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RE: Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 2 Tires
Not sure what makes the (2) different from the regular Ravo's but I got the highest load rating I think E's for the Excursion.
They are total garbage I would never buy them again. My mechanic thinks the same thing.
Couldn't pass on the deal though. Set of 4 265 Ravo's, centerline rims with caps and nuts, $200 with about 200 miles on them. The previous owner was a friend and he didn't care for them so basicly gave them to me, wealthy bus. owner.
By way of comparison I've had super luck with two sets of BGF AT's and so far have been extremely impressed with a set of Nitto TG's. For the money the Nitto is a bargain.
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dougger222
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12/08/09 08:55am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: still broke down
My wife let me drive her to Maine for our honeymoon were we stayed for a few weeks. On our way back we had a seal go out in the tranny which left us stranded in a strange town at the mercy of the Ford dealership. It was not a good feeling nor a fun time. We met some nice people to help pass the two days we were without the pick up.
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dougger222
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11/27/09 06:57pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Spied: 2011 Silverado 3500HD
Looks like the rear dually fenders are molded into the box just like the new Fiat Ram dually. Looks good on both trucks but not cheap to fix if you bump something. I know a blow out can cause regular detachable dually fenders to break or come off wonder how they hold up being molded into the bed?
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dougger222
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11/21/09 05:39am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: F250 fuel filter price - ouch
WalMart stocks Motorcraft fuel filters. Cheaper than I can buy them, and I'm in the business.
I see the stock the Motorcraft PSD oil filter for dirt cheap but never seen any Motorcraft PSD fuel filters at WM.
BTW, been buying the cheap fuel filters at Auotozone and think they run something like $15 or $16 each.
Cheap but not nearly as cheap as the two cases of Purolator oil filter for the PSD's I bought at Sears a few years ago. $2.99 per filter. One day I went to buy more and they wanted $12.99 each. Haven't been back since!
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dougger222
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11/19/09 07:16pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Ford F-350 diesel smell in cab
I've had this same problem occure on all three PSD's over the past two years. It seemed that when they hit 7 years old you could smell diesel in the cab.
Rather than go to Ford and spend over $100 an hour decided to try TDS for some help. After trying the search option found plenty of posts with the exact same issue.
Here's what I learned and here's the fix for the most common problem anyways.
On the top of the motor under the PSD plastic badging is the fuel filter bowl. On the bottom side of that bowl were the filter sits in there's a yellow plastic lever which when turned one way will empty out the fuel in the bowl (this is the cleanest way to swap out the filter). The small o-rings on that fuel seperator valve will fail as they are in contact with diesel fuel. The research I did kept comming up with a Viton o-ring fix for a few cents. As my research continued I found you had to order a lot of the Viton o-rings in order to make a purchase. Got three myself but I don't need an extra hundred o-rings laying around. There were TDS members who were selling two Viton o-rings shipped for $5 which is all you need for the repair. The emails to these members never got returned so I decided to buy right from Ford. The kit Ford sells comes with the valve which you don't need and they cost around $40 per kit. My dealership is open until midnight so buying from them was a lot easier than off the internet.
My mechanic did the repair on the three PSD's but I have to tell you it looks like a very easy fix.
As far as leaking only the Excursion actually leaked diesel fuel which came out near the torque convertor cover which had me thinking originaly that my seal had failed and that the fluid was tranny fluid rather than diesel fuel (this is why I have a very good trusted mechanic!). The other two PSD's never leaked a drop of fluid out the bottom but you could still smell fuel in the cab.
This may not be your problem but if I had to bet my money would be on the fuel seperator 0-rings.
Other than this problem I have never had any other diesel fuel leak related issues with the PSD's and there mileage is, 174K, 204K, and 274K miles.
Good Luck!!!
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dougger222
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11/04/09 12:16pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: They are on their way
That new Fiat dually is sharp. Sort of funny to think an Italian owned company is having it's new trucks made in Mexico. I bet the workers in Mexico are happy. Of course Ford makes some dually's in Mexico as well as the US.
I bet the rear fenders on the new Ford will look better when you start seeing them daily. Right now in pics they look strange. The Dodge's dually fenders look very sharp but it's a lot more body to clean and protect compared to the Ford. Wonder what it costs to replace a new Dodge dually box?
IF I spent the kind of money they want for a new fully loaded 1.25 ton dually I'd never want to drive it for fear it would get scratched or dented.
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dougger222
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10/23/09 06:46am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: F350 dually
Never towed with any of the vehicles with a sway control. All trailers are bumper pulled and the weights are closer to 15K lbs.
