LiveOak

Getting back to topic for a final follow up. The 50/50 blend of Amsoil MTF/ SAE 50 synthetic is working well but with an * that I recommend all heed. This blend of transmission oil DOES work very well once it has reached operating temperature. When it is cold, the transmission if VERY VERY stiff with respect to shifting gears. The colder it is, the worse it gets. Once the transmission oil has reached full operating temperature, the transmission shifts VERY nice and smooth. Having had some time to work with this transmission fill, I have found that on cold days, for the first start up, I will start the truck, allow it to idle a few minutes and then place the transfer case in neutral. Then I place the transmission in 4th gear and allow the engine to warm up. I usually let it idle with exhaust brake set on to aid the engine reaching full operation temperature faster. Once the temperature gauge is showing good movement to warming up, I shut the exhaust brake off and go on my way. By then, the transmission oil is warmed up enough to shift without much issue. Just have to be easy with it and let it go in gear when it is ready. Sometimes a double clutch helps out. As it warms up fully, I can shift like normal. My 5 gallon pail of Red Line 75W 80 synthetic came in and I decided to use it on the wife's transmission since it has a very fussy 3rd gear shift if you rush it. I went with the Red Line based on my phone conversation with Cody at Super Stick Transmissions. He indicated that he liked the Red Line the best. He was DEFINITELY correct on that call. My manual shake test told me the Red Line was not as vicious as the Amsoil MTF and way thinner than the SAE 50 synthetic but more viscous than the Pennzoil Synchromesh that was in the transmission. I am very impressed with how much smoother the wife's truck shifts now. The fussy 3rd gear shift is MUCH better. The Red Line oil does not need to be warmed up near as much as the 50/50 blend in my truck. I may change over to the Red Line for my truck in the future.

Just wanted to follow up on the shock install. I went with the Bilstein 4600 shocks. I had some lengthy discussion with the tech support guys at Bilstein and they were VERY animated in their position that I would NOT be happy with the 5100's or the 5160's as they were designed for trucks that have been lifted and have a notably softer damping rate than the 4600's that were designed for stock trucks with stock suspensions. I am soooooooooooooooo glad that I listened to them. I cannot begin to describe the difference and improvement in the ride of the wife's truck! I still cannot believe that shocks could have that much influence on how the truck rides but they DO. It is like driving a totally different truck and reminds me of how it drove when it was new only it is just a bit firmer ride which is fine with me. My back is sooooooooooooooooo much happier riding around in the truck now. I guess I didn't realize how bad the ride had become over the years. The ONLY benefit of the way these truck rode before changing out the shocks was that they helped to dislodge kidney stones and help me to pass them faster. LOL! So, here is a case in which buying the most expensive item was not the best choice. The cheapest shocks turned out to be the best although I can't actually judge how the 5100 and 5160 shocks would have performed since I did not actually install and try them out. I am real happy with the Bilstein 4600's.

I finally got around to replacing the original OEM 17 year old thermostat that had not worked in many years with a 195 degree thermostat. Wow! What a difference and improvement.

I concur with the above in opening the dash up and replacing or at least cleaning our the heater core. That having been said, this is what I have done in the past with some very encouraging results. (NOTE: this is NOT what most would consider a permanent or even a long term fix and it DOES lend itself to a significant degree of halfass) Get a Milton compressed air chuck nozzle, climb underneath the passenger side of the truck under the dash area and find the evaporator drain. Clean any debry or obstructions from it. Now turn the ignition switch on and turn the heater switch to blow directly into your face and turn the fan up to maximum. Leave it running. Climb back under the truck and insert the compressed air chuck into the evaporator drain and seal around it with a rag or other means to seal off and compressed air leaking by and blow compressed air into the evaporator drain using intermittent pulses of compressed air. This will stir up the debry in the heater core/evaporator box and push it into the fan which will blow it out of the box into the vents and into the front seat area. This may require a good bit of compressed air pulses to get whatever debry you can move with the compressed air. It may not get all of it but it will get a lot of it and hopefully improve air circulation through the heater core, not to mention help to remove the crap that builds up around the heater core and evaporator causing corrosion and leakage down the road. It is NOT and ideal nor first class solution but it sure does beat removing the dash and can hopefully put that explication producing task off for a while longer until it is absolutely required if coolant is leaking into the cab. I did this on my truck and blew all kinds of crap and debry out of my heater box. You may see some of the foam rubber seals blow out as they dry rot over the years. Not much you can do about that.

