BluePine

So I am sorry, I know this isn’t quite the right section for post… but was closest I could find Looking for people who may have similar trucks to mine, and what they would be willing to part with them for. Mine was stolen from in front of my house, and after a few months and more phone calls than anyone would consider reasonable, the insurance co and I are talking numbers… first number was $10k and second was $12 We aren’t even close, however I am struggling to find comparable vehicles listed for sale …. it was a 99 Dodge Ram 2500- 24 valve- Automatic (just rebuilt) , Short bed extended cab, leather seats (had just installed new ones that month), 225k miles, Fifth wheel and regular towing, upgraded HO alternator, fass lift pump, cold air intake, I know I am forgetting a lot, I’ll update as I remember Any help would be greatly appreciated… thanks in advance

I would like to make a follow up statement; despite my dissatisfaction for the asshats who took my truck ... I absolutely haven’t been happier.. life is fantastic... without looking I stumbled across the guy I was always suppose to be with... a guy who isn’t intimidated by the grease, and is a fellow garage dweller... we have successfully conquered more than a few houses together now (living and working in a construction site for months on end) and shockingly still like each other.. we have an adorable puppy who is spoiled beyond belief and makes us take a break every now and then to go for a hike ... I didn’t mean to share so much, just felt it necessary to share the positive as there is tooo much negative in the world these days

And just throwing it out there... currently in midst of fighting with insurance company over “replacement cost” so if there is somewhere you’d recommend posting a quick note to get any opinions about that... let me know and I’ll update the specs as best as I can and repost Also, in the market for a different truck if anyone is looking to get rid of one

Oh no, I honestly started to ramble and wasn’t very clear... yes the truck pictured was the one that was stolen twice... bugger...

So it’s been a number of years since I have been on this fantastic resource of a group forum, however I just wanted to say thank you for all the past assistance and share my story. I’ll try my best to give you the cliff notes version... I found this forum during an exceedingly, difficult time in my life when the one thing I could do that would make the rest of the day melt away was work on my truck... however I had very little knowledge but wanted to learn... I would spend hours reading through old posts during many sleepless nights... I was even a little nervous about admitting I was a female, so I think I may have even initially signed up under my husbands name... My truck was the only thing I kept during my horrendous divorce... I refused to let my husband take it... I signed over my business, my house... seriously everything except my truck... well... the divorce ended up dragging on for more time than is even reasonable to think about... and I ended up naming the truck “baby” bc of the redonkulous fight over it and how attached I grew to it... nothing crushes your sole more than when your soon to be ex tells you the only reason he wants the truck is so he can smash it or sell it for pennies... grrr I hid Baby in a number of friends yards, garages and an assortment of other places... I finally thought it was safe to get her out of hiding this past year after my ex passed away and well the drama was finally over... whew... I finally could allow myself to do a few things I had wanted to do, I reupholstered the seats With leather, installed new carpet... and so many other things... I’ll list later... I was working down in Arvada, CO and she was stolen from right in front of the house I was working on flipping... full of my tools and laptop and well it felt like my whole life... I had disconnected the battery and popped a variety of fuses and yet they were able to steal her In less than a min. I heard her drive away and literally ran after it like a crazy person Luckily she self rescued as I predicted, I had been putting off fixing a leaky connection on the power steering pump, and just topping it off before I drove it. Within 15 miles Baby was abandoned in a field... however stripped down horribly... transmission gone, beat to **** and horrific looking. It was towed to a insurance yard and then to a diesel mechanic that was recommended by the insurance co... and then she disappeared for real... stollen from the mechanics parking lot ARE U SERIOUS? so I thought I’d share my tail of sadness not for sympathy but merely a heads up... make sure you have some cleaver anti theft disable tricks... bc people are getting more serious about taking these trucks...

My power steering pump went out, started to loose braking power on wadsworth, pulled over and power steering was gone! I have my small tool box with me but need any help I can get! Call me at 970-531-7137 Thanks Sarah

I had ordered the Drawstraw I so unfortunately I can't just clip the stock return into the drawstraw... however looking at the Vulcan website I think I can order an adapter to make the connection... I am going to call them tomorrow and talk to them to make sure I am ordering the correct part... Definitely will keep you posted and will do a detailed write up, so hopefully I can help someone from making the same mistakes that I did...

