That Guy

My personal favorite is the people that will wear the mask with their nose uncovered. What ever the mask was doing, it isn't anymore. I have a friend that is very anti mask. He also likes a chain of store called Food City. A few weeks back, Hamilton County where Chattanooga is instituted a local mask mandate. He despised it, so he would go shopping across the state border in GA. I get a call from him at the store in GA, he is furious that the franchise had made a company wide mask mandate. I couldn't stop laughing at him about it. My favorite mask....

I'm still waiting on the head to get back. Shop said the valve guides are worn on all the exhaust. I'm not sure why, but the body on these trucks can be quite difficult to get all aligned into shape. I don't envy Moparmans body shop.

Did you have any issues getting the holes to line up?

What's kinda funny in all this, my neighbor has a CaseNH tracked skidsteer. A TR320. This morning we are going to put the injection pump back on after a rebuild because water got in the fuel and rusted up the pump internally. Happenes to have a 4 cylinder version of a Bosch VE pump like a 1st gen. He had a off road diesel tank he was using that I think has condensation issues. He wasn't as attentive as he probably should have been. The pump rebuild was over $700. I think he has learned his lesson. He was talking about putting a fuel water separator on it now.

Out of curiosity, is there any adjustment in the bumper mounts left where they attach to the frame?

I haven't had the best of luck with the with the reproductions. LMC is supposed to be near factory fit. I couldn't get the last ones to clip in to be proper fit without the clips breaking.

It seems to me it could be one of two things, a stuck actuator or the foam seal around the door that would normally close off the feet is gone. The door actuator for the foot well is on the bottom of the box. You should be able to see it from the drivers side foot well if you look behind the little duct that shoots air at your feet. It is a 2 stage sort of thing with two vacuum lines going to it. There is a two stage door in the box as well, a small spring loaded one that allows some flow and then the large one that diverts full flow. Check the actuator first, its easiest.

You mention injectors...... Mother was driving the 2012 and picked up some bad fuel with water in it. Called it into the agricultural department and they found about 6 inches water in the tanks of the fuel station. It took out the pump and all 6 injectors. Insurance covered it and sued the gas station. Come to find out, so did 7 other people. Apparently it cost $9000 for just our truck. Had the local diesel shop do it.

So, maybe this isn't the place for this, but I figured there are quite a few people who have these trucks also have property that necessitates having some sort of utility vehicle. Its also difficult to find any reviews on these. Currently it shows about 660 miles, and If I had to guess, about 250-300 hours. More on that further on. Issues... In general, I'm quite happy with it overall. I've only ever had one issue and three complaints. At about 150 miles, I started hearing a clunking. The clunking was from the bolts that hold the U-Joint flange to the Yoke flange on the rear diff coming loose. Two of the bolts came out, two were loose, fixed under warranty with no issues. The complaints, the 3 cylinder kohler diesel vibrates a lot at idle, just off idle all the way to redline is fine. The factory headlights leave a lot to be desired, I have a 1500 lumen Nebo flashlight that was far brighter ..... I added a lot of auxiliary lighting so I can light up 360* around it. The bed being entirely metal and having sides that fold down means that is makes noise as it rattles. Combined with the rather rough idle of the engine, it can be quite noisy. The Ride Quality. A bit like a truck, it rides better with a bit of a load, 300 lbs seems to be the sweet spot. It does ride better than the cummins do off road, probably owing to the fully independent suspension all the way around. The seats are fairly comfortable as well and the material (naga hide?) being quite soft and yet very resistant to abrasion and puncture. I would put them as equals to my neighbors Polaris Ranger Crew. (That Ranger Crew rides like a Cadillac, but it is twice as long and has about half the payload and half the cargo space) The Bed. With the rattles in mind, the bed is rock solid and way overloaded with wet clay (~1 cu yard, like 2500 lbs), the electric dump worked flawlessly. It is also very very large for a UTV, about 23 cuft with a cubic yard being 27 cuft. Carelessly throwing t-posts and 1/4 mile spools of barb wire has done nothing to harm it. The paint is (powder coat maybe?) holding up very well with only superficial scratches and nothing actually getting to metal yet. The bed floor is very robust and appears to be 3/16ths diamond plate stainless. I have dropped things on it that would dent or gouge a hole in the bed of a truck that have done nothing to it. The Engine. The engine is a 1003cc Kohler 3 cylinder. Has plenty of grunt and has had absolutely no issues to speak of. Changing the oil is a bit interesting, the drain plug is situated in such a way that it will drain on the frame rail without some sort of funnel or deflector, I use a piece I cut from an old jug of oil. The oil filter is a remote mount that is vertically mounted, so no spills and easy access. I'm not keen on where the dipstick, air filter, and oil fill is. Most is underneath the bed with the oil fill being in a 3 inch gap between the front of the bed and the back of the drivers seat. The Transmission and Driveline. It has a traditional P-R-N-H-L arrangement. So far, the only thing I don't like is that the force required to get past the detents also means it is easy to go past the gear you want, but I have experienced the same issue with the neighbors multiple Polaris's. Going back to the miles on the machine, sometimes when I am sitting in gear idling at a complete stop, it will still indicate I am going between 3 and 5 MPH. If I idle up enough for the clutch to engage but not move, it will correctly indicate 0 even once returned to idle. The rear diff has a locker which has come in handy multiple times, it goes without saying that it also has 4WD, what doesn't is that they are independently selectable. I have had no issues out of either of the differentials. Stuff I've added. The biggest thing here in Louisiana is heat. I installed two engine cooling fans above the driver and passenger seat. A necessity as far as I'm concerned. As stated, the headlights leave much to be desired. I added a light bar and 4 cubes. One of the cubes puts out more light than the headlights. I'll get comparison pictures later. A hitch extension on the rear. The receiver sets far enough back up under the bed that is can be difficult for someone to hitch up. Have to be careful when tilting the bed, the lip on the tailgate can catch on the extension, but the bed does clear it by about 1/2 an inch. So, I got this thing STUCK the other day. Unfortunately no pictures. The rear tires were on dry ground and the front was about 3 feet in mud and the middle was high centered.The headlights aren't quite water tight when fully submerged for almost 45 minutes. Had about 1/4 inch of muck in the bottom of them. The stock headlights...... on high....... Some chinese single row light bar I added. All the lights.

