rancherman

I'd at least disconnect the batteries, and only have the welder ground on the bumper itself... not anywhere on the truck.

I've been using www.searchtempest.com ... It searchs ALL craigslist listings for your keywords.. and you can limit it to a certain distance from you, or a certain price. Happy hunting!

yep. use other key words too: FRONT, welded, Buckstopper, (or if you only want ranch hand) Might find one that is needing a good sandblasting/painting for a good deal!

you'd think as heavy/long lasting as these bumpers are, there would be a surplus starting to stack up in the boneyards! (that and flatbeds) somewhere there has to be a pile growing in the weeds!

what brand is this one Joe? I see there are kits for the weld it yourself crowd, which cuts the cost pretty much in half.. if that is an option for you!

ok, I'll add a tidbit to the 'incorrectness' apparent to this thread! 4th of July, there was a parade/celebration in Norfolk Ne, and there was a controversial entry; Now, can ANYONE tell me how in the heck this is 'racist'??? When the national media picked up on this, it was labeled 'anti Obama', or Racist. His legacy belongs in the crapper. Period. But in no way should this be considered 'racist'... Come on! just because he is black, means nothing but cinnamon roll aroma comes out his administration??? Recent approval polls has him waaaay down, so should those people who 'didn't approve' be considered 'racist, or anti obama'??? edit: can anyone identify the object hanging from the trailer hitch??

man, that is so true.^^^^^ Find a 'cause' and jump on the soap box. (and collect trainloads of 'donations' from the 'feel your pain' crowd) I wonder how much more natural resources these guys burn up.... tearing around the country and thumping their manifesto chests... in order to 'save' the planet??

'dead on' ESPECIALLY when towing! A sudden swerve and mash the brakes is exactly what not to do when pulling a trailer... Usually, a blast on the horn gets em moving away, but when they are in the 'cross hairs', all you can do is grit your teeth, and pucker up. FIL just got his 2012 chev back from the body shop, buck barely ticked the front corner... right behind the headlight, and commenced to pirouette the full length of the truck... fender, door, and the whole side of the box.... I like the idea of using a 'knee capper' bar out about 10 feet in front of the vehicle... but I suppose in- town driving would tend to take out pedestrians too..

no problem on the seal part, even with the raised oil level, it still just below halfway filled. There should be a breather on top somewhere to keep it from building pressure when hot. Any gearbox that starts to 'suddenly leak' is usually a plugged breather suspect Now, I can't tell you if the plug thread is metric or standard Pipe Thread... Chances are, it'll be inch. A lot of machinery these days, even though they are metric fastener supplied, will be 'plumbed' with inch pipe fittings. Take out the original plug and see if it will thread up into a female fitting.. I bet it is even bigger than 1/2, possibly 3/4? Teflon tape or even paste will be good. I hate tape! Don't tighten the new plug that will go into top of the L too hard, you might bust off the L flush with the transmission. Good and snug will be good.

factory specs are 4.75 quarts. I'm putting a full 6 in with the raised fill port You'll easily get 5 in by parking on a tilt, without any modifications

Change it now. LOL Our 6 speeds run hot.. and oxidation (cooking of the oil) breaks it down. THE most recommended is the MOPAR trans fluid. This is for the operator that follows the recommended change interval... It's pricey, but what isn't these days??? Now, on the other hand I've read tons of posts on CF about guys running various alternatives; Pennzoil, amzoil, all the major oil companies have some sort of synthetic gear lube available....plus many I've surely missed. One thing is common in these "non mopar" oils... and that is to change it more frequently. Since I'm about 100 miles from a dealer, I've begun to run Delo gear lube, about 50% 50wt. and 50% 15w40, just because I'm close to a vendor. These are synthetic gear lubes, NOT engine oil! I plan on changing out the fluids yearly.. regardless of miles. It may pay dividends to do the same with Mopar fluid too! When I replaced my last nv5600, I got it from an outfit from Memphis Tenn. They raised the fill plug a couple inches for better lubrication. Some guys will take the shifter off to do the same thing. (that's a lot of screwing around to add an additional 2 quarts!) It may be easier to jack up one side of the truck, or find a steep bank to park the truck on to overfill the trans. I just thought of a trick that may work: screw in a street L, pointed up, in place of the fill plug. The added height will give you an additional 2 inches of oil, Just keep adding oil until it wont flow away, and put a plug in the top of the street L. A street 'L' is just a simple 90 degree pipe coupler, with male threads on 1 end(part that screws into the trans) and female threads on the other (where the plug would go) The additional oil helps keep the trans cooler, and takes more to break down the oil that is there... plus keeping that input needle bearings totally lubed is the main culprit In our 6 speeds. In 'normal' non od trans, most miles are in 'high'.... or straight through. Everything is turning at the same speed, along the mainshaft. Now, on OD type trans, most miles are still in 'high', but this time, the small needle bearings in the input shaft are forced to turn.... and turn very fast they do! This is where extra oil comes in handy! My old 5600 had the input shaft welded so badly to the main shaft, they had to torch it in 2 to get it out...

I was 10 years old when I heard my older brother talking about the new 1971 hemi cudas! We couldn't wait until WE were old enough to buy a new one, and the way the horsepower was going up in the late 60's and early 70's... who could say what the horsepower was going to be by the time we got our drivers license! ~ 1976 and 1978 respectively.. Then 1972 came. For the next 20 years, the only 'quick or fast' was stupid decals or spoilers that made a car look 'fast'. ...........remember the Cordoba/Charger....... uggg. Shoot, "THE" quickest vehicle in 1979 coming out of Detroit was the Lil Red Wagon! Vette owners were PISSED! These are exciting times for Dodge again... I just hope another 1972 isn't around the corner!

