Gregturley

@Dynamic This one is seeking your advice. I can't afford one of your valve bodies or a converter right now so its time for a shift kit. Transmission was rebuilt to factory specs by Cottman Transmission about 25,000 miles ago, before i bought it. Works fine, no slipping or other issues. I use it for a daily driver with occasional hauling/towing, max load of 10,000lbs. I have installed Sonnax accumulator piston, second gear super servo, billet band strut and anchor, Rostra transducer & OD/TC solenoids, Borg Warner pressure solenoid, LPW deep pan, and adjusted bands and TV cable. I do not like how these transmissions shift. To me they shift too soft. I like a trans that shifts firm to hard. In my toys i always run a manual reverse valve body or a trans brake. I don't want a manual VB in the truck but i would like much firmer shifts. What shift kit and/or other mods would you recommend? Please keep in mind funds are limited. Can't do a VB or converter at this time. Trying to stick with pan off stuff. Any help/advice is greatly appreciated.

@skyhigh4by Correct me if I'm wrong, but the way @IBMobile has the lock up switch wired the truck will lock and unlock the converter normally --like the switch doesn't exist-- if you don't activate it. His switch just allows you to lock the converter when you choose to. If you don't touch the switch--normal transmission function. You push momentary switch---converter will lock and stepping on brake will unlock. Push momentary switch AND activate toggle or foot switch---converter locks and brake DOES NOT unlock converter. Anyone can drive the truck as long as they dont touch the switches. It parallels the factory circuit and should have no effect on factory functions unless you activate it. It should do exactly what you want.

I was looking into the sport swap myself but now it can wait. I can finally see at night now so i can't see spending the cash for it. If something happens to my headlights i might do it then.

@Evan let me know how they are if you get them.

@IBMobile I did the relays trying to get all the voltage i could to the bulb. Wired the sides independent for safety. If a relay fails, factory fuse pops, wreck, whatever i hopefully won't lose both sides. Factory fused left and right separately for that reason. After hitting a deer in the middle of nowhere Florida a few years ago in the wifes van and losing ALL exterior lighting over minor DF corner damage i figured it was smart. Spent 30 minutes on side of road at 2am chasing smashed wiring to get lights working really sucked. @98whitelightnin guess i need to watch Rock Auto for spare bulbs. Thats cheap.

@AH64ID Mine started out as 1 compressor and 5 gallons to air up slicks. Guy sold me a couple matching tanks cheap then the 1 compressor wasn't enough. I would randomly check the used parts sites and ran across the 444c dual pack nib. I was going to remove the 3rd tank and 380 comp and sell them but got lazy and just left them on. Its overkill but it does work great.

@Sycostang67 If you have Amazon Prime they are $12.34 free shipping. @98whitelightnin I wired mine using 4 relays so left and right sides are independent of eash other in case of a failure. It can be done using only 2 relays but i would not recommend it.

@Me78569 good to know about the bulbs. Never used them before. The bulbs i took out had Sept 00 on them. This truck was almost never driven at night when it was in my fleet but i didn't think it would still have the factory bulbs. Its a 2001.

I polished the stock headlight lenses when i first got the truck. That helped some but the headlights still sucked. I added some led cube fog lights from Amazon and aimed them low and angled out. This really helped with night driving by lighting up the side of the road. I made sure they wouldn't blind oncoming traffic and haven't had anyone flash me. Last week i got some Hella 100/80 watt bulbs and wired up relays. This completely changed visibility at night. Before i NEEDED the leds at night. Now i can barely tell if they are on or off. Haven't had anyone flash me yet but only driven it 10 times going to work. Before anyone tells me how much better the Morimoto upgrade is or swap to sport lenses they're not in the budget now. I spent $20 on this upgrade, the cost of the bulbs and bulb sockets. I have relays, bases, wire, etc in the garage so i didn't have to buy anything like that but if i did it probably would have been another $30 or so. The reason for this post: If you're broke and desperate for improved light its cheap and easy to do and it did improve my visibility. I put off doing it because i kept reading it wasn't worth the effort. If anyone needs info on wiring the relays and sockets let me know.

