LiveOak

I got over to the petroleum distributor today. I got 2 5 gallon pails of the Conoco/Phillips 75W-90 synthetic. http://www.phillips66lubricants.com/brands-products/Single.aspx?pid=394&brand= It costs about $120 per pail after taxes and all. I also decided to go with Conoco/Phillips 50 wt. synthetic transmission oil for the NV5600. http://www.phillips66lubricants.com/brands-products/Single.aspx?pid=186&brand=Conoco It is getting to be very difficult to find Pennzoil Syncromesh in the 5 gallon pail and not get taken to the cleaners anymore. I spoke to a rebuild shop in Memphis who recommends Mobil Delvac 50 wt. synthetic, the Conoco/Phillips cross referenced over to the same oil and cost about $175 per 5 gallon pail. I am going to try the 50 wt. synthetic straight and see how it performs. If it has poor cold weather characteristics, I still have about 2 or 3 gallons of Pennzoil Syncromesh and will mix it with the 50 wt. to thin it some. I think for my area the 50 wt. should do fine and actually perform better in hot weather. https://highgeartransmission.wordpress.com/tag/nv5600-6-speed-transmission/

We need to FINALLY bring ourselves to learn reality as a nation, people, and culture. Yes the founding fathers stand like redwood trees among dandelions when put up by our current leaders but we need to unlearn and shed the revisionist history and crap taught to us in our schools are realize that the founds father were MEN. Flesh and blood men and women who had their gifts, talents, faults, and shortcomings. Probably all of us especially myself would struggle to fill their shoes and walk in their footsteps. Sadly even George Washington fell from path of liberty, freedom, the idea of self governance, and ideals spelled out in the Declaration of Independence when he sent soldiers to put down the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791. The fledgling nation never truly recover from it. Many of the founders accomplished many great things but they all had their faults as we ALL do. Among the greatest of the found fathers in my view was George Whitfield. Were it not for him "the great awakening" would probably never have happened when and how it did bringing a great uniting of the people together inspiring the spirit of the American Revolution. America today is slowly dying, awaiting and sorely needing such a man as him. Few of us, probably myself included truly understand how precious, hard won, so easily lost, and dear our liberty and freedom is. Again guys, please don't mind me........I guess I am on a bit of a downer.........my neighbor put a gun to his head and blew his brains out day before yesterday. We are all at a loss for decent words as he left a wife, 1 teenager in and out of trouble with the law, 2 younger children, and I believe his mother who apparently fighting a losing battle with cancer. I suspect he apparently must have felt things were so bad that he just threw in the towel. In a metaphorical sense something FAR too many have done politically and morally in this nation. I am NOT pointing a finger. If I were.......I would have to point it at myself first. You NEVER know.........stranger things have happened. Of all the people God chose to carry on his message Paul of Tarsus be one of his apostles (not one of the original 12, in his former life he was known a Saul of Tarsus and famously known for his brutal and relentless persecution of the early Apostles). Could Donald Trump be than guy??? At first blush I find it beyond skeptical and seriously doubt it but stranger things have happened. Who knows.........what will happen, it is in His hands.

Sorry guys. Didn't mean to come across as the fart in the movie theater. Just throwing out my 2 cents worth as to how current state of affairs hits me. Yeah, I would call if for Trump and he would have my vote as things stand now until I find out what his views are on gun control. We are really dragging the chain drag harrow low over the horse manure at this point. God help us.

