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Welp, just ponied up for another year, and I've got to say that this one of the better expenses that I have. The amount of technical knowledge, experience, and willingness to share is outstanding and needs to be supported. For those of you who use this site for information and advise (as I do) remember, it costs money to keep it up and running. Mike and his Mods aren't trying to make money, they're just trying to cover costs. For less than $10 bucks a month we can maintain this site, and continue to have access to one of, if not the best sites for our trucks. Remember, information not shared, is information lost. Mark

Well, I'm completed with chemo and all surgeries... This all comes at a cost to me of 8 months of cancer treatment has weakened me quite a bit. I'm slowly working with my body giving myself a chance of pushing a bit and working muscles that haven't worked in 8 months. I'm off all my Big Pharma drugs and my blood pressure is back to normal. No pain meds or anything. I'm back to using my herbs are supplements and managed to keep normal blood pressure now. I'm now without a bladder or prostate I will never have bladder cancer again. This is a weird one I know people have phantom limb and experience pain and a sense of feeling. How about having a phantom moment thinking I have to urinate? Yup, I had a moment in the morning thinking I needed to pee and get to the bathroom looking down at the bag. Face palm moment knowing that my body doesn't work like that anymore. Yeah, I've had 5 different times feeling like I had to take a leak but nothing there. Try calling to open the bladder and urinate. I more or less get a message back "Printer not available" I've had one ER visit having a bleed on my stoma and wound up spending the day in the ER. It was my blood thinners and of course, my body just wouldn't heal up with anti-clotting pills and blood thinners. That was a bit scary to wake up and find the tubing full of bloody urine and about a full liter overnight. By the time I was done with the ER my backup mount started to fail because of the wipes they used to clean me up so I had my shirt plugging the hole and drove home to change my mount and bag again. Argh! Be aware most hospitals do NOT supply any ostomy supplies because of how rare it is to see one of us. I've been learning how to live again. For a while, it was here at home sore from the pain I could feel and then my blood pressure would reflect the other pains I couldn't feel. It's not too bad being the way I am and I can see how people get along with life but I had to build my confidence in handling my bag changes and doing the mounts quickly. Now I'm showering without any appliance on my body just me and my little red stoma poking out on my belly. I shower normally and wash all the sealants off around my stoma. Yup, I'm currently fighting a minor yeast infection around my stoma. The bad part is having an itch under the base mount. Oh, talk about crazy trying to rub or scratch close to the base to stop the itch. As for my mental state, I'm still a crazy Cummins owner. Seriously, my makeup work and cosplay are getting better as time goes on. It has been a wild ride working with many medical people and at the same time dealing with all the depression that you could be faced with and finding a way to always pull it together and do something wild and make people laugh and smile at what I do. For a very short time, I'm capable of enjoying life with all the medical devices I've had on my body between the pair of bags hooked to my kidneys and now the ostomy and stoma on my body. Something else to throw in there... I met a gal in one of my appointments. On my last ostomy appointment, I was 2 hours early because of worry about road construction but made it early. I was waiting in the hallway by the elevators and started talking to older gal that was waiting for her appointment you have to remember I'm in full makeup and with my spiked collar and concert shirt on. Suzanna came off the elevator and points at me and said, "I remember you from the last visit!". I was very curious what she had to say. Suzanna was the first of anyone to ask me for my phone number because she was truly interested in me for my wild nature and makeup work. We talk every evening and phone calls last for hours talking about all kinds of topics and being very open with each other. We both come from abusive past so neither one of us wants to hurt the other. The crazy part is I wouldn't have met her unless I had my ostomy surgery and went to my appointments in full dress mode with makeup. So my limitation now is I'm a high hernia risk for life so I cannot lift anything heavy at this point because my belly has a lot of scars where the doctor was pulling my bladder and prostate out then a larger scar under my belly button where he reached in a cut about 9 inches of small intestine where my small and large intestine met. This is brought forward to hook both my kidneys to the right side of my belly. All this healed up well and no issues. Good news! I'M CANCER FREE !!!! Now keep in mind I just cheated death TWICE. I will survive this but I'm pretty sure it took a bit out of my lifespan. So I'll admit my life has been forever changed by the two runs of cancer. Its very frustrating to attempt to do some of my old tasks and have issues with the ostomy being in my way or limiting what I can do because currently I have to still be careful of my kidney till I hear bac on my labs if my kidney are improving.

