Doubletrouble

My "new" bed has a small square hole innit for a gooseneck as well. I'm going to cut a piece of bed floor out of the old one and section it into the new one. The new bed has been rhino lined so once the patch is in I will go to rhino liner and have it filled in and spray the patch area from the bottom also. That way it us sealed on both top and bottom.

Once you have the bed do something around the hile for the gooseneck hitch. Mine rusted out all the way around that. I now have a hole 20" front to back and all the way from wheel well to wheel well. They cut it out for the hitch but didn't seal it or rust proof in any way. I now have a rubber bed mat screwed to the bed floor to cover it so I don't fall through. I have another bed for the truck, just haven't had the time or money to repaint it and swap them. (The spare bed is black, truck is silver)

@Mopar1973Man It looks like he has the updated main shaft already. I purchased several of my transmission parts from Allstate Gear online. The 5th gear nut I used was their "super nut" kit that cane in the master rebuild kit that I bought. I has to replace all 3 shafts, input shaft, counter shaft and the kit came with the full spline updated main shaft as well. My trans was trashed. The main shaft bearing in the front took a massive dump and trashed everything. Also, get a big torque wrench! As Mike mentioned, the 5th gear nut needs to be torqued to 300ft/lbs. DO NOT use a chisel and hammer and think it's good. It isnt. I post some pics of mine below. The carnage More carnage New input shaft and counter shaft New counter shaft in place, reused the small reverse idler. Case has been cleaned here also New main shaft installed, also replaced the tail housing with a cast iron piece. OEM was aluminum and had the mount holes hogged out of round. Now, the shift ring or collar that I have circled in this pic are important! I installed the ring backwards. If you look closely the ring is flat on one side and has a tapper on the other. The flat side has to go toward the large gear to the right as shown in the pic. Due to installing that ring backwards I do not have the use of 1st gear. I don't need it unless towing and I will pill it and make it right, just haven't yet. Hope all this helps!

If your going to pull the 5th out why not just put a new one in while you have it apart? At least it should get you home, then to a proper rebuild. I rebuilt mine (4x4), they're not extremely hard to do, many good videos online to take you step by step.

The winter covers definitely work. I bought mine from Genos 2 years ago. What a difference in the winter. Warm up times are much shorter and she holds heat a little better also.

I have an '01 3500, she has some rust in the typical areas like rockers, floor boards and door bottoms. Truck has 194k roughly. I plan to fix the rust and keep her going. I prefer the look of my 2nd gen over the newer body styles, that's my preference though. I also love that I don't deal with emissions at all. It's also a 5speed, I have rebuilt the trans once myself. Another factor there is that I can and have done it. If needed, I'll do it again. I love my truck and will do what I can to keep her as long as I can. There is a lot of life left in the drive train, just need to keep the rust at bay.

This may be a shot in the dark but a buddy's older chevy (1993) diesel won't start until the engine oil pressure rises above a certain value. Is this maybe something cummins or dodge did as well?

No external.leaks though? I'm beginning to lean towards the cp3 going out. Something internal in the cp3 must be allowing air in to loose prime.

Thank you all for the condolences. It's been nearly a month now since he passed (Nov. 15th) and it still don't seem real. I feel like he will call any minute but the phone doesn't ring. It did help to process by writing this post. To go through a kinda of list as to what happened and reach the end in writing. I've also been focusing on trying to get mom situated, she want to go to assisted living so there are many thing that need to be done to get her squared away and ready for the move. I am finally back to work also, after a 2 month lay off. In hind sight, I'm thankful for the lay off. I allowed me some extra time with dad before he passed and then the time to help plan the funeral as well.

