Bobalos

Its been almost forever since Ive been on this site. just been WAY to busy with life. one of the members sent me a PM, so I figured I would answer him & drop by to say hi. Hope everyone is doing well & their trucks are running TOPS!! Bob

It's early May, 2019 and it seems the only time I come by here is to ask for help or do research on a possible project. There are a bunch of good (and smart) folks on here so I figured id just say Hi and thanks. Hope everyone has an awesome summer. I'm more of a spring/fall kind of person.... But it seems most folks are about the summer... Take care Bob

I thought I would share my experience with my driver's seat cushion and cover. I bought both of them from Genos. The cushion is their "high density" cushion and direct replacement cover. Both were super nice quality and replacement was super simple with their directions. 4 Phillips screws for the lever and plastic trim piece, 4 bolts for the seat cushion (10mm socket and combination wrench). Hog ring pliers would have been helpful, but 2 pairs of needle nose pilliers and a pair of slip joint plies, a little bit of muscle, and done!! One thing I found was that 2 of the springs we're disconnected and that allowed the front cross rod to slide inboard and cut a slot in the middle seat. I slid it back, hooked up the springs and tacked the end pieces together with my MIG welder. It came out super nice but, there were a couple of things I did not like. The first is that after I fixed the springs and put in the new foam I sit WAY higher than I used to. Mind you I'm 6'3" tall and tend to sit very upright. My head is now almost touching the ceiling. The second is that the new foam is much firmer than the old one. One reason is that the old one is 20 years old and the second is that it's firmer foam. I could probably live with the seat height issue, after putting some miles on it, I was used to it. However the super firmness of the cushion pushes on the bottom of my thighs and makes my legs fall asleep. I was hoping it would settle down and break in but...... I could not stand it anymore more. So, I pulled it apart again and replaced the new cushion with the old one (which as it turns out was not horrible, the 2 springs we're really the big problem), put the new seat cover on it and threw it back together. It rides better and my legs don't fall asleep any more. I'm sure in a few more years the cushion is going to become an issue but I will cross that bridge when I get to it. HTH's someone. Bob

Yep, Im going to give it a few weeks & see what happens. it took me 20 years to get the butt grove just right (she just celebrated her birthday), so Im not going to rush it. LOL.

I just bought the Geno's foam and cover and did the replacement this weekend. I found a couple of springs that we're off and fixed them as well. I'm not sure if I'm going to like how stiff this new foam is and how high I'm sitting..... My head is almost touching the ceiling...... The cover matches almost perfectly, and the fit is spot on.

I have tried everything from 40 to 80 at it does not make any difference to this problem & only a slight difference in overall ride quality. I have to make sure to air them down when Im not towing, because they will wear out the middles if I dont. I normally tow @ 70. Bob I appreciate any insight folks. I have tried a bunch of things to figure this out & am coming up stumped. It appears to be getting worse..........

Agreed. & some parts are worse/better than others. the thing is that it is getting worse. the amount of bouncing is getting worse on the same section of road & its now bouncing on parts that it did not used to bounce on before. its VERY much like the shocks are worn out or the tires have flat spots... Im with you on that. I almost loosened them up & tightened them back down & thought "what if one of these 20 year old bolts breaks......... how am I going to get to work". LOL. I thought the first set of Bilsteins was good, the second set did not last for **** & they gave me a TON of **** about their warranty. that is why I bought the monroe's (or whatever is on there now). I would really like to try another set of tires on the truck to see if that might be it. I need to talk with my neighbor & see if I cant borrow the wheels/tires off of his Chevy.

Truck question/issue: As most of you know, I have a 99 Ram, 2500, 2x4, Cummins, Auto. it is up @ 230,000 miles now so Ive replaced just about every consumable on it a couple of times now. I have noticed the last year or so, it bounces down the freeway now. the faster I go the worse it gets. it only happens on Concrete (not on blacktop) & not all concrete, just some. This really seems like this is a shock problem. However I have replaced the shocks (that were not that old) with new ones & the problem is still there. I used to have Bilsteins on there & the previous 2 sets were also Bilsteins. being as its a 2x4 I dont have a lot of options on shocks.......... A few years ago I had A-Arm bushings & ball joints replaced, recently I took it to a "truck place" & had Pittman & Idler Arms replaced (& an alignment done). As I suspected that made no difference. The Tires are semi new, & the "truck place" did re-balance them to see if they were out of whack & they were not. So that did not help either. Im still not ruling out the tires... I took it to someone I respect & he looked @ it & did not see anything out of the ordinary. The only thing that looks even a little wonky is these springs. I have a 50 gallon fuel tank in the bed up against the cab. I put 50 gallons of fuel in it (350 Lbs, including tank & pump) & that does not make any difference. 1. Could these clamps (on the spring packs) getting lose cause a spring rate change enough that this could cause the problem? 2. on one side the springs are starting to splay out & they are not all in alignment any more (see in circles). should I try to fix that or just leave it alone? 3. One of the springs is moved enough to wear into the clamp, should I try to fix that? 4. Should I just go out & buy a new truck for Christmas??? LOL. thanks Bob.

