Wild and Free

You are looking @ 2016 calendar Dave, this event is in 2017.

Ha I flew into Florida for a vacation and before hand I had lined up a MM1973man forum Florida group get together from over 2k miles away and finalized it while I was actually down there already thanks to Jon Fak and his bride Glenna for being the hosts for the get together. Looks to be a bit over 1100 miles to there for me but dang that is prime boating season in our already extremely short Northern plains summers. For that reason alone would knock me out of the trip, it's the best time of year here at home to be in the great outdoors.

Tis a sad day for the future of America, he was in my opinion the only one capable of turning the direction of the run away machine, nobody left in the conservative race has any chance of making any changes especially Cruz since he is totally owned by the mega banks, They write all the legislative laws along with all the special interest groups anyhow and he will just rubber stamp them, will be business as usual running us deeper into debt with any of the conservative choices left. I am convinced Trump has not converted to conservative, his roots are too deeply tied to liberal ways and one doesn't just walk away from that no matter how hard he blows.

Got a big chuckle out of these. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz_V4lRdtjo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAtunJv6NtE

Took off some mid grade KYB shocks, not shot but not doing their job too good anymore either and went with a full set of Bilstein 5100 series even on the steering stabilizer damper shock.

Almost done, just need to center the steering wheel and finish the engine service. Took it for a short test run and the shocks are very responsive and don't get jumpy going over the washboards coming up the road towards my hose and the steering is a bit straighter now too, don't have to herd it around like I did before, New tires would help a lot too mine are about 75% worn.

ATF in t-case and 75w90 or 80w-90 gear lube in the diffs. I run nothing but Amsoil synthetic myself in everything I own. The AAM axles in the 3rd gens have a different limited slip setup and have no clutches unlike the Dana axles so there is no need for limited slip clutch disc additive like the clutch type limited slips.

Update, got all the parts yesterday. Today got the power steering pump line and trans cooler line installed along with my shiny newly rebuilt Bluetop steer gear. Pulled the track bar and replaced the OEM rubbers with Lukes links poly bushings and got a shiny new bilstein steering damper installed. Got the rear diff and t-case serviced as well. Tomorrow it will be tranny service and prime the power steering system with new amsoil power steering fluid, get all 4 shocks replaced and change the engine oil.

Ponzi schemes like insurance of most sorts or social security are only legal if they are government run, approved and or mandated, Joe citizen does it and goes to prison for fraud........................................

Just take the pipe to an exh. shop and have them reshape it with their pipe expanders rather than cut it off even shorter, chances are he was a bit short to start with which caused the issue, then go back together with the self forming seal clamps and throw the u-bolt clamps away unless they are the hanger u-bolt clamps then one still needs them.

Make sure that any online purchase like this is made via credit card as well so one can have the credit card insurance along with them being able to help dispute and refund charges. I was lucky on a used engine deal gone bad many years ago by using this approach and the CC company did the bull dog work and got my money back but I had documented everything along the way with pics and the guarantee from the seller ect. Was supposedly a running engine for a car but when I got the thing it looked like they had drug it up from the bottom of the ocean, was full of water and everything was full of rust, pulled he plugs and they were rusty and the cylinders were all full of water too.

Was my day off today but Ryan texted me said he had my gear done this morning already, he just picked it up from me yesterday afternoon at work lol, will visit with him tomorrow and find out how bad the cardone rebuild looked. Hoping the rest of my parts make it by Friday so I can get this thing done this weekend. Wife's VW and my 2010 hemi are both due for oil changes too and the 05 is plugging up my shop space. Watching the tracking data looks like all parts should be here by Friday. Can't install the gear until I get the trans cooler line that is directly above it replaced along with the power steering pressure hose right next to it.

What are you going to do after 10 am then?

Just came home from getting my shiny but not for long B&W turn over ball gooseneck hitch installed in the 2010 1500 Hemi today, looking forward to seeing how this rig handles the new to me dump trailer.

Takes a bit longer since one needs to remove the entire front of the engine compartment radiator coolers ac condenser ect. Can't just pick it out the top like the old cars used to be they come out the front rather than out the top.

I have read up on this before, there are several different ways to opt out of Obama care without paying a tax penalty and they are all a different religion run systems like the one you posted about. When it comes to health in general the 7th day adventists have it figured out, they eat clean and healthy and have less health issues overall than any other demographic in the USA.

He is in south Texas lol.......................

I just follow the specs and use a dial type inch lb. tq. wrench. Ryan @ Blue top has gotten out of the automotive gear business to focus on the truck end of things but will still do them if he can get parts for them if one contacts him in advance to see if he will do it. Since I work with him he is doing me a favor, talked to him last week and he ordered the kit for mine to be in by the time I get him the gear at work on Tuesday.

