| |
Subject |
Author |
Date Posted |
Forum
|
 |
RE: Dodge 3500 (diesel) spare parts for Mexico trip?
Who said his 2007 model Dodge has a 6.7L? Mine is an 07, and it has a 5.9L...
|
ib516
|
12/02/08 04:40pm |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: Question for GM and Chevy Truck People
Heck - why choose? You can have both! I rememebr doing a PDI on a 1500 when I worked at my Dad's Chev/Olds dealership as a kid. The truck had a GMC emblem on one side, Chevy on the other! True story. Must have been made on a Friday...
|
ib516
|
12/02/08 04:30pm |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: Manual Transmission for Towing
Today's automatics have ECU controls and the firmware is optimized for "standard" or normal use, add an extraordinary towing load and you will likely be operating outside the optimal control aspects.
This is true - that's why most today have a tow/haul mode that changes the programming for best performance when towing or hauling heavy loads.
What will ahev the biggest effect on mpg is not necessarily whether the trans is manual or auto, but rather what the top OD ratio is...at least when you talk hwy mpg. For Dodge for example, the 47RE and 48RE both got a 0.69:1 ratio OD gear. The manual transmissions were geared lower (engine had to turn faster to go the same speed). In this case, the auto trans truck would get better mpg than the stick shift.
Each has their pros and cons. For the 75% of the time I use my car as a commuter vehicle, sometimes in city traffic, I prefer the auto. The T/H mode makes it work well when towing the RV too.
|
ib516
|
12/02/08 04:20pm |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: 2008 Dodge CTD First Oil Change
I do the ocassional oil analysis - not to extend drain intervals, but to check on what's going on inside the engine. Things like abnormal wear, fuel or coolant in oil are hard to detect with your eye, but a chemical analysis will pick it up.
|
ib516
|
12/02/08 09:49am |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: 60% off on new Dodge Ram pickups !
Sign of the times in the USA.
|
ib516
|
12/02/08 09:36am |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: jeep cheroke
Friction modifier is an oil addititve. It wears out, and needs to be replenished.
|
ib516
|
12/02/08 09:34am |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: Recommend timer for block heater for TV
I use this one:
http://www.shoptoit.ca/ss/media/7847000/7847320.jpg
It's made by a company called NOMA.
I have tried using mechanical timers, but they won't keep time in the cold. The cold slows the motor down that runs the "clock" and they get behind.
|
ib516
|
12/02/08 09:33am |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: Dodge 3500 (diesel) spare parts for Mexico trip?
Fuel filters AND the inch and an eighth socket needed to change them.
|
ib516
|
12/02/08 09:27am |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: Time to upgrade to a 2008/9 Tundra
Lots of manufacturers are going to the cartridge style ("canless") oil filter. They're easier to recycle.
|
ib516
|
12/02/08 09:23am |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: Grill Blocking for fuel savings
I have a screen front I use on my truck (and previous 2002 Dodge/Cummins truck) in the summer to keep the bug guts out of the rad when I am not towing. The one time I left it on while towing, my cooling fan engaged a lot more often. When towing the TT, and without the screen front (similar to window sceening), the cooling fan would only cycle on at or just after climbing a grade. With it on, it was on/off/on/off almost continously. When I tow, I take it off.
In the winter, I use a winter front with 2 little flaps that open 3" x 4" spaces or can be closed right off. It helps keep the engine warm in low load situations, and helps it warm up faster.
Here's what they look like, left is winter, right is screen:
http://www.truktoys.com/ViewImage2.aspx?img=1485&type=large
I see plenty of trucks in the CG with those stainless steel screen fronts on, and I shudder to think how the engine is surviving while towing a heavy trailer in the mountains with 50% of it's cooling airflow blocked off. I won't do that to my truck -- there's lots of cooling radiators up front on a modern turbo diesel truck; transmission, engine rad, intercooler, power steering cooler, a/c condenser, etc. They need some air if it's above 30*F / 0*C IMO.
http://www.weblogsinc.com/common/images/8931605514082462.JPG?0.5884535048791053
As you can see in this picture, the winter front and screen front only cover the grill opening. They do not cover the lower opening, just above the bumper, so there is still air getting through.
This one is a MOPAR accessory for extreme cold:
http://www.cumminsforum.com/gallery/data/500/coldcover.jpg
|
ib516
|
11/30/08 10:47pm |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: Chevy 1500 or 2500
If you plan to use it for towing, a 2500 is better all around. Beefier axles, trans, springs, shocks, etc. I'd go 2500.
|
ib516
|
11/30/08 07:42pm |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: Dodge's truncated bed
Differences in bed length have NO impact on 5th wheel towing. What does matter is the distance from the cab to the TV's rear axle. If the MegaCab has a shorter Cab-to-Axle (CA) measurement than the Quad Cab, then Edmunds might have a real point. I personally don't know if such a difference exists and so far no one else has provided the real answer. But a visit to the nearest Dodge truck dealer with a tape measure can provide some useful info.
