The_Hammer

Total from LMC would be $267.70, and $348.74 from Geno's, so it's an $81.04 difference. That's a pair of Dana Spicer ball joints lol.

I'm going to be purchasing a new dashboard after the first of the year and I'm looking for some input. I know Geno's has one for $330 and LMC has one for $220 that includes the vents on the side. Does anyone here have any experience with either of these replacement dashes? Obviously I'd prefer to go with LMC due to cost but don't want it to bite me in the butt down the road. ETA: Found an OEM replacement for $230 free shipping. I've heard the OEM replacement dashes are now made with ABS plastic but I'm not 100% sure. I asked the seller about it so I'll see what they say.

When I train hard I HAVE to eat a small snack before bed or I won't sleep worth a damn. I wake up with my stomach growling and immediately mix up a protein shake and eat an orange or a banana. Then I'll cook up a couple eggs and a thin sliced pork chop.

I'll share a few things here that I normally don't talk about. I almost died at birth because the umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck and suffocating me. Once the Dr realized this he did an emergency seacection. I came out kind of blue, was not moving much, and was in the ICU for a couple weeks. The Drs said I more than likely had brain damage and told my mom I would pretty much be a vegetable my whole life. Other than the ADHD I'm perfectly healthy. ADHD is why I was home schooled, I was literally kicked out of first grade and my mom told to never bring me back. It made learning VERY difficult and because of this I was called stubborn and stupid. It wasn't until February of this year that I got on Adderall and my quality of life drastically improved. I enjoy learning and actually crave knowledge now.

I tried a LOT of natural things to cure the ADHD but nothing truly took care of it like Aderall. I was VERY hesitant to take medication but I'm very glad that I did. I had extreme anger issues and couldn't focus on one thing for longer than 15 minutes tops, both of which cost me a couple of jobs. I'm still open to finding a natural alternative that works though. I just know that I NEVER want to go back to how I was before.

I had some abs showing at 215 lbs, 205 I would of had a 6-pack. I can gain muscle and strength fairly easy, getting lean is more work, mostly due to not keeping my diet clean. Another issue is that I've NEVER worked out for even a month straight due to ADD/ADHD. Now that it's all under control my focus and concentration is through the roof! I want to see what I can actually become if I keep up the hard work. The reason for this is that our bodies will acclimate to the work load placed upon it. Once your body is accustomed to 10-12 hr days of hard labor your metabolism slows back down. If you continue to eat like you did during the acclimatization phase when your metabolism was higher, your going to gain weight. Another example would be the Mexicans you see around here sweating their butt's off doing all kinds of hard manual labor but yet they're fat, it's the same thing. That's why you have to always increase the difficulty of your workouts by increasing the weight, number of reps, decreasing the rest duration between sets, ect, if you want to continue to make gains.

Workouts are free for me too, I train at home so no gym fees lol. I was BUSY this past summer falling trees, throwing over 1k bales of hay a few different times, digging trenches, hiking up river, ect. If you weren't so far away I'd gladly come bust a$$ with ya.

I was unable to type after I quoted you above, the site has been pretty glitchy today on my tablet. Anyway, I've thought about that and may end up applying a matte clear. The main thing is that I don't want it to look painted, if you know what I mean.

Back story: I used to be in good shape, not ripped but strong with a pretty flat stomach. 300lb bench press, 450lb deadlift, and 400lb squat, nothing too special but had a nice solid core. Then I met a girl who smoked (I didn't at the time) and ended up engaged, living together, and I picked up smoking as well. Then we broke up, I kept smoking, and ended up running hot shot deliveries for the oilfield. I would go days in a row without sleep, 140-150 hour weeks were pretty normal. I started chugging 2-3 16oz energy drinks a day, smoking 2 packs a day, eating whatever I could grab at truck stops, and as you can imagine gained a lot of weight. Early one morning after being up for 3 days straight I fell asleep behind the wheel and was awakened by a big rig laying on his horn because I had drifted in to oncoming traffic. I called my boss and told him what happened and that I needed some rest. After I was told to stop being a p*$$y and to not call him again because he was in his deer stand, I told him to eat a bag of d!*ks and quit. That's been over 3 years ago now and I never lost the weight I put on. I did however stop drinking energy drinks completely and have been smoke free for almost 2 years now. This is me at 255 lbs, I'm 6' 1" btw. I was starting to feel old (I'm only 33) and would be stove up in the mornings, even if I didn't do much that day. My energy level was low and just plain felt like crap most of the time. Well, I finally started a 6 day a week training routine a couple weeks ago and damn I feel good again! After the first of the year I'm going to start cutting calories, my weight goal is 215 lbs (what I used to weight) and I should be able to reach it by the beginning of April.

Back story: I used to be in good shape, not ripped but strong with a pretty flat stomach. 300lb bench press, 450lb deadlift, and 400lb squat, nothing too special but had a nice solid core. Then I met a girl who smoked (I didn't at the time) and ended up engaged, living together, and I picked up smoking as well. Then we broke up, I kept smoking, and ended up running hot shot deliveries for the oilfield. I would go days in a row without sleep, 140-150 hour weeks were pretty normal. I started chugging 2-3 16oz energy drinks a day, smoking 2 packs a day, eating whatever I could grab at truck stops, and as you can imagine gained a lot of weight. Early one morning after being up for 3 days straight I fell asleep behind the wheel and was awakened by a big rig laying on his horn because I had drifted in to oncoming traffic. I called my boss and told him what happened and that I needed some rest. After I was told to stop being a p*$$y and to not call him again because he was in his deer stand, I told him to eat a bag of d!*ks and quit. That's been over 3 years ago now and I never lost the weight I put on. I did however stop drinking energy drinks completely and have been smoke free for almost 2 years now. This is me at 255 lbs, I'm 6' 1" btw. I was starting to feel old (I'm only 33) and would be stove up in the mornings, even if I didn't do much that day. My energy level was low and just plain felt like crap most of the time. Well, I finally started a 6 day a week training routine a couple weeks ago and damn I feel good again! After the first of the year I'm going to start cutting calories, my weight goal is 215 lbs (what I used to weight) and I should be able to reach it by the beginning of April.