There has certainly been far worse in the White House. That having been said, Trump is a hard core progressive. He DOES bring LOTS of attention to and express views about issues that I strongly agree with. He is still a progressive. I had high hopes for Ted Cruz but he has turned out to be another slicky boy politician that likes to make back room deals. Rand Paul completely flip flopped on every issue that made him attractive as a Libertarian. The final straw was endorsing Mitch McConnell. I would not even consider the rest due to their views on guns. I have no idea what Trump's position is on guns and the 2nd amendment. IF he supports the 2nd amendment as well as the rest of the Constitution as written and original intent, I would vote for him for the single purpose of burning the so called Republican party to the ground. At this point, in my opinion, there is NO or nearly no difference between the Republicans and the Democrats. BOTH are progressives and the Dems will get the nation to collapse faster but BOTH WILL get us there. In the event anyone is unsure of what I mean when I use the term Progressive........a Progressive is a modern hybrid between a Marxist and a Fascist. I like a LOT of what I hear from Trump but I have been around this game long enough to know that even though I like a lot of what Trump stands for, I am cognizant enough to know that he will likely behave just like the current impostor to the presidential office only in different ways. Trump could be a wrecking ball to the current Marxist regime and pull the nation back on track or he could be as much of a tyrant that the current impostor to the presidential office is and pull the nation far off track in the opposite direction. This all CANNOT be layed at the Trumps feet or any other single person. I believe that America as a nation, people, and culture (not all) have become so wicked, immoral, vile, and evil that God has turned his back to this nation. The grace and favor that God once shed on this nation and its people is gone and it will be hard won to get it back if we ever win His favor and grace back. I DO NOT recognize this nation any longer and to a great extent feel like a stranger in my home land. NO amount of voting will fix this.

After sitting on my shop shelf of over 5 years, I think it is FAR past time to install the Mag Hytec diff covers I bought. I went out to the garage shop and checked.......only 3 quarts of Amsoil 75W-90 left. I had some Walmart Supertech 75W-90 and 75W-140 but only 2 or 3 bottles of each. Called my local petroleum dealer and asked them if they had any and they told me they have Conoco Phillips 75W-90 and 80W-140 synthetic. http://www.matweb.com/search/datasheettext.aspx?matguid=e316b9e0fb4b46a5839e141543882fdf http://www.phillips66lubricants.com/brands-products/Single.aspx?pid=372 I am leaning towards the 80W-140. I can get both the 75W-90 or the 80W-140 for about $114 plus tax in the 5 gallon pail. Any comments, suggestions, and recommendations welcome.

I have pretty much changed over to Baldwin filters across the board. They are every bit as good as the Fleetguard filters but cost a good bit less. I buy mine by the case at www.bfwebexpress.com

I see you have your own saw mill. Have you considered milling your own beekeeping woodware and looked at beekeeping? If you can mill you own woodware and find so decent deals on some nucleus colonies, you might be able to work your way into beekeeping. It is hard and frustrating work, but if you can figure out how to keep your bees healthy and alive over Winter, you can make a decent income ONCE you get you bee colony numbers large enough.

Have you checked the fuel filters on the Airdog? Are your running the fuel through the OEM fuel filter canister? If so, check the fuel filter there. Do you have the draw straw or is your system drawing fuel through the fuel filter sock in the tank? I think the #6 injector leak is something aside from the low pressure problem but still needs to be addressed.

Before you do anything else, get a code reader and find out what codes are saved in the ECM/PCM. Once you get some codes we can diagnose from there. Diesels don't miss except for specific reasons and you need to find out the reason why the missing condition is occurring. It could be a number of issues but get the basic issues first.

These are the filters I have been using on our trucks for a few years now. No problems with them. I buy mine by the case from BFwebexpress.com

I like! I never considered using the alternator bracket as a mount. Does it get much vibration in this location? Nice installation!

Gotta see some pics of how you plumbed yours in. The Fleetguard centrifugal oil filter is about the size of a medium watermelon, so finding a mounting location will be "interesting".

Just my observation and 2 cents worth. On a diesel like the Cummins 5.9 I don't think "break in" is necessarily a matter of the number of miles driven. Yes, I agree there is some break in or run in on the initial start up and hours of run time immediately after but to properly break in and seat the rings and other wear components in the engine completely, I believe the engine needs to be run under significant (not extremely heavy) load. That could be a cross country run with a loaded trailer. In my case, a sugar barrel run (I will load about 3,000 lbs. of sugar) The heavier load will allow the turbo charger to maintain a more even and consistent boost level, loaded egt, and the wear components in the engine will obviously wear differently under significant load as opposed to running empty or no load. Short bursts of high load will not accomplish this and are not even beneficial in the break in process. Gradually easing into a sustained, moderately heavy load on the engine is the best way to break in, in my opinion. Not more than 20 psi of boost sustained and keep an eye on EGT to keep below the 900 degree range and of course and good cross check of coolant temperature and oil pressure is a must in addition to fuel pressure. Once you have accomplished this you can switch to synthetic since you already have dino oil in the engine. I think break in can be accomplished with either type of oil. Many engine manufacturers are now recommending selling new vehicles with synthetic oil in a brand new engine.