Big thanks to you for getting those computers back to me. Also, I messaged Mike on here this morning and he was a phone call away in no time helping me source this issue! That’s a community This is why I really enjoy this forum. In the beginning we had Dave Fritz/Dodgeram.org, now we have TDR (to some extent). Finally we have this place where all the mysteries have been solved. Don’t forget Mike as we discussed: You may perish of cancer but the forum lives forever, so you live forever!

Thank you for the wonderful comment. Truth yes it's still paying to keep the server alive and keep paying the bills. Remember Mopar1973Man.Com is the LAST PRIVATELY OWNED WEBSITE left. I'm not owned by a corporate clearing house like Cummins Forum which is owned by VerticalScope Inc. Or DieselBombers which is owned by Internet Brands. All these other websites are corporate owned groups.

@Mopar1973Man It looks like he has the updated main shaft already. I purchased several of my transmission parts from Allstate Gear online. The 5th gear nut I used was their "super nut" kit that cane in the master rebuild kit that I bought. I has to replace all 3 shafts, input shaft, counter shaft and the kit came with the full spline updated main shaft as well. My trans was trashed. The main shaft bearing in the front took a massive dump and trashed everything. Also, get a big torque wrench! As Mike mentioned, the 5th gear nut needs to be torqued to 300ft/lbs. DO NOT use a chisel and hammer and think it's good. It isnt. I post some pics of mine below. The carnage More carnage New input shaft and counter shaft New counter shaft in place, reused the small reverse idler. Case has been cleaned here also New main shaft installed, also replaced the tail housing with a cast iron piece. OEM was aluminum and had the mount holes hogged out of round. Now, the shift ring or collar that I have circled in this pic are important! I installed the ring backwards. If you look closely the ring is flat on one side and has a tapper on the other. The flat side has to go toward the large gear to the right as shown in the pic. Due to installing that ring backwards I do not have the use of 1st gear. I don't need it unless towing and I will pill it and make it right, just haven't yet. Hope all this helps!

Well I'm coming back. I'll admit I'm not able to do a lot of jobs. Anything in the heavy lift is over. Currently have Thor stuffed in the house garage and getting ready to go back over the injectors again. Now Thor my 2006 Common rail is my pet project. Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes the new version of me will be going public. Sadly no more wrench time for me. I'll still play with my own rigs. My problem is I've got to consider my stoma and kidneys. So I'll continue my education of the Cummins line. As for my medical issues I'm clean of cancer nearly 6 months. Check up coming. I'm stuck with Stage 3 Cronic Kidney disease this is due to my kidneys being choked by the cancer. The website I'm going to upgrade software and there is a lot of new features coming. Stay tuned in. There is a feature to have live chats again and when the chat ends it will convert the chat unto a forum thread auto-magically. One of many.

