War Eagle

I run the Rotella synthetic 15/40 since I bought the truck and I have set my change intervals at 10k miles. The oil has never come out black.I started using TCW3 2 cycle oil in it a year ago and the oil turns black in about 1000 miles. It scared me the first time I saw it because this never happened before. So I changed the oil after I saw that it was black and then the turned black again in about 1000 miles.I first thought maybe I had a leaky injector but I had them tested and that was not the case. Now I am thinking that is it due to burning the 2 cycle oil.Is this possible? Does anyone have a history (on vp44 engines) of seeing the color of your engine oil change from previously being pretty clean at the change to being black at the change and have determined what really caused the change in color?

Here is a cat that was tagged in North Bend Washington which is about 40-50 miles east of Seattle.Generally these leave you alone if you are out in the woods. They are hunted with hounds. But there have been cases where these cats have attacked farm animals and pets. If winters are really bad then they move in closer to human life and pick off the farm stuff.There are cases in Califormia (where they are not allowed to be hunted) where these cats have killed joggers. This thing was huge. It looked like in belonged in the African plains.

I have an aluminum framed camper with a slide out. It is 8'11" long and is made for the short bed truck.Fully loaded (40 gal of water, 2-20 lb propane tanks, a generator and provisioned out) is 2600 lbs. Pretty much puts the truck over the 8800gvw for this vehicle. I have the camper package (overload spring set but no air bags) and the truck doesn't squat at all that I can tell. Oncoming drivers don't complain about headlight beams in their eyes.I did add bumpers to my overload spring contact brackets so as to engage the overload springs as early as possible when you start adding weight to the bed.

I have a Pullrite Superglide. It is an automatic slider. It is easy to mount and unmount my hitch from the bed of the truck and it leaves a flat bed so you can slide things in and out of the truck. I don't have to slow down or stop when turning corners. Works great, but they are a bit spendy when compared to non-automatic sliders. I picked mine up used and saved a ton of money when compared to buying new. http://www.pullrite.com/superglide.htm

There is a hitch available specifically for the front of the truck.Bolts in place (no welding required).I had mine mounted there until I installed my winch and then had to remove it because it was in the way of the mounting attachments for my bumper mounted hydraulic winch.

Now that retirement is a reality for me I have a gaggle of toys that I put to good use.First is my 50bmg rifle; Second is my 20' Celebrity boat; Third is my Kitfox Series 7 airplane; Fourth is my Summewind Truck camper; Fifth is my Yamaha Grizzly 660 ATV; and last is my Honda Shadow motorcycle.

I saw this ad in an LA area listing on craigslist when I was trolling earlier in the week. I can't vouch for the details here but there is a phone number you can call if this might be of some help for you. Good luck with the truck. http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/pts/2717057079.html 2001 Dodge Ram 3500 cummins 5.9L 24 valve diesel engine. Took out of truck at 68,000 miles. Truck was totaled. These engines are known to go over 500,000 miles. $3000. Engine block is numbered 55 also known as storm block. Strongest cummins block. Not the 53 block which is known to crack near freeze plugs. Comes complete with engine wire harness and main fuse box harness and fuse box, computer, alternator, vacuum pump/power steering pump, fuel injector pump and lines, exhaust manifold. Also for sale a professionally freshly rebuilt 0 miles since rebuild HX35 selling HX35 for $300. P7100 Fuel pump drive gear, front timing housing and cover. I was going to install ARP head studs, and make a high horsepower motor, but funds dried up with the new baby. Brand new head gasket kit never used. Was going to make a race engine and put studs, but need to sell because baby on the way. New water pump never mounted. and other parts. Power steering pump. Was going to install into a Ford, but baby on the way and need money. Make an offer for it all. scott 213-249-6670 call or text located in 90004 zip code.