If any vehicle would need the sway control I would think it would be the F250. I recently towed for the first time with the Hellwig sway bar on the Excursion and towing it really seemed to help track straight a lot. It was a small load though about 10K lbs. Perhaps the F250 needs a little more work up front, 272K miles, the steering box may need to be adjusted.
The dually really has the advantage over the other two vehicles though. You can be going 65-70 and a jerk of the wheel really don't do much. This is of course as long as it's not loaded to heavy in the rear of the trailer. I do know a guy who flipped a F350 DRW and dump trailer though, on flat land!
You could always try the truck without the Hensley and if you feel you need it you got it. If you don't feel you need it anymore sell it.
Towing your trailer with a DRW from a Tundra will be night and day. Make sure to do some research on the 99 before you buy it. You can check an OASIS report at most Ford dealerships and there is a Ford diesel web site that allows you to enter the vin to check the OASIS for free.
Just so you know there are two different 1999 Super Duties, an early and a late version. All three of mine are the late versions and some say they are slightly better than the early version. Quite often if the PSD emblem is on the front fender it's early and if it's on the door it's late, but this is not always true. How many miles, how many owners, what condition, and how much for the DRW? Has it been chipped or programmed? Original tranny? Maintanence records available? If the truck is a private sale or at a small dealership I'd consider hiring a diesel mechanic to go over the truck. It could be the best $100-200 you ever spent.
Good luck with your decision!!!
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dougger222
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10/15/09 07:34am |
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RE: 1 Ton SRW conversion to DRW
You would be better off selling your SRW and buying a DRW.
I once overheard a guy in a parts store explaning to the worker he wanted to make a dually out of his F250 so he could save on the one ton tax. The worker sort of laughed and looked at me and I laughed too.
You can usually get a used long bed dually for less then a SRW used. Most people want short little trucks and not wide long ones.
If you did convert a SRW to a DRW your load capacity would actually go down since your adding all the weight and still have the factory weight limits.
The only thing I don't like about my DRW is the fuel mileage.
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dougger222
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10/11/09 10:40am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Tranmission problem
Had this same problem going up Mount Washington a few years ago in the F250. By the top the truck didn't go anymore. Lost about 10 quarts of fluid and had to be towed down. The local Ford dealership said the torque converto and seal was toast but the tranny was good. At the time I was 4K mile past the warranty on the rebuilt Ford tranny.
That tranny ended up lasting 169K miles, twice as many as the original.
A friend of mine had the same problem last year and he's still on the same seal, torque convertor, and tranny.
IMO, this is the weakest link in the tranny, heat shrinking the seal, causing a leak.
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dougger222
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10/11/09 10:29am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: With one less letter Ram should fit
Those Dodge brothers must be rolling in their graves.
They have been spinning since 1998. After 10 years, the Daimler parasites sucked their once great company dry. Time will tell how the Fiat bunch handles things.
I don't know. Didn't they almost or did go into brancruptcy in the 70's or 80's? I think it was Ioccoca(sp?) who saved them?
Used to have a bunch of the turbo/shelby dodge cars of the 80's from 83-89 and have to admit they were real garbage. Even the show cars broke down and they were trailered to the shows!!!
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dougger222
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10/08/09 07:11am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Who hates diesel?
In the past 8 years have racked up close to 400K miles between the three diesels. 8 years ago diesel was 20-40 cents a gallon cheaper than gas. A year or so ago I found myself paying as much as 80 cents a gallon more for diesel than for gas. Lately it's been 30-40 cents a gallon more for diesel.
One drawback to drivng diesel is not every filling station carries diesel fuel and course in the past couple years the higher cost for diesel fuel compared to gasoline.
Top Gear sure has had a lot of nice passenger cars and suv's running on diesel fuel. We get 50 mpg out of a diesel car here they seem to get 60-75+ mpg there.
Diesel is for sure the future just wished it would come back down to being cheaper than 87 octane fuel.
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dougger222
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10/03/09 12:02pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Towing over weight legal or not?
The problem I see with the actual weight police our should I just call them by there real name, DOT is that they only seem to police commercial vehicles and leave the recreational vehicles, trailers alone.
If I'm towing one of the dump trailers and behind 10 trucks towing campers, horse trailers, or whatever for personal use and the DOT is sitting doing a fund raiser on the side of the road they will let all the campers by and make me stop for inspection.
Been stopped more than once by the DOT, they give warnings the first time and tickets every time after that.
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dougger222
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08/28/09 07:37am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Diesel oil changes-how often?
I also can tell when I'm either due for an oil change or low on oil. The noise is hard to explain but after running behind the wheel for over 200K miles you know when it starts.
The 7.3's are tough motors. From time to time have gotten lazy and forget to check the oil. More than once have put a gallon of oil in only to finally see oil on the dipstick. I know others who have said the same thing.