Here are some pics. The 2 tanks by the steps are from a small dump truck from what i was told. The 1/4 turn valve with the male air fitting on driver side is for filling the system. I can hook up my shop air hose to it and fill it in less than a minute. There is a female air chuck on the passenger tank for air hose. The 380 compressor is on skid plate. This was my original compressor. 3rd tank is ebay item mounted on pass side frame rail under bed. This was the original tank. I put this together with parts from ebay, facebook marketplace, and offer up. Most air line and fittings came from local Parker Store. Cost about $400 for everything. That was spread out over about 5 years as i added and changed things. Some of these parts have been on 3 different trucks I've had. Forgot 3rd tank pic. I also have a line with a chuck ran to the rear to hook up an air hose. I stick it in the opening of the frame mount hitch. This is +- 15 gallons of air at 150psi. It takes about 10 minutes to go from 60 to 150psi. Runs an impact gun like a shop compressor and will fill any tire easily. I have used a 1/4 inch die grinder with a cutoff wheel to make SS braided AN lines at the race track before when it was a 10 gallon system with just the 380 comp. but that was working it hard.

Ill get some tomorrow. It was kind of dark for pics today. The 380c is mounted on the driver side of the skid plate for the transfer case. The 2 444c compressors are on a bracket i made that goes between the DS middle and rear cab mount. I already had the 380 mounted when i found the 444's. I was going to remove the 380 but got lazy and left it in place. Used a 2 position switch that turns on the 380 in 1st position and 2 444's in 2nd.

My in town traffic kills me. Had to go to Pepboys yesterday. About 5 miles each direction and 40 minutes of drive time round trip. Took me 4 light cycles to get through 1 light. I really hate it here but have 3.75 years till i can retire. Then im gone. Sooner or later ill get this pos on a road trip and see what the mileage is with the cruise set at 70-75.

I finally got around to finishing my on board air system. I now have 3 5 gallon tanks and 3 Viair compressors. 2 tanks are supposed to be from some kind dump truck other is ebay. 1 compressor is a 380c and 2 are 444c, all rated at 200psi max. My pressure switch shuts off at 150psi. I can once again run air tools from the truck. Theres also a horn behind the front bumper that really comes in handy around here.

I have the 275 injectors, BHAF, used quad xzt, and stock hy35 with some springs on the wastegate. My boost will hit 26-28. I leave the xzt in the middle position. It really runs a lot better than when i first got it. Can't say i have seen any change in milage after a bunch of tanks of fuel. I get 12.3-12.5 every tank. Thats about 60% stop & go, 40% highway mostly back and forth to work. Highway i run 60-85 mph just depends on if someone parks in the left lane. I dont beat on it but i will drive it fast. Im happy enough with it....for now.

Thanks everyone for the input.

I haven't seen any smoke out of mine. Don't really see any difference in mileage either but i tend to drive 70-80 on interstate and do a lot of stop and go driving. I had about 178xxx on original injectors so figured it was time to replace them. Good thing about this truck is i have all the service records from new. I was just wondering what real world TQ and HP these trucks put out with these injectors installed but have no desire to put it on a dyno.

Has anyone installed RV275 injectors in an otherwise STOCK or very lightly modified truck and ran it on a dyno? Anyone made dyno pulls mostly stock vs 275 injectors? I have a 01 4wd auto. Bought it cheap with 174xxx miles needing some minor work. The only engine upgrades are a BHAF, a Fuel Boss pump and new Bosch RV275 injectors. Truck runs much smoother with better starting after the injector swap but I'm curious how much HP and TQ the injectors really add.

Serious question.. Has anyone here ever had vapor lock on a diesel? I'm not talking about "I ran my diesel dry now it wont start" situations. I haven't but I've only owned 2. I've been a mechanic 28 years and never ran across it. Don't know anyone that has. I have come across bad and weak pumps on diesels but most my career has been working on gas engine vehicles.

@dieselautopower I talked to someone there about it before and it looks like I'll be renting one from you before cool weather gets here.

Thanks @dieseled thats what I thought but wanted to double check.

You cannot use the Smarty to correct speedometer and have that stay after returning to stock program can you?

Thats the nice thing about the aftermarket. There's something for everyone if you look hard enough. The hard part is figuring out what you want to spend your money on.

Anyone near Louisville KY with a DRB111?

From my research there is nothing stopping you from putting almost any filtration system that you want after the FB pump. Right now I'm running a Baldwin PF7977 filter in the stock filter housing. Better than stock 01 filter, not as good as FASS filtration, but easy and what i can afford.

I will probably rent on from DAP if i can't find anyone local. Wanted to get it turned on so I can install the mopar1973man idle switch. Just figured I'd see if anyone here was local and wanted to make a few $$. I don't trust the dealers around here. I tried to get a few of them to do a flash on our Grand Caravan. Had service bulletin in my hand. 2 dealers flat out refused to do it. 3rd had me talk to their "best drivability tech". After talking to him i gave up. I really need to find someone with access to a DRB111 that knows what they are doing with it.