I totally get the "external is easier" thing, but.............. IMO, it should be decades between changes so I can lift the bed to do that every 10 or 15 years. after the 2nd block mounted died on me (3 months after I got the truck), I bolted an old Mallory 140 to the frame of the truck & cut the line & I ran it like that for probably 10 years. no kidding I have NO idea how old it was when I put it on there & it ran for 10 years. it finally gave up the ghost & I did the "in tank retrofit", & it lasted for quite some time (5 years, 7 years.....). I just replaced it earlier this year & it has crapped out on me so Im looking for options. ...... I think Im going to go with the Air Dog & call it a day, but that means I need to get rid of the internal pump. as "luck" would have it, I threw away the original sending unit right before I replaced the in tank one earlier this year so I could not put it back into the truck............. . Now Im working on a draw straw kind of thing. I never thought that crud could be getting in through the roll over valve on the top of the sending unit. Maybe I will stick a filter on it to keep crap out of the tank. Anyone have any idea what that fitting thing is on the bottom of the fuel pump is???? I need to find a battery so I can power the pump & see if stuff goes in or out of it.... thanks Bob How many miles/years did you get on it? Which model do you have?

A few months ago I replaced the in tank lift pump & kept the old one to take apart & mess around with. I really like the idea of the fuel pump in the tank, IMO that is where the pump should be. the Gasser cars get hundreds of thousands of miles on in tank pumps @ high pressure, It sure seems like someone should be able to make a diesel transfer pump that could do the same..... in any case, Ive often wondered what the yellow cross thing is in the module so I took it apart & figured you guys might want to see.. I figured someone might need to know which wires goto which pins on the inside connector. The amount of junk on the screen really shocked me. Im not sure where its coming from, but when I put this module into the truck (years ago) there was nothing in the bottom of the tank. now clearly dirt is getting in somehow........... Kind of makes me wonder if there really is nothing wrong with the pump & its just getting starved for fuel, by this filter as well as the one in the bottom of the basket that filters the fuel going up into the basket from the bottom....... Close up of the valves between the goes-outta & goes-inta the two nipples on the right are the "out" & the 2 on the left are the "IN". Im guessing the valve on the right is an anti-drainback valve. the one that goes across the 2 Im guessing is a "bypass" or "internal regulator" kind of deal. that keeps fuel flowing through the pump to keep it cool while its not working too hard. IMO, this explains why the pumps dont change pitch @ all. its because they are never truly dead headed. Kind of makes me wonder what kind of pressures these pumps generate. Maybe I will do some testing when I get some "free time". LOL. This thing I dont understand........... the red pen marks are just to show what is connected to what, not an indication of flow direction.... the 90* on the right does not appear to do anything in this application. its not connected to anything its just a 90*. the thing that comes out of the pump & goes to what looks like an eductor is super strange. Clearly the super large screen is where the fuel goes into the pump, but for it to turn around & come out of the small hole on the side is strange & what is the purpose of it???? this is how it is mounted so it sits on the bottom of the pump module. is it designed to stir up the fuel in the pump module? keep it moving or keep it from gelling up or something............. Id love to hear some idea's.... this is just the stuff I scrapped off of the screen with a screw driver. then I used some brake cleaner & a tooth brush to clean it up. This picture is post scraping & pre cleaning. Not sure where all of this crap came from......... Its not showing up in the fuel filter in the Engine compartment........

