Wild and Free

On BD's site they have the manuals for every product I have looked at over there.

I got 110k out of a set of 285-75-16 BFG AT's but I had them siped when they were brand new and that made a huge difference in traction and longevity. They were super bald when I took them off, you could barely make out the tread pattern. But up to 85-90k they were good.

The bigger question is where and how do you use your rig and how much do you tow and haul? This is what you need to decide as to what tire you choose. as far as traction there is a huge difference in off road and on road traction. Anytime you have an open tread face you will have more bite over highway tires which are designed soely to be quiet and ride nice longevity is just a plus with them having solid tread bands, and a sacrifice traction wise also.

1 & 7/16"wrench fits it a bit loose but will get it also if you don't have a 36mm wrench and just hold the pully nose with a large channel lock pliers like a model 460, that is all I have ever used and it works great. They haven't seen much then as it is a quite common set up for fan clutches, It is a fan hub/clutch nut wrench, there are many pickups of all makes that run a nearly identical setup to mount the fan clutch. Not a just Dodge thing. Gm cars are even more prone and way worse for having thing go haywire in the hvac system so be thankful its not controlled by a 300-600 dollar module which also fails on regular basis on them also.

Always new with electrical stuff. Go to rockauto.com, they usually have some of the best prices and best selection.

I am lucky as to having a good wife also. helps that we don't even own a gas vehicle.

Have you checked your local parts jobbers to borrow/rent a tool rather than buy something you will probably never use again.

You got it, they are pretty cheap multi function switches. It is only about a 10 minute job to swap them out. I have had several die just the same as what you describe.

Hey that looks almost like mine...................Both at rest and in action. Power #'s are almost the same too. Know me now?

Cut it flare it and hose clamp it just like the newer ones are. My 02 has a hose clamp on the hoses going into the cooler.

TDR is the exact same way.

I used to run rancho 5000 on all my rigs but after never having a set last more than 30 k miles on any pickup I have owned over the past 15 years I researched for several months and went with the KYB shocks on my 05, They are both lifetime warranty. I got them from Rockauto.com who had the best price I could find anywhere. The greater consensus over about a dozen forums all agreed that KYB is the best of the best for pickup shocks. as for other vehicles it was mixed but I think Bilsteins won. I have noticed over the years that the extreme cold is what seems to kill every shock and strut, even our cars struts and shocks die in the winter. Time will tell.

I have seen several videos where guys ride for miles on the water no different than a watercraft, just need to keep moving. Extended paddle tracks and lots of power make for lots of fun on the water.

I have 80k on my OEM BFG rugged trail 265 70 17 on my 05 and they will go at least to 85-90k before being bald they suck in snow and mud but do extremely excellent on ice. I have a set of BFG km II mt tires on my 02 in 255-85-16 range E and they have been doing good except they don't balance up good at all, I warrantied out a set with less than 1k miles because of it and the new ones are no better but I drive mostly dirt roads so I don't notice it anyhow.

If you have an O-rielys auto parts store close by they borrow out special tools. some other auto parts places also do the same. I would give them a try before buying one.

You may want to drop the trans pan and see if there are any signs of debris, sounds like a bearing siezed up and now it is possibly spinning in the housing.

Did you check the idle mixture adjustment with a vacuum gauge as this is the most accurate way of doing it. Hook vacuum gauge up to manifold vacuum port on carb not port vacuum though. adjust idle mixture screws until you get the max vacuum possible, always burp the throttle and let it stabilize after each adjustment to get the most accurat vacuum reading. If anyone says they can tune a carb by ear, I love proving to them how much better it will run after doing it this way.

If there would be a bad valve the head would need to be pulled off to replace the valve. To test would require a compression test. but I would not worry about that until you know if the overhead adjustments are good and there are no issues on the top side. These are just my opinions as it costs nothing but time to check the valve lash.

Pulling the valve cover off and rechecking things.. If you set them too tight it will sound like a bad valve. And Yes the intake tube/boot will amplify the sound also.

If you hear it louder with the air filter off you may either have a misadjusted valve or a bad valve. It can sound like what you describe.

The only beach scenery I want to see is of the female species in a 2 piece suits prefferably.

Too bad to see happening, I know working extra jobs and hours helps but you are going to suffer from burn out in a hurry working those hours 6 days a week and it could cause job performance issues at both and put you in a tight spot also. I would suggest only 5 day work weeks at those hours and save yourself and your family. Things are a booming here in ND, jobs are numerous and good pay and bennys in the skilled trade areas. I have an aunt who has lived near and around denver for 25 years and has never had a good quality secure job and still refuses to move back to ND. She ******* about the area and economy but never does anything about it.:banghead:

Maybe a cracked flex plate.

The 03-04 had an isue with the wiring harness rubbing through where it wraps around the front of the head and causing fan issues.

You need to research a little know term called "Revgain" and throw that into your equation now. It is a term used by performance engine builders. Has to do with how fast an engine can and or will accelerate. I have seen deep technical discussions on this subject while comparing v-8 and I6 diesels before.