I knew I had forgotten to include somethings that I have already done... The brake fluid being one of them. My front driver side brake hose cracked and so I ended up replacing both the passenger and driver side hoses bc actually getting the correct replacement hose became a ridiculous issue... The first hose I purchased from my local parts store was actually for the front passenger side instead of drivers side, then the second hose that was for the drivers side was not the correct one either as it was meant for the 4 wheel ABS truck, which mine is 2 wheel ABS (go figure) and so finally the 3rd hose was the correct one. I thought about upgrading to the stainless steel hoses since I drive on unmaintained dirt roads frequently, which was actually where my hose finally gave way was when I had ended up high centering after a very rainy few days and I ended up taking a wrong turn on a very dark road and when I turned around I backed up a lil too far and the shoulder ended up being very soft and pulled the rear end of the truck right in... UGH, our 4wheel drive has been having issues and my husband had sworn that sometimes it would actually engage and sometimes it wouldn't... I put the truck in neutral and tired to put it into 4 low, and there was a horrible grinding noise even though I had waited for the engine to go back to idle before shifting to neutral... I stopped attempting to shift into 4 low and decided to try for 4 high... same grinding noise but not nearly as bad... but after shifting into 4 wheel drive (or at least moving the gear shifter) my parking brake light and my ABS light came on... I ended up having to get towed out of the ditch but on my way home I quickly realized that my brakes were having serious issues. It seemed as if they were engaging even when I didn't have my foot on the pedal and when I did press the pedal my tires locked up... luckily I wasn't too far from a friends house so I parked there until I could look at the system in the daylight. The leaking hose was not as apparent as I would've thought, mainly bc the brake fluid reservoir was completely drained even though it didn't appear to be at first glance as the old fluid had left a stained reservoir... but once I added more fluid and pumped the brake pedal it was quite obvious where the leak was coming from. Once the new hoses were installed, and new fluid added, I was able to convince my husband to help me bleed the system, unfortunately both of the bleeder screws in the rear cylinders were very rusted and he sheered both of them off... a few inappropriate exchanges later and two trips to the local parts store for new bleeder screws and another easy out, I finally gave up and decided it would be simpler to just replace the rear cylinders than spend anymore time on the bleeder screw debacle. So another trip to the parts store and about 30 mins of time to take apart the rear brake/ wheel assemblies... and we finally had working brakes...and a completely flushed system since each time we refilled the reservoir we ran into another problem which lead to leaking fluid all over the garage floor. On my list of things to do is to flush both the coolant & replace the thermostat and fix the crankcase breather; and flush the power steering fluid. I will say that once the brake lines were done and the system was flushed, the brakes worked extraordinarily well.... honestly I can't remember a time when they worked better since we owned the truck... so I definitely think that or those of you that haven't flushed your systems it is definitely a worthwhile thing to do. I did decide to go with the new synthetic brake fluid which I found on sale at Autozone (which we do not have near us) and I didn't appreciate the sale price until I priced regular brake fluid at our local auto part store (Carquest & Napa)...

