Wild and Free

You are not much if any further south than I am, I lived in Laramie Wyo. for 6 months and saw them down there a few times while there as well. http://myfox8.com/2015/11/02/big-solar-storm-means-chance-to-see-northern-lights/

To me getting rid of my 2nd gen came down to time and time alone. Unlike most I put a value on my time and when one is a tech for a living and then to have to give up time doing things I enjoy like boating and traveling ect to come home and work on my own rig continuously made it an easy choice that a newer one was worth ditching the 2nd gen for. You have a long list of stuff that is all relatively easy to fix but add them all up is not going to be cheap add on top of that the age that those issues will be popping up full time from here on out. I am super anal about small issues and have to fix everything as soon as I notice them or it drives me nuts which is why I had to part with it as well, just too many things that drove me nuts. So how much time and money do you want to invest is the question only you can answer.

A pic of tonights northern lites close to my in-laws farm taken by by BIL.

I have not followed the 6.7 side much but I have a co-worker ask me if I knew anything of the Chrysler turbo cleaning system. Said he read one needs to remove and cap off some exhaust system sensors and pour this solution into the turbo somewhere. I was in awe, never heard of such a thing. He said he has been getting the turbo speed sensor error, it has been very intermittent and has not affected its performance at all. Some say to replace the turbo some have told him it could be dirty turbo or bad sensor and if sensor is bad to change turbo, I just laughed and said not to replace turbo at this time. Anyone ever hear such a fix as a cleaner to run through the turbo from Chrysler?

My sister is the poster child for selfishness. She sees nothing but dollar signs and will do nothing but wait for her half. Nuff of that. Hope all have good health and fun times ahead in 2016. I am at work tonight helping supply the coal that keeps Minnesota's lights on. Is there anyone else witnessing the awesome Northern lite show mother nature is putting on for us this fine NYE evening and the 7th day of Christmas?

I have a Ruger Bisley Blackhawk convertible in .45 LC with an interchangeable cylinder for 45 auto and I absolutely love it, I have been a fan of the single action Ruger revolvers since I was a kid and always come back to the .45 lc. Not a pic of my gun but identical with the Bisley engravings on the lc cylinder.

2015 was the same for me personally with the trials and triumphs but am on the tipping point of a big chapter change in my life for the better hopefully in the next week or so with the hopeful sale of my mothers home, we have an offer signed and accepted just waiting on the final approval from them depending on inspection results and then on to closing if they follow through . My mother passed away 3 years ago come February, I had taken care of her and her business for roughly 13 years with little to no help from my sister. We did inherit a home from my mother which has been on the market for 6 months now again pretty much on my own with my sister sitting on the sideline watching me work and holding her hand out for her half. It will be bitter sweet not having to deal with my sister and the rental home once it sells but sad that it ends with the parting of the last of what my mother had accrued. But it will open a new chapter in my life for me going forward not having the stress of it hanging over me like it has for 15+ years now.

Lots of fires can be started that gauges will not prevent, actually most of the vehicle fires I have seen first hand gauges would have had no effect.

Getting married the day after Christmas was 2 fold, most out of state family and friends were home for the holiday already so they wouldn't need to make another trip and the church was already decorated for Christmas, saving a ton of time and money, lol.

Twelve days of Christmas seem to be forgotten after the first one today. I got a new pair of Kuhl brand pants from my wife along with warm running shirt from our family gift name draw, several pairs of socks and a couple gift cards. Best part is it's my wife and I's 18th wedding anniversary tomorrow. + 5 years together before the wedding.

Welcome to the site DIL! Give us some more info on your rig so we could give some more detailed support. Going the delete route would be the best if you do not have emissions testing in your area.

Only thing one should do if mounting a snow plow is add a steering brace and heavier springs. The DHD t-case just means the t-case has a bigger diameter shaft versus the DLD version nothing to do with it being a snow plow package. The plows do not care what rig they mount on but the frame mounting kit is the difference.

Hope all have a good holiday season. Sticking close to home as usual, headed to the Brother in-laws for a get together in Bismarck tonight and then tomorrow off to the Mother in-laws farm for even more in-law family adventures lol. Got my wife a Yoga package at a new studio in Bismarck she has tried a couple times and really liked the gal who runs it. She has been hounding me for a new chopping knife as well, all our kitchen knives are antiques and or just cheap low quality stuff. Went to the store together and she found a high end Wusthof chopping knife on sale for 50 bucks, regular near 150. She got home and went to town with it almost instantly, I was in sheer amazement just watching it in action, I never knew a kitchen knife could be so sharp and easy to use, she loves it, now we want to replace all our old stuff with a complete set., very spendy but after seeing what quality can do I think it would be worth it, they had some complete sets on sale too, may have to see what after x-mas prices look like. This is the one she got, now she wants a bigger one. http://www.wusthof.com/usa/Products/Global-Product-Detail-Page.jsp?/classic/utility+knives/utility+chopper+4192/id-36877/ Oh yeah almost forgot it wouldn't be a good W&F thread without a bit of humor. Happy festivus! Lets now air our grievances. https://youtu.be/c8g4Ztf7hIM There is a little bit of Eddy in all of us!

One thing to remember as well is that the guys running extended cab long box rigs have an advantage to quiet things down more as they can install longer mufflers and can mount them a bit further back which is always a big difference in exhaust sound. This is something I do not think I have ever seen anyone address before. The further away from the source one can mount a muffler the best sound reduction one will have, even 12-18" makes a big difference. Remember resonator gets mounted as close to engine as possible and muffler gets mounted as far away to get best results.

Dash must come out and If going that far I would never reuse a modern aluminum heater core for the amount of work it takes to get in and out. Replace it and forget it for another 200K.

No vacuum controlled anything on a 3rd gen all electronic.

Put my first set of Bilstein shocks on my 2010 1500 hemi a couple years ago and they are doing great yet, if they make it through this winter they will have outlasted any shock I have tried over the years. I used to run nothing but Rancho RS5000 as well for many years on all my rigs and never had a set make it past 40K miles or two years. That was when sears still lifetime warrantied them 100%, I quit running them the day sears quit lifetime warrantying them.

The ones that annoy me like our Jetta has a battery with the posts inset below the surface of the battery due to the battery blankets they use now too. One can not fit most of the bigger jumper cable clamps onto the posts anymore due to being sunk into the battery.

With my 30" FTE resonator I believe any added muffler past it would get one down to near stock exhaust sound levels. I have the factory 4" piping on my 05, I installed a muff delete pipe and then replaced the OEM converter with a 30' FTE resonator and kept the entire factory piping in tact. I had to do some custom cutting to keep the factory exhaust piping long enough when removing the factory cat but it worked out nearly perfect all done.

Yep I meant to post that as well but on newer vehicles that is near impossible although I do see some that have an actual grounding spot built into an area like the alternator bracket ect but not too common.

Another piece of safety advice is if one of the batteries is all corroded and wet looking there is a possibility of an explosive situation if causing sparks there, always hook the cables to that battery first and remove last to lessen the chance of sparks igniting the vapors. Not too bad with the newer maintenance free batteries anymore but still see it on occasion.

I love to watch those who hook up to the first vehicle and then try to arc weld the clamps together on the other end by intentionally touching them together just to see if its live or not.

Looks like they are part wiener dogs........................

This trailer is heavy, its a 26 foot deck with a 4 foot pop up dovetail for a 30 foot total length, about the same weight as the pickup, together empty I weigh in @ well over 14K lbs. This old 5020JD weighed around 17K alone?

I can drive tractors over my trailer fenders lol................