The_Hammer

I use to work on these, specifically Ajax and Waukesha. I miss it.

I've always enjoyed fixing things and making improvements. I've had some really cool projects in mind but haven't been able to do them. When I was working 100+ hrs a week running hot shot, doing wrench jobs, and pressure testing, I had plenty of money but no time. Now after being laid off umpteen times because the oilfield took a dump I've got plenty of time but not enough money .

I've sanded my headlight lenses with excellent results, though I have yet to put any kind of sealer on them. I wonder how something like this would work? It is UV resistant so I ASSume it would work.

I like doing things myself, but also money is tight so I HAVE to do most things myself. I do all my own mechanic work, carpentry, plumbing, electrical, welding/fabricating, you name it. I've also learned how to do some automotive body work and painting, though I'm no professional, let lol. Most recently I've learned to read wiring schematics so I could diagnose and repair my electric guitar amp. It would have cost over $400 to ship it to a repair shop and have it fixed when all it needed was a new resistor. I've got all kinds of stuff planned for this truck and will be taking pictures and writing articles as I go along to hopefully incourage and help others. I'm going to be converting to the HD factory steering, building a shackle reversal, building extended control arms, installing 3" lift coil springs, rebuilding my steering gear, recovering my headliner, making some black diamond plate inserts to replace the stupid skull and crossbones ones on my center caps, ect.

I too have those days lol.

I'm actually thinking about spraying it with this http://www.monstaliner.com You probably can't tell but my entire truck is roll-on bed lined with thinned Duplicolor.

My truck had a plastic drop-in bedliner when I bought it and knowing they are nothing but a rust factory I promptly removed it. After removing the liner I found a decent amount of lighter rust with a couple of heavier spots with some pinholes. I cleaned it up and hit it with some rustoleum until I could take care of it properly. I ended up putting in a rubber mat to keep coolers and other gear from sliding around in the bed and normally took it out once a week to make sure the bed was dry underneath. Well, I got busy and stopped taking the mat out of bed and ended up with this. I'm going to hit the rusted areas with a wire wheel until they're bright and shiny and then seal it up. Not sure what paint I'm going to use yet, I definitely want something rust inhibiting though.

I agree that most people are taking advantage of the 5 year/100k mile warranties that are currently being offered. I also think that most people aren't interested in spending money to modify their $60k truck because they can't afford too. These trucks are going to have to age, run out of warranty, and start hitting the used market at a reasonable price before your going to see a significant amount of forum traffic dedicated to them. The way of the world is to dumb people down, it's been happening for years. Common sense isn't common, in fact it's becoming a lost art. There are people who are unable to tell time with an analog clock, navigate without GPS, or even sign their name without printing. That combined with the technological advancements being achieved in the automotive industry leaves most people panicking at the sight of a CEL, let alone attempting to diagnose the issue themselves, which results in a lack of owners sharing information about repairs. Independent shops are finding themselves priced out of obtaining all the electronic diagnostic tools needed to effectively and efficiently troubleshoot the computer systems in newer automobiles, which again means a lack of repair knowledge being shared. So who's left? Factory service techs. The fact that they can be fired for sharing information about repairs keeps them tight lipped, which again means that there is no repair knowledge being shared. The point of this long winded post is that I don't see any reason to worry too much about how this site will be affected if it's not openly geared towards the new trucks that are coming out. Most owners have no desire to repair a vehicle that's covered under a factory warranty themselves, and if they do there's no one around with a significant amount of experience to help them. It's all just going to take time.

I saw that video a few years ago and was kicking myself for not coming up with that fix.

I'm just a country man living a simple life. The Yellowcat weighed 37 lbs.

A local driveshaft shop was going to charge something like $450 to build a one-piece for me back when I was planning to run a 16" lift and 44's.

That's a prime example of why you crawl around under a used truck before buying it lol.

I've used the actual Deutsch crimper when I worked for John Deere. It works great but dropping $280 on a crimper tool will make you walk funny for awhile, especially if it's just for personal use.

Tomorrow I'll be at the inlaws eating fried turkey around noon, then setting up some targets and opening up the gun safe. After the guns are all put away I'll crack open some Wellers Special Reserve and enjoy the evening. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgivings!

That would be great. Believe it or not I can actually spell when I'm not being auto corrected by my phone or tablet lol. My laptop is down and I can't wait to have it up and running again.

I thought a larger turbine wheel spooled quicker with less drive pressure and a larger compressor wheel spooled slower but provided more flow?

If your bolts are tight and it's still making that ticking sound then it very well could be a cracked flex plate, especially since it only does it when the engine is under a load.

What mods have you done to the engine? Injectors, programmer(s)? By switching from a 58/60/14 to a 57/65/14 you have decreased the compressor wheel size while increasing the turbine wheel size. What that means is that it will spool faster, have less drive pressure, (lower EGT) but will make less power.

I have a MBRP 5" muffler that I install for inspection time and I really don't like how much it kills the sound. How does the FTE compare? I really like the way it sounds with straight pipe to 5" stacks but the wife would like a little less cab noise lol.

I've tried rockauto but there's nothing showing for Raybestos. Car Quest wants well over $500 for the parts, so they can keep them lol.

Hate if you want but I love my homemade 5" mitre cut stacks. They're painted with high heat matte black paint ETA: I drew up a mitre template similar to this so the cut would be right. I'm 33 and can't stand those stupid hats. They scream "I'm a douchebag who likes to run people off the road with my brodozer while chugging a monster and wearing a FOX Racing shirt" Sadly I know people my age who wear those hats a live the "brostyle" life

These are all Raybestos Professional Grade part numbers, NOT rebranded Moog parts. This will convert a light duty inverted "Y" steering to the heavy duty 98'-99' "T" steering. Total cost from Amazon is around $340. 410-1073 - Outer Tie Rod End - Right - 1-1/8" x 18 - Length 46.9" 425-1058 - Tie Rod End Adjusting Sleeve - 1-1/8" x 18 401-1871 - Outer Tie Rod End - Left - 1-1/8" x 18 - 10" Length 410-1074 - Other Tie Rod End - Right - 1" x 18 - 28.0" Length 425-1011 - Tie Rod End Adjusting Sleeve - 1" x 18 401-1811 - Other Tie Rod End - Left - 1" x 18 - Length 6.50"

Those are all Moog part numbers. I did manage to get them all crossed over to Raybestos Professional and will post it shortly.

Does anyone have the Raybestos Pro part numbers for the factory HD steering components?

I checked out those threads, guess I got lucky ordering an "in stock" part. I got my track bar in 3 days, ordered late September of this year. I can weld and fabricate pretty good so I think I'm going to just build the rest of the parts that I was going to order from him myself. I want a shackle flip and longer control arms.