My Husband and I purchased our truck in early 2007 as his work vehicle (he was a custom home builder) and needed to be able to haul trailers/ materials etc.At the time I drove a new Subaru Outback, which we ended up selling fairly quickly bc of major electrical problems, and replaced with an 02 GMC Yukon that one of my insurance clients had purchased brand new and basically hadn't used bc he drove his work truck and really only bought the Yukon so he could write off his truck? I am not sure... anyhow he sold it to us with only 20K mile on it in 09 now the yukon has 140k on it and the tranny blew... I could rebuild it as I did our truck last winter however I am just not that motivated bc it's already high in mileage and I never really loved it compared to our truck.My husband is tired of all of our "fixer" vehicles and went out this week and purchased a Passat... no commentMy goal was to use the Yukon as a trade in or replace the tranny and craigslist it...But what I need is a reliable vehicle, the truck honestly hasn't been horrible... We purchased it with 160K in 07 it now has just over 200K but it didn't get used as much as it would have if my husband had not broken his back in 09.I have been working on addressing some of the basic upgrades that are recommended to keep her in good running order and prevent costly repairs down the road.Here is my list so farAlready Purchased...Issopro Gauges: Mechanical Fuel Pressure, Trans Temp, EGTDeeper Tranny Pan with Drain Valve and Tester PortTransmission: Flushed, replaced all seals, adjusted bands, replaced broken 3-4 springAirDog 150: with Drawstraw, Low Fuel Pressure Light, Big Line Kit- Kept original fuel filter in system and cleaned/ replacedHerculiner Bed liner & Cargo Tie Down Rails (love these) New front hubs/ BearingsNew Ball Joints?New BatteriesPurchased but not installed yet:Replacing the vacuum lines for 4x4 - bought new harnesses from dodge HO Alternator (mean green 200a)- Still need to purchase upgraded cables for new alternator and battery leadsTIMBO appsaddressing crankcase breather issue with mopar man fixMaintenance that I plan on completing in the next month:Flush Radiator & replace thermostatRebuilding the Front End (or at least making an over all plan)I know I am forgetting some stuff but this is the start of it, I lived in a very COLD area where we are starting to get into the season of it being quite reasonable to expect it to be 0 degrees on a warm afternoon and down to -20 - -30 even during the day... so I need to make sure that if I commit to this being my daily driver that I can get it to start on those cold weather days.... something that it has not been able to do the past few years, although I do think that it has to do with the batteries being drained by something when it is parked... a short that I am trying to track down and fix. I am also hoping that upgrading the alternator will help recharge the batteries once it's going. I do keep it plugged in when it's really cold, actually I just wired a new outlet on the side of our house specifically for the truck so that I can keep it on a switch / timer so that I can have the block heater on for only a little while before I know I need to leave. I also installed a trickle charger for the batteries that I will be using this winter for the first time.

Thanks for posting these photos! I am trying to plan my next project which is the front end... I have been doing a little bit of research and there seem to be some options but I am not leaning in any one particular direction. The steering has always been loose, but we have had a noise under the passenger side floor board now that is becoming quite noticeable. My husband had the hub/ bearings replaced less than 5k ago and I really want to say we hd the ball joints done at the same time but I am not sure. When inspecting it I can tell the tie rods and steering arm are loose but honestly the whole front end is a little out of my comfort zone, which just means more research & reading... so I can formulate a game plan. It seems like there are a lot of upgrade options but until my knowledge is a little more in depth I am hesitant to go in any one direction....Any suggestions? I am not looking to add a lift to the truck any time soon, and I don't think I will be running XL tires either, but I would like a system that is durable/ cost effective (not cheap) & gives me piece of mind that it is better than the stock system I started with.

Thank you for the quick reply... Luckily I did leave the stock supply and return lines... although when I looked at them last night I know that the stock return line is smaller than the drawstraw will accept so hopefully I will be able to find some sort of adapter for it. I just wish the drawstraw came with better instructions... I will definitely make sure to take some more pics before I remount the fuel tank and get everything hooked up properlyOh, also wanted to mention that with the drawstraw you eliminate the splicing of the vent fill tube... you instead have 3 ports on top of the fuel module- 1 supply and 2 returns (one for the AD and one for the engine & VP return)... What I liked about the draw straw mod was that you didn't have to drill any additional holes into the fuel tank so it seemed like a cleaner option to me...

