RJC2

It sounds like you need to replace your damper. It sounds like that is going to be a pain where a pill won't reach, with your set up. AND... You are right about the cheap Chinese steel. I can't believe that we have fallen this far. Can't even buy an American made damper!!! Respectfully, I have to disagree with you about the bombs. If they were recycled U.S. bombs they would last a long time because they would be made of Pittsburgh steel, some of the best on the planet. Good luck. (I can smell the smoke from your stuck damper)

I had my drivers seat recovered back in January. The upholsterer just sold the last bit of orignial material for the Dodge seats that he had. (isn't that the way it always goes?) He said that the manufacturer went out of business and there was no more available. He was able to order a material for me that was so close that you had to look really hard to see the difference. The little red spots on the original material was a pinkish color instead. I did the drivers seat and the material part of the door panel and left the passenger side stock. No one could really tell the difference.

There is a huge difference in the quality of paints, and most importantly clearcoats. There is a good grade at $360/gal. Mid grade at $180/gal.. The cheaper material is somewhere south of $180. They all look very similar when first applied, it is later that the differences appear.Also, there are single stage paint jobs (which you may have gotten) which is enamel paint, shoot the enamel on and you are done. Not very durable in sun and weather. Urethane, which is the hardest and most durable paint available currently comes factory on cars today. It is a base coat/clear coat application and called two stage paint as you spray the base (color) on and then shoot clear over that. I am sure there is a body man on here that could elaborate better than I. I hope this helps someone who is paint job shopping to be a bit more educated.

I can affirm Dripley's vote on the Glowshift deal. Cheap is good,,, and that is all I will say about that. I have the Isspro fuel pressure gauge, mechanical with no islolator, well it had the islolator but that whole isolator deal is another thing I am trying to forget about. It has made a nice paper weight on my work bench to remind me how I didn't listen to the M1973Man, Dripley and others on here.

A dump bed would be nice. I have a dump trailer. It is very handy, and I don't have to worry about changing trucks.

Well I set the Smarty on level 3 for a tank full. Fuel economy went from 16.6 to 17.7, (hand calculated). It got 17.6 stock. More power and more responsive. Overhead computer said I was getting 20.5 mpg. I filled up and set it on level 4. I have ran about 100 miles at this level. It might just be me but it doesn't seem quite as peppy at this level but it still runs better than stock. The overhead is reading about 15 mpg. The truck's MPG computer was dead on accurate before the Smarty, not anymore with it. I will let you know what happens at the next fill up.

Good paint is expensive. A good base coat/ clear coat job being done without a color change or body work (in my area) will run around $2200, that is, provided it isn't red. Red paint is very expensive. Recently a friend of mine painted a Mustang, he had $940 in just the paint, clear coat and sealer. The enamel jobs are okay however the new urethane paints that are on the newer vehicles today (ours included) are far superior to enamel paints in hardness, durability and shine.The old saying "you get what you pay for" applies when it comes to paint. There are also many grades of clear coat. Higher cost clear lasts longer and is harder.

I did it a year ago. Works great as Mike designed it.

The HY's wastegate was frozen on my truck when I bought it, when I replace it I ended up with an HX. I know it is larger, however I couldn't tell the difference between the two in power or MPG.

I am sure it is on level 1. It is a bit more responsive than stock, and maybe a tad more power, but not much. It just seems to pull away from a stop a little quicker. About once a week I will run it wide open throttle to exersize the wastegate and it does blow a little bit of black smoke but not much. It wouldn't smoke at all in stock form. Fuel economy before Smarty was 17.6 summer and winter (that is with a whole lot of short trips here on the farm) and 20 Highway.With the Smarty on level 1, 16.6 mpg, and 20 highway.I will try level 3 and then 4 and see what happens, but I need to see if I can locate the instructions online. The guy I bought the Smarty from lost them. Pepsi, the exhaust gas temps have been reasonable, in fact i cannot get them over 1075 degrees no matter what I do. That happened while pulling a trailer full of hay up a steep mountain and trying to keep it from downshifting. (I would love to have a manual transmission) I was trying to get the temps over 1000 degrees as Mike (Moparman) advised me that this would clean up the carbon. It was over, but not much. I am sure the higher levels will make this easier to achieveThanks for all the input guys. This website is nice.

No, from stock. It has never had anything on it before. I thought about going to a higher level but have an automatic transmission and don't want to kill it.Do you think a higher level would do better than the fuel economy setting? I only bought the thing to save fuel. More power is nice, but with an automatic it could get expensive, don't want that.

I bought a Smarty about 2 months ago. I have only used it on the number 1 (fuel economy) setting. I lost 1 mpg. It does run a wee bit better, but with the price of diesel being what it is I am considering taking it off. I was disappointed as I have heard so many say that they help fuel economy. Has anyone else had this experience?Oh, and I should say that I am not running it any different than I did before.

I went through the same low pressure deal with mine until I got rid of the isolator. That was a mistake to install for me.