Here is a link to some life hacks I received in my email from SHTF Plan: http://readynutrition.com/resources/these-clever-100-year-old-life-hacks-can-still-make-your-life-easier-today_23082015/

No. One for my truck and one for her's.

I will be installing a set of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/TDS-PTO-Cover-Blank-DIY-SAE-Transmission-Transfer-Case-USA-Made-/201409341765?vxp=mtr http://www.ebay.com/itm/TDS-PTO-Cover-Dodge-NV5600-Transmission-Corrects-fluid-level-USA-Made-/191669711900?hash=item2ca067b41c on my NV5600 soon. The oil check and fill hole has been moved up so the extra quart of oil puts the oil level up to the fill hole level. I am so behind with stuff I bought to put on my truck, this is just another. I still have 2 fluid crankshaft harmonic dampers to install and 2 Mag Hytek axle covers to install.

It is not exactly off the grid but can allow you to live off grid for a long time. I bought a 1,000 propane tank and got a deal for buying it for $1850, the first fill was 99 cents a gallon and any propane I bought before the end of that year I got for 99 cents a gallon. I bought a Generac 20K propane whole house generator system and had it installed. If the power goes out for more than 15 seconds, the generator fires up. It runs once a week for 10 minutes at half throttle to keep the system ready to go. The generator I got at Lowes on sale for $3999 plus a military discount for about $3700. The install cost me about $800 plus about $300 for various supplies like wire, conduit, a battery, etc. The generator can run everything pretty much including the heat pump but not everything at once but not everything at once is on rarely if ever. It is a great standby for power outages during storms or just outages and can keep food in the fridge and freezer from spoiling for a LONG time if you don't run the generator continuously........something you would or SHOULD NOT do in the event of an emergency anyway as you will stick out like a sore thumb if you have power when everyone around you does not. The free loaders and looters will find you in a hurry if you do.

I see you have a Honda Element too. Great cars! I have 3 Elements, a 2007 SC manual shift, a 2007 EX AWD, and a 2009 SC. Please allow me to point out an important factor. If ANY vehicle you buy has an engine that uses a timing belt.......the cost of replacing timing belts will FAR exceed ANY amount of money you save in fuel or other expenses. The Honda Element engine uses the Honda K series engine which employ a timing chain that does NOT need to be replaced or adjusted. The 2007 Element SC has about 150,000 miles on it and still runs like a top, the 2007 EX AWD I recently bought and had to spend some money on parts, fluids and motor mounts but with over 230,000 miles on it......I think it deserved some love. It too runs like a top. The 2009 Element SC has about 65,000 miles on it and also runs like a top. These are fantastic cars/SUV's and Honda should be slapped for discontinuing them in 2011. They are VERY utilitarian and can carry a LOT of stuff. I HIGHLY recommend one if you can find one for sale at a reasonable price. Now that Honda discontinued production, there are a lot of knuckle heads out there that think they are sitting on a pot of gold and asking FAR too much for them. A good alternate but not as good as the Honda Element is the Honda CR-V. The CR-V has an updated Element drivetrain nearly identical to it. Same engine and all. Just used Genuine Honda fluids and parts as well as the scheduled maintenance and they will last a LONG time. For a truck, I have pretty much written off every buying a new Dodge Ram again. There is just NO WAY to justify spending 60K+ for a personal pickup truck. I would keep any eye out for a 1998.5 in good condition ( will be VERY difficult to find and pricey) or a 2002 24V that has been vetted for any potential 53 block, injector pump, or transmission issues. You might have to put 10 - 15K into it to get a really nice and reliable truck in near new mechanical condition with a total of not more than 25 - 30k invested depending upon what you start with. In the end, you will have a great truck that is very reliable and utilitarian at half or less the price of a new truck.