Ok, Finally making headway on the massive pile of parts needing to be installed on the truck....Tonight I finally installed the "Big Line Kit" from Vulcan, that goes from the stock fuel filter to the VP44, also utilized the T push on connector for fuel gauge as I have been gradually working on installing the gauges simultaneously... I think part of my problem is self inflicted, I spent so much time reading about different options I think at the end of the day I complicated the situation. I ordered my AD, drawstraw, big line kit and Isspro Gauages (fuel pressure, trans temp and EGT) as well as the air dog low fuel pressure light all at the same time... (seemed logical at the time) My kit came with 3 sections of blue hose with the quick connect fittings + the big line kit... Ok simple enough.The Drawstraw has 3 ports on it compared to the original 2 on the fuel tank module... OK (one supply to the AD, one return from the AD and one return from the engine) The long blue hoses that came with my AD are simple enough, (1- to the engine (stock fuel filter), 1- return to tank, 1- supply from tank) I decided to install the AD by going through the stock filter as to keep my fuel in water sensor and heater; besides (two filter systems seemed like it wasn't a bad idea.... Here is where I am having a "blonde moment", where is my return line from the engine coming from since I eliminated the original return? obviously there is a connector ready on my draw straw and I tried tracing the stock lines and honestly I was having a difficult time finding where the return line originates from in the engine compartment. Secondly once I find it, I think I need to purchase an additional length of hose and fittings since I will have already used up the supplied 3 long blue hoses (above mentioned uses) with my kit and the upgraded "big line kit"... Maybe I am overlooking something very obvious... This whole project has taken a life of its own just bc if my limitations of time and ability with still wearing my cast from breaking my leg early this fall... UGH! I think I finally figured out my mounting dilemma since the short bed brackets for the AD are no longer in existence, and I wasn't really excited about mounting it on the outside of the frame.... Once I am finished I will post pics and a write up... I have been trying to remember to take pics during this ordeal...

OH, one more install question... I forgot where I saw this write up, but I had come across an AirDog installation where someone had actually gone ahead and installed a check valve on the fuel line so that when they changed the filters they were able to do it with less muss/ fuss by simply turning off the valve, draining the filters and changing them... Has anyone else done this? I know it would require a few more pieces/ parts but it maybe worthwhile to do while I have everything taken apart anyway? Also curious if there is a way to add a heating element to the AD, bc I have been debating whether or not to run the new supply through the stock filter with heater or not... I live in the mountains in CO and we have had issues starting the truck and getting it to stay going on those really cold mornings (-10 to -25) We were officially the "icebox of the nation" until some town in MI claimed that they were a few years ago.. Either way, we have about 3 months of the year where at some point during the day it is in the negative temp range. If I lived somewhere a little warmer I wouldn't worry about it... ANY THOUGHTS?

That's what I didn't like about mounting it on the outside of the frame... Especially since all of the roads around here are dirt... Even when I took extra time to pressure wash the bottom of the truck before pulling it into the garage to work on it, the fuel tank was/ is filthy.... and since we drive the truck on some less than ideal roads (poorly maintained forest service roads) to go camping, hiking, take the dogs to the river etc... I wanted to take the extra min and see whether I could figure out a way to mount the AD under the skid plate, but I think that mounting it outside the frame is really the only option. Maybe I can fashion some sort of cover for it, a mini skid plate of sorts to help protect it against all the debris the tires fling at it and give it a little more protection when going on those nasty back roads that have crazy dips that I try to take at an angle to minimize bottoming out... UGH... NO simple solutions... Looking at your profile pic it looks like we have very similar trucks (JR)... Mine is also red, a 99 and an extended cab with short bed... Thank you all for your quick responses