Thought I would take a minute and share why I've been a little absent from the site lately. I will try to condense this some as it has been over a year long process. My dad was in a bad car accident on Oct. 7th 2023 which landed him in the hospital for quite a long time between his injuries, emergency surgeries, various infections along the way and lots of rehab to finally get him back home to live nearly 1 year later. After about 3 weeks at home he passed away. He was on some pretty heavy duty blood thinners to avoid clips and the like but unfortunately he began loosing his balance again. We were discussing putting him back into rehab or assisted living since he had fallen a few times at home. Not bad falls, he would just loose his balance and fall on his butt. Sadly these small falls were a huge deal for him unknowingly. His Last fall as he was getting into bed he slid off the edge of the mattress and possibly hit his head (we don't know for sure) and this caused some bleeding on the brain. (We found this out later). The feeling rendered him unconscious shortly after and unresponsive. Paramedics were called and he was transported to the hospital. 2 hours later he was on life support. He had alway had a DNR in place so the choice was made to disconnect the life support and very shortly after he passed. We then had a funeral to plan and all the stress that goes with it. We were able to honor him in a fashion that he would have loved. He was a lifetime Pittsburg Steeler fan (as am I thanks to him) so we provided him with a casket in the steelers colors and team logos, custom made by a freind of the funeral home. We also honored his service as a United States Marine which served in Viet Nam. He was provided a military burial with full honors by the VFW that he had belonged to for some many years. It's a very somber and moving experience when you witness a military funeral. I miss you Dad Go Steelers! SEMPER FI Marine

I would start with the grid heater electrical. Check the connections, make sure they're clean and tight, check for voltage as well. Like @Tractorman said, fusable links could have failed or maybe the relays, solenoids? Easy enough to track it down I would think.

There are also plenty of hotshot drivers out there with capable trailers. Try them? Couldn't tell you what it would cost but I'm sure they can get it done for you. Also, what would it take to make her road worthy compared to shipping costs?

To add to what @Mopar1973Mansaid, @dieselautopower will have a reman that has been tested and calibrated properly. They're good people there and really know their stuff.

Any way we could get some pics of where it used to be mounted? Also, if I'm not mistaken, your mod cost you basically nothing other than time?

Awesome! Thanks for posting that John. On the noise you speak of, I'm gonna say I don't have it or at least I never noticed it. They're are several noises while driving I suppose, all adding into the harmony that is a 2nd gen 24v cummins. Nothing ever really jumped out at me though, especially anything resonating from the fuel pedal area.

Not that I noticed but now I want to put my head under the dash with her running and see. Hmmm I just assumed all the noises were common on a diesel. I've been drive big diesel trucks fir a long time but my '01 is my first diesel pickup.

I'm watching this I want to see how this turns out. also @Mace and @Tractorman, if one or the other of you guys maybe do an article step by step that would be awesome. (Lots of pics! I'm a visual learner)

Also, tour comparing an f450 to a 3500 dodge. Naturally the heavier duty the truck the running gear will follow. Honestly they all have short comings somewhere. Personally I love my 2nd gen 3500 and wouldn't trade it even up for a brand new one.

I agree with not wanting to drop 100k on a truck. Truck prices are insane. I'll just never tell anyone it's a good idea to get a ford either. Lol. Just my personal opinion

@Mopar1973Man, I think he meant a 44 foot trailer not 44" tires. @Mace, if that kind of power and beef is what your looking for why not buy a Dodge 4500 or 5500? You could get a standard wheelbase chassis and place a bed on it. It would come with the latest 6.7 cummins and very heavy axles as well.

Good contact on both power and grounds are a must. Glad to hear you got it sorted out.

So, a little back story first. About 2 weeks ago the wife and I went to the store. After finishing shopping, walking to the truck I noticed something under the truck. It was the fuel tank. Luckily not fully on the ground. The rear tank strap broke. I knew it was rusted but didn't know I was that close to a big problem. I grabbed a couple rachet straps from the tool box and strapped it up just to get home. One home I reattached the filler neck and vent hoses and proceeded to strap it up with a 2 inch strap to hold it in place while waiting on parts. I have to give a shout out to @Genos Garage! They had the straps I needed in stainless! I replaced them both today, pretty straightforward install. The new straps look great, are made well and fit same as OEM. Shouldn't have to worry about them rusting again! Thanks Geno's !!

Can't wait to see more. Your project is coming along nicely. It's gonna be a sweet ride when done.

Looking good!

Looking great so far!