DYI- what do you do yourself vs have done?

[Mopar1973Man]

Quote

DYI- what do you do yourself vs have done?

 

Basically in a nutshell. After 50k miles when I got my VP44 replaced. The Dodge Dealer was not willing to work with me very well. At about 60k miles I sign off my warranty and began to modify my truck and improve everything from there. I've done all my own work since brand new. To this day I continue to learn and study and modify more and more. Will it ever stop. Most likely not. 

[JAG1]

There are a lot of places that just don't do the kind of work that you yourself can do......I seem to be constantly reminded of this when paying for work and see quite a bit of shops caring too much about the money and not the people they are servicing. Together with some of the untruthful information handed out..... I guess it's hard to let go of some of the frustration.

 

That's why I just call Mopar 73 Man. He walks you thru when not understanding something your doing and then I try to send in a little extra donation to help his cause.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 14, 2019 by JAG1

[98whitelightnin]

Im the same way, I do all my own work. I did have my 47rh built by a shop, have alignments done tires mounted/balanced. I do everything else myself, I dont trust other people around my trucks. Ive seen to many so called experts do shoddy work for big money.

[kzimmer]

Oil changes

Frontand rear bumper R&R

Side view mirrors R&R

Projector headlamp install with LED bulbs

R&R all other light housings/covers

Paint entire truck with Bedliner

Double din android head unit install

Drivers seat replacement

Drivers door adjustment to stop wind noise due to warpage

Radiator R&R for degreasing

Thermostat change

Belt change

Front crank seal

Timing cover gasket

Rear crank seal

Tappet cover gasket

Compound turbo install

Injector R&R

Injector rebuild

Injector pop testing & shimming

ARP head stud install

Rocker arm replacement

47RE trans rebuild at home

Tie rod ends, ball joints, and other front end work

Shocks

Rear leaf springs

Front and rear sway bar links/bushings

Drive shaft R&R

Trans/Tcase R&R

Compound turbo install (HX35 over HT60)

VP44 Injection Pump R&R

Custom lift pump setup with a Walbro 392 (I don't care what anyone says, it IS enough fuel if lines are done properly)

Fass fuel pressure regulator

 

Probably missing some stuff here. All work done myself. More to come in the next couple if months:

 

Snapped the flex plate last spring, so trans is out again. BD black oxide flex plate on order. While I'm at it, ordered a Goerend triple disk 17SS converter, no more slippage.

 

While the trans is out I'd be foolish not to go through it again, and while it's apart I'm throwing in Alto Red Eagle power packs and cranking the line pressure up. Because of the triple disk I'm putting in a TCS Canada input shaft. Leaving the intermediate and output stock. The output shaft will be my mechanical fuse, since it can be replaced by dropping only the overdrive section. Trans will be getting John Deere Hy-Gard Low Viscosity oil (J20D).

 

Also got some Crower valve springs and Manton 7/16" x .120" push rods coming so I can turn the Quad up to 3700 RPM and not worry about float, or worry about blowing a valve open at high boost. Got a different fuel pump off Amazon that flows a little more just for insurance. Will keep the Walbro as a spare.

 

Truck will be mobile again this spring after being down for a year. Will get back on the Dyno some time in 2019 for some steady state timing tuning and to get some new HP/Torque numbers. Expecting some bigger numbers if I can keep the trans from slipping. Shouldn't be a problem now.

 

I should also note that a few of these items were done with the help of the articles section. Thank you Mopar1973Man.com!

 

Edited March 15, 2019 by kzimmer

[Brent B3HH]

On 3/12/2019 at 9:51 PM, AH64ID said:

I’ve done a ton to my 3rd gen. Most of it I would do again. 

 

What are your goals with the truck? 

 

Is it an 04 or 04.5? 

Ok, now I'm not sure 04 or 04.5

my neighbor has an 03 and asked me if I had the "HO" motor. Not sure that either....

but then would I know the difference being stock and all? 

[dripley]

12 hours ago, Brent B3HH said:

Ok, now I'm not sure 04 or 04.5

my neighbor has an 03 and asked me if I had the "HO" motor. Not sure that either....

but then would I know the difference being stock and all? 

Ho motor came with a 6 speed manual trans.

[Brent B3HH]

17 minutes ago, dripley said:

Ho motor came with a 6 speed manual trans.

So not an option with the auto? 

Confusing...... 

 http://dodgeram.info/2004/load-tow/3500SRW.html

[JAG1]

I'm almost sure all the trucks that came from the factory with a manual transmission are the high output motors which means it has the high output injection pump. I'm not sure about the injectors as they might be the same as on standard output engines with automatic trans.