OK I need some help here.... I have the extended cab with short bed and I am working on installing the AirDog 150, I have been struggling with where/ how to mount it. I like the idea of mounting it under the t case skid plate but the brackets that came with the AD are the two plates that mount on the frame... which sounds like a stealer idea but I just don't think there is enough room to do that especially with the other lines running along the frame there. I have been looking at other install pics this afternoon and apparently there was at one time a bracket for us short bed folks, that has since been continued... Looking at your install pics mr. MoparMan I see that you mounted the pump perpendicular rather than parallel which is what I would like to do however I haven't found an easy way to do that with out welding my own bracket, which frankly I just don't have time or equipment to do... I have already dropped the fuel tank and modified the fuel module with the vulcan DrawStraw set up... so now I have a tank on the garage floor basically... and no where to mount my AD... SO any solutions or suggestions? This install has already taken me a lot longer than I thought it would, but part of that can be attributed to trying to do this by myself with a healing broken leg and the fact that I have only had time after dinner to work on it... UGH! I have read a few different places where some people have used a large piece of angle iron and bolted it to the bracket and the bed support strut? Part of my problem is that my brother offered to help me drop the fuel tank since I am working solo on this and he I think was afraid that I was going to hurt myself attempting it... So he actually unbolted the support straps and bed strap, and since I didn't mount the AD first I am struggling with where I can mount it so that it will be protected by the skid plate but will still fit in front of fuel tank... IF anyone has pictures of what they did I would be GRATEFUL, or even a picture of the old bracket for shortbeds... I think if I can just see that I will be able to figure out what my plan of action is.

JR, I maybe kicking myself later but I decided to try and go the HID route on the headlights before I do the sport conversion... Honestly I am not a huge fan of the HID's when they are blinding me however, I found a really good deal on them through Amazon so I thought I would give it a try... I also decided to try a set of the spyder aftermarket halo projector assemblies... they were on clearance for $100 including shipping and they had the best reviews that I could find.. (although none of them had really good reviews)... I haven't received the HID kit yet because I wasn't home when the UPS man tried to drop it off (ugh I hate that)... But after I get them installed I will definately do a write up and let everyone know how it works out. Honestly I just think that I ended up reading entirely too much and decided until I get some of our other mysterious electrical issues sorted out that I would try to keep it simple and affordable... Thank you for the contact info for Craig, he had emailed me the specs for the wiring harness but I haven't been able to get it to open/ download properly... although it has been late at night that I have been trying to do it, so it may very well be my brain not functioning correctly.

YEY!!!!! I have been WAY TOO busy trying to address a number of issues to have a chance to look at who was building these fooler boxes now... and I couldn't be more happy that I came across this posting tonight!!! Ok seriously I have to fix a few more things before I will be ready to install one... like fixing the mess my husband created by driving the truck when I explicitly told him NOT TO!!! SO FRUSTRATING, I hope that none of your wives do that... although honestly I am tired of the dynamic created by society that says if a couple owns a truck than it must belong to the husband. Please excuse my ranting, I am dealing with a mechanically inept spouse who thinks that taking the vehicles into grease monkey will be a better option than actually observing your vehicles performance and associated noises... honestly I think that if the mechanic told him he needed to change his headlight fluid he would be like, OH... Can you do that now? But you also have to understand I am not a man hater at all... I am just a little grumpy because I broke my leg in 8 places (tib and fib), had surgery 8 weeks ago and still am not allowed to put weight on it, and yet I am the one under the truck for the past week trying to lower the fuel tank by myself (so I can finally get that pesky Air Dog and draw straw installed) not to mention fixing the busted brake line that my husband caused which would have been easy to replace however when I asked for his assistance in bleeding the brakes he sheered off not one but both rear bleeder valves... which he then proceeded to try and quickly fix with an easy out that he broke off as well... three trips to the part store later and a lecture on the way about "this is why we need to just take it to a shop..." I am a little more than FURIOUS! to help paint the picture, I will break the taboo and share that I am roughly 5'8" and just weighed in at 125lbs.. I have lost some muscle with this damn broken leg and being in a cast/ now walking boot for 9 weeks.. so rolling around under a truck is a little tricky right now with only one leg that I can use to manuver and use for leverage with trying to break thing loose and tighten them back up...BUT, when I saw this new switch it made me smile!!! I will definitely be ordering one after I get the rest of the parts I already have installed... Which will hopefully be sometime in the next week... (as long as I don't have any help from my husband I should be fine)... My only lesson that I have learned is this... We honestly need a really simplified operation manual for these trucks and all the nifty aftermarket parts we install in them... I would love to ban my husband from driving the truck entirely however that has caused a giant riff in our household... so I have been trying to come up with a solution... for instance creating a very short and maybe slightly over dramatic write up about why it is important to be an observant operator of the vehicle... example... fuel pressure is important, if the pressure drops and the truck continues to be driven you can cause THOUSANDS of dollars of damage.... This has gotten off topic now and has turned into a manifesto... not my intention at all... but here is the point that I would like to make... THIS SWITCH with engraved labeling and LED light are great for people like me who unfortunately have other people who occasionally drive our trucks even when asked not to... For people like us a VERY simple half or quarter page tutorial and explanation that includes consequences of not following the directions would be very helpful... the best parts in the world are only as good as the user... unfortunately...THANK YOU ALL for taking the time to design and implement this for all of us that live in the blustery cold winter areas... Sarah