When I had to replaced my VP44 I purchased it from Oregon Injection. http://www.o-f-i.com/index.php?page=sec/exchange_pumps_injectors.htm Their web site says the following: "Oregon Fuel Injection's commitment to the diesel fuel injection industry has resulted in us purchasing the equipment and parts, and training the technicians to repair and calibrate the Robert Bosch VP44 diesel fuel injection pumps. Oregon Fuel Injection’s rebuilt pumps and injectors are done in the USA . We are a factory authorized service dealer for Bosch, Stanadyne, Delphi, Denso, Zexel, Ambac, and Yanmar. We use the latest tools and information provided to us by the original equipment manufacturer. If there is an update to a pump to improve longevity – WE DO IT! If there is an update to reduce surging, stalling, hard starting, low power, etc. – WE DO IT! When a pump leaves our facilities, we want it to be better than original. Oregon Fuel Injection has been doing Factory Authorized diesel fuel injection service for over 35 years. We have been a member of ADS (Association of Diesel Specialists) for over 35 years and employ ADS Tech Certified Technicians." I haven't called them to verify what this means but it sounds like they do the pumps themselves and have to equipment to calibrate. If this is important to you then a phone call can quickly verify.

Ouch! I hate that when it happens. You want to stop but have no ability or control over it. The sound off metal smashing and tearing is sickening.Hope no one was seriously hurt.

I don't have anything specific on a Dodge saginaw steering box but I do have a reference on a GM saginaw steering box. This web site has the rebuild manual for a GM saginaw steering box. http://selectric.org/manuals/sagMAN/index.html It might be of some help if you are just trying to see how it works or visualize the design functioning of the box.

I have an HX35w that I took off my truck when I installed my HX35/40 hybrid.I have no use for the assembly so I would let it go cheap. Maybe 50 plus the ride.But I live in Idaho and now that it's the Christmas season shipment by UPS might take a week or longer. That may not be of much value becuase your local guy maybe able to get your new exhaust housing in less time.If you are interested let me know. If not - no problem. Good luck on the repair.

I thought there were several members here that had 5 speeds on their rig.

I live in the Nampa area.

I have installed the Flex-a-lite electric fans on my truck. Have to say that the marketing hype said you would save as much as 25hp and increase your mpg by up to 5-7%. This said 1+ mpg increase for me.I paid $495 for the kit with free shippingabout 4 years ago.I found it hard to believe that the viscous coupling fan could be consuming 25hp. But it has to be consuming some. But my interest was hoping to achieve some mpg improvement. I think the marketing hype also said something like quicker warm ups etc. The logic here is that the electric fans turn on with coolant temp setting and AC operation. So when you first start the truck in the morning the electric fans don't run, but the oem viscous fan will be running even when you start the truck and the engine is cold.Installation was pretty easy. Took me all day. I made sure all my wiring was tied and bundled and looked like a factory job.When I fired the truck up after the installation and went for a drive I didn't feel any increase in hp (I'm not sure how much of a hp increase it would need to be able to actually feel it. I know I can feel the increase of hp from a chip install that is advertised to add 50hp). What I did feel was a smoother acceleration when the engine was cold. But I was never able to validate any increase in mpg. I tried city driving, hiway driving and carrying my camper driving. Couldn't even verify a misely .5mpg increase. I have kept all mpg records from day 1 when I purchased my truck and can tell what impact (if any) that I have seen as I made mods or changed things from the original configuration.The install certainly hasn't caused any negative impact on my mpg or operation of the truck but I can't say there was any real benefit from going to electric fans.If you decide to go the route of the electric fan install you should be very aware that there is a gvw limitation for the truck when using the electric fans and that is 20k pounds. I am assuming this is because the electric fans ability to keep the truck cool under any greater load is limited.

The auto parts stores (like Schucks, O'Rielly etc.) take the used oil but usually limit it to 5 gal. at a time. They don't want the oil to be contaminated with water or gas etc.It's a free service and they recycle the old stuff somehow.

Dodge made a retrofit kit which includes the harness, switch, lights, mounting brackets and newskirts to fit the bumper opening. Everything included and nothing extra to buy or build.It is all mopar (not a knock off) and you get the wiring diagram where you have to connect one wire on the switch into the high beam circuit of the existing truck harness.I bought mine about five years ago and I got it from a Dodge Dealer that listed it on ebay.If my memory serves me correct I purchased it for $135 plus shipping. I do remember the dealer telling me it was their last one. Don't know if that was reflective of their specific inventory situation or whether it was the last one because they weren't being made anymore. I just didn't ask.When I was looking for a retrofit kit I found a huge difference between what some of the dealers knew and what others said. In otherwords, I couldn't always rely on what the dealer would say in answer to my queries.