Are there shift detents in these transmissions? I rebuilt a 5 speed out of a neon that had bad shift detents and it would jump out of gear all the time too. Just a spring loaded ball that the shift forks kind of lock into when you shift into gear. If that spring wears out or breaks it wont help hold the shift fork in place yes. shift rods, ball and detent, shift forks. I had a trans that felt mushy too, turns out the ball was gone, and the spring was all smashed up, catching on the detent pocket... Don't ask me where the ball disappeared to!

I don't know about 'post' 2000 built trucks, but a 2500 with manual transmission had the same springs, Dana 80 rear as the 3500's. The rear brakes on the 2500 were a tic narrower than the 3500's, and rating would be lower only because of less brake power. It isn't much difference! Mike has shown these gvw's being almost identical between the 2 trucks.. Springs, axles, bearings, everything that will carry your load is the same between the two... your 'whoa' capacity is a little less, but maybe without the extra flywheels ( 2 extra tires) the difference will be negligible. Yes, the trucks are the same, but that 'sticker' on the door is the 'final answer' in explaining to the DOT boys... I've kicked around going duals on my project all winter, even though a trailer will be hooked to it 90% I am leaning to going with singles... and probably 19.5 rubber for increased load capacity.

Mike is the kind of person we need in Washington... Good fixes NOW that don't create more problems or future conundrums... Been gearing up for the July-August haying season here. Been getting fair amounts of rain this month, and the grass looks pretty good

get your video tape going, and document this.

I got JUST the thing to have when you go and knock on his door! I could loan it to you! http://forum.mopar1973man.com/index.php?/topic/8694-body-armor-test-1/

That's exactly what I was thinking too!

So True on the response time, and it's only going to get worse. Counties across the nation are broke, and hiring more and more lawmen/deputies for patrol is out of the question... It's what we are stuck with. Varmints know they have time to do-the-crime. I see the 1st quarter of this fiscal year is down 5% nationally, GNP and consumer spending.. go figure! higher deductibles, inflation, tough winter to heat the house...yada yada... the lowlifes are going to be on-the-lurk.. We may be on the verge of the biggest inflationary spike in history. We were taught a loaf of bread cost 160 marks in pre WWII Germany? in one year it leaped to 1 BILLION marks. Sure, there were a little different circumstances in play then ... but still! What amount of desperation will it take to have a whole class of people on-the-lam in this country? I hope to God I never need to strap on this system, but having it 'just in case' is maybe something to help me sleep at night. Nothing is certain, and body armor is only as good as long as the shooter hits IT ! there are a lot of other parts of me that can easily bleed out that aren't covered! One thing I've been debating over and over: whether to 'bunker down', or get totally mobile? That would be a whole 'nother thread!

yep, already in 'the works'! I think we'll build it up at least 3/8ths... the pre coated sets came with only1/4 inch thick coating I got several gallons awaiting to be applied on various parts of my project truck too.

Well, 'DW', 5 weight calves hit 3 bucks this week. I saw some dollar up to $1610 yesterday up at Valentine.... and rustling gotta be on a lot of potlickers minds these days....

whats your FP during cranking?

LOL< There really is no reason to have it, other than 'having it'. Conversation piece?? not really planning anything, this was more of a 'hoot'.. But on the other hand, body armor is still available to general public. (for now) All the seller needs to know, is if we are a 'bad guy' or not... (felon) all we had to do was say 'no' to that question! (and pay $160 bucks) All four plates add up to 23#'s Imagine wearing that PLUS your pack, in 120 degree heat!

My son has been out of the Marine Corps. now for 4 years... He was infantry.. His main job was manning the 50 cal. mounted on top of the Humvee on patrol. Did 2 tours in Iraq, and 1 in Afghanistan. His passion for weapons, systems, and other warfare is strong. He found an outfit a little ways from here that sells body armor, in Iowa. The plates he bought are shaped identical to the ceramic plates issued to him in the Corps... but are made out of steel instead. The ceramic plates were a full inch thick, and very heavy. These steel plates are 0.27 (with paint) He is thinking these steels are going to be slightly lighter in weight. He has the harness to slip these plates into, there are 4 pieces to cover the vitals; chest, back, and under each armpit The companies claim that these plates are 'bullet proof' is something one shouldn't take for granted.. and testing seemed prudent! After all, blind faith in a claim isn't very smart! So, last night, we took one of the small plates (cheaper to replace) to sacrifice in a test firing. We also grabbed a scrap of 3/8ths mild steel plate for comparison... Test ammo; Russian 7.62X54, 220 grain. Soft tip, FPS: 2700 Figure this round was going to be somewhere between a .308 and .30-06 Range from rifle; about 100 feet I put a coin ( quarter) and a 3/8ths bolt on the plate for size comparison... Amazing the 1/2 inch hole a .308 bullet made! 7,62mm and .308 is the same diameter Conclusion: The test was successful. The armor plating resisted puncturing, it only showed a little 'center punch' type ding, and the chipped paint! Granted, getting hit with a large rifle round such as this (you might not want to be alive afterward) is going to knock you end over end... But for small cal (AK47, and pistol) I think these would be perfect

Had a thought here, about fuel prices. years ago, diesel was half the price of gasoline... Ok, it was 30-40 cents less (which at the time WAS half) BUT, Truckers bought a fuel sticker for each state they ran... Remember seeing the plates with all the little postage stamps on the back of the trailers? These days Truckers only need to buy fuel... the road use 'tax' is now built in. I'd bet the 'on road' passenger cars back in the day was less than 1 percent, (Mercedes comes to mind) of the total diesel fuel required in this country. Plus the reformulation process to remove sulfur, and the popularity of the fuel, has driven it to it's current levels. In Nebraska, our fuel tax both fed and state, is 54 cents...