hex0rz

Yes, yes you do. You need the controller to tell the puter to keep the TC locked when in use. The pacbrake e-brake has a controller that does just that. What I'm asking is, do I need to have a billet flexplate and input shaft due to the load put on the transmission from the TC being locked up during e-braking. The guy from pac brake said he had not heard of having to do this...

Alright, so reading into another topic, I see a recommendation was made to make upgrades to the transmission area when installing an exhaust brake.I called Pac brake, and the guy said he had never heard of doing such a thing. All he mentioned was that the auto's have a controller.It really is not much for me to go off of. So if I go pac brake down the road and don't install a stiffer flexplate and input shaft, will I be risking it?

There are some things I can take as gospel when it comes to mythbusters. One them, being whether or not your mpg is affected by the a/c and windows when driving.Their results cam back as:If going 55mph or under, it is more fuel efficient to run with your windows down to keep cool.If going over 55mph, it is more fuel efficient to run with your windows up and A/C on to keep cool.- Its a matter of aerodynamic drag on the vehicle that overcomes the increased load on the engine to displace the difference in energy loss.

There is only one portion on here I can chime in on and the idea of adjusting your bands is true. Anytime you pull the trans pan for a flush and filter, the bands should be adjusted at the same time. Its a part of the preventative maintenance program.I believe anyone can do their band adjustment, you just gotta know how to do it. Even my Chiltons book tells me how to do band adjustment.

...yep. It is not always your fault, per se. I just had to replace my radiator. Did a new t-stat radiator cap, and new coolant. I have not driven it on the highway yet, so I dunno if the temps are swinging still. If they are, a fan clutch, temp. sensor and headgasket are the only things left that it could be.

Did you get it?

Ok in the crankshaft seal kit, it comes with a couple things. The instructions are extremely vague about the parts. In this pic: http://media.photobucket.com/image/cummins%20crank%20seal/FiveNdime/Forum%2520Stuff/CumminsCranshaftseal.jpg It shows the seal, install sleeve and a piece of metal ring. I dunno what the other black rubber ring is, as I have not had one of them in my kits I bought. Although, I have gotten the metal rings in mine. It does not say what it is for and when I first removed the dampener, there was never one between the crank seal and dampener. Anyone have any idea what it is for? If its important to have, I need to know soon, as I have a new crank seal in!

I JUST recently had to redo my crank seal as well. I think when I fixed my KDP the inside lip of the seal got curled over and then friction took over and in time melted it a bit to cause it to leak again. I DID NOT want to remove all the crap that is involved in removing the timing cover. I got the belt and dampener off. Took the old seal out with an small flathead screwdriver. The trick part is to try and get the new one in! You may be able to pull it off, but I was not able to! I had it going on and thought I was in business. Took one wrong tap and she got cockeyed on me. Was stuck that way and tried to do my best without ruining the seal in the process. I ended up boogering it up... :banghead: That was a $45 mistake... So, its either you invest a little extra time to get full access and do it the right way the first time, or you take a gamble with your patience and skills and try. I'm confident it can be done without removing everything, but in my case, I'm just not that good.

I have never heard of tapping the boost elbow for boost reading. I would think a port on the intake plenum area would be a better idea. BHAF won't increase your mileage. It did not improve mine. If anything it will make it worse. IMO anytime you allow the flow of exhaust to exit with less restriction, the better. I would not go more than a 4" though considering the consensus on here about size. This is what you need to consider for better MPG's: http://articles.mopar1973man.com/general-cummins/36-fuel-system/77-how-to-improve-mpgs http://articles.mopar1973man.com/general-cummins/36-fuel-system/63-adding-2-cycle-oil-to-diesel-fuel

I would make sure that you are 100% confident in the idea that either the vp44 or the vacuum pump is really the culprit in the oil leak. That is ALOT of involved work to justify fixing an leak that produces 3-4 drops. IMO it may very well not be them. Check the crankcase breather adapter to the timing cover. Also, check and see if it is your vacuum pump that is leaking. Its possible for it to leak at the mating surface to the timing case, but I doubt it. Your more likely to see the seal leaking on the pump that is between the vacuum pump and power steering. Goulds has the vacuum pump seal kit. Only place I know of that makes one for the pump. Looking at $400 to replace if not. Seal kit is like $60. Also, check the fitting line that feeds oil to the vacuum pump. May be a bad line or fitting.

