What did you do to/with your second gen today?

[DodgeTx]

anyone replace the power steering pump or steering box from autozone? They have a lifetime warranty, can you send me details so i can try to swap mine?

 

[Yeret]

Swapped my new OEM airbox on. Shelled out the money for a new one (I broke my old one years ago and it's held together with super glue) because I've been thinking of just sticking to it from this point on. I love my open-element cleaner but the filter just gets too dirty too fast out here on the gravel. I've forgotten how much quieter the airbox is, although it actually works pretty good because I can hear more "boom" noise via the headers. Honestly, the truck seems to be quicker off the line and accelerate better during part-throttle with the airbox anyway. Got an old Fram in the box right now which saw little use last year. Probably gonna nab a K&N next spring.

I will say that heavy throttle acceleration is a shade weaker but it's been that way since I swapped on the 10-plys anyway. It's totally time for a gear swap, just gotta find a good joint around here. Well, and conjure up three grand but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

 

[dodge dude94]

heh, stock air box. I ran my stock box for quite a while with the fender tube removed. Quite a bit of difference in just taking that off.

I like my junkyard/Lowes rigged air intake tho.

 

[Yeret]

I removed the intake tube once and the engine seemed to actually lose power, especially off the line. Can't really argue with drawing air from the fender. It's a TRUE cold air intake.

 

[dapepper9]

Well I've been busy.

I arrived home from my deployment on November 4th. I immediately got an oil change done with a nice Wix filter and my favorite oil Scheaffers 5w40 diesel blend. While i was away i ordered an oem fan from rockauto for a 95 T-Bird. It's very comparable to the Lincoln Mark VIII and Taurus 18" fans that hotrodders love for their 4000cfm+ output. Its basically the same but 17" and slightly less airflow though not very notably less. And for $63 from rockauto it's a pretty good deal. To control it i ordered a Hollister Road relay kit with 185F and 200F sensors (yeah, she's 2 speed!).

To add to my parts pile i ordered an SRT4 factory 2 bar map sensor for when i eventually have my blower going, ordered a billet bracket for said blower from a Facebook deal i got in on from the dakota community. And to REALLY finish that package off i bought a brand new vortech v3 headunit for 800 less than retail and ill sell my v2 for probably about that. I went with the v3 because it's both more efficient and self lubricated wth it's own reservoir, no running lines or tapping the pan. No clue when all this will get finished but eventually it will.

Lastly, i picked up a cheap chop saw and ordered a bunch of pipe and 2 new CarvenTR mufflers.

On the 7th i left for Texas to go see my little brother graduate from Air Force basic training. Basically put 2500 miles on the truck in a week, worth it. Met up with DD94 and another buddy in Tyler, TX before i headed on back. On the way back i noticed my passenger axle shaft u joint was on it's way out so next week ill have my local alignment shop change it when i have em messing with all my damaged tie rods and alignment.

I got home from Texas on the 14th and proceeded to build the new exhaust. Now it's pacesetter longtubes and full dual 3" with CarvenTRs and an H-pipe. SO IN LOVE with it, pretty sure it's THE sound I've been looking for the entire time I've owned the truck. I went 3" for the future when the blower is going. Currently it just ends at the muffler outlets under the bed before the axle but i really want to get it past the axle to the rear. Recently I've been thinking maybe 4th gen rear bumper with the cutouts and either plain stainless pipe slash cut exiting there or 4" resonated tips. Either way, that'll all wait till later. For now, I'm happy and i have an electric fan that needs installed

 

[dapepper9]

Also while doing the test drive after the exhaust i found the front u joint on the front driveshaft was starting to go so i swapped that real quick yesterday. Always something

 

[DodgeTx]

Well, my trans 46re 4x4 on the flatbed is toast. Been on its way out since I flooded it way back when. Now it only has reverse. If you rev the **** out of it it will catch and then drive fine until removed from drive, then wont drive again until you rev it and it catches. pulled the pan had major flakes of clutch material i would guess, and several shavings.

did a trans filter and refilled with atf 4 and took for a drive, checked the fluid after 12 miles in neutral and wouldnt go back in drive no matter how high i revved or pushed reversed anything it. had to reverse it home a few miles.

