diesel4life

I bought a 12v normally open solenoid valve, mounted it to the firewall behind the air cleaner, and bought some vacuum line. Disconnected vaccuum line at the firewall where it heads down to the tcase and provides vaccuum for the 4wheeldrive actuator and ran it through the solenoid valve and then tied it back in to the tcase. Mounted a toggle switch in the cab and wired it up to the solenoid valve, and when I want to use 2wheel low I simply flip the toggle switch which interrupts vaccum to the cad and then shift the truck into 4low. I now have 2low. If you would like I can snap a few pics so you can get a bit of a visual.

I have no doubt that truck would go anywhee your heart desires Tom. Honestly with all the electronics that control the newer vehicles I wonder if they are anymore reliable than the generation of vehicles they replaced. Our Mountaineer has been at the Ford dealership 3 weeks as of yesterday, and they still can't figure out what is wrong with it. Something is throwing the traction control management system in and out, and it feels like your doing a neutral drop anytime you apply a load to the engine. They have even had engineers up from Cincinnatti. It's under warranty so it isn't my problem YET, but really makes me nervous for when the warranty does expire. I can't imagine the hours they have into diagnosing it, but that alone would probably be enough to break me.

I was not aware the Bureau of Land management is a federal entity? That in itself makes no sense and should be left in the hands of the individual states. That is one major difference geographically between the eastern half and western half of the country, there is not nearly as much open land here as there is out west. I was under the impression this was state land that was being fought over, is this not the case? Regardless, where is the Nevada state Game & Fish in this fight for the endangered tourtise? It should be the states primary responsibility and authority for the protection and management of fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitat.

Yep, it would be a loong haul for sure. And not something I would want to be under a time constraint either. Which means I will either have to wait for retirement and hope I am still in good enough health to make the trek or start playing the lottery AGGRESSIVELY. LOL

It is alot less hassle in my opinion to just buy a complete set of injectors and be done with it. If you buy nozzles only you will have to find a competent shop that can assemble, flow match and pop test. And pray they know what they are doing, or you will be dealing with a poor running engine and in an extreme case the potential to wash a cylinder out.

You would think if one had a deed proving ownership of said land, there would be NO room for argument. It sounds to me that they have been enjoying the unrestricted use of free ranging on land that wasn't legally theres all these years, and now that the govt has a plan for this land, theyre upset they have to find a new home for their 1000 head of cattle. Just because you've been granted access to something for so long doesn't mean you have rights as a land owner. And he hasn't really been granted much of anything, as he has been fighting this since the early 90's. Bottom line, if it isn't your property....where is the argument? My grandfather went through a similar situation years ago on his ranch in Wyoming. Due to the dry conditions he would sometimes turn his cattle loose on state lands for a few weeks at a time to graze to keep the cattle from destroying the grass in his fields. It was such a remote area with literally no human interaction that he did so for a decade or more before finally being noticed by a couple of land surveyors. he got a knock on the door one day by a game warden and was told he had to remove his cattle from their land. No big deal, not his land so no argument from him. Maybe there's more to the story than I'm grasping, I just don't see where he's being victimized.

I am thinking about going after mine as well. I am for sure pulling the radiator to give it a good cleaning as I don't think its ever been done. Also going to pull the front gear case to see if I need to tab my dowel pin. My pump is starting to look just a little wet but I have not investigated closely enough to determine if its coming from the pump, or possibly the tappet cover. I have been eye balling the 12 valve tappet covers and may just do the whole shebang: radiator cleaning, kdp tab and front main seal, check/replace damper, vac pump rebuild, and 12 valve tappet cover.

I have heard there is a port you block off in the valve body, is that what you are referring to?

I would like to be able to lock up second gear for lower speed driving. I wish I would have known about the specific valve bodies that allow for it when I built my transmission, but for the price of them it's hard to justify when I've got a good one in there now.

Repeat after me: It beats a car payment, it beats a car payment, IT BEATS A CAR PAYMENT! I hate being tied down to anything unless its absolutely necessary, and in my book a car payment is not necessary. We have a vehicle savings fund that we put money into every month instead of making a payment to somebody and use it when the time comes for a new(er) vehicle. It sure beats the tar out of going up to your ears in debt. Although I have had days like your having and it does make me rethink my position, but only briefly!

Just make sure you don't do any shifts with the converter locked because this is where you will do some real damage in short order. If you get to the point you need to let the transmission shift turn the switch off before allowing it to shift.

The Cummins engine is going in the next generation Tundra. I'm sure the engineers will be ready for it, Toyota has been one of the toughest trucks on the market since the early 80's. Now if they could just do something about those looks, I swear the bodies get uglier every generation.

