That is not bad at all.




I don't have a picture of my most recent ticket but my weights were:

Front Axle: 3,600
Rear Axle: 6,700
Trailer Axles: 12,000

So far, we have not lost a tire on the truck and have towed at least 30,000 miles over the past 3 years. I do wish I could get some more weight on the front axles but we have the largest bars available for our hitch.

 

Yeah I don't get it.
I am thinking it's all bad luck or bad roads or a combination but after being "on the side of the road" this many times with damages and delays all at the hands of the truck something has to change.

 

I completely understand that one. I think I am overly cautious about my tires. They get rotated every 5k miles, no matter what. Of course I check my tire pressures before a big trip, but they also get check at 1k mile intervals when I check all my liquids as well as do a visual inspection around and under the truck.

 

should have just converted your excursion to a dually

 

Yeah they tend to take on a different likeness when out of the vehicle..!!

I think mine was sporting that chocolate milk face..

 

You won't be seeing pics of my old carpet. It has gone to it's final resting place already.

 

Ex had been parked beside camper all winter, moved it out front to plow the back road and get the Ex in the sun for the week.
Pulled the Ex up to the front. Not much snow left, snowfall has been far below normal, so hoping to drive to Grand Junction Thursday to take family to train station. Will be a good long hiway drive since it arrived in Dec.



siblings !

 

 

I'm really happy with how mine turned out, not one stain left, looks as clean as when new.

 

What was your process to clean it (especially the stains)? Mine is terrible, but it's also the light beige color, so that doesn't help...

 

Rudolph had a serious and rather profuse oil leak that was only getting worse, so he got some major love on St.Patty's day.

-New front crank seal
-New Harmonic Balancer and bolt
-Felpro Oil Cooler Seals
-New Radiator
-New Coolant temp Sender
-New Lower Radiator Hose
-6 Quarts of Mercon V
-4 Gallons of CJ-4 15w50
-1 Oil filter
-2 gallons of ELC

What I found:
-The harmonic balancer was well on it's way out. The rubber material wasn't too far from flinging itself out, a new, revised harmonic balancer fixed that.

-The oil cooler I paid to have redone back in 2011 since I was busy working was incorrectly sealed, causing a slow oil leak for the past 7 years. The shop had put the usual fat o-ring where it was supposed to go, but put two skinny o-rings on one side and not just one. Felpro kit solved that problem...this also explains why my oil filter was almost always covered in oil when it was oil change time.

-The front crank seal was torn and is why the oil leak I thought I fixed back in February only got worse. Further more, it seems that replacing the wear ring on the harmonic balancer, actually put it just out of place to where it would cause the leak. Nicmike had the tools for it, so we did the seal and harmonic balancer (replaced the wear ring on my old balancer) and it started as a slow leak and became the profuse one I had to deal with. So my advice to any of you regarding the wear ring on the harmonic balancer, just buy a new harmonic balancer. It also didn't help that I drove the crank seal in too far the first and second time I did this. After texting Clay, he confirmed that I went a little too far and I was able to knock the seal forward without destroying it. New harmonic balancer and crank seal = No more oil leaks.

-The radiator was in the early stages of cracking and since I was that deep in, I opted to warranty it out at the Irish. While I was letting the RTV set on the harmonic balancer key way, I got the radiator out and even though had the lines tilted up, they somehow managed to drain out 6 quarts of fluid which is enough for the trans not to be able to go into gear. 6 quarts of trans fluid later, it shifts like it should, but I still need to do a Mark Kovalski flush and filter change.

Bottom line: I now have a 7.3 that doesn't leak for the first time in 7 years. I'm happy, Rudolph is plenty happy now 17 years and 455K still running strong.

 

cant trust no one to do work on your stuff anymore, no one cares like you do about your stuff forsure. its a shame, back when so called mechanics were more then odbii computer plug in nerds it was allot better.

 

 

I use this ZEP product found at the Home Depot rental department, dilute maybe 3 water to 1 cleaner in a spray bottle, I sprayed the already dampened carpet, brushed gently with a tire sidewall brush, and thoroughly rinsed with the garden hose sprayer, then hung over my chain link fence in the sun to dry. I washed mine flat, would be better if you could clamp and hang the carpet, allowing for quicker rinse off, drainage, and helping to keep the padding from getting too wet, which would prolong the drying process. I use that cleaner for everything, use it strait and it'll make your hands feel slimy. It can be very strong. Made the grime on my seatbelts melt away the second it came in contact with them. It's pretty harmless to the nylon fibers.

 

Tell me more about the harmonic balancer, I'm sure mine is original, don't mind updating it if a revised one is avail, was also thinking of doing the low pressure oil pump refresh too. A simple puller is used for the harmonic, or something special?