Now that it's light outside.... Pass side top cover to bumper Top to bottom The foot holes in the bumper would be just below my hand. This is for the top cover to where the metal protrudes out where the foglamps/footstep holes are. Total height of bumper. Bottom cover pins to bottom of bumper The Height of the top cover What is should look like What it looks like with broken pins.

If only we could teach the politicians that

If only we could teach the politicians that

That is rather unfortunate for that member. I know he's far from alone in that boat. It would help many people out if the government extended the same courtesy to small and seasonal businesses that they do to corporations and the unemployed (not really unemployment currently, more like stimulus) alike. I worked for a tourist railroad and the virus effectively shuttered it for about 3 months. It has now open at like 5% capacity. The tourism industry seems to be the one that has suffered the brunt of this thing. Being in finance, I pay close attention to the market. Q2 earnings are starting to be announced, they aren't looking good across the board. I would predict another stimulus soon. I'm not sure it will go to those who need it though. It sucks to be told that you are non essential since we all contribute to the economy.

I have a completely original and intact bumper that I pulled off a while back with all its covers still on it sitting in a parts pile. I'll take some measurements in the light tomorrow and see if it is actually dimensions that are off or what. Get a starting point anyway.

Just a bit of anecdotal stuff...... Neighbors son (and friend of mine) is an EMS in south Louisiana. Smallish town. He has come into contact with 78 people with confirmed cases, hasn't gotten it and at least 15 were before the masks started going on. Several of his coworkers have had it, said it was the worst flu of their life for about 2 weeks. He has seen deaths and other related issues from it. Step uncle had it. Was on a ventilator for 19 days. Said he thought he was gonna die. Has made a more or less full recovery. In his 60's mind. Sister just got promoted within the government.... cant say a lot, but her personal opinion is that our country is largely run by largely incompetent people. She has been working for state level for about 10 years and 2 years in the peace core, her promotion is to a federal position. She thinks most conspiracy theory's give far too much credit to the ability of the government. My thoughts..... The Ole Rona seems to be quite real and quite dangerous. Seems there is huge misinformation on both sides of the coin. If people had taken is seriously, it would effectively be a non issue.... deadly or no. When Nixon opened relations with China, I'm almost certain this is not what he envisioned. Masks seem to be more about keeping you from emitting (if that's the right word) the various things you would, so in a sense, the mask is for everyone but you...... the effectiveness is questionable. I think american media is more the problem than anything else. Yes, the politicians have a tendency to be self serving, but it seems that capitalism at all costs is the reason that CNN and Fox are polar opposites. I check the news every couple days, usually something that is only reporting and not analyzing and opinion, and still with a grain of salt. At my university in the business department, they have several TV's dedicated to news at all times in one room..... usually CNN, Fox, and MSNBC or CBS. It's a pass time of mine to see just how far each one will stretch the topic at hand in what direction and what they say/don't say. Always a good laugh especially when they are all reporting on the same exact thing simultaneously. There are some things that shouldn't be for profit. I don't understand hardcore immovable partisan politics. Do these people really want a single party state? We spent most of the 20th century fighting against various single party states in all forms. I'm not sure why, but in years past Republicans were far more progressive than Democrats. Now it seems to be completely opposite. Its hard to place when it happened.

