Mopar1973Man

Last night I worked till the sun went down 5 hours just trying to stab the clutch but still haven't got the pilot bearing. Today I'm going back for my 3rd day hopefully get it stabbed and start bolting it up. Please if anyone sees me drive or working on a Ford please shoot me. Absolutely the worst vehicle made and sold in the USA.

Just as I left for McCall to head to work this evening it was 98°F.

ATF+4 scares the heck out of me I really do need to change the fluid in Thor very soon. When your working the transmission climbing grades it heats up quickly and gets even thinner. That was another reason I went away from the factory fluid which is no better than 10w-30 engine oil. Yeah it might make for easy shifts but the protection isn't as good. I want the fluid to cling to the bearing and syncro's not to be slung off and leaving a thin film.

Well I know I said I was going back to doing just Dodge Cummins. When you have @Honey Badger uncle asking if I can help him change a manual tranny in a Ford Range I thought is small and light should be easy. Nope. What a pile. So much crap to remove including the front fender shield and the front tire to reach the bell housing, the though to pull the transfer case off... Nope you can get the top 3 bolts. Another time when ford made it so bad it would be better to remove the cab so you can actually reach all the bolts and do it much easier. Since I'm working in @Honey Badger yard it going to be a fun one to finish up.

Awesome suggestion I'll keep that in mind when a cam replacement comes.

Too hard to reach on a 45 degree slope without wiping out a building or having it roll out to the highway. Most of my back yard had been logged already. Hence why I gotta go out to the forest to get mine.

Yeah and no. With all the fires that have burned its rather long hauls to get good firewood. It's like 30 to 40 miles to get to firewood.

Morning temperatures are now dropping into the high 40s. Winter is coming.

Like yesterday was @Honey Badger birthday. We both went up to her place. Honey badger brother came from Hawaii, her mom and dad was there, and friends. It was very warm all the way to 10pm when I left. It wasn't till I got to New Meadows I turned off the A/C. Even this morning is cool but still going to be warm.

Heck still getting mid 90s to 105°F. I get up in the morning at 6am and working by 7am. Like yesterday I got up and ran to McCall and installed injectors in just about 2.5 hours and was home by noon before it got really hot. The client was working local fire here in Donnelly ID. 2005 Dodge Ram 2500.

Here we are seeing signs of a early winter and a deep winter. Must be those DemocRATS news media feeding you misinformation. Bees and wasp are building nest high above the ground and early. They are also out collecting pollen and resources early before the winter storms come. Animals are still high on the mountains currently because of the heat but soon they will be coming down as the storms come. I don't listen to NOAA or any government agency for weather information. I pay attention to animals and my surroundings. Just like today I had to go up the mountain pull a mink out of the neighbors water line. Then the neighbors are warning of a bear coming to their place and raiding the apple trees. Soon to be here raiding as well. Bears are starting to bulk up for winter so... Winter is going to be most likely long and snowy.

We've been floating right about 95 to 105*F all summer make it tough to be working outside boiling sweat.

With +150 HP Injectors (popped at 320 bar) and Stock HX35W turbo I don't even watch the EGT's. Again the biggest thing that will affect EGT's is the final ratio, overly big turbos, and over advanced timing (Boxes like Edge Juice) which don't have any ability to adjust timing but only stack more timing on the existing stock ECM tune which is not correct for larger injectors. Even with what I'm running I've got a pretty good amount of retard to spool the turbo, which keep the smoke at bay. Then once spooled the timing is advanced. If your final ratio is too low (less than 3.55) then the truck will produce high EGT's and poor MPG's. Excessively low cruising RPM are not good they will keep the EGT's high. Like myself with the my setup... Watch the elevation, I'm running nearly flat and 55 MPH the EGT's are super low. Out on the flats of New Meadows, ID

Not really unless your wanting to do bearings on the connecting rods and main bearings. You'll end up removing the pickup tube anyways when you install the new gasket most of the pan gaskets have the oil pickup gasket in the corner and you can cut it free, to install it separately.

Still the ride will improve with softer tire pressures. Yeah I might run the pavement but I also run the dirt roads like yesterday when I ran all the way out to Warren, ID. We also made a trip over to Toller Ditch looking for Huckleberries which the season is nearly over now. Yeah if you run offroad then softer pressure do make for a much nicer ride. Over an hour travel on dirt roads. 2 hour trip from home to Warren ID.