I'm pretty sure they all are Dana 60's. Unless someone did something to the truck later on. Dunno. Remove the hub may be extremely difficult. Sounds like you have never removed them. Otherwise, you would not be asking. If the truck has never had any service work done to the front, or you live in an area with heavy corrosion potential, it will probably be pretty difficult. Take the caliper off, remove the 4 bolts that hold the hub-assembly/axle on the spindle and get a SLEDGEHAMMER and hit that SOB until she comes out. Get anti-seize and apply it to all the contact surfaces so it comes out smoother next time. Try the best penetrating oil/lube you got. Once the axle/hub-assemblies are removed, remove the intermediate shaft by removing the CAD. Then remove the pumpkin. Create a fulcrum point with a 2x4 near the gears and get a HUGE pry-bar and reef on it on a NON-CRITICAL point of the ring gear. Have someone catch the pumpkin as it comes out. WATCH OUT! Its fairly heavy. Once the innards are out, knock out the seals. Clean the surfaces up and reinstall driver side LAST. Buy 4 feet of 1/2" all thread and get yourself a piece of PVC adapter that will fit the diameter of the seal. May have to sand the edges down to make it fit. I had to on mine. Get some nuts and washers. Have a person hold the passenger side seal in place and directing the all thread on the seal to seat it. Take a sledge hammer and hit the end of the exposed all thread to seat the seal in place. Do not forget you are going in from the driver side to passenger side. Its a push not a pull method. After, seat the driver seal. Easiest seal to do. Then reassemble all components. Make sure that you THOROUGHLY clean the axle tubes BEFORE you do any install and reassembly work!

Yep, we just got a HEAVY bout of rain. Dispatch reported through the waves and said East WA, N ID and Central ID should expect heavy thunderstorms, tornado warning and quarter sized hail.

Yes, a very beautiful sight! I should have included the other picture I took at that vantage point. Off to the right, you can see the rest of the south side of Lake Pend'Oreille. It's so long, that it just blends in with the horizon!If you could look off to the left of the vantage point, there is a rocky area on the mountain where you can sometimes see mountain goats. Hard to spot though.This is my elk hunting spot. Very beautiful place to be when you are sitting at camp in the evening or sitting in the stand and can listen to the bulls bugle all around you.

I have a solution! DON'T BUY CHINESE! I saved ALL of my receipts from the recent service work I done, cause most of it was, "Made in China". I'm not going to be shocked when I have to replace something soon....

Maybe someday you can make your way up to my neck of the woods! Got a beautiful forest up here that I think you would appreciate!

Where is the oil cooler located on our truck? I did not think we had one... How can I see if the headgasket is going out? I found a local radiator shop that works on radiators and actually does cleaning and stuff but I called a guy in Spokane thinking there would be someone there that could do more than whats offered in my small town. He pointed me back to the guy here locally, but he also said it can't be done on our radiators. As they are plastic and aluminum. So, I'm gonna break down and get a new radiator today and get a heater core. My heater core will produce an occassional sweet smell, which tells me its on its way out as well. I'll have to do the heater core later though. My coolant came out as a milky green color. So its not brown or orange or anything like that. The guy I was talking to told me that means I have calcium, lime buildup, IIRC. Yep, I got no choice on the radiator. I either do it now, or I risk worse things! Damned if I do and damned if I don't. My brake fluid was disgusting! I will take some more pics when I get a chance. I sure would love to put my boot up the previous owners' arses for neglecting the truck so badly!!!!

I had to clean the bore of the caliper. It was rusty. The pistons fell in without resistance afterwards without the seal in. I should have thought of using a c-clamp instead of a hammer, lol. Although, my c-clamp has long been broke. With the amount of corrosion I have, do you think everything is okay? That worries me now. I don't want my water jackets, etc. to be compromised. I mentioned the GUNK or Permatex radiator cleaner, as I have read they have an acid wash method to them... --- Update to the previous post... Okay, so I'm kind of backed into a corner now. Gunk and permatex are apparently not carried anymore. As the eco-friendly stuff has replaced it. So I'm only limited to what I have been using now. Which is pretty much a soap... :banghead: If I want the really deep clean, I have to get it done at the radiator shop. Which is closed today! I'm wondering, Mike, you mentioned that its the metals from the block and stuff. Does that mean all of it has collected in the radiator or is it like that throughout the whole cooling system? Just wondering if the whole truck will need to be taken in so the block and whatnot needs to be cleaned or if I just take the radiator in...

I started at RR then went LR. After went FR and then FL. Went back to the RR and bled for like 10 minutes and still had bubbles come out. I dunno how much a power bleeder is, but I dunno if I can buy anything for a while now. I about spent a check worth of my wifes money, lol. Spendy week it has been! --- Update to the previous post... I went to town on all the dirt and grime today, with the purple power! Great stuff! YEA! Got everything back in from re-doing the crank seal. I PRAY that it does not leak! I will go insane if it leaks again! I got some prestone radiator flush and put 2 bottles in. I totally overlooked the fact of not putting the thermostate in. Although, it seemed to get pretty hot. I will put the thermostat in tomorrow and run it with the cleaning fluid. Then I will empty it all out and put in new coolant. I dunno how well its going to clean my system out though... I dunno about it. It probably won't do much at all actually. The main ingredient is sodium citrate. It looks like a soap pretty much. I'm gonna try and look into getting some of the gunk or permatex radiator cleaner. I read a little about how they are alot better at cleaning the system out. I went fishing for a brake bleeder kit today. Found one at NAPA for $97 on sale. Its a mityvac hand vacuum bleeder with a gauge. It will do the job, but I don't think I need it. It is one spendy unit. I have not used it yet and I've been brainstorming how to do it without it. If I have to resort to using the brake bleeder kit, the FSM says I have to have a valve open on the combination thing so it will bleed properly. I was thinking about doing a "reverse" bleed and have the fluid sucked in from a jar of fluid and it fills in the master cylinder resevoir instead. Sounds like its better to do it that way than normal. Sounds like it will remove the bubbles better than regular bleeding. I'm still confused about whether or not the ABS is interfering with my bleeding. I drove the truck today and I had a very spongy brake pedal. Definitely needs more work!

