Stayed up late last night after class and built the traction bars. I put some miles on them this morning driving out to a dyno day about 30 minutes south of town and they don't seem to have any bad side effects as far as ride quality goes.
CK5
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2005 Dodge Cummins: Tow Rig/ DD/ Do-all truck
- Thread starter Avery4jc
- Start date
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Sweet stuff. Simple and effective.
Knocked out the entire bag project today.
I went down to the shop and machined some solid aluminum cradles to make all this work. So the idea here is with just a couple pounds in the bags to keep their shape I have 2" of travel until the bag hits the cradle then the bags themselves will compress at least 3" beyond that before they bottom out (I compressed an empty one in the vise). So I have 5"+ of up-travel and obviously no limitations on droop.
With some weight on the hitch or in the bed the bags can be inflated and they just sit in the cups.
It all seems to work well in the driveway, only time will tell but I'm pretty confident in the whole setup. Never mind the soapy water all over everything in the pics, it was from leak testing the lines. The rear pinion seal is another story and is on the to-do list.
I went down to the shop and machined some solid aluminum cradles to make all this work. So the idea here is with just a couple pounds in the bags to keep their shape I have 2" of travel until the bag hits the cradle then the bags themselves will compress at least 3" beyond that before they bottom out (I compressed an empty one in the vise). So I have 5"+ of up-travel and obviously no limitations on droop.
With some weight on the hitch or in the bed the bags can be inflated and they just sit in the cups.
It all seems to work well in the driveway, only time will tell but I'm pretty confident in the whole setup. Never mind the soapy water all over everything in the pics, it was from leak testing the lines. The rear pinion seal is another story and is on the to-do list.
I pulled the stock pan and installed the updated governor pressure solenoid and sensor this morning along with a new Mopar filter. Topped it off with my new plus size pan. I measured what came out vs what I put in and it held a little over 3 quarts over stock.
Punched a hole in the stocker so I didn't have to cover myself in tranny fluid. It's going in the scrap pile anyways.
When I was at the dealer this morning I picked up a new yoke seal for the AAM 11.5" out back. It's leaking a little so that's next on the list.
Punched a hole in the stocker so I didn't have to cover myself in tranny fluid. It's going in the scrap pile anyways.
When I was at the dealer this morning I picked up a new yoke seal for the AAM 11.5" out back. It's leaking a little so that's next on the list.
EXACTLY how I have always thought air bags should be set up. Good work avery.
One of the 96 burb's i had came with some bags. I hated how they restricted travel unloaded, and i ripped them off immediately.
Hope they work as good as they look like they will!
One of the 96 burb's i had came with some bags. I hated how they restricted travel unloaded, and i ripped them off immediately.
Hope they work as good as they look like they will!
Daystar sells cups to do it. I'm not sure it's really necessary with my stock springs but at least I don't have to worry now. They do make some noise though when they hit. I get a solid "clunk" when I hit a driveway or speed bump hard.
good to know, I have a set on my 99, and use them to level the truck after hooking up the trailer...depending on the trailer, sometimes the equalizer bars don't make it quite level.
Gauges showed up! AutoMeter with the Dodge faces. Also sprung the extra coin for the full sweep trans temp gauge. Makes it a little easier to see exactly where I'm at.
Chevysmithz71 and I had some "fun" playing log cabin builders tonight.
Our church has a big camp ground up in the mountains we're jointly responsible with some other churches to maintain. One of the projects needs some poles to get some lines out of the trees.
Ryan supplied the poles and I'm hauling them up. Someone else can deal with setting them.
Our church has a big camp ground up in the mountains we're jointly responsible with some other churches to maintain. One of the projects needs some poles to get some lines out of the trees.
Ryan supplied the poles and I'm hauling them up. Someone else can deal with setting them.
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Nice gauges! And nice poles! 
LIVEAnimals
1/2 ton status
Im sure your trans was much happier with you on that pull
Made the drive with the poles up in the mountains last Saturday without any issues. Not sure what kind of weight it all was but it pulled it just fine even on the steep grades.
Delivery and unloading.
I had grown very accustomed to how loud my old 12 valve was and this truck just wasn't cutting it even with the muffler gone. I left the cat but chopped out the rest and welded up a sweeping bend and my tip that dumps right after the cat. Sounds deeper and all around just plain awesome.