I'm still here. I'm still waking up every morning ready to battle each day. Even though my body is not quite ready for the world of work but I'm trying to figure out how to work with my new body. I'm thankful I've got a few good friends that advocate for me and helped out. I need to call out Mark Hall thank you for being a close friend and helping out get my firewood for the winter. Then Dan Catherman for bringing his Datsun pickup with his fishing pole setup that loaded all the logs on my trailer. Then Einer for helping up in going out and doing the heavy work getting the firewood loaded. I'm even making attempts to see how much I can do. I had the driver's wheel joint fail last spring. I managed to change it out but took two days getting it done and still not quite right. The wheel joint is fine but my slide pins on the calipers need replacing and the kits were missing the rubber boots. Now to add a bit of good news. I had to endure hell to get to heaven. What do I mean by this. My hell was handling my mother's dialysis, my mother's death @MoparMom, 3 bad relationships. Then hit with bladder cancer both times on 2018 and 2023 Christmas. Then deal with 4 months of chemo. Then a 7-hour surgery to modify my body to no longer have a prostate or bladder which are gone! Now on my trip to Portico West medical building, I ran into Suzanna Lopez and had a few words and got called into my appointment. Now during my appointment, I rescheduled for 2 weeks not the 4 weeks that the doctor wanted. This lined me up to see Suzanna a second time and she came off the elevator and said "I remember you from the last time!" yes this was true. I was decked out in my Black and blue hair and makeup. She got in and sat down and the first thing she asked was for my phone number. Crazy fact Suzanna is the first woman to walk up to me in 53 years to ask me for my phone number. I asked why she was impressed with my makeup and appearance as well as some of my story about my cancer and taking care of my mother. Suzanna has more or less just stayed with me. She is attempting even right now to sort through all the Social Security documents and getting information dealt with. She has been there for all my medical appointments too. We have already been together already 2 months and have a difficult time when we are separated for a length of time. Suzanna issues are that she was injured in an accident that broke her left ankle and then had issues for most of her life. Now she had her ankle fused and now we are healing together attempting to support each other to work out and get back into shape. So there you go gang a tidbit of good news. I'm trying to get over the Social Security hurdles and she is being a huge help.

If your seatbelts are stiff or slow to retract, I found this little trick online that really helped mine out. I was constantly having to force feed my seatbelts back into the retractors and it was driving me nuts. I got some clamps, pulled my belts all the way out and used the clamps to hold them out. I filled two medium sized bowls with hot water and dawn dish soap and let the belts soak overnight. The next day I changed the water and used a brush to scrub them a bit and then did my best to dry them with a towel. I left the widows down and let the belts finish air drying for the day. When I removed the clamps the belts were slow to retract from having the springs compressed for so long but they bounced back after a few uses. Now my seatbelts work like new, no more force feeding them in.

I'm still here its just been very busy running back and forth with my medical appointments. I'm also on another leash issue. I've got to be careful how much I'm working on my website since the different government agencies know that my website is still here and producing income so it has been reported. Now if I'm working too many hours on my website it could disqualify me from getting any benefits from these agencies. I'm very limited on what I can do. I'm sorry if I'm not here in the lime light as usual...

I finally got around to installing my Geno’s dash top and junkyard dash core. This also marks the near completion of my interior color swap. The only thing I have left to do is paint the overhead console. I also installed a new pioneer head unit I had ordered several years ago as well. It’s so nice having everything on the dash attached to something else. I used a dash core from a slightly older truck which only has the one driver side power port. I didn’t realize my airbag switch wouldn’t fit so I hid it behind the dash and got the other power port from the junkyard that properly filled the hole.