Major bummer, probably gunna get it rebuilt, ditch my 37's, 35's and run 265/70/17 and let it take it easy for the rest of its life.

 

[dapepper9]

Well, my trans 46re 4x4 on the flatbed is toast. Been on its way out since I flooded it way back when. Now it only has reverse. If you rev the **** out of it it will catch and then drive fine until removed from drive, then wont drive again until you rev it and it catches. pulled the pan had major flakes of clutch material i would guess, and several shavings.

did a trans filter and refilled with atf 4 and took for a drive, checked the fluid after 12 miles in neutral and wouldnt go back in drive no matter how high i revved or pushed reversed anything it. had to reverse it home a few miles.

Major bummer, probably gunna get it rebuilt, ditch my 37's, 35's and run 265/70/17 and let it take it easy for the rest of its life.

Too bad this didn't happen like 2 weeks ago. I have a good 46re in my storage unit in the crate my MegaViper came in and i was just in San Antonio lol. Would've been real easy to load it up before i headed down

 

[DodgeTx]

Man that is a bummer, guess I should've posted a bit more so everyone knew the issue.

Glad to hear you had a good drive, and enjoyed the city!

IF you want to unload that tranny and it will work in a 99 I'll gladly throw you a $100 bill, and the cost of freight!



On a side note, found a 2002 2500 5.9l v8 4x4 with 44k miles, single cab. considering it. also around the corner from me is a 96 3500 2wd diesel dually for $2000, apparently has an overdrive issue. considering this, but less so.

 

[Shadow_Death]

Found out why my blower motor won't work. The fuse just dances around in one side. When I pulled the new fuse this is what it looked like.

http://i.imgur.com/gHqmxAR.jpg

So now I have to figure out a way to fix that and figure out what caused it.

Edit: fixed that above. The connection pushed out the backside when I tried to push the new fuse in so I pushed it back in from the rear and pushed the fuse in. (The old fuse was pretty oxidized so I replaced it for the hell of it.)

I also fixed most of the play in the steering wheel. It's a little stiffer now but I like it that way. I did discover that the lower joint in my steering shaft has play in it.

 

[dapepper9]

Yesterday i picked up a set of 315/70/17 BFGs, used, for $375. Pretty good tread left, not too old. 4.56s have me skating if it even thinks about getting wet outside with the current 285s. The Toyos are awesome and still look like 10k tires almost 40k later but they're too small for my gearing. Gonna keep em for summer or the next truck i buy.

They were an hour away and when i got home i snagged little bros truck to go pick him up at the airport, an hour in the other direction. All in all i ended up spending nearly 7hrs on the road yesterday.

Got home from the airport and changed my bad u joint as well as front diff fluid. Checked a few other things in the process and overall that took me about 6hrs lol.

Couple new pieces of pipe arrived so i can finish moving my exhaust over the axle, can't wait!

And as i finish up this post the 315s are being mounted so ill post back later

 

[DodgeTx]

DUDE! those 315 /70/ 17s are great I did the same thing last year. I only regret destroying my transmission in the process!

 

[Yeret]

Wow, are those 4.56s really that slippy in the wet? And you've got one of those neat Tru-Tracs in the rear too, right? I know you're making a lot more power than me but I'm also spinning smaller 265s. I might have to reconsider my desire for 4.10 gears down the road. Maybe 3.92s instead...

 

[dodge dude94]

Wow, are those 4.56s really that slippy in the wet? And you've got one of those neat Tru-Tracs in the rear too, right? I know you're making a lot more power than me but I'm also spinning smaller 265s. I might have to reconsider my desire for 4.10 gears down the road. Maybe 3.92s instead...

3.92 vs 4.10 isn't much of a difference to matter. Just get 4.10s. Besides, it sounds cooler and lets everyone know you've got some junk in the trunk.

Changed the radiator out last night. ****** got a pin hole in it, wouldn't even hold 7 PSI before it shot out like a geyser.

