I think it is good oil. Definitely a convention oil, but designed to last longer between changes without being synthetic or a synthetic blend.

Here's an interesting article: Delo 400 LE SAE 15W-40 Exposes the Semi-Synthetic Myth

In Chevron's testing, the oil did very well...even at a 70,000 mile oil drain test. But keep in mind, that was for an over-the-road heavy truck racking up those miles in a very short period. With this oil, I'd still personally be changing it every 5k miles...maybe stretch it to 7500 miles.

 

wow...she idles SO much smoother/quieter with the new oil...i will never go that long in between oil changes again. my torque wrench only goes down to 50, online says the oil pan is 15-22 ft/lbs and the filter is 19 ft/lbs, i just tightened down by hand, should be ok right? likely more than the suggested specs, but i have no way of doing it with the TW i have lol.

now onto the fuel filters, probably going to go do that now. i need to buy a new dipstick for the oil too, the plastic is cracked on mine. guess i don't NEED to, but probably will. i wonder if they make a new dipstick with a better tip on it, i HATE the stock oil dip stick tip...that stupid plastic thing on the end...my scion was like that too...why can't they just leave it metal lol...

oh and, my alternator came in! it went to the wrong address. there are still good people in this country, as the guy called me and said i had a package. i may have not found it otherwise! pics of the alt later tonight.

 

what brand/where should i buy the "updated" HFCM drain plug? is there ANY benefit to this other than having an easier way to unscrew it when needed vs the stock allen key that a lot i've read eventually strips out?

either this one: HFCM Water Separator Drain Plug Upgrade 6E7Z-9C082-A

or some go with the hex head and prefer that, but 16 bux aint bad so i think im gonna go with this one unless anyone else knows something better to go with.

 

ordered the blue spring kit from amazon, cheaper than anywhere else i could find plus free shipping. 61.99 shipped. should be here next week.

 

so far all i've done is the oil change (with filter) fuel filters, and...that's it LOL. going to check the stock (assuming stock) air filter to see how it looks at just 50k miles.

serp belt will get taken care of when i install my new alternator.

i was going to buy coolant the other day to do a coolant flush, but i wasn't sure what kind to get, so i need to read up on that (as well as how much to get for when you're doing a complete flush, unless you use distilled water to flush it which i think i read in the 6.0 section)

who runs a coolant filtration system? wondering if i should run one on my truck or not. if so, depending on price, i'd probably want to buy it and install it during the flush i would imagine?

 

thinking of ordering one of these now, and testing the fuel pressure before i install the blue spring kit, then again after. of course i don't need this to test it but i want easy access to it. i think i will mount a gauge in the truck eventually as well.

probably eventually one for the oil filter cap too.

https://www.accuratediesel.com/shop/284.html

 

blue spring kit came in, hopefully this weekend i'll get around to installing it. got a locking gas cap just for the hell of it, and a few other things coming in.

not going to do it now due to low funds and it's not something that NEEDS to be done, but i never really liked the 8" tip i bought. i like the size, in fact i want a 10" tip, but i don't like the transition from 4" to 8" (or 10") showing from behind the truck, as seen in this pic. now yes the truck is on ramps so it shows easier, but you can still see it. my only solution i can think of while still being able to stick with the 8 or 10 inch rolled edge tip that i want, is to get a 36" smoke stack tip and use that, the extra would just be tucked way under the bed, but you would only see the 8 or 10 inch tip from behind/side the truck, which is what i want. the tip is ~$175 bux, so when i can spare the money, i'm going to buy that and see how it works out.

 

i can either buy a pair or just get some metal at home depot or my buddies metal shop and bend it myself for cheaper more than likely, but i think this is a cool idea just to put small things and not have them fly all over the bed when driving.





also gonna make a divider similar to some of these, not sure if i'm going to use a 2x6/8 or something lighter. one guy said he used a couple pieces of privacy fence boards which are really light, that may work and it won't be heavy at all. although i'm not sure, because if you look at the 2 pics above, they have notches in them for a pole to act as a divider similar to a 2x6 divider.

 

what i was discussing in the post 2 posts above this about the exhaust tip, here's a better pic showing how my current tip isn't tucked under the truck nearly as much as i want it to be. ideally a ~26 inch tip would be perfect, but it's either the ebay tips that are 18" long max (what i have now) or the stack tip which are 30" long, or go custom, which will likely be way more expensive. i measured, and i think i can make the 30" fit, just gotta cut off and relocate 1 of the hangers.



locking gas cap just for the hell of it.



any ideas on putting this back on? the clips are kinda messed up. thinking some heavy duty adhesive/glue i can apply with a caulk gun, as well as a few screws (don't mind the screws showing, it'll only be like 4 or 5 screws)



i saw a thread a few days ago that ford makes some covers that go here to make it look like a full liner (i believe the older SD trucks had them, and for some reason ford stopped putting them on)...they aren't that expensive so i'm thinking of picking up a pair so that area isn't exposed. anyone have them (stock, or you added them)?



last but not least, thinking of picking up a few of these just to have for more tie down spots.

 

Liquid Nails or maybe some Loctite adhesive for the tailgate panel. Otherwise a great excuse for 2008+ tailgate.

 

I have those Bull Ring pop-up tie down anchors, and I love them, as does everyone else I know with them.

 

I like the rear bed corner pocket solutions. I think Ford even offers something similar called the Pivot Storage Box but it is not as versatile and more expensive as what you've shown.

Those plastic tailgate trim mouldings are about $90 from Ford or about $35 from Dorman. Its a pretty common thing to break on these trucks...I'd just get a new one.

As for the tip, I agree - the transition makes it look a bit silly. I'm personally not a fan of these oversized tips, but if you've got to have one, a longer transition piece would definitely look better.

 

Is the Dorman one worth getting?

 

I've never bought one of those trim pieces from Dorman, but I have bought a variety of aftermarket parts from Dorman. Some worked great and some failed quickly. I guess you could buy it, see if it looked pretty much the same, and use it. If it looked bad you could always ship it back. It is just a piece of plastic that should be molded exactly the same as the Ford molding.

 

ill look into it, thanks for the suggestion!