I did some testing on my fuse panel cover. I buffed it with some swirl and scratch remover, then some carnauba wax. Original light grey. New charcoal.

What did you tear up now?

This past summer I was digging trenches in the middle of the day to run electric lines. My FIL is a master electrician and I'll do grunt work like that for him when he can't use the trencher. This one was extra fun due to all the rocks. I'm used to the heat and humidity, that's why I HATE cold weather.

There is a price to pay for the mild winters here, it's called summer. 100° + temp and 60% humidity, nothing like drinking your air!

Christmas forecast here is 82° with scattered showers. Might go to the beach if yall' want to head this way

It's partly cloudy and 65° here.

*Update on painted door panel* Checked on the panel this morning and it looked like crap once completely dry. Upon closer inspection I realized that I just needed to apply heavier coats. I sprayed on another coat and after drying it looks great. I'm not sure how I feel about the painted fabric, I have a feeling I'll be recovering those sections sooner than later just because the fabric is so worn. I have an idea about securely fastening the fabric insert panels back to the door panel once removed. I'm going to use some machine screws in place of the melted plastic rivets. The plan is to drill a hole through each rivet, insert a machine screw with the head ground as flat as possible, then use epoxy to secure them to the panel. From then on out you can use regular nuts to secure the insert to the panel. Something else I'm thinking about doing is putting a layer of fiberglass on the back side of the door panels to add strength and rigidity. Remember, I'm thinking about durability for the long haul.

Does the sound deadening material actually make that big of a difference? I've heard a lot of mixed reviews about it's effectiveness.

Just came across this http://www.seatzmfg.com/seatz/index.htm They offer actual upholstery kits and NOT covers, and unlike ebay they offer materials other than leather. These are a couple hundred more http://www.carandtruckupholstery.com/p-307-1994-99-dodge-truck-standard-cab-front-bench-and-rear-bench-upholstery-woven-clothvelour.aspx

I wish mine looked that nice!

Sure! That's what this site is about isn't it? Sharing knowledge in the hopes of helping one another

Another thing I'm going to do is use the stock driver side pillar to make a triple gauge pillar. The previous owner butcher the hell out of it when he installed the glow$h!t triple gauge pod so I've got nothing to lose.

@Mopar1973Man My truck is a 96. They're early 2nd gen panels, the truck had the Infinity sound system upgrade. After doing a TON of research decided to use Dupli-Color vinyl and fabric paint. I also used Dupli-Color adhesion promoter clear primer. The fabric inserts and the panel were painted with the same color, Charcoal Grey. Seems people have had great luck with this paint, no fading, chipping, or peeling issues as long as you use the adhesion promoter. Prep was extremely simply. * Wipe the panel down with a degreaser that doesn't leave a residue, I used acetone. * Spray 3 light coats of adhesion promoter, allowing 3 minutes between each coat. Apply topcoat within 10 minutes of final primer coat. * Apply up to 3 coats of the vinyl and fabric paint, waiting for the paint to become tacky between coats. It dries pretty quick and can be handled in about 15-20 minutes in ~60% humidity and 70°. Oddly enough there are NO dry times listed on the can. The dry time I listed is from today under those conditions. I think I'm going to end up buying a replacement dash when I have the funds. I could probably build one myself but the time and money involved would be pretty high. I found the OEM dash for a little over $200 and have heard they are now made from ABS plastic. I definitely will be confirming this before purchasing. I'll be recovering my headliner soon, I have it out and removed all the old material and foam. I should have taken some pictures but honestly removing the old headliner material and foam is simple. Step 1, grab material and pull. Step 2, take a wire brush and scrub the old foam off the fiberboard. You could also use a grinder with a wire wheel but the possibility of ripping through the fiberboard is high if not careful. Almost forgot, @Mopar1973Man I never thought about pressure washing the carpet. I tested a spot with that fabric paint and the carpet looked great other than needing to be cleaned. I'll pull it out, pressure wash it, and when it's try hit it with the vinyl paint.

My top dash is gone. It crumbled in to so many pieces there was nothing I could do. The bottom dash was completely broken out around the cup ejectors and the glove box hinges were about to break off. It was also broken around the hvac controls and O/D off button. How the door panels looked before: And after: Rebuilt the whole top section here, sill have more finishing to do. One thing I learned about fiberglass is that you get what you pay for. The crap sold at Walmart and the like is just that, crap. I'll be ordering fiberglass and resin from one of the quality auto supply vendors online from now on. Below you can see where it had started to crack. A layer of glass behind the entire lower dash put an end to that. Because of the added thickness of the fiberglass the original push-in clips no longer work. So, I'm going to smooth over the holes where the original push-in threaded clips went, drill a hole in the center, and epoxy flat threaded plates on the back side for the dash to attach to. Please bear with me on this project. I know some of you couldn't fathom the thought of doing something like this to your interior. My problem was that I had no choice because of all the damage. I've already had people make fun of my truck because it "looks like a piece of s%!t" right now. My interior is FAR from finished, I plan on making it look factory fresh but it's going to take time. I'm keeping this truck for the long haul so it's all worth it to me.

I've seen a lot of custom interior work done to these trucks but it's all been geared towards sport trucks. I'm wanting to do more of an oem style, not a smooth high gloss finish.