 

[dapepper9]

Wow, are those 4.56s really that slippy in the wet? And you've got one of those neat Tru-Tracs in the rear too, right? I know you're making a lot more power than me but I'm also spinning smaller 265s. I might have to reconsider my desire for 4.10 gears down the road. Maybe 3.92s instead...

With 285s yeah. The 315s it seems to be better without being sluggish. Time will tell though

+1 to dd94 suggesting 4.10s, you likely wouldn't harshly notice 3.92s and 4.10s will be better all around anyways

 

[Yeret]

Decided to buy myself a late birthday present. Ordered a Ranch Hand grille guard for $630. Of course, I don't have any means to actually install the damned thing so I guess I got until it arrives to find a good joint to install it. Should look pretty awesome once it's installed. I'll be sure to post some pictures once it is.

Probably won't save the front end from getting totally nuked in a high-speed deer hit but I'm hoping it'll at least save the cooling system in such an event so I can continue driving. This time of the year around here, you're almost certain to have a close encounter with a deer at night. Why can't the buggers just WAIT to cross the damned road, LOL.

 

[DodgeTx]

started parting out my flatbed today, sold the front bumper / grill guard, and the passenger headlight for a whopping $170

Removed the tool box, and air horns, removed the police spotlight and installed in dually tow truck.

did 4 tows today in the dually. $250 total

 

[dapepper9]

Decided to buy myself a late birthday present. Ordered a Ranch Hand grille guard for $630. Of course, I don't have any means to actually install the damned thing so I guess I got until it arrives to find a good joint to install it. Should look pretty awesome once it's installed. I'll be sure to post some pictures once it is.

Probably won't save the front end from getting totally nuked in a high-speed deer hit but I'm hoping it'll at least save the cooling system in such an event so I can continue driving. This time of the year around here, you're almost certain to have a close encounter with a deer at night. Why can't the buggers just WAIT to cross the damned road, LOL.

If brand isn't a make or break deal for you, Boss Hog makes Ranch Hand copycats for much cheaper. Their full bumper and guard is $715 while the bolt- on grille guard is $370. I cant speak about the guard firsthand but their big bumper is pretty sweet, i ran one for a little over a year before i sold it. More and more often i regret it too.


Idk if i posted it yet but about a week and a half to 2 weeks ago i redid my exhaust with 3" duals. In love. Yesterday i spent the day doing an electric fan conversion and I'm very happy with the results, that oem thunderbird fan pulls seriously stupid air. I also recommend not playing around with fan removal unless you have the tool to hold the water pump pulley. Either buy one, rent one or build one if you can weld. DO NOT attempt to make studs to put in the holes and use a bar to brace against them in the effort of being cheap. They will fall into the area behind the pulley and not have room to come out... ask me how i know. I also recommend using a nice fan controller kit like i did unless you're an electrician. In that case, do whatever you want you know better.

Now, pics i promised of the 315s on instead of the 285s

 

[Yeret]

Wow, I wish my truck looked that clean. Damned rust really did a number on the panels on mine this year. At least the frame is still pretty clean. Despite dropping some heavy cash on the Duratracs and my Ranch Hand (awaiting installation!), I'm sitting much better financially than I anticipated. It is way high time to do some body work before rust turns to holes...

Also, what color is that? Hunter Green? Looks like the same silver second-tone like mine, which, if I ever repaint my truck, will probably disappear. Like pops, I'm kind of a single-color person, LOL.

That company that you cited, they aren't the same guys that make those "Outlaw" bumpers that I spotted here, are they? I gave serious thought to replacing the entire bumper but I trust the Ram OEM unit a hell of a lot more than other OEM "bumpers," hence why I opted for a simple grille guard, the grille area being a major weak point in our trucks. I've seen what foam-backed plastic bumpers do in a deer hit: **** all of nothing. If my dad had any sort of front-end protection on his old Expedition, he'd still have that truck. Seems our second-gen steel bumpers don't do half too bad. They bend and warp pretty good but they don't just totally give up and let the obstacle just barge through and destroy everything. Plus, what can I say, the grille guard on top of the OEM bumper just looks awesome. Looks very "blended," almost like it came from the factory which is just the look that I like.

 

[jlbayes]

New injection pump, new water pump, and new thermostat. Yay me!