dripley

Mine runs right 140 with a 190 t stat. Plenty warm for me.

I looked those tires up and was surprised to see they are not much different than the 265 75 16's. They are 1.6" wider which will put some more stress on the steering. Not much of a fan of the 20" wheels, but thats an old farts opinion. Yep there more of us here. But its your truck and you should dress it out as you see fit. Sway bar bushing easy to replace just do them both. Or you can run without it if you want. Mines off right now but will be going back soon enough. Drives empty fine. Not really knowing what condition you truck is in hard to say what goes out when you are least expecting it. I'd keep a couple grand handy for unkowns.

Is your smoke under control?

Whats the difference in buying a pretty cheap membership or making a donation. The money goes to the same purpose.

A lot of truth in what John says. You are getting near the same mileage john and I had our problems, though mine was hydraulics and his seems to have been the pilot bearing. The both can cause the symptoms younare seeing. If it were me I think I would do the hydraulics first and if the problem persists, a new clutch is in your very near future. @Tractorman which LUK clutch did you go with and how is holding up to the Smarty? My oe clutch help up fine towing while stock and after I added a Banks tuner and RV275's. My 5th wheel weighed in a 12k and I never slipped the clutch. Back then I also never held back while pulling a grade.

Yep. What they said.

The first replacement clutch, at 240k, I resurfaced the oe flywheel and put a new pilot bearing, not bushing, in also new throw out bearing. Thye all came in a kit both times. I never saw the old ones. The SB clutch came with a new fly wheel and bearings. I had both installed by 2 different shops due to my work schedule. I did not have time to do it myself.

Its not alot of cash to drop on the problem. Though throwing parts at something kind of sucks since we are not sure that is the issue. But yours is acting like mine did when it started to fail. My OE master lasted about 7 years and about 175k. The slave held longer but I dont remeber how much longer. I replaced the OE clutch while it was down due to a failed ECM at 240k. Had it in a shop and I got him to put a new clutch just so I did not have to pull the tranny. It is a beast. I figured the OE clutch had to be getting pretty thin. I was surprised to see it still had some life left in it. Then about 20k miles later I lost 4th, owner neglect, and ended putting one in from a salvage yard. That one is still on the truck. The clutch I put on was way to grabby for my taste and the throw out bearing that came with it failed 70k miles after install so I had to pull the tranny again. I replaced that clutch with a SB at 400k and while it is a touch grabby on launch it has been good so far.

I love new parts.

Mine only runs about 140 or a little above also. Blend door issue maybe? It is warm enough but I have a 190* t stat my self.

Just be aware that the rented ball joint presses most likely will not have a receiver cup cut on the right angle to press the lowers out. I had to beat mine out. Adds a bit of time to the job. At least on my 02 that is.

I let mine crack a good bit more than that before I replaced it. That one only seems to have one crack in it.. 2 Daves are equal to and entire chicken farm.

The clutch pedal felt normal. Just that it was harder to get into gear sporadically. I had no visible leaks and the resevoir level stayed the same. What led me to believe something was leaking by was when the truck would start creeping forward with the clutch pedal on the floor. Again this was sporadic as it got worse until finally the clutch pedal went to the floor one day and the clutch was inoperable. If this is your problem, you are in the early stages of it failing. If you start to get more creep with the clutch on the floor I think you would know one of the two is failing. I cannot for the life of me remember what led me to the master having failed other than maybe not knowing there was a slave cylinder. This was the first hydraulic clutch I have ever owned. All my past vehicles were connected with rods or cables. This was also pre being a memeber here or any forum. That being said you can replace both the master and slave for less than 100 bucks. @Mopar1973Man has an article about how to bleed it and reuse the OE hydraulics. When I did mine I knew nothing about the system. I just went to Auto Zone near the job and bought a master then put it on the truck. I had pump that thing like crazy for about 2 weeks before I got all the air out. It then worked fine and still does 9 years or so later. I have had to replace the slave also a few years back but it came with a bleeder screw, no issue there. I cannot pass an opinion on about the SB kit other than being pricey. But I am still running the OE lines and resevoir. I have only replaced the master and the slave. This is with 470k and 17.5 years of ownership. Bleeding the system is not that difficult. The pilot bearing can do the same thing tough I would think the creep would be less. Maybe not if it is failing badly. The slave is mounted on the outside of the tranny. 2 nuts and its off. Not sure how to check for proper operation that way though it needs something to push against. Rock Auto has the whole assembly by LUK for 90 bucks. Quite possibly the one that came on it since LUK was the OE clutch provider if I am not mistaken

Are you doing the evaporator while you're in there? A good rule of thumb there.

The transmission should slip right on with out using the bolts to pull it in. Somethings not right especially if you are fighting to get into gear.

Thats where I got my boost boots from. Holding up just fine 4 years later. Reasonably priced I might add.

My old one was not perfect but one of the last times Imjad it off I was holding it anf itmdropped to the groind. Thats when I noticed I was still had the piece I was holding in my hand.

The rpm signal is going to come from the crank or cam sensor no matter what tranny you have on it. My new dash and bezel was $500 for the pair ftom LMC Truck.

The only performance up grades I have done to mine is a 4" exhaust, different waste gate, rv 275's, AD II 165, Banks tuner, since failed, then a Comp, still on it. I did put a new set of 16 X 8 wheels to replace the 16 X 8 srock wheels that cracked. Still running the original drive line except for the front u joints, turbo and some other little stuff. Inside I put a new dash pad and bezel and new to me seats. Rebuilt the HVAC box. Also need a new headliner and drivers door panel. So yeah they can all be projects. I do have a spare instrument cluster if need one. And, by the way there is a screamin chicken in the back seat somewhere.

If she gets involved we might have strap 4 segways or a couple of prius's to it.

P pump, VP just 2 different ways to run the motor, turbo yes an upgrade, g56 versus a nv 4500 or 5600 is there a big difference there? AD100 a little extra there. 35 X 20' and all the parts to rebuild the front end with because its loose as hades.then the interior seems in pretty rough shape. Not trying to beat you up it just seems you bought more of project than ready to ride truck. So I am going to go back to my corner now.

It is easy to work with and holds up well. Though my exhaust brake uses silicone hose, but it has strap to something or it flops all around. Mike has made mention of the air brake line many times and its availability at NAPA. I went to NAPA out my way 2 or 3 times and asked for it only to be looked at with a blank stare. A few weeks ago I went to a NAPA for some vacuum hose. Did not see what I wanted so I went to the counter and asked for vacuum hose. The clerk took me back to where it was and the had a rack full of "vacuum hose". Half of it was air brake line. The tubing was labeled air brake line but they called it vacuum tubing even though they did have "rubber" tubing with it.

Not sure what upgrades you got other than a good body and a paint job.

I had no fluid visible any where. The fluid level in resevoir remained full. It was that way when it failed. Figured an internal seal failed and it was leaking by. A few times when it started to creep I had to shut the engine off so did not hit something. All this was over the span of a couple months. I ought to add a bad pilot can mimmick the same thing, just not sure it would do it intermittantly. But anything is possible.

When my master cylinder starting it acted the same way. Sometimes it would and others times be difficult to get i to gear. As it got worse it would start creeping forward after being put into gear. All this was intermittent like you describe until it just failed. Mine was leaking internally so there was no fluid visibly leaking to the outside.