I have a mid-term for school this week plus I'm going back up to that camp Thursday evening so I don't have much spare time to tinker on the truck this week. I did drag my dad out last night after work to lend a hand installing the gauges though. Everything fit perfect and now I know where everything is running which is good peace of mind even without a tuner on the truck.
Delivery and unloading.
I had grown very accustomed to how loud my old 12 valve was and this truck just wasn't cutting it even with the muffler gone. I left the cat but chopped out the rest and welded up a sweeping bend and my tip that dumps right after the cat. Sounds deeper and all around just plain awesome.
I have a mid-term for school this week plus I'm going back up to that camp Thursday evening so I don't have much spare time to tinker on the truck this week. I did drag my dad out last night after work to lend a hand installing the gauges though. Everything fit perfect and now I know where everything is running which is good peace of mind even without a tuner on the truck.
Looks good.
Quick word of advice, you shouldn't idle with the trans in park. Unless the valvebody has been modified it doesn't pump fluid in park. Why Dodge built it like that I don't know, but that's what I was told by a couple different transmission guys.
Quick word of advice, you shouldn't idle with the trans in park. Unless the valvebody has been modified it doesn't pump fluid in park. Why Dodge built it like that I don't know, but that's what I was told by a couple different transmission guys.
Yes that's true, stock valve bodies in 48re's don't pump in Park. That's why there's a check valve that keeps fluid from completely draining back in the pan when you shut it off. Some guys remove it but the truck won't move until it's been in gear or neutral long enough to pump fluid through the system again.
You can idle in Park it just won't move the fluid and cool.
What's up with you and white trucks? 
How do you like the auto vs the old NV4500?
How do you like the auto vs the old NV4500?
What's up with you and white trucks?
Cause white trucks are the best. Only color i will buy.
What's up with you and white trucks?
How do you like the auto vs the old NV4500?
I live in the desert. It's stupid hot and white is the best. Plus white trucks with black rims are cool.
I like not having to row gears on my daily commute and it shifts fast without having to respool the turbo. We'll see how it holds up though.
Truck has been good. During a tire rotation I found my upper passenger balljoint was going bad. I'm trying hard on this truck to just do what needs to be done and not turn everything into a massive project.
So with that said I spent a couple hours after work last Friday night and pulled it apart, put in a new MOOG joint and called it a day. Problem solved, truck tracks straight again and tires should wear evenly.
Nothing out of the ordinary. It all came apart rather quickly and I had the old joint out and the new one in and put back together within a couple hours.
On a recent trip to the dunes I blew up my front driveshaft pulling my empty car trailer through some really soft sand. Fast forward to this week when I finally got around to getting a new shaft built and I find out the front 1350 CV was a complete piece of junk. The previous owner bought a brand new eBay (first problem) shaft and the quality of the parts the shop used was a joke. So I went down to driveline service of Fresno who built the shafts and has re-tubed them when I bend them in the k10. Look at the difference in the 1350 I broke and the one my local shop uses. You get what you pay for folks.
So after this expensive little sidetrack I'm back to working on the stuff that actually needs to get done. I'm starting preliminary plans to build a nice rack for the back of the Dodge to haul my UTV. Chevysmithz71 and I are going to Huckfest in Pismo October 18th so it kind of needs to be done by then.
So with that said I spent a couple hours after work last Friday night and pulled it apart, put in a new MOOG joint and called it a day. Problem solved, truck tracks straight again and tires should wear evenly.
Nothing out of the ordinary. It all came apart rather quickly and I had the old joint out and the new one in and put back together within a couple hours.
On a recent trip to the dunes I blew up my front driveshaft pulling my empty car trailer through some really soft sand. Fast forward to this week when I finally got around to getting a new shaft built and I find out the front 1350 CV was a complete piece of junk. The previous owner bought a brand new eBay (first problem) shaft and the quality of the parts the shop used was a joke. So I went down to driveline service of Fresno who built the shafts and has re-tubed them when I bend them in the k10. Look at the difference in the 1350 I broke and the one my local shop uses. You get what you pay for folks.
So after this expensive little sidetrack I'm back to working on the stuff that actually needs to get done. I'm starting preliminary plans to build a nice rack for the back of the Dodge to haul my UTV. Chevysmithz71 and I are going to Huckfest in Pismo October 18th so it kind of needs to be done by then.
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Good job! And I always like seeing pics of a nice big shaft!
