FINALLY got the truck back!!!

[beretzs]

Well, this is going to be along post, so don't kill me on my writing mistakes. I went up to the shop last Friday to pick up my truck. Well, I got there and plunked down my 2500.00 and started the truck up, right away, I knew something was odd, but the truck started and idled fine. I got about one block away and the truck died. HUH, I got out, and to my surprise the electric fuel pump was not running. Well, I had my buddy give me a ride back to the shop and they said, no problem, and sent a truck out with a strap to pull me in. Well, as you guys know, our trucks don't brake so well when they are not running, well after the roller coaster ride back to the shop, he fiddled with the connection, and the pump worked. I said okay, and drove again, this time I made it to the freeway. Truck quit again, no electric pump. Buddy (that was following me) gave me another ride back to the shop, he came out and fixed the connection. Pump worked, I was happy tooling down the road. Well, then I look down, thinking, the GearVendors Should have kicked in. Well, I noticed my speedo was not working. So I try to call the shop, no answer/busy signal, so I stop to put a few gallons in the old girl to get her home and check out why my speedo is not working. Nothing was amiss, but with no OD, and 3 oclock on a Saturday in LA, and driving about 60 at 2700-2800 RPMS, I finally made it home.

Well, once I got home, I looked all over the truck and saw they had broken my headlight mounting bracket and my trim piece off the seatbelt cover. Not a real big deal, but then I saw dripping AF. I looked and it overflowed the bottle (hoping he filled it WAY too much). So I said, whatever and checked out the GV speedo cable, BROKEN, called GV and they replaced it, since it is still under warranty and would have it to my house by Tuesday. No problem.

I tried to start the truck the next morning, started really hard, classic air in lines problem, and once it did start, no fast idle advance. Truck runs great though, but really concerned about the overflow of coolant and the little trim pieces broken, and hard starting. Well, I called the people Monday morning, tell me to bring it back (50 miles one way), I say okay and drop it off Monday night after work (driving 55 in rush hour LA traffic AGAIN). Well the cable came for the GV yesterday and they called this morning and said the truck was done, so me and the wife and KIDS drove up, shop was already closed when I got there, they left the keys under the mat. Truck started fine, I swapped out the old speedo cable for the new and I drove home. The truck runs AWESOME. Seems to have a little extra power, temps were great, and it just hummed along.

Moral of the story, if you can do it yourself, at any costs, do it yourself, I waited two months, paid alot of money and my truck was still jacked up when I got it back. But they did paint the upper half of the engine with new IH paint. I am glad to have my truck back, but I paid alot of money for something I could have did myself, IF I had the time and help, but neither of those two were available to me at the time. Hopefully, everything is good to go, we shall see when I start it in the morning, and drive to work. Anyhow, good to be back, and it was really nice to drive my truck again. Now I have to address the dront brakes, rear brakes, AC and then the fuel tanks so I can get my gauges back to life and I will be happy. The wife on the other hand has already botten a for sale sign, but has agreed to save it UNLESS something else takes a crap. Just too much money for a married with children SSgt to deal with, all in one shot. Scotty

 

[F350camper]

Glad to hear you got your truck back Scotty. Man it really has been a long time. I hope you can get some trouble free miles under your belt before more costs arise. Most of us on here can agree that spending lots of money on our diesel babies can be a hard sell to the wife. As for your money woes, I can totally relate, I’ve lived your pay grade and I know it can be tough. Hang in there, and get out and enjoy that truck while work isn’t in the way.

 

[beretzs]

Thanks Rob, I am already excited to drive it to work tomorrow, minus all the bird poo all over the truck. I'll make it, just alot of dough to throw at the truck at one. Especially since it doesn't make it pull any faster. But with the headstuds in there, I am not scared when I start pushing the 15psi range with the truck anymore. HEADSTUDS RULES.. Scotty

 

[F350camper]

But with the headstuds in there, I am not scared when I start pushing the 15psi range with the truck anymore. HEADSTUDS RULES.. Scotty

No doubt! If i had it to do over again, when I dropped in my remanned 7.3 I may have gone 6.9 if I had known about the better headstuds. At the time I was thinking the down side of the 6.9 was head gasket failures, and the 7.3 was cavitation. So I thought, well if I sleeve it and use DCA I'll be good to go. I'm real happy with the motor, but I'm wondering if a remanned 6.9 (cheaper) + ARPs would have been a better way to go. No HG failures, and no cavitation, no paying a premium for the 7.3 block, and no paying $80 per hole to have it sleeved.
Oh well, live and learn...

 

[beretzs]

I am sooo happy with my 6.9 now. It is pretty much the perfect engine. Banks, Propane, Headstuds, DPS Injection Pump and Injectors. It runs like you would not even imagine. Don't have to sweat the doggone Cavitation. I think the innercooler will be the finisher, since when I am pushing 15psi, I know that it is getting used, and not just going up in smoke. But man, does my truck run WELL. I have ridden in alot of diesels and my old truck still tickles me when I smash down the go pedal and it just straights shoots out of the hole. 6.9's are a rock solid engine. Hopefully the old girl does not let me down for a long time. Scotty

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

Scotty,
Good to see ya back in the ole gal there. Was getting worried there SSgt cause ya haven't been around for awhile. Sorry bout it being jacked up.
I almost was gonna be doing my AT in Coronado till my CO got my Billet/MOS back to Little Creek. Could have given ya a hand if it would have been possible.
Gotta plan fer the rally next year so we can check out yer ride. She's purdy!