I have seen parts in a junkyard from trucks from the 50s that looked better than those. What is up with the rust with our trucks? Do they use some kind of bargain basement chinese steel on these parts. The F350 I worked on last year still looked very nice in these areas. Some rust, but not like these pictures.I hate it for you Jamman. Maybe the "Great Potato" in the clouds [Mike] will have some words of inspiration.ON EDIT: He beat me to it....

When I installed my gauge last summer I fell for the islolator sales pitch. I was told that they are the only safe way to do the install and that I would basically be a caveman idiot if I didn't. Well, it lasted two weeks and scared the crap out of me when it failed. I thought that being brand new it couldn't have failed that quickly so I assumed it was something else.Well now, meet the Caveman idiot who fell for the salesmans warning (sales pitch) and didn't take the advice of Mopar Mike and the boys. I have a $100 isolator [paper weight] on my work bench as a reminder. I spent way too much extra time and money fooling around trying to figure out what had happened to my fuel pressure.I too ran the black air brake line directly to the gauge and my fuel pressure has been about 3 pounds higher ever since.

Jlwelding, what kind of noise is it making? I have noticed a little noise from the column area of mine this past week. Kind of a metallic ticking noise, not very loud. It does it mostly on uneven bumpy road. I'm not sure what it is, but it is driving me nuts. Time to get the stethoscope out so I can find where it is coming from.

I would be glad to give you the information but, maybe I should get mine done first to be sure that the match is right before you commit to buying sight unseen.Moore's Upholstery Shop (Bill Moore; owner)307 Mechanic Street Cumberland Md. 21502 301-777-9797

18 psi @idle14 psi @WOTAir Dog 100 with big line kitOriginal fuel filter still plumbed in

Dave, isn't that the way it goes. They sell you junk that breaks, replace it under warranty with more junk that breaks, then YOU pay for the new improved junk that breaks. Then you do a little research and do it yourself the right way. Oh, and then pay again...

2500ctd; Mine was replaced under warranty at 42K. Yours if it did fail at such low miles [>52K] it would have probably been under factory warranty as well.My friend who is a Mechanic at the local Dodge dealership told me that when the dealership replaced them under warranty they generally put the in tank pump with them as standard proceedure. So if you have the Carter pump on the block, it is probably original. If the Carter pump is gone, it is more than likely a replacement VP44.Hope this helps.

I have Isspro for fuel pressure. It does a good job. Be sure to order the green condom for the bulb inside the gauge so it burns green to match the dash.I have three Glow shift gauges on my A pillar. They turn 7 different colors with a push of a button and dim when the headlights come on. HOWEVER, they are a bit bright at night (even dimmed) and I have to turn them on the red color, which doesn't mess with our night vision. It is much more comfortable. Daytime I turn it on one of the blue colors (even though the dash is green) because, I am 52 years old and I need reading glasses up close now. Accidently I put them on the blue color and instead of being the usual blur as it normally is on the green or red colors, it was perfectly clear to me, just like I was wearing glasses. That is very nice. Price on the Glow Shift was really good as well.Bob

Dave, I bought a very nice steering stabilizer off of ebay from a dealer named "Customdiesel123" his price is $119.00 to your door (free shipping). I offered him $100 and he settled at $110.00 with me for the kit. It was a nice piece, well made and best of all "cheap". I have tried the link thing with you a while back and will give it a try here. If it doesn't work I will stand in the corner again. http://www.ebay.com/itm/94-02-DODGE-3500-2500-4X4-STEERING-GEAR-BOX-BRACE-/280559104951?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4152a033b7 The one I ordered wouldn't work on my truck due to my plow frame (I had to get one that is made differently), the guy at Customdiesel 123 offered me my money back without a problem. I sold it to a friend who is very impressed with how it improved his steering. Bob

I have an out of town doctor appointment this week so it may be later in the week before I can get to it. It is for my back injury and what they are going to do may put me down for a few days.

I agree with dripley. If overtightened, a steering box will be stiff to steer, and the gears really wear excessively when they are used while that tight. Loosening it now would probably make the truck drive worse than ever as it would have a tremendous amount of play in the steering.A friend of mine overtighten his and drove it that way for a year. The box broke interally in a turn one day at about 15 mph. He bought a new steering box and solved his steering problem. Then he had the passenger side fender replaced and door fixed from the crash. He was fortunate.There are a number of vendors that sell good boxes. I don't know if any are supporters of this website but they should be with all the business it sends their way.I have a friend who bought a "Red Head" brand gearbox and was very happy with the results. I think there is also a brand called "Blue Top" however I am not sure about the name or quality as I haven't had any experience with them.A factory steering box isn't as good as one of the ones listed above from what I have read in the past. I hope this helps.

I can't say that a brace wouldn't help you however, I have a feeling that your problem is something else if it is as hard to steer as you say. If the power steering is working, the steering box may be bad. If you do replace it then I would put a steering brace on it to make sure the new box stays that way.I would start by checking all the joints. (Ball joints, tie rod ends, and track bar ends) All of these things add up to looking like a DUI candidate all the time.