The last time I filled up in Savannah at Walmart, the price of diesel was $2.25 a gallon. I had to do a double take on that. With respect to the noise issue, my truck can be loud but when cruising with zero boost, the noise level is not bad. I personally would have just installed a LARGE and very quiet muffler and removed the Edge EZ. The Edge EZ does notably increase the combustion noise level of these engines. I have found that the 5" turbo back straight pipe exhaust has proven to have a practical utility as of late. I am not sure what is the matter with people. I always keep a following distance of 1 car length per 10 mph, I do NOT tailgate. I am pretty patient about bidding my time and patiently waiting when I get behind a slow poke. Apparently it seems a new national driving past time is all the rage.........when someone attempts to pass you........you firewall the throttle and make every attempt to block them out of the lane and get back behind them. My wife and I watch this and make bets on it when we watch vehicle in front of us attempt to pass on whether the vehicle being passed will speed up when a passing zone comes up. It is amazing to watch and it is also a pathetic and immoral/dangerous game to play. I have had it done to me a few times and that 5" turbo back straight pipe exhaust can roar when under FULL boost which makes the idiots who play this dangerous game think again. I am dead against making a lot of smoke and noise, but when road idiots play dangerous games, I have NO compunction about unleashing LOTS of BOTH. It's getting so I hate to go anywhere. Driving should be about SAFE transportation..........NOT trying to avoid or deal with idiots. On that Ford V-10, good luck with spark plugs blowing out of the head, stripped threads, changing spark plugs, be sure to regularly inspect the oil pan for leaks (Ford had a lot of bad oil pans that needed to be replaced) . Hopefully they have been changed and properly reinstalled so you can remove them again. There are steel thread insert kits that address this issue. The oil pan issues affected other Ford engines as well. If these issues have been addressed it should be a fairly reliable engine but a gas toilet.

I bought a Fleetguard centrifugal oil filter and gave it to a buddy who was going to fabricate a mount and source the fittings and hoses. I haven't asked him about that in ages. I will have to ask him about it and see how much he has done on it.

In the case of Air Dog, with the exception of the lady I spoke with who helped me with some admin issues, Yep.......the rest of the staff there was NOT exactly customer friendly. Fortunately I have not had any problems with my Air Dog 150 but after reading about so many problems I wonder if I would go with them again. I will give them an objective chance and see what happens.

If you are referring to Vulcan Performance, I can attest that I have dealt with Eric in person on the phone more than a few times and Eric has ALWAYS done me much more than fair and square. More like bent over backwards to accommodate me. I have found him to be VERY knowledgeable about our trucks and the items he sells. He or his staff always went the extra mile to get it right. I have referred many folks to Vulcan and never heard a harsh word.

Sounds to me like you still have a queen in there somewhere.

Is the brood you are seeing drone brood or regular worker brood. Regular worker brood once capped is flat and has a brown to golden brown flat paper like cap. Drone brood once capped has a bulging bullet shaped cap. If you have no queen, you may have a laying worker. A laying worker is a worker bee that has ovaries but can only lay unfertilized eggs which will be drones. You will have to inspect the brood you have to determine which it is. If it is all drone brood, you most likely have a laying worker and need a queen. If it is not drone brood, you have a queen in there somewhere. Some queens can be VERY elusive and difficult to find.

Do you have any capped or uncapped (not drone) brood? If not, look through the frames very carefully to verify there is NO queen. If no queen is present, you can either buy a queen and put her in the brood nest area of the hive or if you have another hive that DOES have a queen, look through that brood nest and find the youngest frame of wet brood, preferably with unhatched eggs you can find. Remove it taking GREAT CARE to ensure the queen is NOT on the frame you remove and replace that frame with another empty frame of drawn out comb or an empty frame with foundation. Place the frame of brood you just took from the other hive and place it in the middle of the brood nest area of the hive with no queen. It will take about a month for this hive to make a queen. If they find an unhatched egg and begin feeding it royal jelly, it takes about 16 days for the queen cell to develop and hatch. The queen will remain inside the hive for upto approx. a week and then begin going on a series of mating flights, as many as a half dozen or more. Once she is fully mated and does not get eaten by birds on her mating flights, she will come back to the hive and take here place as queen. This takes about 31 days. If you can buy a queen, this process is shortened to about a week. My apologies in advance if you already know this and are an experienced beekeeper. It really sucks and is a pain in the *** when losing a queen. Sometimes it is difficult to tell right away.