02cumminsdude

That's odd, my KoolVues are pretty good quality other than the passenger studs too short. But I had the drivers side mounted on my old truck and it wasn't shaky or anything. Then again, it was a V10, but even still in the winds it didn't shake much at all unless you had them flipped out for towing, but it was still very visible.

Funny how things work out sometimes. Can't say I watched a whole lot of Andy Griffith but I remember watching a few times in the 90's.

It doesn't really creep up, it actually flips up pretty well. Lets say I go out there and pull up on it and the light goes off... what does that mean when it's still flashing when the brake is engaged? The only difference between now and a couple days ago, is that it continues to blink while driving.Also, this may be a seperate issue that I post about later, but I have noticed at least for the first few minutes of driving, that the truck feels like it's being "held back" a little. And I mean VERY little, just enough so that the RPM's start to go up in "increments" rather than one smooth motion. I can't tell yet if maybe the brake is sticking a little while driving for a few minutes, or if it has something to do with my VP wire not being tapped into by the Juice yet. It fades away after driving for a while, so I can't tell if it stops when the motor is warmed up, or when the tires have rolled far enough to be freed from the brake (if it's sticking)

Lol, I blame it on watching too much Tim Allen on "Home Improvement" as a kid... always want MORE POWER and BIGGER IS BIGGER. Still watch it to this day and the grunting never gets old lol.

You sound like me. Had to replace a VP44, ended up with a new waterpump, AirDog, Fluidampr, Edge programmer and a weight reduction wallet.

I don't know if I'm too late here, but I will NOT recommend Maaco to anyone EVER. I had my Camaro in there quite a few years ago. Paid top dollar for the "best" paint job. At first glance it looked OK. But then you look closer and see a "skipper" mark in the rear wing that was not there in the original paint. They take it back in the shop, and when it comes back out, it doesn't look like they did anything to it... then they feed me some crap about how it just won't come out without EXTENSIVE work. I'm thinking to myself..."the mark wasn't there, when I brought it in... WTF" Not only that, but they didn't completely remove the old paint like they were supposed to. You could see it in the door creases and other small places. Over a couple years time, the paint had SEVERELY faded off on the roof and small chips from stones revealed more areas that were not sanded or prepped properly. This severe damage happened JUST as the warranty was up and even if it wasn't I would never take my car there again. This was about 7 years ago, when I was in high school and didn't know any better, but in hindsight I should have did everything in my power to get it fixed for free. But instead, I just chose to spread my experience anywhere possible and hopefully they get what they deserve someday. But please do yourself a favor and find a REAL reputable paint shop.

It seems like it is, but I really couldn't say for sure. It seems to release fairly quickly, doesn't slowly creep up, but at the same time, I think I remember my old V10 slamming up a little harder than this one seems to.

I've owned my truck for a couple months now. Ever since I owned it, the red BRAKE light has flashed in a timed manner repeatedly until I release the parking brake. One time sitting on a hill with the tailgate facing downhill, I parked in neutral, set the brake and the truck slowly started creeping backwards. Only happened once, and I park on that same hill all the time at my moms house. Since then I'm always very cautious to make sure my wheel is turned sharply incase the brake would let go. However, just recently, the blinking light continues to stay on and blink while driving. Now I've never worked on brakes ever, so I'm unfamiliar with them, but I've learned the blinking means it is parking brake related, not ABS or anything like that. The only thing I changed in that area was when I zip tied my Edge wires up around there... but I looked with the brake on and off, no wires are pinching, or blocking anything, and the pedal feels exactly the same as it did when I bought it. Feels very similar to my 2000 V10's brake, which had nothing wrong with it. Any ideas on what to look at? Remember I probably need some detail (pics would be awesome) since I've never dabbled in brakes before. Thanks guys.

I did the same thing right after I posted that last post. Now I'm just going to get some decent door speakers and take care of those while the door panels are off. My drivers side is dead so I'm just going to get it over with after my next paycheck. I'm a fan of doing everything possible while something is already going to be taken apart, so it doesn't need to be ripped into again for a while.

My current truck has manual tow mirrors on it. I had bought a set of power/heated tow mirrors for my old 2000 V10 truck, and it didn't fit on that truck. I haven't tried installing them on my current truck yet. I need to get a joystick control knob first, then I will try them on this truck.

I also did not use the foam, but they were still too short. I even had my brother come and push on it from one side while I tried to tighten the nuts. It was basically just long enough to angle the mirror one way, tighten one nut, then the other two studs were short, vice-versa. I'm probably just going to look into some kind of threaded rod to extend the studs if I have the problem on this truck as well.

Awesome thread. I was just about to post this exact question, but now I don't need to. I've got some KoolVue mirrors power/heated ready to go in on a manual mirror truck. Did anyone happen to have a problem with their passenger mirror studs being too short to install on the truck? I tried to put these exact same tow mirrors on my 2000 V10, the drivers side worked great, but the passenger side studs were not long enough to thread the nuts on the bracket. I told KoolVue of my problem, they sent me a new mirror, same issue again... I may have to get some sort of threaded rod and bigger nuts to bolt down the passenger mirror if I have the same issue on this truck. And I did try routing the wires in several different locations to make sure they weren't being pinched and stopping the mirror from sitting flush.

