Wild and Free

I fixed the link in the post above but here it is again. http://www.jobsnd.com/ The average salary for trade or technical skills jobs are around $20+/hr. The wages in the oil field are usually mid 20's to mid 30's per hour depending on what job you are in. The power industry like Coal mines and the coal fired electric generating plant wages are averaging mid to high 30's an hour. The wind tower industry is big here as well and those wages are a lot lower I think around 20 and hour but the construction of them is about the same. I would guess. There is a Tesoro oil refinery in Mandan and the wages are mid to upper 30's an hour there as well and they actually have some jobs listed in the Bismarck tribune right now. I see you have welding listed as something you can do in your profile page, welders are among the highest sought after trade around along with any type of mechanic. I am guessing the jobs you were looking for were general jobs in the Bismarck Mandan area. Mcdonalds in Williston is paying 15+ per hour and they only run the drive through to control the flow they can handle, because they can't find enough help to open the doors, they get flooded with too many people. But that is dead center in the middle of oil country and that is where the cost of living and housing is a nightmare. There are a ton off grants out there to get a business started and even ND offers grants and low to no interest loans to help new emerging businesses get started. You don't need anything but an idea to start a business. You just have to look for the info. Also if you are set on oil patch work just do a search for Bakken oil field jobs and you will get flooded with info. Shoot roadrunner a message he is a member here on the site, he works in the oil patch he may be able to give you more specific info about specific companies that would be better choices for you to get started. His user name is "roadrunner" here on this site. His name is Jon and Here is his profile page http://forum.mopar1973man.com/members/10712-roadrunner I helped him out last winter, a real nice guy. He was talking about starting up his own oil field business. Texas also has a Huge oil shale play about to go viral as well. It is southern to sothwest texas and it is called the Eagle Ford Shale play, it might be something else to look at. Another one is just straight north of you in Canada, There are a ton of gold mining jobs as well as the massive oil sands mining. There are also a lot of pipeline construction companies that go along with all the oil development.

Only if you drive it in 4wd on a hard surface, the driveline will tolerate a little difference in tire diameter like new tread versus worn tread on the same size tire but that would be about it. I would not drive at higher speeds in 4wd with odd tire size either.

Sounds like the synchros are going bad, Time for a refresh of internals, not a bad job but it may be left for a tranny shop if you are not handy or do not have tool or capability to do it.Stick with the nv 4500 it is a lot better tranny overall than the nv5600.Has it ever had the mainshaft updated to fix the 5th gear nut issue?

Welcome to the family...................... I got a laugh when I saw the name you chose.:thumbup2:Clint Eastwoods "Any which way you can"and "Every which way but loose" movies are among my all time favorites."Right turn Clyde!":lmao: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i98QrSSHxo4&feature=related

That is good but I would still drop the pan and change the filter every other change at your intervals. Would you run your engine that long without changing the filter and just draining half the oil and topping it off. You have to wash the contamination from the pan and magnet and get a clean filter in it at least every 40K. Not to mention you need to adjust the rear band with the pan off at about every 40K as well for transmission longevity and proper smooth operation.

Here is the most complete jobs site for the state, they even have a special oil field related section. http://www.jobsnd.com/ If it is oil field work you want just research the Bakken oil field you will find a ton of info on it. CL is not very popular here in North Dakota we have our own site that is extremely popular but I do not think that there is much for job seekers on it. http://www.bismanonline.com/ rules the roost here in ND as far as online classifieds. I am not sure what you think is extreme about coming to North Dakota there is only one state in between ND and ID Climate wise would be very similar other than the fact it can change drastically within a few hours. I was born and raised here and have been a lifetime resident. I travel the country extensively and find few places I would rather be. We are the land of extremes but you need to expand on that line of thought so I can dispell some rumors or expand on some questions. While the majority of oil field work is trucking related there are many many other areas to get into. It is not just oil field work that is booming, every sector of work is booming, if you want a specific line of work you will probably find it in every sector of construction as well as infrastructure development is booming and along with that brings every other thing along with it, medical, law enforcement, retail, ect ect ect.......... Housing dierctly in the oil field is tough but most oil field companies offer living in "Personel camps" which are very nice places. But if you find a job in outlying areas that just service or supply oil field work it is not bad. Knowing What type of work you would want to be involved with would be a start and narrow it down from there. I will try and help out a much as I can. The agricultural industry is huge, coal industry and power plants are huge ect ect. Pick something you want and try for it, do not narrow it down to just oil related jobs. they all pay really well here. Mechanics of all types and welders are among the highest sought after trades as well. On a side note on the subject of work ethic, one of our venders which is a CAT dealership had a story about a new hire from another state, They interviewed and offered this person a job as a Diesel Tech and asked when he could start stating the sooner the better if he could be there within a week or two, His return statement said it all in regards to work ethic and how dependant people are on government bebefits. He told them he would not start for another 2 months because that is when his unemployment benefits would run out, They responded to not worry about the job offer at that point it was retracted. Do not think that working for another company is the answer either, it has become an entreprenoirs' dream, there have been thousands of new pop up businesses in almost every area as well. If you have any business ideas this is a great place to make them get going easily.

