cbturf
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- brentwood, tn
This is gonna be a pretty long start to this thread because I have a lot to say about my new baby and our first adventure!
First off about the truck. I think I got a good one! Like I said earlier it did not even have to go on a battery charger to get it running. There were several other "clues" that make me think I really got a mechanical winner. The most obvious one is the fact that I just drove it over 2900 miles last week to include a trek across southern Arizona and the even hotter central Oklahoma and she did not so much as sneeze at the heat. It was a very balmy 113 according to Weather.com when I passed through Wednesday. The final push home I did not stop except to get fuel and check the oil.
To get the truck ready I had safe Autocare pick it up and do the things I could not do in a roadside emergency. I was afraid of old grease to I had them clean and re-pack all of the wheel bearings. They added a tranny cooler because I planned to pull my trailer home from NM. They also serviced the transfer case and rear end for me. The belts and hoses are new and in great shape. It had a hang tag on the top radiator hose of 8-23-2010.
One stop in New Mexico I noticed a lovely red puddle forming under the front end. Since I had a tranny cooler added I did not panic and pulled the flashlight out and found that one of the lines had sprung a small leak. So I dug through the toolbox found a 1/2 open end wrench and a few F-Bombs a couple burns and other assorted profanity I had the line tightened up and wiped clean. About 1200 miles since then and not so much as another drip.
The truck starts as good as my 2011 6.7 Powerstroke! I barely touch the key and it is running. It drives beautifully also, even though I was only running 55 mph max there were no shakes or shimmies and it drove straight and good enough that I could use my knee to steer and still work a cheeseburger.
I has plenty of power for what it is. I do not plan to add anything except 33 inch tires and maybe 2 1/2 inches of lift for looks. In the pics you can see the mountain Sierra Blanca. She tops out at 12,001 feet and the truck went to the base of the ski area which is well over 10,000 feet and pulled herself around fine. The climb up to Cloudcroft from Alamogordo gains over 6000 feet in 16 miles (thats steep) and there are flat spots and the truck just black smoked a little more and ran 50 mph all the way to the top of over 9000 feet. Long story short power is fine for what I want even at very high elevations.
When I got home I dove underneath and found a great surprise, or the surprise is what I didn't find...no rust! none zip zero. There is a spot or two on the body metal but none has eaten through.
The next nice discovery was all of the new wiring. All of the wires seem either brand new or pretty new. I could hardly believe this and had to take some pics. It has a 24V Solargizer and the batteries are great. One little scare that I had just gave me even more confidence in the truck. I pulled into a Loves travel store in Clovis New Mexico and went inside and paid for the fuel and put about 16 gallons in her. It was 1:00 AM and I did not notice that the only fuel they were selling was B20. I know the truck will nearly run on cow pee so not worried other than the fact that B20 will disolve EVERYTHING in the fuel tank and clog filters. I just resigned myself to the fact that I was in store for a middle of the night roadside fuel filter change. The filter change never happened! the B20 never lets me down so I can only assume that the fuel tank is very clean also. I can see that the skid plate has been recently removed so I am guessing that it is either freshly cleaned or new fuel tank.
I have already been on the phone to nostalgic air and the AC kit will not be in until the end of the month or maybe later. It WILL have AC before next year!! As I sit here waiting for the pics to load I also wanted to mention how this truck and trip has led me to focus on my church life too...If the devil keeps his place half as hot as Oklahoma I want no part of it!! also don't you guys love the flowery suitcase I had to use, it got in the photo over the Mississippi river. Thought about photoshopping it out but I am married, some of you guys have had to do worse things than carry a flowery suitcase.
First off about the truck. I think I got a good one! Like I said earlier it did not even have to go on a battery charger to get it running. There were several other "clues" that make me think I really got a mechanical winner. The most obvious one is the fact that I just drove it over 2900 miles last week to include a trek across southern Arizona and the even hotter central Oklahoma and she did not so much as sneeze at the heat. It was a very balmy 113 according to Weather.com when I passed through Wednesday. The final push home I did not stop except to get fuel and check the oil.
To get the truck ready I had safe Autocare pick it up and do the things I could not do in a roadside emergency. I was afraid of old grease to I had them clean and re-pack all of the wheel bearings. They added a tranny cooler because I planned to pull my trailer home from NM. They also serviced the transfer case and rear end for me. The belts and hoses are new and in great shape. It had a hang tag on the top radiator hose of 8-23-2010.
One stop in New Mexico I noticed a lovely red puddle forming under the front end. Since I had a tranny cooler added I did not panic and pulled the flashlight out and found that one of the lines had sprung a small leak. So I dug through the toolbox found a 1/2 open end wrench and a few F-Bombs a couple burns and other assorted profanity I had the line tightened up and wiped clean. About 1200 miles since then and not so much as another drip.
The truck starts as good as my 2011 6.7 Powerstroke! I barely touch the key and it is running. It drives beautifully also, even though I was only running 55 mph max there were no shakes or shimmies and it drove straight and good enough that I could use my knee to steer and still work a cheeseburger.
I has plenty of power for what it is. I do not plan to add anything except 33 inch tires and maybe 2 1/2 inches of lift for looks. In the pics you can see the mountain Sierra Blanca. She tops out at 12,001 feet and the truck went to the base of the ski area which is well over 10,000 feet and pulled herself around fine. The climb up to Cloudcroft from Alamogordo gains over 6000 feet in 16 miles (thats steep) and there are flat spots and the truck just black smoked a little more and ran 50 mph all the way to the top of over 9000 feet. Long story short power is fine for what I want even at very high elevations.
When I got home I dove underneath and found a great surprise, or the surprise is what I didn't find...no rust! none zip zero. There is a spot or two on the body metal but none has eaten through.
The next nice discovery was all of the new wiring. All of the wires seem either brand new or pretty new. I could hardly believe this and had to take some pics. It has a 24V Solargizer and the batteries are great. One little scare that I had just gave me even more confidence in the truck. I pulled into a Loves travel store in Clovis New Mexico and went inside and paid for the fuel and put about 16 gallons in her. It was 1:00 AM and I did not notice that the only fuel they were selling was B20. I know the truck will nearly run on cow pee so not worried other than the fact that B20 will disolve EVERYTHING in the fuel tank and clog filters. I just resigned myself to the fact that I was in store for a middle of the night roadside fuel filter change. The filter change never happened! the B20 never lets me down so I can only assume that the fuel tank is very clean also. I can see that the skid plate has been recently removed so I am guessing that it is either freshly cleaned or new fuel tank.
I have already been on the phone to nostalgic air and the AC kit will not be in until the end of the month or maybe later. It WILL have AC before next year!! As I sit here waiting for the pics to load I also wanted to mention how this truck and trip has led me to focus on my church life too...If the devil keeps his place half as hot as Oklahoma I want no part of it!! also don't you guys love the flowery suitcase I had to use, it got in the photo over the Mississippi river. Thought about photoshopping it out but I am married, some of you guys have had to do worse things than carry a flowery suitcase.
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