flagmanruss

I'm getting ready for my flag events. Pictures of my exhibit at Smith's Castle, NK, RI Richard Smith bought the site from Roger Williams when he returned to England to defend the Rhode Island's charter in 1651. The Eagle flag solo... in real silk. I'm going to be at Erie Canal Village in Rome, NY for flag day weekend (June 13, 14)... my brother works there. June 20, 21 I'll have my display on the Old Norwichtown Green, Norwich, CT for their 350th Anniversary encampment. The display now numbers 20 flags with #21 (a custom made flag) on order. Russ

I'm still doing research, reading everything possible on disc brakes. This began after the discs were turned the first time. One point I've uncovered is that discs can have stresses... which cause them to warp. You true them on a lathe & the first time they heat at all, they warp again. You turn them again & the same thing happens. The fix is new discs. I wonder if it's the same singe disc doing this again & again? Discs aren't cheap but repeated repairs aren't doing it. I'm reminded of a story of an engine. It was a 289 Ford blocked Interceptor marine engine. I tuned it up & it ran like a top. The customer took the boat out & it came back out of time, popping & farting. I reset it all & the same thing happened. I thought the customer or one of his buddies had messed with it so I marked the distributor & the next time found they had not.I told him there was something wrong internal in the engine... I pulled it out & put it in his truck. He returned the next weekend with his marine gear on a fresh block. The customer left on vacation... the rebuilder called, irate! What's he trying to do? Stick me with a dead block? It seems the block went through all the machine steps before they discovered cracks down below the cam journals... allowing the V angles to change at whim. The customer happily paid the core charge when he returned... and I spent the next 3 years replacing the steel freeze plugs with correct brass when the seawater cooled engine ate them out. The ones behind the front motor mounts really s*cked... laying over the engine upside down with your head in the bilge! Back to brakes. I think the shop was not paying attention that the same job kept coming back. Maybe it's not RUST but warping. I gotta find someone I can trust.Russ

The thump - thump is very noticeable & never goes away... I've tried dragging the brakes for a mile down the road to clean the discs for each use. It only happens when the brakes are applied. The brakes have needed to be turned every time it goes in but the problem recurrs within a week or so. It definately reduces stopping power. I do not trust the shop anymore & will not be going back there. (They charge as much as a dealer... but can not think out of the box.) I only have their word for the rust spots. I wonder about a disc warping. I've been surfing looking at disc brake info. I found two possibilities. 1) a caliper sticking (maybe just one one side) heating the disc, causing warpage2) improper torquing of lugs causing a disc to warp.If I could get the discs off myself, I own a lathe...

I just can't drive my CTD daily. (signature 2001.5 w/ 4 wheel discs) It seems I get brake chatter every time it sits. The garage... claims rust forms under the pads where they sit against the disc. He claims he gets lots of work from folks who let vehicles sit... claims they all do it! Physically, I can not pull the brakes myself to check... but I'm damn tempted to replace the discs with something that won't rust. Stainless steel (some won't rust) or ceramic.I'm sure somebody here knows more about this than I do.Russ

Wishing you the best,Russ

keydl,Thanks for the specifications... I didn't know where to look for them.Russ

Bought the wife a new laptop for Christmas... came with Vista Home Ed. Then everyone says that's not enough OS to do basic tasks. I'm not a techie... I just want to turn it on & have it work.My computers are running XP. Took me forever to learn then, so I'm sticking with XP until I can't run them anymore. Maybe I'll feel different when 7 arrives.Russ

I don't know what you have into it or how many miles but parting it out seems extreme! Is there a Cummins shop besides the Dodge dealer? Cummins has their own dealer network. Russ

My 01.5 came with the factory "fog lights". I've had real fog & driving lights in previous vehicles & the OEM lights are a joke. IMHO, they are only decorative. I know Geno's offers a kit to up lamp them but I don't know if that is suffient improvement. I'd like to find a real light that fit in there for a neat slick look...Russ

Mike,Sorry to hear about your back... Hope you can get it straightened out.Russ

I can't say you're losing it either... I love my 2500 CTD. With my disability (easier entry/exit) & fuel prices... I usually drive my 97 Cirris @27 mpg. I really try to drive the CTD weekly, just to keep it limbered up but most often don't get it done. (If my legs are not rested I can't even get into the truck!) I don't need a heavy hauler anymore.I don't pretend to be up on new trucks (that I can't afford anyway)... but reasonably tall rear gears with as many speeds as possible will get 'er done. I had a 84 Chevy C10... I was pretty green then. It had a 305/auto & 307 rear ratio. Supposedly did good EPA mileage... maybe on a dyno... not on the street. It was not happy towing a light trailer with 2 horses. I added a flex fan to stop the overheat on long grades, trans cooler, cat delete... finally had a the ratio changed. 3.55 I think. It was much more driveable, got the same MPG, shifted up sooner. I've found normal stock ratios to be best... the 4.10 in my 2500/CTD was a mistake unless you're going to bigger rubber.

That's really PP mpgs from a Chevy 350 gasser! My previous tow vehicle was a 79 Chevy C30. 454/auto/3.73 rear/16.5 rubber. Motor was lightly built with a midrange cam/ebelbrock intake/650 AFB. Exhaust was headers large pipes through truck mufflers. (Hot rod mufflers did not last beyond the first trip towing horse trailer.) It got 11. Loaded or empty, it didn't matter. It had plenty of go power... I could have got by with taller gears & maybe got better mpgs. I had restored the body twice... it was just sitting in the barn. I sold it, fired it up (cloud of blue fogging oil) & the guy drove it away.russ

16.1 to 16.2 to 16.3... Not enough miles for a tankful. It could be crappy mpgs dropping off the computer though I've really not put many miles on. This leads me to believe the improved IAT is making the biggest difference.

