[roll-bar Bob]

Well it was time for another truck payment, which included 150 dollars worth of tie rods and a rear break line. I still need to take it in for an alignment but at least it does not feel like the tires are wobbling all over the road. The day is coming when it will be time for something different but for now she is back on the road. Before winter she is going to need a new set of tires but I wanted to get this done, so I can get it aligned first.

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[wrath]

Keep an eye on all the Detroit Axle stuff you buy. Half the shit I've bought I have sent back and what I didn't send back has been averaging a lifetime of roughly 1/3rd of the cheapest garbage RockAuto sells on any given day. I don't even look at Detroit Axle for impossible-to-fuck-up things after the last set of rotors I picked up were ounces out of balance.

Edit: The rest of the Detroit Axle stuff was exceptional value for quality though.

 

[roll-bar Bob]

Keep an eye on all the Detroit Axle stuff you buy. Half the shit I've bought I have sent back and what I didn't send back has been averaging a lifetime of roughly 1/3rd of the cheapest garbage RockAuto sells on any given day. I don't even look at Detroit Axle for impossible-to-fuck-up things after the last set of rotors I picked up were ounces out of balance.

Edit: The rest of the Detroit Axle stuff was exceptional value for quality though.

Well Shit that would have been nice to know 4 days ago!!! It is in and staying there till it isn't, the only saving grace is this rust bucket only gets around 5K to 6K a year on it these days.


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[roll-bar Bob]

Came out of TSC yesterday and thought I don't recall seeing that much of my GOT MUD sticker, well it looks like it is time for a Flatbed as the front mounts are toast.

Anyone have any experience with these cheep flatbeds I have no desire to drop 4 to 5 k in a fancy one, or should I weld up my own sometime this winter.

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[Cool Hand Luke]

I'm not sure but I've been eying them. My 06 Ram is a longbed in need of a bed as well. Really looking for aluminum but for what seems double the price I'll probably end up with something similar to the one you posted. Just waiting for my bed to cave in as yours has.

 

[roll-bar Bob]

I'm not sure but I've been eying them. My 06 Ram is a longbed in need of a bed as well. Really looking for aluminum but for what seems double the price I'll probably end up with something similar to the one you posted. Just waiting for my bed to cave in as yours has.

It is real entertaining watching it bounce all over the place while busting down a washboard back road.

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[Cool Hand Luke]

It is real entertaining watching it bounce all over the place while busting down a washboard back road.

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Oh I bet.. It's paid for damnit ! At a crossroads with mine, had it 3 or 4 years now. Still low miles around 155k. Needs enough work and a bed but I'm sure I'll keep it movin right along. Following to see what your washboard solution ends up being.

 

[roll-bar Bob]

I have come to a moral dilemma with the old Ram over the past 30 years of driving piles of shit, I have adopted a couple rules, one being when the AC goes out the POS goes to the road to find a new owner. Unfortunately, we are at that point in the old girl’s life, but I don't know if I can let her go, we have had 20 years of trials and tribulations. The shit she has got me out of and the adventures we have had, make this decision so hard. The list of little things that have just stopped working over the years that I have grown to except and ignore is getting longer and longer. The pile of EPA bullshit they now mandate on all the new rigs has me saying no f-ing way am I dropping 70 to 90 grand on a new replacement.

I am flying to Nashville in a few weeks for a bachelor party and I have been scouring Marketplace for something to drive home, but don't know if I want to pull the trigger on that quite yet. A year ago my cousin picked up a 1979 f350 12 valve swap for me down in Texas, that I was super stoked to get my hands on only to have it stolen from his drive in Houston, before he could deliver it up here. We had one hell of a time getting his insurance to reimburse me on that one, we got there though. At that time, I took it as a sign that I needed to keep the Ram on the road, but she is slowly indicating it is time for me to let her go. Thoughts???