[Guest 04Mach1]

I'm pretty much a DIY'er for every aspect of vehicle maintenance and repair. There isn't a job I haven't done especially on diesel. I've worked on just about every make and model of diesel engine from the 1950's era all the way up to the current GHG17 diesel engines. The days of parts changer went bye bye with the introduction of EPA07 engines. I spend most of my time at work sitting in front of a computer performing diagnostic and very little time actually holding a wrench changing parts. As far as valve lash adjustment (also known as "overhead" and many shops use the term "tune-up" ) it's a piece of cake on electronic non-cam actuated injector engines. Plenty of videos on YouTube that can walk you through an ISB tune-up.

 

I've  rebuilt plenty of Allison transmissions and Eaton 10 through 18 speed manual transmissions although transmissions definitely are not my specialty and is not the most enjoyable work for me. 

 

Another area I've gained knowledge and skills is body work and paint. This is very relaxing and enjoyable to me.

 

I'm 100% self taught and have never attended a vocational school or tech school. My theory is man built it so I can fix it. 

[dripley]

46 minutes ago, JAG1 said:

I'm almost sure all the trucks that came from the factory with a manual transmission are the high output motors which means it has the high output injection pump. I'm not sure about the injectors as they might be the same as on standard output engines with automatic trans.

The HO only came facory with the 6 speed.

[Brent B3HH]

1 hour ago, JAG1 said:

I'm almost sure all the trucks that came from the factory with a manual transmission are the high output motors which means it has the high output injection pump. I'm not sure about the injectors as they might be the same as on standard output engines with automatic trans.

So, mine is an automatic 

does that mean I don't have the HO? 

[dripley]

22 minutes ago, Brent B3HH said:

So, mine is an automatic 

does that mean I don't have the HO? 

You are correct. The difference was 10 hp, 235 versus 245 hp, and IIRC about 40 lbs of torque. Could be wrong on the torque.

[Royal Squire]

He has an 04 model. Is that the same?

[dripley]

 Forget where I am sometimes. It carried on for several years with the HO and 6 speed. Even after they ditched the NV5600 for the G56. A couple years or so back you could not get the HO with anything but an automatic, the AISIN I believe it is. Of course hp and torque have gone up considerably over the years. I think the the 04's were rated over 300 hp.

[98whitelightnin]

2003 and early 2004 HO trucks came with 305/555 and 48re and nv5600. 04.5 all motors had 325/600. My dad had an 03 ho305/555 48re

Edited March 30, 2019 by 98whitelightnin

[dripley]

2 hours ago, 98whitelightnin said:

2003 and early 2004 HO trucks came with 305/555 and 48re and nv5600. 04.5 all motors had 325/600. My dad had an 03 ho305/555 48re

Found this about it. I am no genius on the later trucks but never heard of the auto/ho combination.

http://www.cumminshub.com/dodge-diesel-guide.html

bottom of the second page on engine specs.

[Collinst15]

I did a full body swap on my 1999 and slowly fixing all maintenance issues that previous owner never did.  

 

One day ill have a basically new truck.

 

Tim  

[Blueox01]

9 hours ago, 04Mach1 said:

I'm pretty much a DIY'er for every aspect of vehicle maintenance and repair. There isn't a job I haven't done especially on diesel. I've worked on just about every make and model of diesel engine from the 1950's era all the way up to the current GHG17 diesel engines. The days of parts changer went bye bye with the introduction of EPA07 engines. I spend most of my time at work sitting in front of a computer performing diagnostic and very little time actually holding a wrench changing parts. As far as valve lash adjustment (also known as "overhead" and many shops use the term "tune-up" ) it's a piece of cake on electronic non-cam actuated injector engines. Plenty of videos on YouTube that can walk you through an ISB tune-up.

 

I've  rebuilt plenty of Allison transmissions and Eaton 10 through 18 speed manual transmissions although transmissions definitely are not my specialty and is not the most enjoyable work for me. 

 

Another area I've gained knowledge and skills is body work and paint. This is very relaxing and enjoyable to me.

 

I'm 100% self taught and have never attended a vocational school or tech school. My theory is man built it so I can fix it. 

I'm not bad at turning a wrench, I pay a lot of attention to details, wish I was more versed in body work/paint.

[Mopar1973Man]

Just now, Blueox01 said:

wish I was more versed in body work/paint.

 

I've done enough paint and body in my days. I can still do it but I'm for sure rusty. 

[Blueox01]

3 hours ago, Collinst15 said:

I did a full body swap on my 1999 and slowly fixing all maintenance issues that previous owner never did.  

 

One day ill have a basically new truck.

 

Tim  

I pretty much went through my 01 pulled body off and started at the back end of frame and worked forward, kinda got burned out and took a break, just need to primer/paint hood and OTB fenders.

2 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

 

I've done enough paint and body in my days. I can still do it but I'm for sure rusty. 

I think panels and paint looks worse after I've refinished them.