I don't like to push beyond 1200. The piston oil cooling jets are what primarily keep the pistons from melting down in much higher EGT's but the piston oil cooling jets have their limits and wide ranging heat cycles like that are increasing the probability of cracking a head. They are crack prone enough over the long term. In applications such as this is where compound turbo chargers fill the best of both worlds with a great low end response and a great top end with minimal or no lag as well as keeping EGT's well in check. They also do a lot to mitigate or almost eliminate black or any smoke for that matter if done right. What you are seeing as EGT on the exhaust manifold is very likely noticeably lower than what the piston top is actually seeing. Hence the recommendations to be conservative with respect to the EGT's you generate.

Are you making a lot of smoke when you are under acceleration to any serious degree or towing heavy?

You are ready for head studs and twins for openers. A bigger or more efficient intercooler and intake would help as well, not to mention a 5 inch straight pipe or mildly muffled exhaust. A low restriction air filter like a BHAF would also help a good bit. EGT's in that range are a solid indication to downshift to the next lower gear to keep rpms and airflow up.

I am thinking about adding an Eaton True Trac to my Dana 80 rear axle with 3.54's. I have gotten by with open differentials for almost 17 years on this truck but have gotten stuck bad only once. I have noticed on MANY occasions that my truck has almost ZERO traction on level ground on grass and inspite of my best efforts NOT to spine a tire almost always do. Yesterday while checking on a forestry unit I had to drive up a very steep access road which was little more than a smoothed up logging road. I made it to the top but I could feel the tires slipping here and there while in 4WD. Has anyone here had an Eaton or similar True Trac differential installed in their truck or installed one themselves? Comments, suggestions, and input would be very helpful in assisting me with making an informed and wise decision. Thanks!

To hopefully simplify the task of brake fluid changing I have ordered a set of Dorman 12701 Quick Bleeders. Probably very similar to speed bleeders. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rnb-12701 I have a pressure bleeder but it will not pressure bleed the front brakes due to the valving in the system with the ABS without either holding a relief valve open or pumping the brakes. I just hook up the entire pressure bleed system to the truck and fill up the reservoir to the maximum level with brake fluid, pressurize, and then open each bleeder port. The rears pressure bleed "OK" but very slowly the Quick Bleeders will hopefully allow me to aid & speed up the process. Being able to push out old brake fluid with a LOT more pressure and volume helps to push out a lot of deposits and trash that builds up in the brake system over time. At least, that is what I am shooting for. I will post my results using them when I have changed the fluid on the wife's truck.

My decision to try the 50/50 mix of Amsoil MTF and SAE 50 was based on a call to Cody at Super Stick. That and this month's Diesel Power Magazine has a Q&A section question about this very issue and they suggested 1 quart of Amsoil MTF with SAE 50 synthetic as a good NV5600 lubricant fill. Even at 50/50 the shifts are a bit stiff when it is cold when first starting out so after starting the engine, I place the transfer case in neutral and put the transmission in 3rd or 4th gear with the clutch out and let it idle to help warm up the lubricant in the transmission before driving off. This seems to help lessen the stiff shifting which is not all that bad. It is more like a very slow shift. If I just lightly hold the shifter in the gear I want it eventually goes in gear smoothly........just DON'T rush it or force it. In the phone conversation I had with Cody at Super Stick, he said that he has been evolving (my words not his) on trying various transmission lubricants and currently he likes the Redline 75W80 for the NV5600. I will be trying this lube in the wife's truck.