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[CSFJ]

Usually junkyard parts availability and body rot are the factors I go by when deciding if it's time to punt one. (I've always had really strangely good luck with the a/c in all my shit boxes.) I don't mind doing the repairs as long as they still come apart decently, but once it gets to the point that the majority of the bolts are constantly fighting me due to rust, that's where I draw the line. Current pos is an '01 saturn wagon with 425k on the body. Except for an unending hunger for front wheel bearings, it's been a decent car and I'll probably have it for a while longer. It is getting harder to find some parts for it in the wrecking yards though.

 

[roll-bar Bob]

Just a quick list of items

bed
driver side door
rockers both sides
rear door locks
front fenders
hood
AC things
blower motor sounds like the mouse in side wants out
cruse control gave up years ago
set of tires
I have around 4 years on this trans will need an update someday soon
I have around 4 years on my straight pipe she is about gone also
She has a little under 900k on her and at the rate I drive her now she only gets around 6 to 7 K a year now, so that last 100 k might take some time.

And at 6 to 7 K per year it makes no sense to go by a new one


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[roll-bar Bob]

This past weekend on a road trip to Battle Creek the old girl started high pitch whistling, it sounded like a idler pulley but shortly there after she started barfing oil out her vent tube and running really ruff at idle. She puked around a half gallon on the way to BC and after topping her off on our return trip she lost around a gallon on the way back home. She runs great at high RPMs but smokes and shakes at low RPMs, a quick Google search is telling me I have a $120 vacuum pump that has gone to rest, does anyone have any experience with something like this giving up?



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[roll-bar Bob]

Well said vacuum pump replacement will not repair the hole burned in piston number 6 so at this time I have a very smoky 5 cylinder Cummins that we don't park on anyone's clean concrete. I have been limiting its trips away from the farm to around 15 Miles. It still fires right up and runs like a scolded dog in fact the Little Man has been able to talk me into increasing the frequency of our "BIG SMOKY BURN-OUTS". Friday night on our way home from dinner up town we gave her a little to much and are smoky burn-out turned into a sparkler it was super exciting for the little man. Luckily the spare under the bed still has half tread on it because this one is done doing smoke shows.

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[SHARPMACHINE]

Farm truck is getting closer to retirement....

 

[roll-bar Bob]

Just a little update, the Ram is still doing Ran Things, it don't seem to care about having a dead cylinder, so as long as it keeps firing up we keep using it. I make an effort to keep it close to the farm, and know its time is limited.

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[SHARPMACHINE]

Crazy tough.

 

[greygoose]

You got your moneys worth out of that old girl.

Hopefully it's reliability has earned it a new Cummins sibling.

 

[roll-bar Bob]

You got your moneys worth out of that old girl.

Hopefully it's reliability has earned it a new Cummins sibling.

Unfortunately Cummins don't make them like that anymore, right now I am tangled up in a legal battle with my Township and my future truck payments are going straight to our lawyer for the foreseeable future. When this gets resolved I am leaning towards a crew cab F450 as I found the limits of a one ton way to often with the Ram.


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[greygoose]

Unfortunately Cummins don't make them like that anymore, right now I am tangled up in a legal battle with my Township and my future truck payments are going straight to our lawyer for the foreseeable future. When this gets resolved I am leaning towards a crew cab F450 as I found the limits of a one ton way to often with the Ram.


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Understood. I was wondering how things were going with the township. Hopefully everything turns out ok.

 

[roll-bar Bob]

The Ram doing Ram things

Everything was going great until it wasn't, got the Hay home and stacked in the barn, was running the empty trailer 2 miles up the road to my old Man's place, when it tossed its serpentine belt, She got HOT QUICK !!! and is now resting in my Dad's yard. It was way to hot to go exploring for reasons last nigh, I think that was the OEM belt it could have just given up or one of my pulleys might be the culprit, this weekend we will know more.

update

Played with everything under the hood found this mess rapped around the crank pulley about 2 million times, quick trip to the zone and 60 dollars later and it's alive again !!!

RLB

 

[roll-bar Bob]

This thing is still starting so I keep using it.

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