Since the 05 is just a backup rig and tow rig primarily it has not been used a lot the last couple years, "7500 miles on it since the last service August of 2014" . Decided since the steering is getting loose it was time to get her on the hoist and look her over and do a major end to end service including all filters all fluids except coolant, did a t-stat last service and it was replaced with new then and adjust trans bands. Pulled the steering gear out and sending it to Blue top steering steering for a "Quality" rebuild since this is already a cardone replacement several years ago and already loose as a goose. Herding cats down the road in a straight line would be easier, all other steering component look to be good and tight yet except for the leaky dripping damper. Put in an order @ Genos garage for a full set of 5100 Bilstein shocks and steering damper which mine is totally shot with oil dripping out of it which prolly doesn't help with the wandering issue and also ordered lukes links track bar bushing kit as long as I am working in that area anyhow. Found the power steering pump hose going to the hydro boost starting to leak along with a tranny cooler line above the steer gear leaking pretty good too, got them all ordered as well, rock auto for the steering pump hose and e-bay for the trans hose. Now we wait for parts this week.

Whole life is the safest place to save your money and not have the market losses like a 401K or roth, they are directly tied to the energy sector and look how good they are doing now. I have a 401K and also have been flooding my Whole life policy with every cent I am allowed to put into it yearly as it is money I can use as I see fit without paying a penalty to someone else and it earns 4-5% dividend income every year plus I can take loans out from my own money and pay myself back with interest..................I am my own banker. Look into these versus the government run retirement systems folks you will thank me when you realize how they work for you not against you like the fractional banking system.

I have had this happen with a couple vehicles over the years and one just needs to realize when its time to cut the cord and move on especially when the repairs are going to equal or exceed the vehicles value. I took all this into account when we sent the wifes 03 Jetta TDI down the road last year, at nearly 300K was a solid perfect car yet but was almost due for tires, timing belt kit, clutch and could have used injectors and close to another intake cleanout, parts and labor alone were close to or a bit over what the car was worth even though it would of most likely went another 100-200k miles it just was not worth it in my mind. Even if one stuck 3k into it and got into an accident and only gotten 2k from insurance, just not worth sticking money in anymore. I would pull the head and see if the cylinder is actually damaged or scored, I have seen many damaged pistons with no cylinder damage, one could get lucky and do a head job and a piston and keep it rolling or just enough to send it packing in the way of trading it in or selling it at a local auto auction where one would not have to do a guilt laden personal face to face sale, I did this with the only Ford I ever owned for a whole 2 weeks what a POS., never again as long as I live will I ever own anything with a blue oval on it.

Given the mileage it rules out a repair job and thus the 10K for either total rebuild or even a new or reman engine would be about the same money with labor to R&R. Shop rates are not cheap but does anyone want to work for minimum wage and no benefits? Lots of overhead and then the govs mandates taxes ect add up and someone has to pay for it. Plus if one expects the shop to honor any warranty on their work they need a bit to fall back on in way of some profits over time. When I used to moonlight on my own on weekends and after hours when I was younger and seemed to have endless time I charged half of whatever average shop rates were in town for whatever I was working on and my travel time was part of that time. At that time 10-15 years ago or so average shop rates were in the 60-90 an hour. Now I rarely see any shop rates less than 100 an hour around me anymore at dealerships, have not been in any independent shops lately to see what they are charging. When ever someone used to complain to me as a tech about shop labor rates when I worked at dealerships I just replied with a simple statement that made most stop and think a bit. I simply asked if they worked for free and most would instantly say no in a defensive way and I would come back with "Then why do you expect me to work for free"? Usually ended the conversation. I watch our local classifieds and there are usually several 5.9's for sale but no matter the generation they all ask 2500-3500 for them some running some for rebuild. Good Cores are generally worth around 1100 - 1400 bucks if turned in for a new or reman from what I have heard locally anyhow.

He forgot he was saving that moldy salad with pistachio ice cream topping for later lol ?

I had the pleasure "Sarcasm smiley inserted here" of working on backhoes that were customized to sit on top of rail cars that were usually full of derailment debris and rebar sticking out like a plate of spaghetti. Those were not a fun days having to crawl up onto the rail cars to get to the backhoe and then have to worry about slipping and skewering ones self on a piece of iron or wood splinters.

Found a really nice looking and fairly priced 1998 long box quad cab 2500 in South Dakota. http://www.bismanonline.com/redfield_sd/1998_dodge_ram_2500_5_9_cummins_12v