flagmanruss

Hind sight is always 20/20! After something has gone wrong, I can always tell you what I should have done differently. I am so glad you are ok. I know it is at your expense, but sharing probably saved others from doing soomething similar.

I have been searching for LEDs for both the truck & toyhauler trailer (might as well do both). I've found a good 3 wire Turn / Clearance light for the trailer. It's 2" x 6", 8 LEDs. http://www.empirechromeshop.com/p-7937-amber-2-x-6-rectangular-8-diode-led-flush-mount-markerclearanceturn-signal-light.aspx It is only listed in amber... but I emailed Empire Chrome and they stated that Red would be available 7-10-11. I can wait 2 weeks! These dual function lights are much less costly than competitive 2 function lights. I don't want 2" wide lights for the truck pinch weld but have not experimented with the narrow lights yet. The sources I messaged insist that the 2 wire lights will not function as combo lights. I know it can be made to happen with resistors &/or relays so (worst case) I could just buy them & if necessary put together the electronics. Russ

If you put a big strong magnet on the manifold right next to your drill bit, it will attract any steel/iron shaving & prevent them from falling in. After you punch through, use a mechanic's retrieval magnet to check inside just to be sure. Same when tapping. I tend to tap deep which is wrong for a temperature probe where you don't want the threads in the passageway, just the probe.

Thanks Michael,Prices seem in line with what I've seen but the information is much clearer. I've used their contact us link to ask it the polarity can be reversed. There is a huge thread (over 80 pages) over on CF Re "Chicken Lights... which includes descriptions using 5 pin relays or resistors & diodes to make combo running / turn lights out of single wire lights... it might be "better" or it might be "plan B". I'm still trying to get a grip on this.Again, I appreciate the help & specific model numbers are a big boost.Russ

I would like to have turn / marker lights... as little cost as possible of course. Since I want to do the pinch seam, I think I need narrow lights. I'm getting cross-eyed reading ads for LED marker lights. Some don't tell you the wiring. Some are mount grounded or are 2 wire with a ring terminal or state "must be grounded", so I'm going to assume the people know what they are talking about & they are not compatable with power on 2 leads. The 3 wire lights, I'm sure would do the job but are twice as costly. If someone has actual brand names that worked, this would help. I don't want to order a batch of lights without testing them...

Surely one who dresses as we do (occasionally) was not throwing sticks & stones at anyone.

After their 11th child, an Alabama couple decided that was enough, as they could not afford a larger bed. So the husband went to his veterinarian and told him that he and his cousin didn't want to have any more children. The doctor told him that there was a procedure called a vasectomy that could fix the problem but that it was expensive. 'A less costly alternative,' said the doctor, 'is to go home, get a cherry bomb, (fireworks are legal in Alabama ) light it, put it in a beer can(COORS), then hold the can up to your ear and count to 10.' The Alabamian said to the doctor, 'I may not be the smartest tool in the shed, but I don't see how putting a cherry bomb in a beer can next to my ear is going to help me.' 'Trust me,' said the doctor. So the man went home, lit a cherry bomb and put it in a beer can. He held the can up to his ear and began to count! '1' '2' '3' '4' '5' ( you'll love this...) At which point he paused, placed the beer can between his legs and continued counting on his other hand. This procedure also works in Tennessee , Kentucky , Louisiana , Arkansas , Mississippi , Parts of Georgia , Missouri , parts of West Virginia, and all of Washington D.C . author unknown

I've run seasonally adjusted street diesel... ULSD. I ran some Mopar Cleaner through (at the dealer's insistance, to my complaint of poor mpg) and also tried some Howes they suggested. All it did was cost me mpgs. For the last 3 years, I've run TCW3 2 cycle oil only. It has quieted the engine a little & slight boost in mpgs... at least it didn't go down! I run the TCW3 because I have a Second Gen with a VP44 Injection Pump. Diesel stations sell correctly blended fuel for their location. If you tank up & drive to a colder climate, you might have trouble but should not under typical circumstances.

I did not see a signature on the original post. Did I miss it? Signature is indeed there now.Russ

I suggest you fill out the "signature" as to just what your truck is... it would help get better advise.I continue to have problems with other vehicles but have 100% kept the mice out of the cab of my Second Generation (01.5). The heat/AC air comes from the cowel area. The keeping the mice from getting into the cowel is essencial. With the blower motor out, I reached up & cleaned out everything by hand and then used a shop vac. If the mice can't get back in there, you should eventually get all the fluff. I ended up removing my underhood & cowel area insulation because it was just so much mouse habitat. The cowel insulation particularly made the cab louder. I wish I had a better solution. My neighbor had a blower motor jam & burn up on his wife's new Saturn... the dealer would not cover "rodent damage". Yes, you can pull the whole duct assembly but it's a lot of work... and it does not keep the mice out of the cowel area.I have had mice get into my Cirus heater (the hood hinges reach into the cowel area so I can't screen it the same way) just sitting overnight, used every day.