Also best ways to test what works and dont work. Friends are trying so hard to make every thing like super tasty or trying bring more normal food. I paid the price twice in a day. AJ brought me a half of BLT sandwich. Oh that was so good but the lettuce made me gassy and painful. Ouch. Then Einar made a creamy type of hamburger helper looked good but just a but strong on black pepper oh that hurt again. Now that I'm attempting to get things right and such yeah I've gotta be careful on foods I eat even though it looks good smells good no high fiber oh my Gwad that chit hurts. Today I've got to change my bag day. MON and WED. Right now my belly is sore from a few food mishaps. No high fiber foods I ate a leaf of lettuce OMG that hurt. Then Einar made a home brew hamburger helper for me but there was black pepper mixed in tasted awesome but OMG that hurts. You know I'm enjoying my 2L night bag I can couple up and pass out for entire night. I could change to MON and THU being I'm a bit sore right now. We will see how morning goes and if im showing any signs of leaking or skin problems. Might be nice to shower after my woulds on my back and belly are tended to first this morning. Other than that the old Michael Nelson is changing before peoples eyes and my not putting up with bullchit from anyone but taking care of me first. I seriously thinking going to Urgent Care and getting my wounds looked at and see how much I can get removed. Grab a few bottles of alcohol for sanitizing my work space. This way on bag change days I can get a shower without bag and clean up really good. Afterwards I do have to dry my skin very well to ensure the base sticks to my belly like putting on a bandaid on a wet finger. Don't work. Second night with my night bag is awesome and sleep the full time of the night without the mental call to wake up and drain my bladder or old bag systems. Even all my time in the hospital I was just enjoying to be different. This part of my life I don't care. I still continue to do my make up daily and my hair. Just like my body I'm forever changed I'll never be the same. With my stoma I can get hernias easy being those muscles have been cut. I've got a bag hanging off the front of my belly. Now ive got to learn my new life and how to do things carefully and being able to get the bag change down to a science. It not quite peel and stick on. The is steps to remove, clean, prep the new bag and base with sealant, and apply. Only like 15 minutes but I'll admit I'm nervous first time solo today. I'm more or less looking for the most bang for the buck today. Note to self I need razor blade I need to shave.

I'm home. Man it's so nice to crash in my own bed at night. My pain level and anxiety are much lower. My blood pressure is very easy to control using my cannabis. I also so nice to lay in bed all night and not have alarms or bag to dump every 4 hours. I got home Einar made dinner and I loaded up with plenty of food. Started hitting the vape pen I got pretty stoned last night moved to my bed and set up my night bag. Got myself hooked up and rolled over and passed out at 9pm and slept till 5am. That was awesome sleep. I feel very recharged and ready for today. My pain is like when your doing injectors the milk crate slides out from your feet and you scrap your belly on the hood latch. Internally I feel nothing. In my lower back I feel nothing. So basically I feel the skin level stuff but internally I'm a constant zero. I know I'm going to heal much faster at home than in the hospital. My anxiety is way down now too. I was anxiety drug and I'm glad I got one it helped the entire time I was in the hospital being it was on my med list. I've gotta say I'm very thankful the people that took care of me in the hospital were awesome. Right down to the housekeepers and all the way up to the charge nurse for the floor. Thank you all!!! Sad news over the weekend my neighbor Jim had a minor heart attack and fluid in the lungs. Sadly my neighbor passed away June 30th 8pm. Rest In Peace - Jim Gould. He was a wonderful neighbor both Jim and Sharon adopted me into there family after mom passed away. I had the blessing to have the ability to get the charge nurse to release me from my floor and be transported by wheel chair down to see Jim one last time. I'm home and doing rather quite well for a guy that had his bladder and prostate remove then 9 inches of my small intestine turned into my stoma and plumbing. Having a ostomy bag isn't the end of the world. After everything heals on me it won't be bad at all. I can mens urinals again. Yeah I've got to do some clothes shopping get shirts and different pants to work with my ostomy bag. It was awesome to sleep through the night at home. Another sad moment in time. Lost another friend to a very rare form of cancer that attacks the soft connective tissues in the body his started in his neck and between chemo and radiation wasn't enough and cancer won and took his life two days before my surgery. Rest In Peace - Randy which was a friend. Now the struggles of learning my new life after I heal for a good month. Like standing in front of the bathroom mirror and looking at my belly for really the first time. I've been cut all over my belly and have the doctor digging into me to create my urostomy. Yeah it looks like it hurts. but here shortly have some my holes heal up I can finally take normal showers with my ostomy bag. It will be like my first full shower in the hospital. I was like a little kid play in the water and running over my back and my head having a ball. As for changing my ostomy bag it not hard at all but I'm going to take advantage of my 2 piece bag and just mount the base first before snapping the bag to the base so I can center the base hole easier over my stoma on my belly which is 1-3/8 for size for my base hole stoma is closer to 1-1/4 so there is a bit of give for mount and so I don't rub the stoma much. As for the hospital stay. I had more fun at night with nurses. I make a request for a night walk and nurse would vote on my 3 different wigs I brought along. Every one staff wise loved my avatar photo which is my black and purple hair and my black makeup. Change of shift I ended up with different staff so the fun always got started few hours after shift change. Most would inquire about my look and hair. Everyone enjoyed put smiles on even other patients i would happen to see on my walks.