DON'T get me started on property taxes. (read property theft) I have the ISSPRO egt, boost, and fuel pressure gauge pod stack on the A pillar and love them. VERY helpful with keeping an eye on what is going on under the hood.

Guilty as charged! LOL! My life since buying the truck has been a roller coaster. STILL NO excuse for not changing the brake fluid in almost 17 years. Yet another I made the decision to just replace everything. When I DID replace the brake fluid, it came out VERY dark and smelled like strong ammonia. I cannot begin to imagine what the insides of the entire brake system must have looked like, especially the brake hoses. I bought a set of speed bleeders to try out on the wife's truck so I can change the fluid without help. I will be changing the fluid every 2 years from hear on out.

Changing the brake fluid was the first thing I did followed by freeing up the calipers but they heated up yet again in a test drive. These brakes got so hot that smoke was just pouring out of the wheel wells on several occasions before I realized that this was not just a unusual instance of overheating. At least 3 or 4 times on long trips. There was no way to know it was happening until we stopped for at our destination or for a break that we noticed the smoke. I was concerned that the seals and other components in the brake calipers were just fried so I replaced everything. Still not bad after almost 17 years of reliable performance.

@Killer223 I watched those videos several weeks ago with some disappointment. I had already purchased front and rear Mag Hi-Tech differential covers. I agree with what Gail Banks is getting at in his video's but my Mag Hi-Techs are on and look great now. LOL! I purchased them about 7 years ago and just never seemed to find the time to get around to installing them.

The 5100's is limited lifetime warranty: https://productdeskapi.cart.bilsteinus.com/media/products/bilstein/limitedlifetimewarranty.pdf The 5160's come with a 90 day warranty: https://productdeskapi.cart.bilsteinus.com/media/products/bilstein/limited90daywarranty.pdf My brakes still had about 75% pad left on the original OEM pads but the pistons ceased up inside the caliper and the brakes were overheating on every trip. I ended up replacing the rotors, calipers, pads, hoses, and brake fluid. I think allowing the truck to set for long periods of time without use is about as bad as any other kind of abuse now. If you don't use it, you lose it.

Going back to another life as a UH-60 Maintenance Test Pilot, if I recall from my rusty and faltering memory, the chip detector and the temperature sensors were mounted on the bottom of the main transmission. Perhaps this may have been a function of accessibility and maintenance design but I guess the point I am making is that the oil is being circulated repeatedly throughout the transmission performing its primary lubrication purpose but also its secondary purpose of carrying thermal energy (heat) to via main module pump to the transmission oil cooler would carry and distribute the main transmission thermal load throughout the oil circulation path. I am sure the indicated temperature would vary depending upon the location on the transmission it is mounted but probably not enough to matter. In Mike's case with his NV4500, even if the temperature probe was not in the oil bath/sumped oil, so much would be slung by the main gear shaft throughout the transmission case, I would suspect the temperature throughout the transmission would be reasonably consistent and not vary enough to make that much of a difference. Anyhow........this comment should make things clear as mud now! LOL!

I didn't realize it until I called Bilstein today but the 4600 shocks come with a limited life time warranty. https://productdeskapi.cart.bilsteinus.com/media/products/bilstein/limitedlifetimewarranty.pdf The tech guy I spoke with told me that the 5100 and 5160 are designed for lifted vehicles and NOT stock ride height vehicles. He went on to say that the 4600 shock actually is valved stiffer and will better dampen out axle bounce/articulation but is NOT designed for off road use which WOULD void the warranty.

Both her's and my truck have the NV5600. No. These transmissions call for lubricant that meets Chrysler MS9224 specifications. All of the above fluids I listed with the exception of the SAE 50 synthetic transmission oil meet this specification as does synchromesh. I tried synchromesh and it worked OK but not nearly as good as it does now. I had pto covers that have a raised lubricant level port which allows for about 2.5 extra pints.

