AH64ID

The steering wheel controls and horn all go thru the clockspring, so that's what I'd look at first. Are you sure the bulb is good in the dome light?

By setting it back to the stock attitude you're putting all your payload on the airbags. I bet if you let the rear end sag about 1-1.5" below empty you'll get a better ride and batter handling while towing.

The later 48RE's had electrical TV's, so no cables. I think that 05 was the first year of not having a TV cable.

I wonder how much bag/c-channel bouncing you would get during everyday driving. I'd think there be enough minor movement to damage the axle. These HD trucks don't have enough articulation to worry about anyhow. I had a set of Firestone bags on my Tacoma TRD OffRoad. I was worried about articulation on that rig so I contacted Firestone. They told me the bags were designed to work at any articulation the stock suspension would allow. So within the confines of stock articulation I don't think there is anything to worry about, but with an aftermarket suspension long travel bags might be necessary. It does deal with air transfer from side to side, but I wasn't thinking flipping over When they are plumbed together and you go into a corner any suspension roll transfers air from one bag into the other, this doesn't do anything to help with sway. Then you come out of the corner and your rear spring rates are different until the air transfers back. With them plumbed independently you get some sway control out of it since the suspension on the outside of the corner will go up the volume of the bag increases and the bags pressure decreases, while on the inside the volume of the bag decreases and the pressure increases. Both of those pressure changes result in forces working to counteract the body roll. They also return to normal as soon as the vehicle is back to side to side level. Side to side independent leveling is the other reason to plumb them independently. Almost everyone I know that is unhappy with airbags does one of two things, they either run them up to 100 psi for ANY load or they have them plumbed together.

When you're loaded up you don't want all that weight on the airbags, so letting the suspension sag under some of the payload means the weight is distributed between the springs and airbags. This will yield the best ride and handling.

I've used Firestone bags on several different vehicles and I have always been happy with them. Their kits are well thought out and easy to install. I do highly recommend plumbing them independently, and be sure to let the truck suspension sag at least 1.5" and then hold it in place with air.

Fan's that run too much or too little should throw a code, so go over your symptoms some more. How do you know it's running all the time? Does it vary rpm? Describe the overheating.

Have you scanned for codes? The fan will set codes but they usually don’t illuminate the CEL.

Overheating with the fan running is odd, maybe the fan isn't fully engaged and stuck where it's at.

Since our current house is on a well I was more worried about emergency power than our previous homes. I looked at what we NEED to run during an outage and determined that a 240V 5KW generator is enough to survive on. All out lights are LED or fluorescant and the furnace is proper, plus a pellet stove that only uses a few watts to operate once running. The next biggest items are the multiple fridges and freezers, but they can be cycled and I have a pair of 2000w generators for camping that can be used for fridge/freezer purposes if needed. I also wanted a dual fuel since we have a 1000 gal propane tank for our house. Lo and behold my folks were getting rid of a 5.5 KW 240V tri-fuel Winco generator, SCORE. It was older, circa '96, and needed some love. So I had the carburetor rebuilt (long story, actually replaced) and other TLC. I put a battery on it and it fires right up, louder than a freight train but fires right up. For power I don't have the best setup, but it works. I put a pair of 30A RV plugs on my exterior wall right by the breaker box for powering campers in the driveway. The 30A plugs are on opposite legs so I can make a singe 30A 240V connection with them. So I built a deadman cable for the 50A 240V plug on the generator to the 2x30A plugs on the house. I throw the main breaker and marked some other breakers to throw if power goes out. It's not ideal but it works. I'll eventually get a better setup. 5500W is plenty of power for the well, heat, 1-2 fridges, and lighting so were set. We do have to be careful thou, and a long power outage in the dead of winter would get interesting if the hot tub wanted to freeze on me but otherwise I'm pleased. I have yet to ever hook it up to propane as we just don't get enough power outages. I would still like to, but who knows if I ever will. My folks are now thinking about selling their 6K Honda which has wheels and operates at about 1/2 the volume so I may buy that from them and sell the Winco.