For all of you that use a Big Honkin' Air Filter like myself. While back I quit putting the air filter minder in the head of the filter, well I went a bit too long on this filter even though the restriction is minimal really didn't see any huge temp difference per se. Now changing to fresh BHAF supplied by @dieselautopower and got it installed. Very small changes in temperature did occur. Coolant is down about 3 degrees, engine oil temperature is down about 3 degrees as well. Now EGTs really didnt change a lot but cruise state seems a tad cooler hard telling. Now as for MPG just making the trip down for my chemo appt. I only used 1/8 of fuel for 125 mile trip. I did go toe to toe with a sport car running the canyons. Kind of fun to have quicker spool and just a bit more fuel/air mix keeping heavy throttle usage a bit lower in EGTs even on level 5.

As of today I'm officially done with chemo. So all this time of doing my chemo I always dressed up and did my make up. Today I walk into the cancer clinic plain me. No wig, no make up, etc. Just my DAP shirt and jeans. Most of the staff did not know it was me. As for my health I'm starting to have flow to my bladder and peeing like a normal guy most of the time now. I've still got tubing into both kidneys and bags but that is to give the best chance of healing for my kidneys. I canceled the final chemo because of my weakness and nausea was getting out of control. Now I can start to heal up and build my endurance and strength again. Still gotta be careful because of my tubing and bags hooked to my kidneys. Yeah my hair is starting to grow back but we are still getting off and on snow and rain. It really makes me cold without one of my wigs. People are more used to seeing my wild hair and makeup than normal me. Yup that's how I went to McCall to go shopping for some food stuff and take care of meds and other things. Yes I'm doing pretty good but like I said I'm weak and can't walk a long ways without getting winded.

My buddy traded me a first gen 6bt to do some body work for him on his truck. So several patch panels later I got a "free" engine.

Wanted to show something here. Here’s the new APPS, number on it is 133284, same as the Timbo. Even though I ordered a 131973 this is what comes now. You can buy these at any truck dealership. Here’s a pic of my relocation bracket.

I would like to introduce myself to all of you. I met Michael last July in Meridian, Idaho at a medical facility. He had a follow up appointment for his urostomy/ileostomy, while I was getting wound care treatment for my ankle. We briefly met at this place once before but had not been able to chat. On this particular July day, we had a few minutes to chat. As I learned more about Michael's life, I realized that he is an amazingly unique person with a kind heart and good old fashioned values. Upon listening to how he sacrificed on behalf of his mother's need for dialysis in the midst of dealing with his bladder cancer, I began to highly respect and admire this wonderful man. He genuinely cares for people. I knew he was amazingly unique...and I did NOT want to lose track of him. So...I asked for his phone number immediately after he was called in for his appointment. I wanted to know more about him. The crazy thing is that I was adamantly resolved to never get involved with another man at that time! However, we have NOT been apart for more than a few consecutive days since the time we met up at his house shortly after our encounter in Meridian! My interest grew even more when I learned he's a Diesel Mechanic. I was already familiar in auto mechanics, as my dad was an auto mechanic himself doing it as a hobby. I come with a small background in basic auto mechanics...my dad graciously taught me how to do a few maintenance repairs on my own car. To further expand my knowledge base, I have recently joined the Mopar1973man website as Michael's partner, another site administrator and his "soon to be" wife! Our plan is to get married this Spring! We have discussed a few exciting ideas that we would like to implement in the future. We are also working on improving this website for all of you. Be safe out there on those roads!! And...stay tuned!!