I will not be doing any major welding or VERY frequent welding for that matter, so $1400 is way steep for my budget. I'm looking in the $4-600 range for something that will do what I need to do. If I could buy a new Lincoln 125HD which has the option to add gas, that sound like it would be plenty for me. If I use electric only, it says 1/4" can welded but will take a few passes. 1/4" is about the most I will ever need to weld.

I can see that I will probably need to save a little more money before I buy. I was looking at the Lincolns, which they sell at my Home Depot. The 125 HD kit looks to have what I will need, with the option of adding gas later, should I ever need to. That will probably be the one I go with for $420, or maybe the one in the link above, unless I find a better deal on a better welder. But I would like to buy a new one for sure, not used.

Took a look at Hobarts site, I saw the Handler 140 which looked like it has what I need. I didn't see a 135, maybe I could find one on ebay or another retailer, but the 140 was priced at $680. Could handle everything I need it for, but is a little pricier than what I was looking for. I will look around see what's available elsewhere. Thanks for the suggestion.

I figured I'd post up here since many of you guys seem very knowledgeable on many subjects. But I'm looking into getting some type of welder, preferably MIG, something fairly easy to use. I have not welded since high school and that was fairly minimal. But I've got a few projects planned that need to be somewhat customized. I may not even be able to get everything I need done with ONE machine, but if I can wing it, I'd like to. I need something that I can use for something as heavy duty as welding steel to steel for adding some boxes, rack and hooks to my work truck ladder rack. So obviously I need something that will make a decent weld for safety reasons. I also need make some custom sized water diverters for my job out of a thin sheet metal. Other various projects would be small exhaust tacking or other light duty use. If I had to guess at this point, material thickness will vary from probably about 1/8" to 1/4", but it's possible the diverters I'm making are slightly less than 1/8" thick. So basically, (if there is such a MIG type welder) I need something that will tackle a various amount of projects in one unit. I've seen some of these electric welders that have the option to attach a fuel source to it if needed, but will also work on electricity alone. I just don't know what brands are good or bad. Money is also somewhat a problem after everything I've spent on my truck recently, so I need some affordable suggestions as well. Thanks for any ideas

Yeah it must be, if I can do it by myself, I'm sure most others could as well. A helping hand would make it simple as cake.

Are you saying you have to remove the FD to change the belt? I managed to install it by myself fairly easily, I can't see how you wouldn't be able to change the belt without removing the FD.

^ Exactly. Mine had ALL of the above. The Fluidampr runs smooth and has no wobble. Should also never wear out like a stock one does, since it's one solid piece. Worth the extra money if you ask me. One less thing you should ever have to deal with for the life of the truck.

I'm leaning towards the Cooper LTZ truck tires in stock size. They have many good reviews, nothing negative I saw. I won't need them for a while, but I think they are lighter than the BFG's, I'll have to check on that though. I like having a good tread for winter and off-road type traction, but I'll keep the size down for MPG's. Thanks for the tips, I'd be interested in seeing some pics of what this fog light setup is.

The only thing I've noticed that I didn't notice before was when I ran level 5 "extreme" and when I got home after driving it really hard, it was leaking fuel back by the trans, which dripley told me is probably the stock return line washer on the back of the head. I still haven't gotten around to verifying that, but I would like to get it fixed shortly since it seems pretty wasteful to be leaking any fuel like that with prices where they are.

I have a similar situation with my Edge Juice. I drove to my moms tonight, level 1 "mileage" averaging 15.6-15.8 tops on the overhead. Drove the same roads home but on level 4 "race", mileage average went up to 16.1 and stayed there for the short trip home. And I gotta say, I drove it harder on the way home. So either my truck loves being driven hard, or something with the tune is changing the mileage for the better. The only possible change I could think of would be that it was slightly cooler temps outside. Maybe the turbo kicking in earlier or something is helping with the MPG's? I really don't know. And I haven't driven the truck enough since it's been up and running to really compare too much, however, it seems that increasing the level on the Juice does the MPG's good on my truck. I'm not saying my overhead is totally accurate either, but it consistently rose up and stayed there on level 4. Had I driven longer, I'm sure it would continue to rise.

Good post. Maybe I will just do a level or something. Maybe not. The rims I have are actually offset a little bit so that tires stick out to match the fender flares which looks pretty awesome and aggressive, but still has stock size tires on it. Maybe I'll just upgrade to some better tires like BFG A/T's or Cooper LTZ's

At this point after all the money I've spent I'm just going to tap into the hole I already made and seal it up. Maybe if I had known about the plate when I was in the "spending mood" I would have just tacked it on with everything else, but I'm plenty happy right now to have my truck back on its feet again. Although I must admit, like a true addict, I'm already scoping out my injectors and air intake :evilgrin:So many little things I would like to do yet, from floor mats to bed topper, level kit to 35's... so many plans so little money.

It looks as if the plate is screwed on top of the VP44 and apparently somewhere behind it is where the wire is tapped into? Maybe that red wire on top is tapped through to the VP wire. It looks cleaner and more stock-like, I take it that's where it got its name from. Although unfortunately for me, it is too late for my VP wire has already been molested and now has a hole in it with electrical tape wrapped around it... not quite as nice looking as a stealth plate.