.0 Chevy with tube chassis on 40s on an open trailer'01 5.9/6sp with a 24' deck enclosed with the race buggy I codrive insidemy '97 with my 36' open goose with a Toyota truggy on 38s and a Jeep Comanche truggy on 37s'97 "dump bus Jr" 5.9/5sp/Gear Vendors with a Grand Cherokee ZJ on 35s and a TJ Rubicon on 33s on a 25' equipment trailer.'04 Common Rail/6sp with a wrapped 26' enclosed tag trailer with a moon buggy inside.