War Eagle

I only use the 2 stroke oil and have never had a gelling problem here in Idaho. Of course my cold weather driving experience in Idaho has only been down to -3F.

Just a quick update. Several things on my to do list are coming together for me. Bought a Viair air compressor and a 2.5 gallon tank and am working on the install details. Got a very cool sounding air horn that is just begging me to install and I have ordered a Pacbrake that will need air. Projects and more projects. I plan to do a write up on the install and will include pictures also.

Just looked at my 2nd gen truck and this LED light assembly will also work in the same location as on my 3rd gen. The lip of the hood on the 2nd gen is several inches foward of the radiator support cross member. No this light wouldn't work well for that application at all. I think you would want something that has a higher lumen out put and higher intensity light and something that is able to throw light at a longer range. Of course they are going to be priced higher as well but there are a lot of very nice lights that would work well as backup lights or area work lights etc.

I will check on my 2nd gen and let you know if this same assembly will fit. Got about 10 inches of new snow last night so it may be a few days before I can get everything uncovered and check out the fit.

I am planning to install the following items on my truck so if you want those kinds of things detailed in a write up then go ahead and sign me up: Hydraulic winch, free spin hubs, exhaust brake, front receiver and I may take a shot at LED foglights. There could be other things as I go down the road.

WOW! So I am a published author. Does that mean I have tenure now?

I wanted more light under the hood when I am working there or when I was just checking oil or other fluid levels etc. I decided to try installing some LED lights to see if this would improve the situation. Since this was to be an experiment to see if it could improve things and if I would like it I didn't want to spend a lot of money to start with. I checked around for various light options and looked at how they could be mounted. I liked the idea of using a small multibulb bar setup because I could tuck it in an area that wouldn't come in contact with the body or engine when I closed the hood. My thinking was that if I installed 2 of these lights I could focus the out put on each side of the engine bay. I finally opted for a small 6 bulb (6w) bar that was sold by Super Bright Led. The output was rated at 600 lumens for each light assembly and came with its own ss mounting bracket and hardware and sold for $19.95 for a pair of lights. This would give me 1200 lumens under the hood. The assembly was small enough that I could mount it on the front lip of the hood (just on the backside of the grill) and I could close the hood and the lights would easily clear the radiator support cross member and when the hood was open the lights would be up high and out of the way and give a good unobstructed light input into the bay area. So I marked the install location and mounted the brakets for the light assembly. When I installed the light assembly in its bracket I then adjusted the swivel location so the light pointed directly into the center of the engine bay. The swivel feature also allows the light to be adjusted or re-aimed as needed. Checking the closure of the hood verified that everything cleared with inches to spare. I wanted to have the lights operate just like the stock underhood light (open the hood and the light comes on and close the hood and the light goes out). Keep it simple with no additional wiring or switches. This dictated that I would just connect my wiring to the stock underhood light. After removing the stock light assembly I drilled 2 small holes in the plastic housing for a place to have the 18ga wiring enter into the assembly and connect to the existing light setup. I decided to solder my leads onto the existing brass tangs built into the stock light assembly. After soldering the leads in place I then installed a 1/4" wire loom covering to keep these new wires from be abraded of scuffed when they were finally installed inside the hood stiiffening bracket. This bracket proved a natural channel for the wire to be housed in and it led to the front of the hood near where I had mounted my LED light assemblies. After I hooked everything up I replaced the IOD fuse to check if the lights worked as I had hoped for. They did and here is a picture of the assembly lighted. It was a little hard to get a picture of the lights on because they over powered the eye sensor on the camera so I had to point the camera away from the lights so I could take a picture. Of course when you do that you can't see how bright the lights are. But it will give you an idea of the finished set up with the wires tir wrapped up out of the way. I also placed plug-in barrel connectors on my connections to the LED lights so if I decide to use a different light then I don't have to cut wire or run new wiring. Here is a picture of the underhood light that is put out by these LED assemblies. This is no flash and the time is at dusk. This is a big improvement (over the weak stock light) and I have light enough to even easily read a paper by.

Got mine from E-Bay but they are at Amazon and I think I have seen them at some of the on-line auto part stores. (might have been autoanything, am-auto parts or something like that.) As I remember they were around 70 or so per assembly and I got free shipping. I bought two complete sets (for 2001 and 2003 Jetta) and they are really good in my opinion.

Eagle eye makes a nice replacement assembly for the Jetta. I have used them and it is really to have such nice bright lights again.

X2^ I'm an SRW SB truck that carries a heavy camper. I carried mine on stock chrome clad steel wheels and the OEM Aluminum wheels both with LRE tires thinking all things were good. Then one day I got the rig on a certified scale and found I was over the capacity of the tires on the rear axle and this didn't make me feel good at all. I am now going to 19.5s so that I will not be over weight on the tires or wheels. I prefer the SRW rather than dually because my rig is also my hunting rig and I get off the road a feel I have much more manueverablity in the SRW stance. I believe your truck had a sway bar in the rear (if not then I would suggest you consider that item) but I added Tork lift stable loads and that made a nice difference on the truck setting height as well as helping to stablize the tendanccy to sway when going around corners or over RR tracks etc. Good shocks help the bounce control with the cg so high when the camper is loaded. I use Rancho 9000XL because I like the ability to adjust, but there are other good shocks available as well if you're not a Rancho guy.