What source did you find (what website)? How much was the new wiring harness? They look much better than anything else I have seen... I am just looking to price out what upgrading to Sport headlights will really cost... Seems like there can be quite a few hidden costs if you aren't careful... Any pointers are appreciated!!

Anyone out there in the CO that has a good dodge dealership recommendation?

Well, joined the forum back in Nov... had been working on plotting out our tune up/ preventative & maintenance plans and before we got anywhere within driving the truck an additional 500 miles at most we have MAJOR ISSUES... needless to say we have have the truck parked in the driveway since we put new tires on it at the end of November, we have had to start it a few times to move it for snow removal and driveway access issues... So here goes the saga of problems... this fall we noticed that we were having issues with the truck shifting around 45 mph... after much reading on this forum, I do believe that it probably is the same torque lock/ converter issue that many have been having. So, I had been calling around to different auto part stores to research alternators as a place to start... My husband also informed me that I was not the only one who had replaced the batteries in the truck in the last year or so (It would have been nice if he would have told me that a little sooner, since I am the more mechanical of us)... We had also been fighting with the 4wd for about a year... The mechanic that we were using supposedly replaced some of the parts but I do not know which ones bc he did not record it in the system and we had issues with the other work that he said he had done at the time but upon closer inspection did not do. My brother and I traced all the vacuum lines and made sure none of them were dirty/clogged/ disconnected etc.. one or two of them were dislodged/ loose so we cleaned them made sure they weren't clogged and reattached them . We also checked the diaphragm and it seemed to move in/ out easily as well... but we did not have time to get any further in diagnosing, before many more issues started to arise... My husband had a training seminar in Denver and we knew we needed new tires so we were able to combine the trip, I didn't have time before he left to change the oil so he insisted on going to a grease monkey as well while he was down there... then literally as my husband was driving home from Denver which is about an 1 hr 30 min drive up a mountain pass; a slue of other issues started... Unfortunately I wasn't in the truck at the time and my husband is not the best at paying attention to subtle vehicle noise/ performance differences. TO all the guys out there, I love my husband very much and in no way am I trying to "dis" him, we have just been together long enough that we both recognize each others strengths and weaknesses... so back to the drive back home per my husband's account; he called me and says "Sarah I think something is wrong with the truck, if I accelerate past about 60 the vehicle will not shift, just revs highier and higher and I have never seen the rpm gauge go so high..." My reaction was, well SLOW DOWN, if it;'s not shifting it's not going to just because u give it more fuel and rev the engine. Secondly, I asked him to check the temp gauge (unfortunately, we have not installed additional gauges that I had already ordered.. so we still just have stock) and make sure that he didn't need to pull over... he responded with well I am not sure what it's normally at but it doesn't seem unusually high. Well, how about the other gears? It was sluggish to get started, even when it was warmed up... So, when he got home we parked the truck and the next day I took it out to drive it to see if I could get a better feel for what was going on. First off, the truck wouldn't start... it had been cold that night probably around -10, but the truck block heater was plugged in and when I went to drive it the temp had already warmed up to around 30... when it gets that cold I have found that the truck will usually start easier if I turn the key and wait for the "wait to start" light to turn off two or three times before actually cranking the engine. However, even with this technique (which I realize is a red flag in itself) the truck would click click click try to turn over and just wouldn't go... so I got out the trust battery charger and usually if I just put it on high for less than 5 mins the truck will start right away... no