ronman

Oh Lord, that lens hack is... just... wow, man. Oh, and I found my first set of Morimoto mini-D2S projectors on eBay complete with bulbs and ballasts for $150, so between watching there and the outlet section of TRS' site, you can come in well under budget.

Nothing really special about replacing the hub. You need a big socket (42mm or 1-5/8" as I recall) and either a really long cheater bar or an impact with big balls. My "Earthquake" impact that's rated 750lb-ft wouldn't budge it, but the neighbor/Ford tech's 1500lb-ft Snap-on zipped it right off. Once you get the nut off just pull the hub off the spindle, clean up the ABS sensor real good and just slide the new hub on and tighten it down. I think it calls for 350lb-ft? I didn't replace the nut on mine, but some people say to do it. I didn't have any issues at all with mine.

Wow, I didn't even think to put a ball valve in there for filter changes... I'm totally doing that next change! Great idea! I use my front-end loader to lift the bed off. It's a lot easier that way. ;)

That's the diode pack from my 2.53V alternator...

Man, what a pain in the *** to work on this thing is! Even with the core support, radiator, condenser, everything on the front of the motor down except for the timing cover and balancer, the intake and exhaust manifolds, and the hood off, it's still a pain in the *** to access all the bolts.

Picked up the motor yesterday, tore it down today. Rotating assembly looks good, only area of concern is some superficial rust on the rockers. I've located a mild cam for it, so we'll be swapping that in as well. I ordered a full gasket kit for it, and will definitely be replacing the plenum gasket. It looks like it may have already been replaced, judging by the mess the intake gaskets left behind, because it's not blown out like I've read about. Other weird thing: there were no exhaust gaskets, but there were no signs of an exhaust leak, either. The EFI on this thing is dead simple. The harness will be a breeze to reinstall. Also, thanks to Ma Mopar for putting removable core supports in the trucks. Makes working on the motor much easier with the radiator and condenser out of the way.

Put your meter on AC volts, put red on the stud coming out of the back of the alternator and black on the battery ground terminal.

My nephew threw a rod in his Dakota and we've only been able to find one motor locally to replace it. It's out of a 96 Ram 1500. Obviously I'll be swapping exhaust manifolds and all the the electronics... Is there anything else I need to be aware of?

Interested in this, for sure.

That's what I have. I actually kind of regret purchasing it, if I had it to do again I'd spend the extra money and get this one that a heavy diesel mechanic friend of mine recommended: http://www.amazon.com/Ultrasonic-Solution-Commercial-Eyeglasses-Cleaning/dp/B010LW0LO6/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1443677356&sr=8-15&keywords=ultrasonic+cleaner

When I replaced my head gasket a couple months ago I pulled my injectors apart (one at a time!) and dropped them into the ultrasonic cleaner, fill of Purple Power at 150 degrees. Ran them for about 20 minutes, and they came out beautifully.

Did that say 1580?!

Look for a small oval with a 4-digit code stamped on the sidewall. My Goodyears say "4910" which means the 49th week of 2010...

It starts right away if I jump the small terminal on the starter to +12V. So I've got a 3' wire with an alligator clip run down there until I get some time to get it in the garage and actually troubleshoot it...

Correction: fuel pump runs for ~1sec when I turn the key.