DAP, Thanks, but no thanks. based on the way you (whoever you are) handled this (& the emails I have received recently) ....... I will stand by my statement & take my money elsewhere. You are who you are, when no-one is looking.......... Bob

I had not intended in getting into a debate of this or turning it into a bashing session, but as you brought it up............. When I contacted DAP, the injectors were still good cores. the value of cores is based on what the market can supply to builders. DAP STILL thinks that they are worth $100. regardless of if I bought them 30 minutes ago, 30 days ago or 30 months ago, they are still worth $100. To make an excuse that "our system wont allow us to return the Core Deposit after X amount of days is ridiculous". that simply means you dont care enough to make it happen. to say "Many shops do 1/2 credit or no credit after 30 or 60 days. We often extend full credit on cores to 6 months on request." Maybe the policy on the return window for cores should be stated somewhere.......... I just put the same set of injectors into my cart & nowhere did it say I had to return the cores w/in X number of days. What really chaps my *** is that both of the above excuses are just that, excuses. knowing I paid $100 for the deposit & to offer me $60 is simply ripping me off. What is says to me is that "Im making up an excuse to take $40 from you". because A, clearly the deposit CAN be returned to me or it would not have been offered & B, your website states that the value of a set of Cores is still $100, but........ Im not going to give you that, Im going to give you $60. And no I dont think you are sorry, or you would have contacted me directly instead of making excuses. Mike, this is NOT the direction I wanted this to go. I hope you can understand my position. Bob

Thanks Mike, I will give them a call. BTW, I lied about DAP, I have used them before. I bought a set of Bosch New Injector RV275 Marine 300 40HP - 0432193635 from them & when I went to return the cores they told me that they would only give me $60 for them, not the full core value (Mind you it was a year later, none the less, the way it was handled was unacceptable to me). That pissed me off, so I wont be going back to them. thanks again folks, Bob

Awesome!!! I have heard of DAP, however have not used them before. Id love to support someone that supports the community & the forum. thanks Bob

Does anyone have a preferred vendor for diesel parts? I need to buy a new lift pump & a pick up tube kit & would like to talk with someone that A: could find a fuel tank in the dark with both hands. B: has an online store that has good prices. I have bought from Geno's, Alligator & some other online place before & not had a bad experience, just figured I would ask if anyone has a place that they love.... thanks Bob

The hardest part of every project.......

Has anyone built an on board air compressor type of a deal on their trucks? Im looking for ideas... One of the guys @ work has a bagged Toyota & he suggested some of those compressors. It looks like that might be an option..... It seems to me that there might be a belt driven option for the Cummins motor for other uses....... I could not find anything that might be a good solution. Bob

I just bought this & glued it onto mine with some "Shoe Goo". Amazon has them for WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY cheaper than Orilies.... I like that its not a 90* so you can aim it, so that it does not drip in the inner fender well.... Bob

10-4. I was going to try to run something through it ...

I crawled up under it a few minutes ago..... I think I figured out what y'all are talking about. Not sure how I forgot about this.... I do know why I didn't see it..... It right up on the bottom of the accumulator... So if I put a short hose that heads out of the bottom of the truck, that should do the trick.... ?? Thanks Bob

work: Nose down (a little bit). Home: Nose up (a little bit).

folks, I just went through all of my pictures when I had the box out & dont see any hoses on the box @ all. makes me think that either Im not understanding or it was has not been there the whole time. I did just go & take a few pictures.... the only place there is a rubber hose on the AC box............ To be honest Im not sure how this does anything, it goes from the box to inside of the motor...... Where is that supposed to drain from/too? the only other 2 penetrations, are the Evap hoses & the Heater Hoses. the Evap hoses have the small 1/8" vacuum line that works its way over to the ported vacuum switch on the dash..... thanks again folks........ I think its time for me to make my annual contribution to the site........... Bob

I don't remember anything at all when I had the AC box out. I will go back through my pictures and check it out. Thanks Bob

I didn't get what he was talking about. I have not had a chance to get up under it with any light out either..... IIRC, there is a 90* rubber boot on the bottom of the blower motor, but I dont get the hose by the AC lines thing..... thanks Bob

I didnt think it could be the heater core as I just got done replacing it (& the AC, hose, seals, etc). I just checked & the carpet is wet under the floor mat. There is no Glycol smell or taste to it, so I dont think the core is leaking. the heater & AC are working amazing right now. I am getting water dripping from under the truck by the front wheel, where it has always done it, I always assumed it was the drain for the AC system, but never actually took the time to figure out where it dripped from. that & the trans needs to come out again, I think Im just done with this thing......... tired of it nickle & dime-ing me to death........ thanks folks, I will probably dig into it this weekend (once Im done pouting........... LOL). Bob