The safety aspect of that job would have caused me to walk away no matter lifes circumstances, my life is worth more than a paycheck.North Dakota has so many jobs it is pathetic with the oil boom going on in the western end of the state and good paying jobs as well in pretty much any trade you can think of.Colleges are feeling the hit of the oil boom as High school graduates have 60k a year jobs before thy even graduate thus eliminating any need for a secondary education.I could spend an hour replying to all the talk in this thread but I will refrain.:smart:My advice in your shoes would be to come to North Dakota, Finding a place to stay is harder than finding a job with all the activity and people flocking here from around the country.Flagman hit the nail on the head with his comments and I have split views of the conversations of ISX and hd99.Here in the ND we still have strong work ethic within the younger generations although it is quickly changing. The younger generation is seeing the effects of the spendthrift babyboomer generation and are living through a tough period in todays economy so they have quickly picked up the need for conservative lifestyle of the pre 60's generation and why it is so important and needed. They also realize that the chance of having any type of government retirement are becoming a pipe dream so that is adding to the conservative state of mind "This in areas where thy are not already a part of the dependant nanny state".

What did he do to help your buddy out?

I had the same issue with my 02, 2 different sets of tires on 16 " moto metal rims and the problem went away with factory 17 " rims off a 3rg gen. The offset with the rims being wider on the rig didn't make the rig handle well at all.

There is one solution for you then.Solar powered trickle charger.You can don what you want to do you just need to size the cable/wire appropriately for the size of charging system you have on the pickup.Like I posted earlier do a search on electrical wire size and distance acceptable for set amount of amperage being used. You need to know what maximum amperage draw the winch needs and figure that into the equation as well.Too big of a cable will have results similar as too small of a wire, not enough power reaching the destination. Too big results in residual or parasitic loss and too small results in burned wires caused from too much resistance. Both can lead to shortened motor life of the winch.

To be totally honest you are not going to like the extra work and results of trying to run welding cable that far to run a winch.There are formulas to tell you what size cable you need to run certain amounts of voltage and amperage through and what distance is allowable. I can tell you that running 12 volts and 120 amps through welding cable that far is going to result in high parasitic losses and it could cause damage to the whinch motor and you alernator over time.You will be a lot better off adding a battery to the trailer to power the winch. there is already power to the trailer connections for battery power for charging batteries in rv's and trailer batteries like you would need.

I had the same HPFP 150 pump on my 02 for several years. I ran the fleetgaurd 7 micron filter in the stock canister and had no issues. I just cracked 100k on my 05 with no issues using the 7 mic fleetgaurd filter changed every 10k or sooner depending on seasons, I change it in fall and spring regaurdless of mileage depending on when the next service is due. I can see the point of going all out with the additional filter if one doesn't fill up at a stabile regular quality fuel station and doesn't run a quality 7 micron filter in the factory canister or doesn't do regular maintenance.

One thing to keep in mind here with this setup guys is you need to keep a good working electric fuel transfer pump in the system as a backup for this mechanical belt driven pump.

Fuel pressure gauge is a must have on all 24 valve cummins with a vp44 injection pump and if it is an automatic a tranny temp gauge should be high on the list if towing a lot. There are numerous aftermarket fuel transfer pump setups to choose from but it will be another priority to do asap. Other than that it is just extras you would "Want" and not neccesarily "Need".

No wheel speed = no fuel to build boost. BD Rad box or a Blue chip box will eliminate the torque management or a smarty or Quad programmer will lessen the effects but not disable it.With TM it needs to see wheel speed before it will allow enough fueling to make boost.

There are different thickness head gaskets to address this before needing to do anything with injector spacing. Injector spacing comes in more so with different spray patterns and angles of aftermarket injectors and the combustion bowl size and shape of different piston designs.Injection Timing also plays into this once you start playing with injector spacings.

Here you go from amazon.com for $60.79 for the pair.http://www.amazon.com/Headlights-Replacement-Headlamps-Driver-Passenger/dp/B004I8M03K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345989948&sr=8-1&keywords=2001+dodge+ram+headlights cheaper than Genos which wants $85 each.

That along with getting moisture in the housing and discoloring from the inside from dirt and or water over time if cracked.

From my experience using these products is that if your lights only have a slight bit of pitting they are ok but if they are pitted to the point of being hazy they are too far gone to get any lasting results. I also noticed that once the lights have been buffed with these kits they tend to haze and discolor even faster. I got both headlight assemblies for my wifes jetta shipped to my door for $98 total.

Welcome! I want to see pictures of the sleeve that comes out of a sleeveless engine lol!!

I found some new complete headlight assemblies for my wifes VW Jetta this spring on Amazon.com.They were by far the cheapest. They were an aftermarket brand but were a 100% identical match to the OEM lights. They came complete with bulbs and all. I would check out AMAZON.com I have bought a few part off there lately as they have better deals.

The Hemi is very finicky about having the spark plugs changed at the recommended interval and use only Champion plugs. They will look like brand new when replacing but from what I have read and heard can make a huge difference in engine performance and mileage.I have read very mixed reviews about the programmers for the hemi, overall there have been few reports of improved mileage.

There are no clutches in the AAM limited slips. Totally different concept.

You start running into things with the brake valving and priority valve ect due to the drums and discs having different piston volumes. Brake lines might be different as well.

It can be normal without the limited slip friction modifyer added, even some synthetic oils will cause the friction discs to do it even with friction modifyer added. The friction clutch manufactures have not kept up with advancements in oils over the years and the compatability with newer oils leaves a lot to be desired.I have had this issue when trying to use amsoils severe gesar lube and had to go back to the normal synthetic amsoil instead of the premium to get around chattering clutches in limited slip diffs.