TY for being proponents of this creative thinking. I believe that it's helped very many. The funny thing about MMO is I used it for nearly 20 years for fogging gasoline marine inboard-engines for winter storage... about 200 each year. About 1 pint would do a V8. I never had an engine sieze that was so treated. Those individuals who siezed their engines refused to tell me what they did or did not do! If I was back in that business, I think I'd try 2 cycle oil... a better lubricant & made to burn off Russ

Warmer weather's here... driving the CTD today... watching the mpg rise on the overhead (it's pretty close on my stock truck). Went from 15 to 16 today... same load of fuel. I'm figuring it for decent IAT. Last summer I nursed it up to 17.5~6 (with 4:10 gears).Russ

I'm going to have to look into the cummins shop in Mass. They sent me a promo a while back.Russ

I know, if the lift pump died, all bets are off!Russ

I really hate to say this but if the lift pump croaked, the odds are the VP44 injector pump is damaged too. The VP44 is "fuel lubricated"... and is disappointingly fragile. The new UltraLow Sulpher fuel reduces the lubrication even more. Mike poineered running a bit of 2 cycle oil as a fuel additive to improve the lubricosity of the fuel. I'm not sure if it would help the injector pump survive a lift pump failure. Russ

The headlight aiming we discussed previously worked fine for a normal height auto. Typically, aiming regulations specify X inches at some distance in front of the vehicle... A high vehicle needs to have the lights aimed down more to be safe. There will always be a bigger white-out blinding spot in front of that higher vehicle & you will still light up the passenger compartment of a sedan at a traffic light... a great convenience if the guy in from wants to read a road map! I notice some big rigs where the headlights are lower than I expected to see & this is undoubtably why.Russ

I'm thinking about all that has been written about replacement headlights, added off road lighting, etc and comparing with my many years ago experiences where I replaced the OEM lights with "off road" replacements. Sure the off road lights were more powerful but that is only half the story. The other half is the precision ground optics that went with it. The optics allowed for the lights to be aimed higher with no scatter. Now those sealed beam replacements were "universal fit" just install & re-aim. I see neet LOOKING after market lights for the Dodge... but it the optic quality up to the task? Anybody have experience with this?Thanks,Russ

I was thinking of 60/1 double dose with the dino oil. I had not thought about mixing it up but my flat "fuel guage" stick should do fine (fuel guage has not worked since I owned the JD). The OEM float is in the side of the tank & I'm sure I can carefully avoid getting wrapped up in it. Yes, it'd be easy to crack the fuel filter drain & pump a bit of mixed fuel through with the priming lever. Once I get it running, I ought to just let it run a while to get limbered up.Russ

I'm running a stock truck also... still using stock air box. I did not notice any mileage increase with a (since disgarded) drop in k&n oiled element... or running the box with no filter element at all (as a test)! I went back to the OEM filter which gave the same MPG & nice clean air. That element is getting dirty now & I'm going to get a drop in Amsoil Nano Filter (since I'm not going to chip the truck).I did notice MPG differences in summer & winter... I suspect winter fuel blend does not get as good MPG. Also winter has longer warm up times with richer running. The cold front speeded warm up & seemed to help cold weather mpg. I just took it off yesterday. In my opinion, the enhansed air flow is needed for the extra fuel needed for higher hp... Russ

Contemplating firing up the ole JD... been sitting a spell... It don't have no turbo or VP44 but I'm thinking the valves & rings could surely use some lube. I got plenty of dino 2 stoke. You guessed it, I'm thinking to dose it good. Any thoughts?Russ

When I was driving the afore mentioned road rocket... stopped by the local Dodge Dealer. Parked right in front of a Road Runner with the 426 "street hemi". The salesman came out to see if we had any money left (we didn't). Someone asks about the warrentee. He said "100". 100,000?? someone asked incredibly! NO, 100 feet... about the distance to Massachusetts Route 9... By then the salesman was looking at my off-road halogens... in those dear sweet days when US DOT did not approve anything that was not sealed beams...

I am sure that Mike is 110% right. The vp44 is touchy. It was designed for LSD (Low Sulfur Diesel), not the ULSD (Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel) currently being sold (required)... the sulfur adds lubricity to the fuel... vp44 is "fuel lubricated". The fuel "lift" pumps in these trucks are troublesome & prone to failure. Mike has been championing the use of adding lubrication to the fuel. The best thing to use is 2 cycle oil. There's a thread on the boards about it. I added 1 oz per gallon capacity on the initial dose & each fill up add 1 oz per gallon of fill... it works out to a quart or less per fill. It seems to quiet the engine down, is made to burn clean... If the lift pump goes out it takes out the vp44 injector pump too (no fuel = no lubrication). That's why many guys are replacing the fuel lift pumps. Also a fuel pressure guage is frequently added. Dodge's answer is a pump in the tank, but just like the gas cars, they are troublesome. After market pumps are usually mounted next to the tank for easier pumping. I'm sure the others will add more but those are the basics. I doubt if going to 2 stroke additive would make a difference if you're throwing codes but might keep you alive for a short while. Russ