Only 53 degrees Celsius? Man, I would have loved to have had that kind of weather when I was barbequing for the Soldiers assigned to us in Iraq. We were doing anywhere from 70 to 120 steaks at a time, not counting brats, ribs, and anything else we could cook on the grill.


Back on topic .... my '08 has been a fantastic truck for me so far. I don't have a lot of miles on it (24,173 when I looked at it today) but it's made a trip to Vegas last year, a trip to Idaho Falls in '09, and lots of shorter local trips (Cascade/McCall, Twin Falls/Shoshone Falls, Weiser, etc.) making day trips all over here.

I'll post some pics up of the last air filter change I did on it, and it was MUCH needed.



-Kris

 

The 91.5 and I spent a lot of quality miles and years together. I can't complain about the $ vs miles I spent on that truck. It was cheap to maintain and operate compared to a gas version of basically the same truck. It would still be going strong if someone had not murdered it.

 

My '93 is my weekend truck, so whenever I use it, it means I'm going to ride dirt bikes, a track day on my gsxr, or otherwise having fun (except when wife wants 5 yards of bark) so I always associate it with good times. I love that I have to yell "CLEAR" out the window when I start it up when people are standing near the 4" mosquito fogger nozzle (tail pipe). I also love when young women in a hurry have to jam their brakes on while I freewheel during the process of rowing through the 17 inches of travel between 2nd and 3rd gear. 1st Gen's are not "great trucks" by contemporary standards, but these trucks have heaps of heart and soul that you'll never find in anything new.

 

I bought an 89 D350 dually w/5 speed when they first came out and loved that truck but had to sell it as a standard cab wasn't practical when the family came along. Since then I've had a 92 CC Dakota, a 96 3500 Ram ext cab dually V10, an '06 Ram 2500 quad 4x4, 48RE, an 08 GMC 3500 Duramax crew dually, an 09 Chevy ext cab 2500 Duramax and now my 92 CC 1st gen. Even though the GMs were pretty nice trucks I'm glad they are gone. PITA to work on and they just don't have that diesel vibe like a 12V has. And the fuel mileage was terrible, not much better than the V10.

Plus I've always been a Mopar guy at heart.

 

Well, I'm heading home tomorrow and I fully expect the old girl to get me home as always. I think I'll fill up down here, because I think the pendulum has swung back and diesel is again cheaper down here, I'll report how good she does when I get home...Mark

 

Well, I assume you know that answer, now don't you buddy ?


I love the pig. It starts EVERY DAY. Just because it decided to pee itself all over the garden state parkway, doesn't mean I don't still care about it. My wife still loves me, and I pee myself all the time... Just part of getting old, I guess...

 

I just have 1 word for that: Pampers. Besides, you wouldn't sell a baby that peed on the Parkway, would you?...Mark

 

Well she got me home like always, I guess I'm not surprised...Mark

 

I have a/c again! All is right with the world now.

In fact it is working so well it even cycled the compressor sitting still. That is something it has never done since I've owned it.

 

I felt a change in the force yesterday, that must have been it. What all did you do to it?...Mark

 

Compressor, condenser, evaporator, drier, h-valve, heater control valve and flushed the hoses. Pretty much everything. I had done it all before but didn't replace the condenser and there must have been trash left in it from the old compressor. It took out my new compressor so this time I replaced the condenser and flushed everything again. It's working great now. Soon to get a blower relay mod and couple of small pusher fans on the condenser for those stop and go traffic times.

The new condensers are a better design for r134a than the old ones, I highly recommend a new one.

 

Where did you get it? When I have to open it up again I'll replace it...Mark

 

Rock Auto, $104 plus the ride.

 

Gotcha' Thanks ...Mark

 

I love that I can sit in the engine bay and reach just about everything but the oil drain plug. I love that it has the fastest power windows in the universe; like a guillotine with rocket boosters. I love that my father-in-law's golf *****, son's thrown rocks and every other manner of debris shot from underneath my lawn mower have yet to leave so much as a scuff. I love that I can do just about every maintenance procedure with the same 10 hand wrenches. I love that I can beat the brakes off of a brand new Powerstroke with a tenth of the budget, 2 fewer cylinders and 30-year-old technology. I love that I've had more than one $10k-plus offer to buy it from random strangers and I can turn them down without a moment's hesitation. I love that I can look down and see 160,400 miles on the odometer and be thankful I have a low-mileage truck. I love that blow-by isn't a death sentence. I love that my VE pump fires the engine by simply bumping the key, even when it's freezing outside. I love the sound that rain makes when it bounces off of that old, Dodge sheet metal. I love that my entire front clip comes off in under an hour by removing less than 30 bolts. I love it even more that the body lines always end up perfect when I slap it back together. I love (and hate) that I'm the guy with the first gen that gets called to pull everyone else out of ditches/mud/fields/up hills/etc. I love how I never worry whether or not my 4x4 is going to engage this time or not. I love that my fuel gauge sits at a quarter tank for what seems like hundreds of miles. I love the looks on people's faces when they ask me what the block heater plug is for and I tell them it's a hybrid.

Most of all, I love that not everybody has one.