Doubletrouble

That's me! I had a 1999 chevy suburban with the 5.7 vortec engine. My other truck at the time had the 5.7 tbi engine with 360k on it so I guess I expected the same from the vortec. Boy was I wrong. I had to change cylinder heads twice due to cracks, distributor went bad, and a few other little things here and there and I only owned it for 18 months. What a pile of crap. Then I bought my Cummins and didn't look back.

I was thinking of doing the same, bed liner on the rockers just to help protect the from road debris. I'd like to remove my bed next year, I have some repairs to do on the gooseneck hitch and possibly the frame where it bolts onto it. Bed floor is gonna need some new sheet metal as well.

That's the tricky part. The Cummins will last it's everything dodge did to the platform that will wear out. They're not in the business of building long haul trucks (in quotes) but with the Cummins engine you have the heart of a long hauler. I really enjoy my truck and hope to have it a very long time.

Can I ask what you used to cut the old pieces out? Just curious, with the bed still on there isn't much room once you get around the corner of the cab. Also, are those the "slip on" cab corners you mentioned earlier in the thread? Looking good so far.

On my android phone when you hit the button for the numbers the upper case key changes to =\> for symbols, hit that key and they come up.

I agree @Tractorman, a "really cold day" is a matter of perspective. I am in the same mind set as you, 45° isn't real bad but you get down into the 20's it gets a bit chilly. Mainly I was thinking using this to warm up the cab faster at the beginning of the day or trip then just running like you normally would any other time.

But with the a/c on in max position it would at least still help to remove excess moisture from the cab.

I agree with @dripley, I've done the WT ground mod. After seeing for myself how these wires were spliced together by the factory it kinda made me sick. These trucks were not cheap when new nor are the newest 2021's and to see how they assemble some things is terrible. If nothing else and for no other reason do the WT mod just for piece of mind knowing it's done right. Just my $.02

It's not a huge deal compared to some.other members here but I've reached 150,000 miles. I've only owned the truck for a little over a year. She had about 138k on the clock when I bought it but so far, no major problems and looking forward to the next several hundred thousand miles behind the wheel.

And @Tractorman you are correct. Say your outside, have rain/snow on your clothes or shoes whatever. You will have fogging on the inside due to the excess moisture in the cab. I experienced this many times for one reason or another. Not going to dispute it. I was just thinking that on an exceptionally cold day, if the option was there it could be beneficial to at least get the cab warm then switch back to normal heating mode is all. With the controls in an '01 such as mine there is no clear way to do so, that's why I asked. @Tractorman

@Tractorman, I see your reasoning here but, I have had vehicles in the past with no a/c from the factory. Yes, you would do best to crack a window to let the air flow better but you could still see. I do appreciate having a/c even in the winter for the defogging of inside of the glass for sure.

Ok, so roughly a half gallon would do a truck. I saw that they sell the spray cans in a kit of 6 I think it was for the diy'er also.

I tried it yesterday sitting in a parking lot as well. It seemed warmer, didn't have a thermometer with me at the time though. Idk, I was just curious.

On the dash you can place the a/c on max and it recirculates the air in the cab to continuously cool the same air making the cab cooler in the summer heat. Is there a recirc setting that does the same for heat in the winter? Or do we have to set it on max a/c setting which blows the hot air from the main vents? Thought it might be useful on the really cold days.

@Dieselfuture keep us posted when you try the fluid film.

I believe @Mopar1973Man had a vaguely similar issue, IIRC it was a ground for the quad. Even though she's running again I would suggest checking and cleaning as many grounds as you can. Very important on these trucks and as they age things need "freshened up" a bit.

How much does it take to do the underbody of a truck? They sell it in several sizes of container from spray cans, 1 gallon, 5 gallon and so on.

Looks like fluid film for the win. I've researched that stuff before but I did not see the video comparing used oil to fluid film (and others). Seems fluid film is the way to go. Thanks for that @IBMobile! I've looked around a bit after seeing the video. Fluid film is a little pricey but if it works as good as shown it would be worth the investment.

Just curious. I'm not to the point yet where I think I need one but that day may come.

Not as bad as I thought they would be.

I have a few questions about studding the head mainly because it's been a long time since I've done one and it was not a diesel. Do you locktite the stud in the block? How many head bolts are there on a 5.9 24valve? I know you really don't need to do studs until a certain power level is reached but, should the original bolts ever be retorqued? Lastly, is there any advantage to studding the head if you do not anticipate going above say 300hp?

Just out of curiosity, what would a pop pressure tester cost if a person was to buy one? I'm assuming they're pretty costly.

A friend of mine used that stuff on his vehicles. He says it's much better than welding and perfect for someone that doesn't have the proper welder or experience to weld sheet metal panels. That's takes time and patience. And as mentioned, you won't be putting the heat to the pieces which will burn off any corrosion protection that was sprayed on prior to install.

Nice job! Is there a way you could check your injector readings against a known accurate gauge to be sure it's as accurate as possible, or calibrate it somehow?