I hope everything is OK with Dave, send him my best wishes if you speak to him.

I believe I still have the box it came in. I just asked for a thermostat from a 2010 Ram Cummins. IIRC that is when they went to the 200* stat. I will check tonight when I get home. I agree there is nothing wrong with running a little hotter and should be good for efficiency particularly in the colder months. But if the fan is being locked substantially more and putting more of a load on the engine I think the efficiency thing goes out the window. I'm going by a shady memory but I think the fan locks somewhere around 205*.

I think it's going to be a great truck. Ram has been highly criticized for not sticking the 5.0 Cummins in that was originally slated before Chrysler went belly up and Fiat bought them out, but the more I read on the Cummins the more I think they made the right choice. The 2.8 VM engine they are using is a proven engine in Europe, weighs substantially less than the Cummins and will likely get quite a bit better fuel mileage. I think a v8 diesel is just too much engine for a half ton, and no matter how you detune it it's going to be hard to beat the economics of a small v6.

For MY03 and up yes. But those systems are different than what's on the 2nd gens.The TSB released by Chrysler specifically states that while it is OK to use ATF in place of power steering fluid on some vehicles, it is NOT OK for 94-02 Ram trucks to use ATF. I'm trying to link the TSB but can't figure out how with the new website. I know people say they use it and don't have any problems, buat the cost is so minimal why risk it. For Chrysler to release a TSB and not include our trucks in it there has to be a reason. PS fluid has seal swell properties that ATF does not, and it has anti foaming properties that ATF does not. If someone can guide me through posting a link, I would be happy to post the TSB for you.

If you do any hauling or put your engine under constant load I think the hotter thermostat could very well put your fan in lock up more Often In hotter weather. I say this because I have been running a 200* thermostat and was running a dump trailer with 5 ton of stone the other day and noticed it was running a solid 203-207*. This was on a 60 degree day which is the warmest it's been here all year. I think that is getting close to fan lock up temps. Running empty or even lightly loaded in colder weather I ran a steady 198-202 according to my Scan Gauge. This is a NAPA stat and I have been experiencing typical temp swings that many report. I plan on swapping back to my 190* Cummins stat this week and may end up springing for a 200* Cummins stat for next winter. They are the only stats I've bought that hold a steady temp.

I've always been leery about using ATF+4 in the power steering system. THe manual specifically calls for power steering fluid. I realize people do use ATF+4 anyway, but there are distinct differences between the 2. Power steering fluid is more of a hydraulic fluid and does not "foam" as much as trans fluid. To each his own, I just can't see using a fluid that isn't recomended by the manufacturer. I actually performed a flush on my system about two years ago and I bought a gallon of PS fluid. I think I only used about 3 quarts when it was all said and done. A quart of brake fluid should do the trick, if you think you will need more then buy a quart and a pint. If you use a full quart and buy a second quart your going to end up with a lot of extra brake fluid and once it has been opened it will begin drawing moisture in.

Hey Tom, I was not aware of that. Aren't the blocks essentially the same between the 12v and 24v? As far as the actual casting? I realize things like cams and pistons changed, I wonder how they corrected that issue with the 24v engines.

2200 rpm is nothing for these engines. Cummins designed them to run full throttle continuously and I have seen them run that way in many applications. We have several cranes at work with well over 10k hours and they get set at 24-2600 rpm for hours on end. Still running strong. It is actually easier on an engine to downshift a gear when under a load and run a little higher rpm than to try and lug an engine At lower rpm.

Thanks, that makes a lot more sense.

I've always wondered how they lay claim to first in synthetics. My grandfather was a mechanic in WWII and has told me stories of the government experimenting with synthetic oils in their military vehicles in Germany. He remembers having to start fires underneath the tanks just to get the oil thinned out enough to get the engines to turn over. They brought in several drums of a synthetic based oil to experiment with on some of the vehicles and even though they still had problems in real cold weather it was a significant difference compared to the convential Oils.

03 And up model years call for G05 coolant. This is not Dexcool, it is factory fill for all Chrysler vehicles and is a superior coolant to the standard ethylene glycol. If your truck calls for G05 you should use G05, that is what your cooling system was designed for.

It has been a while since I even plugged my Smarty in but I am running #7 with timing set either on two or three. I had my smarty before I installed my injectors and never changed my settings, but I also have an SO pump. I'm not sure what the difference in timing is between the two but I would think it's irrelevant because the Smarty changes those parameters anyway. Brian from Smarty hangs around here once in a while, he would be the guy to ask. You could probably shoot him a PM.