Well, he is not my friend. By definition atleast. You could call him my "brother". But thats about it, lol. I don't think he could offer me much except alooooot of beer. But I don't like to drink that stuff much. ...I'm moving before the end of the month anyways. So I dunno what the chances would be of seeing him after doing this for him.

Well, I called around. Got a chance to call a couple people and got estimates. I got one place that said $600. Another place said it varies due to the amount of possible corrosion. He said it could take between 4-13 hours. Their shop rate is $65/hr. So, maybe charging $200 for the job is not such a farfetched thing...

Alright, so a career guy at the fire dept. noticed I did work on my truck when I came in to use the air hose for rebuilding my calipers. He expressed his interest in the fact that I was working on a Dodge truck, as he owns one, too. He asked me if I had ever done the front axle seals for them and told him I have.He was not too hot on doing it himself(too busy), nor appealed at getting it done at a shop. I told him I would be willing to do it for him if he wanted to pay me. Hes willing to let me do the work, but I really dunno how much I should charge him for the job. I can do the work, I just usually 'am not doing it on a vehicle unless its mine. So the whole idea on how much to bid it for is a new thing to me.I figure the shop would charge him $300-400 to do the job. I was thinking about charging $200 to do it. Maybe $150. What seems fair to bid on a job like this? I think his truck is also a 1/2 ton and not a 3/4 ton. I have only done my 3/4 ton but I think the 1/2 tons are done the same way except on a bit of a smaller scale.

Well, before this truck I was driving a 1/2 ton. Really never do much with it. I think the max tire pressure for them was like 40psi. Ran them at max. Had really even wear on them. Thanks for the heads up with all this, guys. I never given it much thought and when I did, I couldn't make sense of it. How are you able to gross 22.5k? Is it because yours is a long bed, 6 speed? I would'nt think our trucks would even be able to gross out over 18k!

No kidding?! Wow! I just might see about getting my bumper done up then. I was thinking about making a custom rear bumper too, but this can change everything. BTW, what kind of front bumper is that your running? That is the kind of bumper I wanna run!

But I'm confused... So while I was at the auto parts store, I remembered that my tire pressure gauges were not adeqaute enough to test the trucks tire pressures. Got home and decided to give it a whirl. Looked on the sidewall and it said 80psi max. Okay, so I tested it. All my tires come out to about 50psi! They don't look flat, but dang! 30psi from max inflation? 'Am I missing something here? Is there something I'am missing when I got into the truck world?I have always ran my tires at about max inflation... This makes me wonder.

Alright, so I finished up my brakes today. What a PITA it has been for me. I took the calipers off and tried to replace the seals. Got a seal kit from O'reillys for the calipers. So I had to run over to the fire station and use the air hose just to remove the pistons from the caliper. Lucky enough to be able to use it, cause I do not have an air compressor.MAN! Those things come out violently! So then I had to work on the bores to make sure they were all good. When I was at O'reillys, I picked up a hone kit. Turned out to be too small. Took it back and got a bigger one. Got back and started to hone out the bore and the stones broke! GAAAH! Took it back, got replacement stones and then had to fix the hone up with the new stones.Started smoothing the piston and bore out. Everything was sliding in and out nicely. Put the piston seals in and then put the piston in. 1/4 the way in, the piston stops. Okay, I think. Wtf? Thought about it, that seal has to be holding it back. So, I did what I only do when I have no idea what to do. HIT IT WITH A HAMMA! I made sure to hit it with pb blaster as I was pounding it in. Took a little effort, but it went in. Hope it did not screw anything up! Then I put the dust boots on.Got the calipers back on, and then proceeded to bleed the lines. Here is what I can't figure out: I bled the system with new fluid and got to the point that all the lines have new fluid in them. I used about 1/2 gallon to flush the lines, but in doing so, I was also trying to get the air bubbles out. I was at this for a good hour or so bleeding the lines.It seems no matter what I do though, the rear lines keep giving me bubbles! The fronts give me no trouble. I would have thought that with as much brake fluid I flushed through trying to purge the bubbles, they would be gone by now. I never once let the resevoir go below the "ADD" line.Anyone got any idea? Mind you, I put all new parts in the rear, including the wheel cylinders.