The Mega and Quad are the same axle to cab measurements, since the beds are the same. The wheel openings are in the same place.
|
ib516
|
11/30/08 07:35pm |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: Engine light on the Dodge 6.7
What a 6.7 sounds like when it can breathe
I bet that is popular in the campground at 6am.....:B
|
ib516
|
11/28/08 04:35pm |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: Diesel in cold temperatures
I have no issues running my Cummins at -40*, except it won't "warm up" to normal operating temps unless you drive on the highway. That is with the grill completely blocked off.
|
ib516
|
11/27/08 09:27am |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: REAL LT snow tires
Well said Ben.
I certainly don't intend to sound argumentative here, if I do, I aplogize. But, another thought on this is that the BFG All Terrains are severe snow rated, and the Mud Terrains are not. That's a clue as to what the manufacturer thinks their capabilities are, and on what type of terrain/conditions the engineers designed them to work best on.
Where I live, there is almost always ice under the snow, and it's only "slushy" in spring and fall. Throughout the winter, it is mostly icy, and sipes work best here. Other areas are likely different. My opinion and testing was all done on that type of snow/ice conditions where a mud terrain (or similar) would "freeze" and lose it's flexibility, and the lack of sipes would hurt it's overall performance.
Back in the day, the most aggresive looking tread was best for winter. These days, science and good engineering trimuph.
My next set of tires will be BFG All Terrains. There are better snow tires, but I think they will suit my year round needs very well. To each their own though. :)
|
ib516
|
11/26/08 03:35pm |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: Max tow capacity differences?
He may be talking about the fact that if (and only if) a Dodge 2500 is equipped with a Hemi, it gets the smaller 10.5" AAM rear, or used to anyway. I think GM did the same thing in a 2500 equipped with a 6.0L gas burner...
My truck has one. Wimpy little thing, only rated by the axle manufacturer at 10,000 lbs. :)
Is it the AAM 10.5" ?
|
ib516
|
11/26/08 08:19am |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: REAL LT snow tires
A tire with a soft compound, and many sipes and biting egdes will far out perform anything else in snow and ice. Tires with big blocky treads are not the necessarily the best in snow. There is quite a bit of science invloved. I talked about this very topic earlier this year on the RV.net blogs HERE.
The sipes (tiny glooves in each tread block) allow the water that is created by the pressure to evacuate, letting the tread adhere to the surface. It's the same principle that skis and tobaggans work on. The pressure created by the runners/skis melts the snow, and the sled/skier glides on the thin layer of water on the ice. You don't want that water under the tire. A big chunky tire may work ok in loose snow (especially if there is dirt or loose material under the snow), but as soon as there is ice under it, they'll be useless as an all season - no sipes.
The compound is equally important. It must be soft enough not to "freeze" or lose it's pliability when cold. The granular items added to the tread compound when it is formed (like ground up walnut shells) make the tread bite into ice. Studs can perform the same function, but they also decrease the coefficient of friction on asphalt (are more slippery).
I learned most of this in the course of investigating injury and death collisions in Canada in my work as a Collision Reconstructionist.
We use the Goodyear Ultragrip ICE on our Police cars in winter.
http://www.goodyear.ca/img/tires/ULtGRICE.gif
|
ib516
|
11/26/08 08:00am |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: 09 F-150 sway control
Here's what I think.
Ford builds a great truck.
Notice for example, they didn't do any loaded acceleration tests, where it may not have faired so well against the GMs 6.2L V8 or the Hemi.
Actually pickuptrucks.com did that test and of course Ford lost to everyone I think. Not a big deal cause most of us don't drag race with our trailers and I've had more OTR truck/trailer combo's hold me up on an on-ramp due to their inability to accelerate as fast as me not to mention cars, minivans and other assorted vehicles who's owners have forgotten where the accelerator is :W
Very true - and I have read every page of the 1/2 ton shootout. Ford's 6 speed auto makes up for what it lacks under the hood with the 5.4L V8, and Dodge's 5 speed auto, with it's widely spaced 1st and 2nd gears, hold's the Hemi back from finishing where it should (2nd likely to the GM twins 6.2L V8) in all of the "power related" tests PickupTrucks.com did.
All I was saying is that Ford's marketing and advertising is the best in the business I think. Toyota also did a fabulous job wearing out those commercials filmed at the rock quarry. Every commercial break in the Nascar races I watched had at least one of those Toyota commercials. Then when Motor Trend gave them Trcuk of the Year, they put together a montage of the series and showed that -- brilliant.
As a truck guy, that's the kind of commercials I relate to. Show me the thing in action, not just burning down some dirt road either. Test it, show me what it can do. Ford and Toyota do a good job of this. GM and Dodge, not so much.
|
ib516
|
11/25/08 06:04pm |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: 2008 Dodge Ram Headlights Flickering?
Matt, you really should check out Geno's Garage. They specialize in all things Dodge/Cummins. I have ordered from them (from Canada), and they ship fast, and do all the research for you.
GENO'S Link
Block heater cord from Geno's - $11.95
They even have maintenence tips and more. Some good reading.
If you order accessories from them, they have done the research, and you know they will have the right part.
|
ib516
|
11/25/08 05:52pm |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: 2008 Dodge Ram Headlights Flickering?
Thanks guys! That's good to know. Where does the cord plug into the heater?Passenger side of the block IIRC.
|
ib516
|
11/25/08 11:07am |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