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dougger222
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08/13/09 09:03pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: What can I tow?
A few of my neighbors have newer Ferrari's and Lamborginis(sp?). Every time I see the cars I find myself doing the full body turn!!!
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dougger222
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08/13/09 07:47am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Power Stroke v Duramax
I've done a little research on Cummins, Duramax, and Powerstroke.
Three years ago decided it was time for a dually so went on diesel forums for all three brands. Wanted to buy used and my budget was around $20K. The price gave me the option for early Duramaxes (no thanks for the 6.5), second generation Cummins, and 7.3 Powerstroke.
The 01 and 02 Duramaxes seemed to have a lot of problems with the injectors and what seemed to be a poorly designed fuel filtration system. A lot of owners were under the extended injector warranty but still had to pay for injectors for puttind dirty diesel fuel into there tanks. The idea of an Isuzu motor didn't do it for me either.
The second generation Cummings seemed like a better choice but the more research I did the more I realized it wouldn't be a fit for me. Not wanting to drive a manual the auto tranny in the pre 03 Cummins/Dodge had me very nervous. All my in laws drive Dodge and all have have tranny failures and none are diesel! The list was things like,
#53 blocks or as mechanics call them "boat anchors"
clock springs
lift pumps
injector pumps
Oh, and you have to deal with the Dodge body and frame.
That pretty much made my choice to find the lowest mileage cleanest forged rod motor 7.3 Powerstroke and I couldn't be happier. Take that back, the fuel mileage could be better!
I asked a 20 year diesel mechanic once what was better Powerstroke or Cummins. He said it's possible to get cavitation in the cylinders walls in the Powerstroke but it's much more common to have a $2K injector pump failure in a Cummins.
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dougger222
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08/13/09 07:35am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Diesel oil changes-how often?
I change the oil (Rotella T) in the F250 and F350 every 8-10K miles.
I change the oil (Rotella T synthetic) in the Excursion every 18-20K miles.
Total miles around 670K never any motor issues.
The old myth with gassers was every 3K miles and diesels 5K miles. In all reality you can go a lot longer.
Cummins told Dodge with it's newer diesel motors oil changes are needed every 15K miles.
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dougger222
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08/13/09 07:18am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: F-350
Stability.
Quite often I'll tow the same trailer load with both the F250 and F350 DRW and it's like night and day difference between the two. With some of the larger loads it's white knuckle driving with the SRW and then one hand on top of the wheel with the DRW.
The DRW will cost you more in the long run than the SRW but if you tow enough it will be worth every penny.
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dougger222
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08/13/09 07:11am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Ford
Lets see your looking for a new car "American made".
Your options are,
Fiat
Obama Motors,
and
FORD.
One would think that would be a very simple choice. I know what I'd pick. If I were the only roofer in my state that was not run by the government don't know what that would be like. If the government took over my business I bet it would be broke in a couple months.
GM and Dodge wouldn't have been able to get the loans Ford did because of there horrible financial situtation going back a few years.
What confuses me the most is all the Ford or Furd??? Haters on here. Posting on a Ford thread not liking them would be like taking out two fat chicks on a date when you go around saying you don't like fat chicks. Or it would be like putting lipstick on a ugly chick. It wouldn't matter how much you put on she's still going to be ugly.
BTW, in my sig you'll find other makers than Ford.
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dougger222
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08/04/09 06:27am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: New Excursion Tires
I have noticed with brand new tires they can be squirmey for a little while.
After seeing so many posts from owners of X's who put on the Hellwig rear sway bar and loved them finally decided to buy one. After sitting in the basement for over a year had my mechanic put it on recently and WOW what a difference.
For once you can take corners without that sway feeling. Don't tow with the X much so don't know what it's like towing but would suspect better.
The Hellwig set up is worth every penny.
BTW, the X has E load 265 Ravo Duallers and they have been horrible. Will never buy that brand of tire again. For the kind of money they get for this brand and style of tire you would think they would be way better. Luckily got the tires and rims almost new for next to nothing.
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dougger222
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07/02/09 10:16am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: avg weight of a 3/4ton Suburban??
My wife has weighed her Excursion several times. With the back seat out and half a tank of fuel it averages around 8,100 lbs. She typicaly hauls around 2,000 lbs of pavers or rocks in it.
Of course that Navistar 7.3 V8 weighs a bit more than most big block gas motors. Also the 44 gallon tank adds a lot of fuel weight when full.
Even the Ford Excursion is said to be easily overloaded with people, cargo, and pin weight. What I know is when loaded heavy it will squat a bit but with the dieel motor it pulls good. Biggest load across the scales to date with dump trailer is 25,600 lbs.
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dougger222
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06/19/09 09:33am |
Tow Vehicles
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