I have other posts on this here. To keep the mice out of the heater, I stuffed SS pot scrubber (SS Steel Wool) behind the hood hinges where the cowel drains are located. The rain & snow seem to drain just fine but this stopped the mice from getting into the cab. Check your air cleaner. I suggest screening with 1/4" "hardware cloth" wire mesh or aluminum "expanded metal" gutter guard (more maliable). I continue to battle critters. Russ Other threads for your enlightment & amusement... http://forum.mopar1973man.com/threads/3810-Rodent-Combat!! http://forum.mopar1973man.com/threads/3799-Stock-Filter-Box-full-of-mouse-nest... http://forum.mopar1973man.com/threads/2457-Bird-Cage-blower...-NOT-ME.-I-got-a http://forum.mopar1973man.com/threads/150-Cirrus-heater-motor...-help-pls.

Nice job on the trailer markers... looks very good. Thanks for the inspiring pict. Maybe, I'l get ambitious & do the toy hauler, too. Extra lights never hurt anyone. Russ

My thinking is along the lines of something that was disturbed is unhappy. The IP & fuel lines had to be removed. Coincidences can happen but most often it is an unintended consequence of something that was done. Russ PS Not to hyjack this thread but when I did the key thing on my 01.5, I got PCU -------- ECM -------- as I previously posted. http://forum.mopar1973man.com/threads/3848-It-was-Running-Fine-until-it-WASN-T!-WTF The diesel shop got 4 codes (P1689, P0230, P0232, P1693) I don't know why the key trick did not work, but it did not. I don't know about certain years, but no one would need code scanners if the key thing told everything.

I have 4.10s but am only running stock rubber. The truck is not happy at highway speeds unless I tow in OD which is NOT recommended. I'm not about to change axles but if I was doing it again, I'd go for different ratio. I think you'll be happy towing with 3.73s without OD engaged.

If you're still stumped, you should try having the codes read by a code reader, rather than the key trick. When my truck quit in the middle of the street, I had no CEL until it shut off! I got no codes using the key trick. The Dealer told me "No Codes". The diesel shop read with their code reader & found 4 codes.PS We'd have more information to work with if you used the signature space to describe your truck.

Let's talk basics... you were running fine (or so it seemed). You disturbed the IP (VP44). What have you got for Fuel Pressure? These trucks are notorious for Fuel Lift Pump Failures. (Rational: may have been bad before, disturbing it may have made it apparent.) Have you got an Air Leak suction side of IP? (I really think this is most likely where your issue is.) Have you bled all the air out from disturbing the lines to the injectors? (I think you got it all but... ) Has the VP44 chosen this moment to crash? (I don't think so, but I have to ask.) No, I don't like using Starting Fluid on diesels...

I test drove it today, just around the lot. It has good tires but they are pretty big without a lift so I have to lift up to get in the truck (a mobility issue). It has "all power" options except seats. Seats are low grade, without the lumbar support adjustment... feels to have a lumbar bump out which I don't like at all. Truck has really nice paint, probably refinished. It was the car lot's plow truck last winter. The kicker is that the truck is stuck in 4WD at the moment despite the position of the transfer case shifter. The sales person pulled it out of the "For Sale" row... put it around back for the mechanic to fix. I may want to drive some other Dakotas to see if there are better ones out there.

The bumper on my 79 C30... caught 3 cars. I had to rustoleum every couple of years. Only damage in the 20 years I had it, a garage once busted my trailer plug when they pushed it. restoration in progress I always liked the look of that bumper on a serious truck. Here shown with my 5th wheel Scamper Camper, my home between marriages. (now long gone) Second photo before the cab off restoration. It was fabbed of channel iron, a plate welded on the back for the lic plate recess. A section of pipe was fitted to the ends to round them. Originally mounted with 3 huge bolts each side. The first time I was rear ended, the bolts on one side sheared. We put it back with 4 bolts each side & welded stops that butted the frame. The welder fabbed the 2X2 hitch insert & it was never as good a fit as Reese. I regreted not buying & welding a manufactured insert... or getting a better fabricator. As I said, the trailer plug was damaged once so might have been better located.