such luck... so I left the charger on for about 30 mins before it would start (when it did there was quite a bit of smoke, although I don;t remember if it was black or white). Once started, the truck idle was very slow (even more than usual) so instead of going inside, I sat in the cab and rev'ed the engine for the concern of gumming etc. It took about 5 mins before I felt comfortable to let the truck sit and run while I wasn't watching it... I let it run for about 10-15 mins before I got in for the test drive. I immediately noticed that when backing up that the truck was acting very sluggish...we live right on main st in our town which is actually a HWY, so we have quite a bit of traffic and pulling out you have to be careful and quick... Which is why I panicked when I shifted into D, hit the accelerator and the truck acted like I merely let off the brake and barely pressed the accelerator, when in reality I nearly floored it. luckily we have a second lane & parking shoulder that starts at our driveway and goes through town, so I was able to creep into it... about 2 blocks of creeping with medium pressure on the accelerator the truck seemed to kick into gear and started to accelerate more normally between about 20-55mph then I did notice that once I reached 60mph I could understand what my husband was experiencing the day prior. After driving just to the next lil town which is 1.5 miles away and back I parked the truck... called our friend that is a mechanic and just started working at the garage literally across the street from our house and started reading... Our mechanic friend said he would help us out after work at the garage (so awesome to have access to the lifts & tools)... but before we could look at the truck our other vehicle decided to have a few issues that we needed to address first (so we would have a vehicle to use), we were able to plug in the code reader and at first no codes were coming up... then we had one or two codes pop up but when he looked them up there were a slue of possibilities and I lost my notebook where I wrote them down, ugg... i blame the chaos on the holidays... We decided that a good place to start would be to change the trans solenoids, replace trans filter w/ seal kit, flush trans and new fluid. Which we were planning on doing tomorrow... in preparation for finally tackling this truck I have been reading, researching and pricing a plan of action this week. Yesterday I did order a TIMBO apps, since it was something that I was thinking about anyway... but I am just getting a little overwhelmed with what parts to address especially with the current issues that I think are somewhat inner related and I fear we will have more issues as I have read through the forum bc we have had above average luck with not needing many of the issues that people have had with this truck at much lower mileages we are at about 203k... So, I need some advice... Gauges- I want basic mechanical gauges in a pillar (EGT, fuel pressure w/ low pressure light, trans temp)... I tried to order some in NOV but had problems finding a matching set, that was reasonably priced but had good reviews (quality). It shouldn't be that difficult... so if anyone has bought them recently and has a source suggestion, please let me know! AirDog II- What do I need to order in addition to the Airdog II to install on truck? Our truck specs are on signature.. Fuel Pump- Raptor: Which model? the factory replacement (FRRP)? RP-100 or RP-150? From what I have been reading and knowing that we use the truck to tow our tool trailer & our flat bed trailer, as well as hauling all sorts of other stuff up and down mountain dirt roads, I was thinking that it would be a better idea to install the RP-100 and take the time to mount it rather than just doing the factory replacement. Any Thoughts? Automatic Transmission: What do you recommend to do while we are in there replacing the solenoids, flushing, replacing filter & kit, new fluid... adjusting bands... WHAT ELSE CAN I DO TO PROLONG THE LIFE OF THE TRANS/ fix issues? Or should I be considering a total rebuild or new one? (I am hoping that I can prolong the current one so I can budget some other stuff first)- If we do replace, I think we may convert to a manual trans set up.... Sorry this is SUCH A NOVEL, I just thought I would give as much detail as possible since I am out of my comfort zone... THANK you in advance for any help/ suggestions you can provide! At this point we need 2wd to work before 4wd!!