Ya, I am looking forward to the added stability you should get with the stiffer sidewalls. I like the add in stability that I got with the Bigwig but I thinking this is going to be another big step up in stability. Any perceived difference you can feel in rolling resistance due to the stiffer sidewal? How is the road noise on the toyos compared to your LRE tires?

I originally bought a hydraulic unit and used it on the Ford diesel I had back in the 90's Really liked it because you didn't have to give it a rest when pulling hard like you do with the electric winches. You can work it all day where an electric winch will work the batteries over if you are pulling a lot (even if the engine is running and recharging the batteries.) On a hydraulic unit you obviously have to have the engine running where you could conceiveably continue to use an electric winch if the engine wasn't running (albeit only for a finite amount of time due to battery capacity) but when ever I have needed to use the winch my truck was always in running condition. If I had ever turned it upside down or drove off into a lake or something like that then the electric winch wouldn't do much good either. I also found it takes less maintenance for me to worry about. I don't have to worry about electrical connections or battery condition. It's always ready to go and it is completely water proof so I can still use it even if emersed under water (engine running of course). Once you have the unit installed and plumbed in you cannot remove it anywhere as easily as you might with a receiver hitch mounted winch. I have actually recovered two vehicles using the hydraulic where I was able to pull on them harder than their own onboard electric winches could do. Anyway, I have had excellent experience with my last hydraulic unit so that is why I chose to go with hydraulic again.

For the bumper I went with th GO Industries System. I got the one rated for 16k complete with brush guards. http://www.goindustries.com/home/go1/smartlist_600/winch_system_grille_guard.html For the winch I went with the MileMarker Hydraulic unit rated for 12k http://milemarker.com/products/hydraulic-winches

Just a general update to my wish list of mods. First off the list has morphed a little in that I have added a another want or two to the list. I do a fair amount of hunting and decided to mount a new bumper and winch on the truck. So I now have the parts in hand and will start this project when the weather gets a little warmer. I also added a tire and wheel upgrade for the truck and this is to include 19.5s. I now have these in my possession also but won't mount them until the nice weather comes. Also I finally ordered the spytech hub upgrade kit and it's now in my possession. So ask me what I am going to be doing this spring?

Not anwering for AH641D but when I looked at the documentation it says the new software has been upgraded to be more linear through the range of each SW. Also it say that each SW range has been increased about 10% over the earlier versions. And finally the most advanced timing level in all SW ranges is now 2 with 3 being less than 2 and 4 being less than 3. I have been running at timing level 3 most of the time this past year and got my best mileage in SW5. Since winter time I have upped my timing to level 2 and so far I have seen the best mileage yet (on winter fuel) in SW9. I don't use the power of SW9 but that level has increased my mpg's. Anxious to see how things are when the winter fuel is gone.

I wonder if the clunking sound in front might be the front wheel bearing/hub issue. That is how I found the bad bearing on my gen 2 rig. It obviously had been bad or going bad for some time but the it was a give away for me when I heard the clunk and then check for the problem.

X2.

He can sure pick those strings!

I got my recall notice in the mail last week. Any others get their notice yet? Mines says to contact the dealer in January 2014 sometime.

I got the rims sitting in the garage and I ordered the tires and they are in also. However, I haven't gotten them mounted yet becuse I am going to have my wheels spray coated with some good clear coat before I mount the tires. The wheels have clear coat on them now but it looks pretty non-existant in some places, so I am going to have them all sprayed with some good quality stuff before I install. I was thinking about spraying them myself but with the cold weather it make be a month or so before I actually get them mounted. As a side note (not to hijack this thread) I got my Spyntec hub kit in last week so I am thinking I will probably try and install those before I put the new tires and wheels on too.

Speaking of snow and ice, will that create problems on the e-brake since snow and ice will likely get all over it if driven in the winter weather. Do you have to somehow protect it from road water, mud, snow, ice and road salt if it is mounted in the exhaust line instead of up on the turbo? I was also thinking about an in-line install but I am hesitant due to those concerns.

Ya, I am in the same camp on this one. ^ I believe that Dodge is the only pickup manufacturer that still offers a manual on the big diesel engines.

Did you have any trouble getting the spare up into the storage area? Is it tight and did the little tire winch pull it up alright? What are your first impressions of the ride without any real weight on the truck? Is it notably harsher than with your LRE tires? They look nice on your truck. Hope they work out well for you.

The issue I am referring to is the inconsistences I see in the tire life on various reviews for the same brand and model of tire. As an example I have seen some reviews for the DH01s saying they only got 25 to 35k miles out of the tires and others that said 60 to 70k miles. Same thing goes for other brands as well. I was kind of thinking that if I go to a 14 or 16 ply truck tire that my tire mileage would be somewhere around 80k+ . Heck, I expect to get 70k+ from my 17inch Michlen LTX tires.

Discount Tire Just built (in last 12 months)2 new stores here in Nampa and they gave me the great Vision price. It was cheaper than every place I contacted about these rims. Bruneel Tire gave me the best price for the DH01s, but I am getting mixed messages about the tire life for traction type tires. When I look up reviews I find some good ones and some not so good ones for Hankooks, Toyos, Coopers, Continentals, Double Coin etc. I am now thinking that maybe I'll just go with a rib type tire and keep my 17 inch Michlen LTX and run those in the winter when I am not pulling or carrying the camper and then use the 19.5s during the rest of the year.