WT mod should be done in full first. I don’t have much troubleshooting experience with autos as I have the 6 spd but from what I understand a lot of issues are solved when the mod is done. At least you can rule that out.

We were right, the harness itself was wired incorrectly. IAT and ECT plugs reversed. New harness arrived and problem solved! 3 and 6 both work with correct values displayed.

@mace, I have performed the power steering pump and vacuum pump conversion that you brought to this site. I hope you are still perusing the site and will see this. The time and effort spent on this project (and the APPS relocate) has been very worthwhile. Much engine space has been freed up and the power steering reservoir is right where it should be for easy fluid check / fill. The reservoir is like the brake master cylinder reservoir – you can see the fluid level through the reservoir. An unexpected benefit is that this direct mount power steering pump outperforms any previous power steering pump that has been on this truck. There is no more stopping of the steering wheel when the power steering is under high demand, such as when maneuvering in tight spaces, steering from stop to stop with little forward or backward movement of the truck. I started the project by finding a location for the new power steering reservoir, which was going to be right where the APPS assembly used to be. Then I built a mounting bracket for the reservoir (shown below). The first part of the bracket assembly is designed to let the weight of the oil and reservoir rest in the V slot. In the above photo, note the welded nut where the tab on the top of the reservoir is screwed into the bracket. In the photos below, more brackets are added to fasten the unit to the engine. Below is the new location for the reservoir in the engine compartment - lots of space available for mounting with the removal of the APPS and APPS mounting assembly. I don't have any photos of the actual pump mount, but the mounting is straight forward, especially with the addition of studs instead of bolts. Much easier installation the old vacuum pump / power steering pump combination was. I didn't use a gasket - just the grey Permatex RTV gasket maker. The one thing that Mace did that I should have done (which he clearly mentioned) is to have the pump suction fitting turned down on a lathe from 22 mm to 19 mm to match the 19 mm connection on the reservoir. Because I didn't do that, I have not-so-neat connections from the pump suction to the reservoir (another reason to not take a photo down there). @Mace, thank you again for making this possible. That’s all, folks! John

One step closer

This is an entirely new method of not just relocating the controller but making one from scratch. It's independent of an ECU. I made a github project with all the details https://github.com/Greatwrk/VP44-EXPLORER

I know its been long overdue to do some background code work to fix some of the server configuration issues. You have o remember I was working on the changeover from CentOS to AlmaLinux and the different control panels from cPanel to InterWorx. I've hit a few walls on getting the server cleaned up. I've got to build a whole new my.cnf for the MariaDB software. So bare with me I'm working in the background and trying to make this a fast server once again. The other problem is start getting people that want to write articles and build the site information up. Lot more to come soon.

Another update. Medically I'm healing slowly. Finally made it past my first cancer check and still going. No medical appts except for PT which I need to help ditch my spare tire. I need more core strength to prevent having hernia anytime soon. Still a risk with any heavy lifting. Tidbit that is funny that my makeup and Goth look now has nurses betting with money what I'm going to be wearing. Yeah it true I just was down getting resized from 1 inch stoma to 7/8 inch stoma and change the Rx. The nurse was overjoyed when I was there with my black and purple hair and makeup.

I decided to open source my stand alone VP44 electronics project. I started a github repository. It's far from a bolt on replacement. It's just a prototype but it has been running reliably for a couple of years now. Unfortunately, it's not a project for beginners and requires good soldering experience and there is one surface mount part on the board. The circuits have some high energy parts and requires some testing before operating. The software is not simple and has time critical routines. An in depth understanding of the MCU internal peripherals (timers, PWM) is also required. Any mistakes in assembly or coding can cause permanent damage to the fuel solenoid or speed sensor. My project explores the electrical operation of the mysterious VP44. I included some diagrams and tutorial. The mechanical operation is described on various websites so I skipped it. It may help to review some of those sites. https://github.com/Greatwrk/VP44-EXPLORER

Corners done and ready for paint....

