Wild and Free

The 12V+ power supply is battery power and hot all the time on all trailer plugs so it is correct. Can't tell you how many fuses I have blown when accidentally touching 2 terminals together in the trailer plugs over the years trying to troubleshoot things due to the constant "Hot" 12V+.

John just hit the nail on the head with his comment, if one did this early on and had it for many years then yes but for what life is left in most 2nd gens not worth it in my mind. If you can't afford all the other stuff then how can one afford the mods? Especially on a 2nd gen maintenance and repair money sucking hogs. Diesels cost more to insure and license in many areas on top of it. I guarantee my wife's cars have seen more stuff hauled in them than most pavement queens on the road, some days I have to say I am in total amazement of what she gets crammed into them.

Does anyone have any questions they want answered about it? It has gone viral the last couple weeks and most of the info out there is coming from the side trying to put a stop to any and all fossil fuels so the narrative is quite skewed and very full of half truths and most just flat out lies in most cases. It is literally happening less than 30 miles from my house, the actual pipeline route runs just south of my house about 10 miles.

It does sound very suspicious that there would be that much difference, the ranch hand should not get the thing even close to the stops unless hitting some serious bumps. I am off road quite a little and can say I do not think my front has ever hit the bump stops unless I am in a hard flex situation.

I have 5100 Bilsteins with 1.5" leveling spacers holding up the full ranch hand bumper and no issues.

Absolutely not! If your going for a goal go for a good one otherwise just buy a dam car.

Let me know when you get 20 mpg @ 65 mph with oh say lets go really easy and have a 7500 lb trailer behind then you will have my attention. Trying to high mark mpgs with a pickup that's being driven like a car justs says park me and buy a VW TDI and be done with it.

Depends on how many lights are on the trailer and if they are LED or standard bulbs and what size the pickup wiring is, I would stay with what size is on the pickup wiring at minimum..

It can be done Just as good and Cheaper but not as fast I bet. I am all about doing it right and as quick as I can because my time is my most valuable asset and spending most of it fixing stuff especially my own stuff is not what I consider fun, the older I get I want to spend more time experiencing other things and places around the country other than underneath my equipment lol. Hey that reminds me I need to get hold of Johnfak as I will be in his neck of the world down in Florida in a couple months again. I was literally only a few blocks from his house last time I was there this spring and he didn't have time to get together with me as he was deep into his now sold cummins engine.

To be honest I don't even look at the prices, just grab em when I need them and go about my job cause I want it done right not cheap so I never have to worry about it again. For a few bucks the last guy could have spent to do it right the last time on the project you are into would have just paid for itself and then some in the long run of not having to be redoing it now. Over the close to 20 years of pulling wrenches for a paycheck repairing the after affects of folks using scotch locks have made me a lot of money over the years and cost a lot of others a ton of money to repair the after effects of the "Cheap and Fast" way of doing it.

I use the Pico brand crimp and solder connectors, I like to know it will not easily pull apart being both crimped and soldered together. My local parts house carries them. https://www.amazon.com/Pico-Electrical-Wiring-Connectors-Package/dp/B001R6GFAK

I did before and after measurements of both my 02 and 05 prior to and about a month after the install for things to relax into a new normal and both settled about 3/4 of an inch measuring from center of wheel to lower lip of fender which would have been probably an inch and a half if measuring anywhere further forward I guess.

There are numerous brands and styles but that is all I ever use for any wiring job.

I would not go by wire colors alone, always double check because different wire suppliers have different color wires in them a lot of the time especially if the trailer plug end wire was ever replaced. Always confirm with test light what function is working and go from there. White and black can be different a lot of times and 12v power supply and backup wires can be different as well the only basics that are usually common are the yellow and green and brown but I have seen the brown one be for different things too. Get rid of all the scotch locks and get the shrink wrap butt connectors with solder right in the connector as well, it melts the solder at about the same temp as the shrink wrap once things are all crimped together.