I ran into this issue several year ago with a new aftermarket bumper. It just seemed that the covers were either too small or the bumper too big. Where did you happen to source the parts other than the lower valiance? From your picture, it looks as though the top cover isn't sitting all the way down. There is also a pin that locks the fender liner, top, and bottom together that I cant tell if is in or not.

I have read of the cool attitudes here as well as always kinda thinking that mopar1973man always made good posts on CF I was still an active in 2010-2014. In general, seems like a far more constructive environment. I inherited the truck back in 2011, it was well worn at that point and was parked in the pasture next to the 92 D250 CTD. I was an ignorant teenager at the time, I've learned a lot.

I'm Dan. I currently split the year either helping on the family farm in Louisiana or studying finance in Tennessee at UTC. I worked for several years as a mechanic on heavy equipment and tanks in the private sector. I tore several ligaments in my left ankle several years ago, that being the primary reason for my departure from full time mechanic. I still like to work on things on the side on occasion, but it has limited my mobility in some ways. Can feel like someone has a knife in my ankle sometimes. After several years of being parked and me only making casual glances at truck, I've decided to get the 97 back into proper running order. The head gasket started leaking coolant and I parked it with the exception of the occasional fire up and move 20 feet routine. The steering was vague at best, the dash, both cover and core were gone, the a/c hasn't really worked in this decade, the spot welds are busted on the drivers side rear of the bed from what I assume to be several blowouts before I got it, the mount for the front right fender at the bottom of the cab are destroyed (also assuming a tire blowout), axle seals leaking at all four corners, and finally, the fact it is not one color. I happened to be searching for a fan shroud for the truck a few weeks back and found an intact and sturdy dash. I was shocked, by that, and that some guy decided he needed my Makita 1/4in impact more than me when my back was turned. It has been installed in the truck, along with an air handler that has been completely refurbished. Seats next.... The head is in the machine shop currently, magnafluxed, machined, and valves ground. I bought a blue 1500 CCSB 2wd as a parts truck 2 years ago, It is instrumental in getting the truck monotone again, and well as various interior bits and general spare parts. Recently when working on the dash, I discovered I could push the brake pedal to the floor by hand. Ordered all new rubber lines, need to pull the drums and access the damage from the leaking axle seals, and maybe brakes now. I'll be sticking with stock in a lot of places, but I also like to tinker. If there is any interest I'll detail a bit more (maybe a build thread if those are still a thing). So far, Its mostly stock with the exception of a HE351VE vgt off a 2010 and a 100 gph fuel pump. BTW, I'm still hunting for a fan shroud if anybody happens to have one for less that the price a left arm in shipping.

Believe me, I know. But damn if it doesn't get 45 mpg with a load of 2x4s or oats from the feed store..... or engines and such. My Prius works harder than most trucks with phantom loads (California rake). Though, I think I may have found my problem. It appears as though I somehow ordered a center link for a 2001. All the other parts are correct.

I do agree with the stock pretty much eliminates problems. However, I'm not sure if is was lack of maintenance, the poor roads around here, pasture driving, 285/76 16s or a combination of all four but when I got the truck at 186k, it was hot dog down a hallway. I do think the ball joints are in reasonable shape. It has 223k currently. Seeing the original owners trailers, I'm not sure he could find a grease gun if he tried short of his loader tractors. I probably would have kept the stock box if the output shaft hadn't been twisted about 45 degrees from center. None the less, I tend not to replace things that aren't broken. I might get hell for saying this but, my 2012 Prius is at 297k with nothing but oil changes and tires. I have all the parts sitting in my driveway otherwise I would have not fooled with it. Edit: If memory serves me, I did not replace the pitman arm. Just the box. Should be stock?

So, back in about 2014, my 12v was in a wreck. It wrecked the steering box beyond repair. So, I replaced it with a Borgeson upgraded steering box. At the time, I had not considered anything like the 99 HD steering upgrade or a steering box stabilizer. 6 years passed, I forgot, and now I have parts I cant really use. I purchased a steering box stabilizer and the 99 upgraded parts. I did not purchase a new pittman arm because I thought it wasn't required. The taper is wrong for the pittman are to drag link. I think I can make the stabilizer work. So, does anybody have a part number for a pittman arm and maybe a steering box stabilizer that would work with this? Any help is appreciated, finally getting the truck going after 4 years parked.