The_Jackale

Thank you for the reply. Going to get the lines cracked. Did you just go back with stock injectors? I really do not care about power gains, just long term reliability. This may be the reason I am seeing 12 to 13 mpg... I also noticed I have white smoke/steam coming out of my oil cap now. So I may be doing a compression test soon.

I have a slight knock/ping to my motor that has slowly developed. Fuel pressure is 16 at idle, 19 running down the road. Slight black smoke at throttle increase from idle. Noise can be heard bouncing off structures. Not really feeling a power decrease. Uploading a video. It sounds like an injector but quieter than any videos I have seen/heard. Going to crack the injectors unless you guys think of something else to stop me. Going to be taking the truck on a 600 mile trip soon. 20200629_205502.mp4

I know that feeling for owning something rather than stuck in payments. For the same truck I have off the lot is a minimum of 7 grand. I'd rather it nickle and dime me to death knowing my mom is going into my pocket rather than the banks. You have almost a brand new truck!! When I do the cab swap I'm also doing all the electrical and making my dream truck, not a very big dream, I just want auto head lights, gps nav. Seat wamers, working cruise, auto start. Just some above stock features. I told my mom Id rather slowly put 45k into this than walk off the lot with a truck I can't even program. I learned how to work on all my stuff through forums 15 years ago after my dad passed away, he taught me a lot, but I wasn't old enough. Whats the ccv mod? Im running 275/70/18s for wheels, I wouldn't go any bigger, but I may have a spare sent during hunting and fishing season for mud tires. 90% of my driving is pavement, but I went 4x4 because I like to go camping and I've got my old Dodge 1 wheel peel stuck over 10x and in less than an inch of mud. Your post also made my wallet run and hide. Haha. I'm ordering ball joints this week.......what A pain. Thinking Napa.

I have all new TREs, new track bar (600 miles). I lifted the truck last night and my passenger side upper is toasted its 2x as bad as it was 600 miles ago. Ive also had 3 trips with 2 yards of soil in the back, and over 1500 lbs of bricks. Looks like I'm also needing rotors soon. And I have a U-Joint that I can't hear clicking over the motor, but I'm sure its clicking, its loose. Going to have some fun on the press I reckon. All these components I believe were original oem, the trucks only had a couple owners. 243k now on the clock. Ill be pushing 270k by next year. I've always owned gas rigs, I only paid 3800 for the truck, I'm at 5200 now with parts, another 1k In the front end is going to have the frame solid, looking for a donor truck for a cab. The rust on this one was a lot deeper than I thought. I can pick up a gas truck in my area for 1k running with 180k miles or so, diesels are 9k to 15k. And usually logging trucks or farm and beat. The truck was a death trap when I got it. Was all over the road. It was the most insane 55 mph roller coaster ride down the freeway that I have ever been on. Its well over 80% better than it was. Im looking at front bearings, rotor hubs(I think?) Pads, two Ujoints, 4 ball joints, 4 shocks, steering dampener that works on T style. It also has wheel spacers and the 2015 dodge 18s on there, which might be causing trouble also. 275/70/18 tires, inner fronts are bald. Looking at 1k for tires but the rears are fine, I may just do the fronts. The truck was a death trap when I got it. Was all over the road. It was the most insane 55 mph roller coaster ride down the freeway that I have ever been on. Its well over 80% better than it was. Im looking at front bearings, rotor hubs(I think?) Pads, two Ujoints, 4 ball joints, 4 shocks, steering dampener that works on T style. It also has wheel spacers and the 2015 dodge 18s on there, which might be causing trouble also. 275/70/18 tires, inner fronts are bald. Looking at 1k for tires but the rears are fine, I may just do the fronts.

So far, all new tierods, track bar, new bushings for the sway bar, it almost feels like the steering is okay (just slack from the box and possibly the shaft) Im almost wondering if my wheel is bouncing up and down like a damn basketball due to a really bad shock. I have a very very tiny bit of play in 1 ball joint, so those will be going on the list. Another note, I have no front cab mounts (windshield is also cracked due to body drop) looking for a cab to swap.