With stock sized / near stock sized tires and stock suspension height - I say no. I am not sure that there would be any benefit even with bigger tires and raised suspension. I installed a steering brace years ago and I have since removed it. The one thing that bothered me about the steering brace was that there were only two set screws (90° apart) for centering the bearing on the the Pitman shaft. That never made sense to me - it always forced the bearing to one side which in turn forced the Pitman shaft to one side, and the set screws would never stay tight. That did made sense to me. I would think that three set screws at 120° apart would have allowed for accurately centering the bearing and would have kept the set screws tight. - John

Got to spend a day at L&L classic auto in Wendell, ID last week. They have 120 acres of vehicles from the 20’s and up. They loaned us a trailblazer for $10 to tool around the yard in. My friend Dan got some parts for his 59 Plymouth and my other friend Matt got a door for his 82 mustang. The yard was awesome, my only complaint would be the pricing. They tell you when you get there not to remove anything until you get a price just in case you don’t like it. Thankfully I was only there for the scenery and to help scout.

So my trips back and forth to medical appointments are coming to a end. I'm attempting to get my disability fired up but I've got to play ball with all the different agencies and play by their rules. Social Security limits me on the amount of hours I'm allowed to work my website currently. Then Welfare limits me on how much income I'm allowed to have as well. As for information, I'm still helping guys with different truck issues. I have to do it where I'm not in public view sadly. Like I got to run and get a plumbing part today. I'm trying to build my strength up and return to my old self. Sadly I'm still very weak and have issues just holding my 1/2" impact gun in my hand it too heavy to do much work with it yet. My belly I've lost most of my muscles through my abdomen and gained more fat more so. Ugh! Yeah I still weigh the same old 235 pounds but my body fat content is higher. Ugh. I took a break and went camping for 3 days at Smokey Boulder Rd. Yeah, it was great, the simple task of hitching the RV will wear me down and get me huffing and puffing to catch my breathe at times. Not having the endurance I used to have... But I didn't get here overnight it was 8 months of cancer treatments and surgeries that did this and will take me time to recover my strength. I'm working at smaller and lighter jobs like picking up the loose stones in the yard and cleaning up the yard carefully and slowly. I'm a high-risk hernia patient now. I'm no longer capable of heavy lifting of anything now. Like doing a transmission or clutch job is out of my range of work forever sadly. My endurance last about 4 to 5 hours on average before I'm too tired to work anymore. I still have to monitor my blood pressure since I can't feel pain internally in my back or around my kidneys. When my blood pressure rises I've got to go lay down and let my pain levels back down to get my blood pressure back to normal realm. You have no idea how much not being able to handle my business and work on truck affects me mentally. It absolutely sucks and very depressing. Then not looking forward to more medical visits all the time you are doing this. 3.5 hour drive to Boise to be poked at by a doctor for one reason or another. Running across town to handle Norco Inc for my Ostomy supplies I'll be using forever. How about sitting on my riding lawn mower (zero turn) and have your ostomy bag blow out and soak you in your own urine? Yup this happened twice now. I've even have to be careful standing up if my bag is nearing full. I can catch it between my thigh and squeeze the bag and blow it out over my lap. I've done that too. I'm still learning and still trying to get all this figured out. My fun stuff... I still enjoying making smiles as I travel back and forth to places.

I'm starting to do my training for my ostomy bag. Which I've got to change every 3 to 4 days. Yeah kind of funky to have a chunk of my small intestine poking out of my belly. I manage to cut the hole in the base need a bit of help smoothing the hole out. Then there is a putty to roll out in your hands to make a ring to help seal my bag. Got it all in place and change for the first time. Feeling good enough to do make and hair today.