Mine places the king pin directly over the center of the axle when towing forward and then slides (automatically) toward the rear of the bed when making turns.

There are two kinds of sliders ( for 5th wheel trailers): manual and automatic.I have a Superglide which is the automatic slider. When you begin to turn then the kingpin plate assembly is released and slides to the back of the hitch rails so that the 5th wheel trailer doesn't hit the back of the cab. when you straighten out it locks back in place over the axle.The manual slider requires you to stop and get out of the truck to release the kingpin plate assembly before you make the turn. If you forget to do it then you will damage the truck and trailer when they run into each other as you turn. I have seen lots of 5th wheel trailers with the corners messed up where the owner started the turn without first releasing the slider. Sometimes they get lucky and it only punches out the back window of the truck and they stop before the sheetmetal and trailer get scrunched up.I think the Superglide works great. There may be other brands of auto-sliders but all sliders are not automatic. In fact it is my opinion that a large part of the population uses the manual slider on their short beds because the auto sliders are more expensive.

Have you seen those CFA ads on the football game shows that have cows poised in different positions saying something like: "Eat more chicken" ?I am seeing these same ads on billboards in Idaho and Utah.I always get a kick out of those when I see them.But I figure with that marketing strategy they are intending to keep on growing their business. So your chances should be pretty good they will keep building.

I had my ball joints changed at about 160,000 miles. The shop that did the work cusses at how much trouble they had because they said there was a lot of rust on the parts (original OEM). They put 5 hours in on the replacement and alignment.I now have 225,000 on the truck and I just recently replaced the steering damper. I replaced the stock unit with a larger diameter piston hoping to get some improved control. The old one I took out (original OEM)was still quite stiff to pull in and out by hand which surprised me. I expected it to be worn out and just move in/out under it's own weight.While I have a bigger damper in place now I can't say the difference is like night and day but there is some difference and I at least know what the condition is.

My brother lives up in Montana where the radio stations are hard to recieve when driving in the mountains. He uses the very setup you are asking about. Cassette adapter that fits into the stock Dodge radio with an XM tuning head that just hangs/clips onto the AC vents above the stock radio. This tuning head has an LCD read out that tells you the station and the song that's playing. This thing has been in service since he moved to Montana 6 years ago. When listening to XM, you can't tell the difference from the sound that comes from the stock radio locked onto a strong station. XM gives you dozens of venues to choose from.

No experience with Auto Zone or Advance Auto steering boxes but I have had my steering box replaced.I don't know what part of the country you are in but out here in the NW we have a tire company that is called Les Schwab. There is one store in particular that I have used for all my front end work (for multiple vehicles) for the last 10-12 years because they have a top notch front end guy.One day when my truck was in for alignment the front end guy said I should be thinking about replacing the steering box because it was getting pretty sloppy. Guess it wasn't that obvious to me as I just live with the normal wander that comes with the Dodge truck.To make a long story short, I had them install a new box (don't know the specific brand) and wow, what a difference in my steering.It's been over two years ago and I am still very happy with it.

For me, the primary thing I would want to look to see if it would save me money in the long run and will I keep my truck long term to realize the savings.The secondary thing that I would probably consider is whether I got some increased utility/benefit from the conversation that isn't available to me if I didn't do the conversion.The primary usually wins but I have traded off on the primary when the secondary thing was very important to me.

I really like my Hawk brake pads and I'm betting you will like your's also.

That's correct. I don't have a lockup controller so I am not familiar with them and don't understand why and how they are used. I seem to remember there is some risk of something happening if you don't use it right.I took my truck into the Local Dodge dealer a few years back to have some work done and I asked them about getting an exhaust brake install and they told me I couldn't do it on the auto.Wasn't smart enough to challenge them on it and just took them on their word.So ya, I don't know any more than I have been told. And I don't even know if I have been told wrong!Is it really a viable option? Is there any risk to my truck with this lockout controller and I am guessing it is all a custom install. Probably even a special exhaust brake for autos? etc.