I'm back! Ran into some financial troubles and couldn't pay the membership haha. The truck now has T steering. Still having issues, body mounts, shocks, still feels like the tires are not tight enough together. And I of course somehow moved my steering looking for a donor truck because the more I got into the rust issues with this cab, the worse it got. Pitch welds are expanded beyond "easy" repair. Front end is still wobbling and jumping around on me. Nothing is actually "loose" that I can see or feel. My next project is getting this thing jacked all the way up and dropping the suspension down to feel it without load.

I wish, no. 1400 in steering, brakes, maintenance items. I just bought the truck so I'm replacing all the broken/warn out items. Working on finding the correct parking brake cables right now...

I'm doing the HD steering. No damper, then adding in the steering stabilizer. Which looks like I can just use the one meant for the truck I have 1400 worth of parts to order this week. Next weekend will be fun! I have to adjust the steering box play and order the bushing I think.

That's the part that is confusing me! We just found out my buddies 95 has the dampener in the same spot as mine, then another 97 i just ran into had double ones on the axle. Are there two different y type steering setups? And the 3rd with double dampeners on it would be a lifted HD version for bigger tires? so technically 3 on these trucks? I guess Ive never really got into steering as much as I thought not working on trucks and mostly cars all my life.

So I went to order parts....but I went out to look and my dampener is flipped up and it doesn't look like any photos. Its been a long week so maybe Im just tired. But is this a 3rd gen setup under this truck???

I have to redo mine, they look stock with 241k miles, since I just bought the truck I've search high and wide to see which ones are the best bang for the buck. And yes, crap shoot is the term that best suits. Rockauto seems to be the best to get them, but they have two types that will be sent out, one is good, the other is not as good. Napa over charges for the same ones, moog has changed theres from like 5 years ago, and they are not as good as the old ones unless of course you get the old stock, which is unlikely. This is just what I've come across for info in the past 2 weeks.

Debated, but its not bad enough for the month it would take me to swap them. Maybe if I slowly gather the materials for a 98.5 to 2001 swap with suicide rear doors id do it. But I think the mounts are different Maybe after 1997 then. The 1997 had them. I have one on the passenger side. But the bed is rotted out on the drivers side. Going to tackle that when its not raining and do some patch panels spot welded for a temp fix.

Looking up into the sky through my bed! Driver and passenger side front mounts are bad, centers are cracked, rears are fine. And this is a reason why you should not take off your inner fender liner.

So I have finally brought my truck home a couple days ago, its taken almost 2 weeks since I have bought the truck!!! I have a list to follow and repair items, junk yard items to look for ect. Today Im starting off with the Drivers side door latch, THIS IS THE WORST I'VE SEEN. and yes that would be JB weld. WHY? No idea, but I can confirm it will not fix this apparently. I also have rust at the base of the seats, it looks like the vapor barrier was off the drivers side door for a long time. The panel was not attached when I got the truck, and the previous owner said he did not remove the barrier. So of course the drivers side has rust and water damage under the carpet, down below the cab mounts in the front are gone, going to be working on a way to lift the cab about 4 inches up to weld new ones in. The bed has a tennis ball size hole by the wheel, they had removed the inner fender that projected it. So today we are taking advantage of the sale at pick n' pull to grab a list of parts from the gassers that are in there. Hopefully get a door I can cut apart and weld into mine without changing the color. Im going to measure the thickness of the floor and see if I can save it, but I think long term its going to have to be cut out. I try not to patch over rust, I'm not the best welder, but the Hobart 140 works okay with gas. And I have plenty of grinding and sanding discs. Cannot wait to get this thing on the road. I have not posted because there's been no need due to the amazing search feature. So I figured I would do update threads instead since all my questions are already answered.