I heard this song on Pandora as I was coming home from a doctor visit and heard the song. I actually stopped in Ontario OR and played the lyrics as I ate lunch. Very fitting song for what going on in my life.

This is near home. This is Fall Creek. Just happened to see a good pictures and figured I'd share my spring day. Side note: I'm almost done with my chemo 1 left to go. Yes imhanging in there.

New alternator is now installed. She's alive!!! Removed the old one and spun the pulley and the bearings seem nice and smooth. Had a conversation with @Mopar1973Manyesterday, I think I will rebuild the original with new brushes and regulator, clean it up and stock it on the shelf for a spare. Never hurts to have apare parts!

Thanks for being honest, but you could scare away some newcomers to the site. - John

No. Quadzilla is not required. No. The switch is my design. I developed it to allow you to control the Cummins ECM high idle software. So if you looking to warm up your Cummins quickly then this switch is for you. There are other tricks like using the 6 cyl mode for keeping the alternator up while jump starting. Using 6 cyl mode for cool a hot truck off before jumping in the summer. Don't get wrapped up solely on just warming up but there are several other things a high idle kit can do. Yes, this switch can be used with a Quadzilla Adrenaline too.

I'll see if I can get a picture of mine during lunch.

You guys!...., that piston is not in backwards - that cylinder is only supposed to be used when backing up! - John

Thank you!! We are so excited for this upcoming Spring! And yes, it will be very nice to meet you in person...may be we can travel to you!! I am also enjoying the website. And plan to assist Michael in making some changes to improve areas on the website. Thank you very much for your sentiments and well wishes! What you said is so true! We already have shared so much...and our relationship just keeps getting better and better!

Congratulations

Currently I have a wif sensor in the airdog water separator. Removed the drain and put the sensor in. I ran a jumper harness from that to the engine harness plug. Like I mentioned I unplugged it at the harness side and it’s still stays on. I’m not sure if this is a problem from ACS. I did order a new apps through my work (Inland Kenworth). Williams Control 131973. I should have it by Tuesday. Hopefully it solves my P0122 issue, I will check the wiring harness I made when I relocated in on Monday to confirm is not melted or something.

That should eliminate it from drawing in any air then.

Sorry for the late update. I was able to replace 5th gear and make it home without issue. It was a heck of a lot harder to torque that nut to spec than expected, but I got it and it seems to be holding fine for now. Thank you everyone for your help!

If your going to pull the 5th out why not just put a new one in while you have it apart? At least it should get you home, then to a proper rebuild. I rebuilt mine (4x4), they're not extremely hard to do, many good videos online to take you step by step.

Have you ever considered an Alice Cooper look? Mark

Did a bit of truck driving and got a friend to help get firewood loaded. Yeah Beast is back in action just myself I cannot lift anything heavy yet. I can do light function ls like fueling saws, sharpen chains, etc. Again I don't have the strength to lift nor do I want a hernia from lifting.

Here is an article that might help to install a lift pump relay. https://mopar1973man.com/cummins/articles.html/24-valve-2nd-generation_50/51_engine/59_fuel/installing-protective-lift-pump-relay-r501/?tab=comments#comment-55

Look up dual tank control valves. You should be able to get either a manual or electromechanical valve for controlling fuel on a stock set up. Now AirDog / FASS is tougher with 1/2 inch lines. Just consider gravity setups it's possible to over fill if you forget to shut the valve.

Here it is...

I can't speak to O'riley's but I used to be a loyal autozone customer. I have noticed in the past several years their quality has dropped dramatically. Their "lifetime" parts are cheap Chinese made garbage which allows them to keep handing you a new replacement every year or two. I have a local Napa store near me and I have to say the quality of the parts there is much better than AZ. I will pay a bit more to save on doing the labor involved all over again. In general though, replacement part quality I believe has suffered everywhere to some degree or another. Just my $.02