MnTom

Glad you got it done, Joe!! Congrats!

BACK ON THE ROAD!!!! Finally...... I just got done with the first test drive about an hour ago and it sure felt GREAT!! The bad thing is this time it was 39 cents shy of $1200 to fix it again. Now to see how the original shop handles things........

Russ, I was quite surprised at the "get up and go" in my VW TDI. That car has gotten my 42+ mpg with four adults and luggage at 65+ mph.My son just got 48 mpg out of his 2006 Jetta TDI. The only 'bad' thing is a dealership told me that if I put a hitch on my 2012 car they would void the warranty.

You are welcome, Joe. That is why we are here!

First question, yes, the snap ring being up off the control arm is normal. I have no clue why it is where it is, but normal. Second question, I bet if you looked closer at the torque spec you gave it is for a four wheel drive truck. The two wheel drive are tighten the nut while spinning the hub. Loosen the nut until it is just finger tight. You are better off with the nut just slightly loose rather than slightly tight.

Nope. Not one word from them. I kind of expected that since the shop I am dealing with has handled everything. I did find out htat it shipped today, so I am guessing Thursday I should be able to pick up my tranny. JR, have you discussed this with Dean?

Would this one help? http://www.4shared.com/office/ZJKYM-Rq/dodge_dakota_1997_2004_full_se.html?locale=en Or this one? http://automanualpdf.net/dodge-dakota-repair-service-manual-pdf-1997-2004.html

I know what you mean for temperatures. The high for today is supposed to get to 68*. 50* when I got up this AM.

I am STILL waiting on the converter......... THREE WEEKS my truck has been down this time. I am really dissapointed with Goerends. Their customer service seems to have gone down hill a bit.

I have been able to pull the front cover, tab a KDP, install a new seal, and have it back together in 2 1/2 hours with nothing but hand tool in my driveway. I actually did that two times (two trucks).

I already pre-bought 800 gallons of propane which should get me through the winter, plus I have about 80% in my tank now. Last winter with the cold weather I used almost 1,000 gallons. I hope I have it figured right this year. Oh, I got it at 1.649/gallon this year. The going rate for pre-buy in 1.849/gallon here.

I will try to get the OHMs from a new one that I have in my garage tomorrow for you.

All it did was get a screw to the bed mount (or in that vicinity). Nothing spectacular, just a screw.

Around here the forecast is for another cold winter. Last year we had 75 days below zero (old record WAS 59} and about normal snow.

If that one is the one I am thinking then it is attatched to the bed on the right side just behind the cab close to the bed hold down bolt in that location.

The axle will move to the rear what, MAYBE 1/10 of an inch? If it moves enough to cause problems with your traction bars I think you have other issues to deal with.

OK, Here is another thing to consider about soldering. What about the possibility of having a poor solder joint on the transistor and therefore causing a higher amp draw (or milli-amp) and the resulting load along with the poor connection causing the transistor to overheat? This may be something that was found out and fixed without any sort of notice to the public?

ABS brakes are not designed to stop you quicker on any type of slippery surface. ABS systems are designed to allow you to be hard on hte brakes and allow you to steer around what ever is in your way. Is that the best way? Not in my book. I prefer to have some stopping power. My truck has RWAL and when it kicks in the stopping distance gets a lot longer. It is along the lines of having your car apply brakes without any input from the driver because they aren't paying attention (like the commercial about a woman backing out of a driveway with her two kids in the back seat and she almost backs out in front of a school bus. The reality of it is PAY ATTENTION!! not have your car participate in the dumbing down of society.

So, that was you in the seat? How come you just sat there? You should have given us a view of you flying down the track with it!! Cool video!

There ya go!

OK, then why not get four of them and make something like this? This diagram is what is happening 60 times a second for converting AC to DC. You would not have AC as an input, just what ever the alternator is putting out. The two AC inputs would be the alternator output stud and the battery negative,

I spoke with the trans shop. They had the trans ready to go last Thursday. The torque converter was shipped back to Goerends Transmission and they have had it since Monday and just started on it yesterday..... I WANT MY TRUCK BACK!!!!

That was the way I was taught with a diesel. Even when I was in a semi the clutch was released at an idle no matter what. I have gotten as much as 122,000 pounds (might have been more, but that was all I could permit with the axles) at an idle. Once the truck was moving I never needed the clutch.

Check the diode I posted about. up to 800 volt and 150 amps.

The heat exchanger is also to help warm the transmission in the cooler weather too. My understanding is that it was better to run one than run without one. You may have to run a thermostically controlled fan on a cooler under the truck somewhere.