Bullet

That's some pretty nasty looking stuff. I was dreading seeing what mine looks like one day but original heater core is still going strong. Mine shouldn't be too bad then judging by the heat I get. I have changed the coolant several times and always 50/50 with distilled water. Neither me or my truck will drink the city water here...?

Cool pic...I have measured the AC temps before but never the heater temps. That's higher than I thought it would be...

That looks exactly like the marine one I use...

I have exactly what you described on my boat's fuel system. It has a replaceable metal spin on filter down to 5 microns or so and then a see through plastic bowl with a drain valve screwed on to the metal spin on filter for water separation and viewing. It's pretty much a standard marine setup.

I'm running a 200 degree thermostat too and also have had no problems with overheating in the coastal Texas heat. My needle sits exactly where yours does when running for a good while. We had temps in the lower 20's last winter and my heater was putting out some serious heat. Got to feeling like a sauna in my regular cab.

Throw a 475 in there underneath the 62 and it will tow anything you want...? But like Mike said won't be fun with your current setup.

That might have been what I did wrong then...cuz I just cut it with my blade.

I had good luck with the Firestone bags. The quick connect fittings that came with them always leaked where the hose connected. Not a bad leak but would have to put more air in if I let it sit for 12 hours. A change to compression fittings would have fixed that issue. Otherwise it's a capable setup.

Do you mean between the frame and the inner dual tire? Because the air bag frame bolts to the frame and centers on the spring pack. I would think that if you had 3 inches between the outside of the spring pack and the inner edge of the inner tire you should be good. I had Firestone bags before and that's about the space I had. The bed fender never figured into the spacing cuz the bags were below it.

I recently read that it costs approximately $250k to birth, feed, cloth, educate and support one child to age 18 these days. That article was very effective birth control for me.

You guys must have the last of the "good" women out there...there's no more left for us single guys. The quality of the single woman has severely degraded in recent years. My standards are not unreasonable and mainly don't focus on looks but it still seems that none qualify. My man toy collection just keeps growing and my truck keeps getting new trinkets cuz I don't have a woman to spend money on. Sometimes I get confused if that is a good thing or a bad thing...

I've had the involuntary lane change happen to me before too due to a loaded trailer that had poor weight distribution. Holy cow that is about as scary as it gets. I could have sworn I saw the Grim Reaper riding shotgun for a brief second. I was very lucky just like you were...not fun at all!

No worries...in that case you are double lucky. Mine were all press in on 4wd...major pain in the arse!

Did my best to answer what I could in bold above.

My unit bearings did well too...no complaints at all with them. The reason you stated about the big offset wheels and wide tires is why I went with them...not so much for the extra mpg claims.

Coming to the party a little late but regarding the freespin hubs and repackable bearings...I have the Yukon ($1700) kit which is very similar to the Dynatrac kit. I didn't think it was any harder to install than changing out unit bearings. Just changing out the axle half shafts is a little extra work...have to pull the axle shafts completely out. But it's a great time to put in new outer U-joints and new axle seals since it's all apart. And you need to press new lug bolts into the new hub...easy with a press. The locking hub part and bearings install was fairly easy with directions. It is a little greasy though since you have to pack the bearings and hand grease a few other things. I can't really tell about the 2 mpg increase cuz I'm not stock and haven't really paid that much attention to it. But I can tell you that the front driveshaft and axle no longer spins so that has to be good for some kind of increase in mileage. The best thing about them is that the front no longer binds when turning in 4wd. And you have 2wd low if your front hubs aren't locked when you put it in 4wd low. Also the kit came with 35 spline outer axle shafts which are bigger and stronger than the ones that came out. Also much easier to change/remove rotors now...they come off just by removing the wheel and caliper/bracket and nothing else...just like the rear rotors do. And of course bearings are very robust and repackable and much cheaper and easier to change out in the future.

My 02 is starting to have similar problems. The dash has been cracked for a while now and just starting to totally fall apart. Other plastics are starting to degrade too. My bezel cover broke in half last time I removed it, the ashtray hinges broke off completely, the glove box door is almost cracked in half and I'm waiting for something else to disintegrate. It would cost me almost a grand to replace what has broken so far. I'm not messing with the plastic anymore. I decided that I'm going to rip it all out and build my own dashboard/center console like the way I want it and then glass it in instead.

I went with a Fuel Boss...couldn't hardly find any bad press about it. Everyone that had one spoke well of it...I see why now. I heard that alot during my problems with the other pumps...'should've got a Fass or Air Dog'. And I probably should have initially but the mechanical pumps had been out in the market for a while and getting really good reviews and comments so I went that route. It's been blissful so far and I do request more out of my vp44 than many do.

I've had so much bad luck with electric pumps...with a few Carters and a few Raptors (never tried Air Dog or Fass). I gave up on electric and went straight mechanical with the belt drive. I've had great luck since...with fuel pumps anyways. Very consistent fuel pressure (15 idle) and increases with throttle (19 wot). It's a pretty cool system.

That is some really good work you have done on these threads...and I appreciate your answers. I think my brain is about to explode however.? I only have 150 sticks cuz it was a daily driver for a while and I wanted to keep it somewhat well mannered on the street...and it is a pleasure to daily drive. And I have been really happy with the Smarty/TST Comp stack. So from all your work I have read it seems the best thing for me with current setup is to run the Smarty on lower levels to get "better" timing out of it and increase injector size for excess power to be used at my leisure? I've never had injectors any bigger than 150. How much bigger could I go and still keep the truck somewhat pleasurable to drive? The only thing it ever tows is a very light bass boat on an aluminum trailer (2k lbs) so I'm not worried about towing manors...just around town driving.

I accidentally combined your quote with mine...

Those are sweet...perfect for the truck! ?

Hahaha...there's so much that can be said here. But since I'm the new guy I'd better zip it... ?

Thank you for all this info...took me a while to digest it all. Not sure that I understood it all but I understood enough to see what you were talking about. With the Smarty it seems like the most power to be had (best timing curve) would be running it on SW3 or even SW1 while the TST is dumping fuel in. What is the best timing box in your opinion? Or I guess another way to ask is what timing box should I be running? BTW...I have a neighbor 1 street over that has a 1st gen Ford GT (navy blue w/white stripes) and it is on another level altogether. I would love to have one too but those things are way up there pricewise. The price was right on the Viper...?

The very first thing I would check would be what shape the batteries are in. Then I would clean all the grounds and battery posts while you're at it. Since it has been sitting so long those are 2 things that don't do well sitting...and you appear to be having some electrical issues. If the truck was doing fine before sitting I would definitely suspect batteries and grounds.