I have read about aftermarket clutches not being as smooth or variable on their engagement, so they seem like the run more. They also don't seem to last as long. Personally I would stick with an OEM fan clutch. Why do you think it's bad?

Based on your 1000-1200 miles/week those synchros have what 20K miles on them? Of which 70% is highway miles... You’re not willing to try another fluid? Gear oil wouldn’t have to make all gears grind if it was a fluid/clutch “argument”. 3rd and 4th are the common gears to show this. The fluid and clutch might not get along. Another fluid is much cheaper and easier than pulling the trans. Find some GL-4 75w-90 and try it. Also, if it’s under warranty why not have them pull it? Save some of your time.

I have heard the fuel:air heat exchanger in the ECM go both ways... to heat the fuel, or to cool the ECM. Granted it can do both, but what is the primary goal?

My initial thought is can the wiring handle the added distance without voltage issues? As sensitive as ECM's are to voltage a huge increase in wiring could lead to plenty of issues. The ECM is designed to be on the block, so I am not sure you will have any appreciable benefits from moving it... and it may cause issues.

I have 65 years to go until 1 million. I’ll be just shy of 105. Not even sure diesel will be legal then.

Remember when they are non-greasable the seals are tighter. Adding grease on a regular basis will weaken and damage the seals which means the service interval will have to increase. On my OE 05 steering the serviceable joints were the loosest when I replaced the steering. They received quality grease at a more frequent rate than recommended and still didn’t last as long as the sealed ones.

I can get you a UOA kit from OAI for about $27. Postage for shipping is prepaid and the results are emailed. PM me if you're interested.

I use Oil Analizers Inc. They are who my local Cummins uses. I've also used blackstone, but they cost more for TBN and I was not at all impressed with their testing or analysis.

Perfect. Regardless of miles the oil will start to deteriorate it's TBN the first time it's used after changing. That continues even with the engine off, which is where the timeframe comes from. Without a UOA it's very important to change it once a year even if the miles are low.

That is most likely excessive, unless that's over a 12 month interval.

and time consuming. I spend more per oil change, but do them less frequently. All of my vehicles are on a 12 month OCI. Last time I did the math I spend less in the end, both in time and money. Heck the latest Cummins comes with a 12 month/15K mile OEM OCI, up from 6 months/15K miles... Personally I think they should have been at 12 months a long time ago.

Oil analysis will tell you the health of the oil based on contaminants and oil life. You would need an analysis with TBN, as that's the oils ability to fight off the acids that are a byproduct of combustion. It's usable for gas too, just not as common. It's helpful when trying to establish extended oil drain intervals. Without an aux filter it's harder to sample. Some will change the oil and get a sample from the stream mid drain, others will use a siphon tube down the dipstick. You could also run a slightly higher quality full synthetic and just change it every 12 months, or 15K miles without analysis. Amsoil is what I run and change my oil every 12 months, but rarely hit 15K on it. Amsoil is an extended drain interval oil, so it doesn't need to be tested within their published extended drain intervals. It just depends on the effort you want to put into it.... also nothing wrong with conventional oil and 7500-10000 mile dumps like @dripley does. I prefer synthetic myself, but lots of people just run what's cheapest.

That's the filter. It's not as easy to find, but they are around. I usually find the best price on Amazon these days and buy them by the pair. There is a pair on Amazon now for $27. If you don't want to spring for a oil analysis then dumping at 10K is not going to be an issue.

At 10K mikes I would do an oil sample and see what it looks like. You should be able to get 12-15 miles out of the oil with that kind of use. I do recommend the Donaldson DBL7349 oil filter. It’s performance is unbeatable.

Oils are a lot better today than they were in 2001. Even my 2005 TJ has out dated and too short of OCI's. What does 7500 miles look like for you? How much towing, city, hours, months?