I am looking for a firm but stable ride for most normal conditions however I would say at least 50% of my driving is off road. The other thing that occurred to me was that going from stock 245/75R-16's to 315/75R-16's has added a considerable amount of unsprung weight to the suspension. These trucks have a LOT of unsprung weight due to the weight and mass of the rotors, calipers, and axles that typical shocks may not be designed to properly dampen and likely exceed their capacity to do so. I suspect this may be a significant contributing factor to why cheaper and less robust design shocks don't last very long on these trucks. I am still not sure I want to go with the Bilstein 5160's as the installation instruction call for sway bar link extensions or shimming the sway bars due to the slightly extended shock extension. I am still trying to determine if this would be required on a stock suspension with NO lift.

Those Bilstein 5160's are pricey. I found the correct 5100's for my truck. The 5160's are a $100 a piece each more! I don't go hard core off roading but I DO drive off road a lot. Are the reservoir shocks worth the extra money?

I went to the saw mill to pick up a load of wood shavings today and the truck rides OK but sometimes I feel like a fishing line bobber floating in rough water going down the road. I can't imagine that the original OEM installed,17 year old shocks when the truck was built at the factory STILL being installed could possibly be the problem???? I was looking at the Bilstein 5100 but Geno's Garage as far I can tell only carries the 5160 which fits my truck according to their selections. What is the deal on shock for these trucks or at least this year and model? Thanks.

To follow up on this topic, the 5 gallon pail of Red Line MTL 75W80 part # 50206 did not show up in time of the appointment at the garage so I went with the 50% Amsoil MTF/50% SAE 50 Synthetic transmission oil. With the TDS pto covers it takes a little over 2 more quarts of oil to fill the transmission up to the now relocated and raised oil fill hole. My observations were as soon as I got in the truck, I tried shift through some gears with the engine off and it was SOOOOOOOO much easier. It was like shifting butter. What surprised me was that the transmission does shift a bit stiff between gears and I just have to take it slow between gears until the oil in the transmission warms up and then it is back to shifting like butter again. Being that it shifted so much easier with the engine off, I expected it to shift the same engine running but before the whole thing started, I was expecting in the back of my mind that the significantly higher viscosity oil would cause stiff shifts until the oil warmed up. Overall, I am very satisfied with it. Now...........I have to decide what to put in the wife's NV5600. Her truck has about double the miles mine has and the 2nd to 3rd gear shift MUST be done with a momentary hesitation in neutral or the synchronizers bark at you and reject the shift. I was originally considering the Redline oil for both trucks but I am concerned that the higher viscosity oil may cause a problem synchronizer and shift to become even more of a problem. On the other hand the higher viscosity oil may help to dampen out the lagging synchronizer and make the shift a bit better. Any thoughts on this?

OK then............now "splain" to me how this is supposed to work??? https://www.ebay.com/itm/TDS-PTO-Cooler-Cover-Dodge-NV5600-Proper-fluid-level-1-8-NPT-USA-Made/192691182335?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649 How would the transmission lubricant be pumped in and out of the those ports?

I see what they did but I am just not seeing how it could work to any degree of effectiveness. Can someone please "edjumacate" me please??? https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dodge-Diesel-5-9L-NV4500-NV5600-Transmissions-FAST-Coolers-PTO-Oil-Filter-Kit-/142919587199?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10

I am so tired of bending over for the outrageous prices the Kubota dealer charges me. I need a maintenance kit for my Kubota RTVX 1100C. Which would you recommend? This one: https://messicks.com/part/77700-05389/kubota-rtv-x1100c-rtv-x1120d-filter-kit or this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Kubota-RTV-X1100C-RTV-X1120D-Filter-Maintenance-Kit/263689633486?hash=item3d65207ece:g:IpEAAOSwy6hanqgb:rk:4:pf:1&frcectupt=true if anyone has another suggestion, please throw it out there.