For the front axle I prefer the basic leveling spacers that go between the coil and upper mount. I did the snow plow package springs on my 02 and have the leveling spacers on my 05 either way worked out about the same for me, its about the same amount of work to do either, shock has to come out and its already jacked up to release the spring tension either way. Not sure if OEM has a snowplow spring option on the newer 4th gens or not anymore.

If I were to get another rig it would be a 2012 6.7 auto with full deletes..........................but my 05 will last hopefully for many many years and on top of that I really have no reason for a diesel with as much power as they make anymore in my future and for what I need to tow here out so if the day ever comes to replace the 05 it will be replaced with an auto gasser most likely.

Reminds me of a story my wife's uncle who lives in Tucson AZ. told me several years ago, they are so close to the border that stolen vehicles are all to common and they all wind up just across the border in Nogales, his neighbor is an attorney had a half ton chevy stolen so knowing it was all but gone knowing how the system works hired another guy who specializes in recovery theft so to speak to go down to Nogales and find and steel it back for him. he was lucky it was not damaged or hacked yet but the practice is quite popular down there I guess. He also said that if one visits Mexican towns just across the border and you take your own vehicle and the young kids ask to watch your car for 10 bucks is the best money you can spend as they will watch it like a hawk, turn them down and they will wave over their buds to steal or strip it once you are out of site.

Only 2 needed one in front and one under the drawbar in back on mine but he spilt the center section out of his tractor so he needs to support the rear of the engine and the rear section, there is not much tractor to support here. I did put chocks front and back of the rear tires though so it can't roll or get bumped off the stands.

Yeah but I am getting a smoking good deal on a twin turbo cummins for my Kubota repower project..............Don't screw it up dammit!

What a small world, was trying to help out a member on a Kubota forum and here he sends me a message and it was our own 01cummins4ever who has his own Kubota split into pieces as well only he is into the powertrain end of his. He has the same tractor I do not the one in this thread but the smaller B2150.

Well finally got around to getting started on the engine project on the hunk. Pushed it into the shop and got the engine on the ground in about 6 hours time, had the loader and front driveline off prior when I pulled the oil pan to inspect the cause of the knock right after I got it so that saved me a couple hours. Hopefully next weekend I can get the engine torn down to see if it will be worth rebuilding for a reasonable price or if a reman engine will take its place. I can buy a reman engine for around 3200 with a year warranty. I am looking at parts alone to rebuild @ around $1800 roughing it rebuild kit is about a thousand new crank 550 used crank would be 450 not sure on a price for a new rod plus all hoses and misc stuff one runs into plus whatever machine work will need to be done. I am thinking it will be so close that a reman will be the way to go but will make that decision when I see the inards of this one. I have leads and feelers out there to do a swap to a bigger displacement engine as well. The current engine is a 1.7L V1702 DI and the 2.2 L engine V2203 DI is a direct bolt in according to the Kubota Gurus and will gain me about 15 HP as well which this series tractor is good for anyhow.

Basically all comes down to how sophisticated the thieves are. Like posted above if its the tow truck or tilt deck truck with winch or dolly method then there is no stopping them no matter what. From watching videos of competitions a lot of the pros will not be deterred with simple disable wires or switches no matter what, maybe costs them an extra minute. Heck even watching how fast they can just strip a car and leave the body behind is mind boggling.

I would have the police check the area for any other businesses or other apartments close by with security cameras if the police or you have not already gone that direction, cameras covering every place now days it seems heck even in my remote area seems everyone has game cams scattered everywhere, its truly amazing how many things pop up from game cams alone around here now days.

I have repeatedly read that statistically most property that is stolen stays relatively localized and is most likely not far from where it was stolen from.

Sux for sure. There are an increasing number of thefts in my area the last couple years as well and on local forums and other forums I am on seems to be happening more all over the place. Has been a number of topics about different GPS and or tracking devices to add to vehicles and other things to be able to track them if this happens and one unit that came up can be purchased at outdoor stores and looks to be about the easiest and most cost effective approach to add a bit of security to things of value. http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=109&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=trace there is also this company. http://www.goldstargps.com/ I am thinking about adding one of these systems to my trailers as they seems to be one of the hottest pieces of iron to be stolen.