Well, I thought I could do better for the GPS mount in the truck... I used the OEM mount & put the sticky disc on the top of the dash. I could not get the dumb suction cup thangy to hold. Our camping trip was coming up... I gave up & started looking for another place. I decided to use the OEM mount & jammed it over the visor. My truck despirately needs shocks & when I hit a pot-hole towing heavy down some back road, the Tomtom came out of the mount, bounced off my noggin before landing in my lap. When I grabbed for it, I hit the touch screen & messed up what was going on. I really don't like to search the sky for instruments (I'm short) so I'm not really that interested in putting it back on the visor. On the way home (after the hurried pack up before the tornado), I had a canvas tent on the passenger's seat... I punched a dent into the pile & that's where it stayed on the way home. On the last trip, running light, I ended up jamming the OEM mount under the rubber floor in the storage bin to the right of the radio... with a work glove stuffed above the rubber it stayed in place. However, I couldn't really see it & had to rely on the audio. I like to have navigation assistance regularly & wifee does not want to be bothered, so having the unit nearer the passenger doesn't work for me. After playing with the OEM mount & the bits & pieces of various GPS & radio mounts in my bag of tricks... nothing! I ordered a "stick-on" mount from Mount guys I've been looking for a mount that'll work for me & think this could be mounted or used as an adaptor on my home-made airduct mount. car dash sticky mount I had bought a manufactured air duct mount & it was a flimsy POS. I also note these folks also offer a Visor Mount which I've not seen elsewhere. The cost is very reasonable but I saw a box for a coupon so I opened another tab & Googled mountguys coupon & got the code "save10" to enter in the coupon box! PS: Wifee has "blondie" (my old Magellan GPS) in her car. She tried navigating to the town of Cumberland, RI... & claims that the blondie does not know such a place in RI. She did successfully use it to find 2 addresses in Framingham, Ma where she had to go pickup our GrandDaughter from a friend. (Our daughter was pressed into service to be with a friend in labor... baby boy born after 8 hours... the husband was in South Africa when this went down & is due to arrive Boston at 3PM after 36 hours in transit.) I think the issue may be lack of updates. The if a road is new or name changed... it will not be in the GPS database.

I'm suspicious of my fuel sender since the diesel shop had the tank down... it seems the sender is reading more than I have. It's never been real accurate... It is important to know if the guage is trustworthy. We kind of take fuel guages for granted.

Well, It happened again... a week ago in heavy traffic on a narrow road, some @sshole I could not see in my passenger's bind spot. I had my turn signal on for a couple of minutes, it seemed clear so I tried to moved over gradually. It's really hard to make a right hand turn from the left lane!! The @ss hole leaned on his horn when I started to get close, then pulled ahead... the passenger hung out the window and yelled obsenities & the driver flipped me off a couple of times. (The horn was warrented... the rest of the actions proves how ignorant they are.) I presume that they had enough overlap that they could not see my turn signal. I think they were under my mirror. I might have been able to see them in my spot mirrors but with the narrow lanes, I couldn't take my eyes off the road for long enough to study them. I really hate driving in congested areas. So I'm back to the idea of pinch weld LEDs lights. I would not desire wheel to wheel lights, but spaced at intervals... every couple of feet say.

Guess that about says it. 150K miles, gas V8, automatic. It has a plow which is one attraction. I'd be plowing my own driveway with it & selling off an ATV with plow. Sheila wanted to keep the ATV to pull her garden cart... I told her to hook it to the lawn tractor (mower) like everyone else does!

barns (used to find mouse nests between hay bales), sheds, chicken coop had rat holes all under it. I still want to build a roller with a water trap for mice & put it in front of my truck... let it "fish" year round.

Our daughter, my step-d (didn't you know I was the "Wicked Steppie" as in Cinderella)... bought this 01 VW Passat. It might have been a nice car once but I'm going to say it's a 'Pass-it'... but her girl-friends like VWs. I'm hearing this second hand... thankfully she's not asked me to advise her. She's been using her uncle's mechanic at the used car lot & nothing he says makes any sense. She broke down & had to be towed off the Mass pike after leaving camp. They claimed 4 coils were bad & had to do a lot of work to get to them to replace them. Then they claimed the car had 4 catalitic converters... the back 2 were clogged... so they cut out the front ones & moved them to the back & just put pipe in the place in the front... then told her that it will not pass inspection this way (not what she wanted) but their inspection station will get her a sticker. WTF?? She tells me there are 2 tailpipes. I'm seeing that this is the staggered hybrid 6... a cross between a V and an in-line. I'm researching online & seeing picts of 2 head pipes that merge and then have a dual tip tail pipe... It may be that misfiring cylinders ruined the cat. I can see sticking in a "test pipe". But why the story. I think her uncle (my bro in law), is not up on modern cars & the lieing sack of scat he has working for him are clueless. My wife has suggested DD (Dear Daughter) find a better place to get her repairs done. I have made lots of mistakes. Bought interesting vehiles that were rare. Like The Ford Ranger with a 2.2 diesel that no one had ever seen before. I'm going to say for best economy, get common place ordinary cars. OK, I'm just the Wicked Steppie...

This morning, I was modifying the electrical pass through so we could better keep critters out. I've had no shore power in there since the last trip, waiting to get this done. (I had to mod the pass through door & the RV plug which had a handle that kept it from passing through the little door... now the pass through closes & is backed up with SS pot scrubber).Sheila went in the camper... found mouse poo between the sink drain & where the fawcet dripped. No where else. Not on the counters, not under the refridge / tub where I've stuffed steel wool until I can get back there.How can the mice be getting into the sink? It seems like they "must have" come up the drain & gone back the same way. The tanks underneath have been closed. Is it possible that they've gotten on the roof & come down the vents? I had mice in my old Scamper Camper 5th wheel... must have got on the roof & got into the water roof vents... but went into the roof between the vent pipe and the roof metal. I can't remember if I steel wooled it or screened with 1/4" hardware cloth. I have a lot of leg trouble on ladders... stairs are challenging enough... Sheila's going to have a fit... but I don't see her climbing up there! I can't be sure what is there but somebody has too look.