Only if you base your tire pressure off your axle weight than just filling to 80 PSI. So like on my truck empty... 245/75 R16 rated for 3,042 pounds at 80 PSI as a single. Front Axle scale weight = 4,440 pounds Rear Axle scale weight = 2,860 pounds (4440 / 2) = 2220 / 3042 = 0.729 x 80 = 58.3 PSI Front Axle Pressure (2860 / 2) = 1430 / 3042 = 0.470 x 80 = 37.6 PSI Rear Axle Pressure Now if I'm hauling my RV (2000 Jayco Eagle) then I run 60 front and 60 rear pressure and it nearly a Cadillac Ride. Just for information value the 60 / 60 front and rear will hold 8,800 pound of vehicle weight. Even My RV I only run 60 PSI with max inflation of 80 PSI again load range E's. The RV is just about 8,100 pounds scaled. Just my tires 245/75 R16 (Load Rang E's) are rated for 3,042 pounds at 80 PSI so if I multiplied that 4 times, that is 12,168 pounds of vehicle weight my truck can haul but my GVWR is rated for 8,800 pounds. So there is no need for max inflation on any 2500 series truck.

Oil pressure is near correct but there is a few small tweaks I've found. Like Volt Gauge if it reaches 12.00 it displays correctly. But as soon as it hits 11.99 Volts then the gauge drops to 8 volts and trips the check gauge light. Same with Coolant Temp if it passes 230*F it will swing to far end and trip the check gauge light. I've check my oil pressure against a mechanical gauge its correct. The only time it will skew is if the high idle is used then the oil pressure shows high when the coolant drop to 123*F but other than that it shows correct.

Ditch that ATF+4 and run the Mobil 50 SAE, or Valvoline 50 SAE trans fluid the noise in much less its actually 90w gear lube that is GL-4 rated synthetic. I'm running in my NV4500 for years now. I've also loaded a customers truck (2006 Dodge 3500) with G56 with the same fluid and the customer loves it over the ATF+4 and shifts are butter smooth.

With my setup the stock turbo is better than the HX35/40 Hybrid I ran previously. Turbo upgrades are typically done too soon. Then other problem is the most people run oversize tires and wheels and destroy the final ratio. Like myself after tires my final ratio is 3.69:1 being I've got 3.55 gears in front and rear and then running 245/75 R16 tires which are 30 inch tires and it produces that final ratio of 3.69:1 making torque production way better, better MPG's, cooler EGT's being I can run as low as 500*F at 65 MPH. Even towing I rare to pass 1,100*F even climbing to 7,000 plus elevation, in Bridgeport, CA. no problems.

Yes. You can't get the pan out because the pick up tube blocks passage of the pan. You have to lift the engine quite high to get enough room to slip the pan out. After figuring this all out it was super easy. Jack up the frame, jack stand the frame so the front axle hangs free. Pull the two bolts out the engine mount just jack up the engine by the dampener or use a cherry picker and lift at the engine ring. Lift as high as possible. Remove the pan slide it over to one side remove the pick up tube and drop it in the pan. The pan will slide out the back. In my case it fell out by itself.

Because I found out that Blue Top produces some of the parts for Redhead. Not to mention its still a sagnaw box and not a retrofit. I've had a long discussion with Ryan at Blue Top and know several secrets. Kind of like I know that Vulcan Performance builds plumbing parts for AirDog. So go to the source and get the real deal.

I'm running about 500 HP to the rear tires I do have a bit of axle wrap, but not bad. Running a 5 speed which I enjoy way better than the G56 that is in Thor that I really don't like at all. 4th gear to get to 25 MPH. Anyways the spring pack if the you have the camper special like myself has a very thick base spring to prevent wrapping.

Welcome to the site. Sorry for the lag I've been super busy these days. Just to give you an idea about my setup. +150 HP DAP Injectors (7 x 0.010) popped at 320 bar. Stock HX35W Turbo NV4500 Transmission with Valair Dual Disc Clutch 4 inch Exhaust straight Piped Quadzilla Tuner I've high marked at 28 MPG easily and cross the entire state of Washington from Seattle to the Idaho Border near Lewiston, ID for just bit more than 1/4 tank of fuel for 299.5 miles. So if you wanna play the MPG game you got to follow me I'm a pro at squeezing every last bit of MPGs out of a engine.

I'm a Blue Top user myself.

No. The mechanicals are just two lines in and out. No return.