These are some of the best transmission pics I have seen so far! The close up detail and labeling saved me a ton of time trying to get a "visual" of what is actually going on... I have been reading up on transmission issues, but since we don't have a garage at our house and it has been SOOO cold I haven't been able to even take a look under the truck, and since I have never messed with any transmission it is a lot easier to understand when I can look at your photos to "connect the dots"! Honestly I really wish there was a picture database, where you would be able to swap/ post photos that were taken similarly so that people like myself could get a better idea of what exactly is under all the "covers & case" in order to more accurately asess & plan a troubleshooting/ repair project.... This forum is a great start, it's the best resource I have found! Just hoping that more people will continue to photo document like this... THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU:thumb1:

I am truly impressed by all of your welcoming messages! It is the first website/ forum that I have ever been on that people actually respond to questions that are posted... not only respond but have an intelligent/ informative answer... Thank you all for the warm family welcome. Unfortunately, ,I have had horrible experiences with mechanics and today the dodge dealership in denver where I sent my husband to drop off the truck so that they could do the update for the EMC per the TSB with the new software to allow for the high idol mod to work... however, when my husband went to drop the truck off the technician that I spoke with and supposedly understood what I was asking told my husband that since the vacuum tubes for the 4 wheel drive had dislodged that until that was repaired we were "JUST WASTING MONEY"... Since I wasn't there (we live about an hour and a half away) and my husband is not mechanically inclined he had me on the phone and was trying to get the mechanic to talk to me... I hear him in the background say... "Sir I don't need to discuss this with your wife, it's not my job to explain myself to her, you are more than capable of talking to her... obviously she is not interested in fixing your truck, she apparently just wants to throw money at something that we haven't even confirmed is the problem. You may not even need to reprogram the EMC.." WHAT?!? REALLY?!?! So my husband is embarrassed & confused and turns around and blames me for asking him to drop the truck off in the first place. UGH! I really dislike it when men talk down to you because you are a woman and you may know more about a particular problem than them... I am not claiming to be an expert by any sense of the word. But I do have a general mechanical sense and am more than capable of educating myself on a problem... I am especially motivated to do so when we have spent a ridiculous amount of time/ money trying to have the problem addressed by "professionals"... I could really use some suggestions on how to approach this situation again. When the truck gets back up here, I plan on fixing the vacuum lines and the torque lock/ unlock issue by troubleshooting the alternator etc. But I still need to take it in to have the EMC reprogramed. I just feel like the dealership was WAY OUT OF LINE or maybe I am missing something? UGH

In the past I have borrowed my brother's code reader, which is just a basic and doesn't not read ABS codes... which has been fine for the majority of our needs, however my GMC Yukon has had finicky ABS issues and since we have decided to return to the "do it yourself" method with many of our truck repairs & upgrades I think we are past due in investing in a good code reader. The two that I was debating between were the [h=1]INNOVA 3150 ABS / SRS + Professional CanOBD2 which is $149 or the INNOVA 3160B ABS/SRS+ Professional CanOBDII for $197both are on Amazon... Any preferences?[/h] Since I have already ordered the ScangaugeII do I even need a separate scanner? I couldn't find anywhere that said whether or not the sg read ABS codes as well and I also got the impression that once you configured the sg for one vehicle that it would not be overly convenient to move it to another vehicle for diagnostic purposes. But then I considered getting a second sg for our other vehicle (the yukon) rather than purchasing either one of the Innova's ... HELP, I have over "thunk" it again, I just need someone to straighten me out, THANKS!

Last night I was reading through some of the other posts on here regarding automatic transmissions and it looks like many people have determined that the stock transmission was under powered for the engine. So I thought I read somewhere that someone decided to upgrade the torque convertor to prolong the life of their transmission. Do you think that is it worth doing so? Obviously a new torque convertor (let's just say $500 for the part) is a fraction of what a new transmission would cost... but I also want to make sure that it is time/money well spent.

We have the 47e automatic transmission on our 99 Dodge Cummins... purchased with around 150K and we just rolled over 200K... When our truck was in the shop around 175K I asked our mechanic to flush the transmission and he was hesitant since we did not know whether the prior owner had regularly changed the fluids. Any thoughts? We are currently experience the torque lock problem around 45-50 mph that is addressed in several other posts on here... so we are going to replace the alternator in the next few days... So any other suggestions on preventative measures to prolong the life of our transmission would be great! Thanks