Ron

 

[Agnem]

Scotty, glad you got it back. It never ceases to amaze me, these stories people report of the odd stuff that gets broken by these animals that work in garages. How the heck did they manage to bust all that stuff up, I'll never know. All it takes is a little care when you work on something, and nothing will get broken, and if it does, you know about it and take care of it. I guess that's the difference between doing head gaskets in a day, verses the week that it takes me. I'll keep my fingers crossed that they did the important stuff right for you.

 

[tuckerd1]

Scotty, good to see you rolling again! You have a lot added to your truck and it should be awesome!

I'm slowly starting to upgrade mine. I'm just slow and do a lot of research before I make up my mind (would you call that procrastination?? My wife does.) I try to do anything I can myself, but I can see your situation with kids, wife and SSgt pay. Got to get tight at times!

Don

 

[beretzs]

Thanks guys, everything seems to be good. Still starts a little hard int he morning, but I think it is because my GP's are not burning for much over 5 seconds or so. I don't even want to look at it, since I don't have a red cent to throw a it right now. Truck does run really well, I am really happy with it. SO FAR. Hopefully I will get a chance soon to get my innercooler mounted and when I get the extra loot, I can get some piping made. I already have the intake cover, and innercooler so all I need is a little time to get it mounted. Scotty

 

[budtoh3zo]

Good to hear u got it back and sorry to hear about the problems

 

[Mikes91]

The wife on the other hand has already botten a for sale sign, but has agreed to save it UNLESS something else takes a crap. Just too much money for a married with children SSgt to deal with, all in one shot. Scotty

Just wait till you buy something new, start paying $600 a month for the next six years, and STILL have mechanical issues to deal with (at a much higher price than for our IDIs).

What will your wife say, THEN? Mine would cart my head off atop a 2x4.

I know we've bantered back and forth a couple times privately about the cost of new trucks now that GM's dropped prices, but I'm still inclined to say, "Stick with what'cha got!"

Spent $700 on my truck this month. New truck box, towing mirrors, injector lines, thermostat, coolant box, etc. That's barely one month of a new truck payment! Factor in insurance (mine's something like $500 a year for the IDI, full coverage) and voila...

 

[beretzs]

Well, I have a little different situation, we already have a 500 a month payment for the Suburban, and since neither of us really drive it and we still have to make a big payment, and my truck is costing us money, she is pretty adamant (sp?) about getting a new Crew Cab truck. We can get into a new truck for about the same price, about 20 more a month with a trade in, and with the Suburban, we keep having to do little things to it, that cost alot of loot. With a new truck, and a bumper to bumper 100K warranty, most of those little things would be free to fix, for the most part. The wife has a point. I can't argue with her after my last money spending episode, so we are looking and scanning. It is hard to give up my truck. I have kicked the tires and bloodied alot of knuckles on the truck and really put more into this truck than anything I have ever owned. I couldnt (read don't want to) sell it to some schmoe who has no idea about it, but it is kinda crunch time, with all the dealings go on right now, and the 05's are going quick. I would like to get in on the rebates and a truck I want before the rebates go away, and the trucks I like are all gone. I hope you guys see my point, I have alot of tools and pretty decent now how, when the truck breaks I can fix it, but the time is pretty slim, I missed out on two GREAT jeeping months so far, since the truck was down, and being in the Marines, really limits the amount of time I get to play with the Jeep and family. We shall see how it pans out. Plus, I have young Marines constantly asking to buy my truck, so I wouldn't think it would take much to sell it. I will never get out of it what I have put in it, but I bet I could get a decent deal down here in SoCal, 37's, turbo, propane, sat radio, really clean truck. Plus, I would be able to thin my herd down from three vehicles with insurance to two. The saivings would more than pay for the extra insurance for a new ride. I just stinks since I have finally gotten the truck mechanically DONE. Add the innercooler, and bam, the truck would pull for a long time. But AC still does not work (WIFES love when you have to roll the windows down and their hair flies all over), need front rotors turned, new wheel cyclinders, fuel guages do not work.. Little stuff, I don't have the money for. I know the deal, it would be cheaper to keep the truck technically, but with me on the road most of the year, the wife still needs to be able to drive it and rely on it and not have to jump outta the truck and figure out the little quirks with the truck.. And to END on a Happier NOTE

Happy news for me is, I got selected for Gunnery Sergeant (E7) today. The list dropped about 1 this afternoon, and I told her from the get go, when I pick up E7, I will buy a new truck. I was a Sgt (E5) when I bought the black truck.

 

[towcat]

Scotty-
I really feel for you. Before you make the plunge into the payment book, take a run upstairs over at Tee Dee Ess and take a quick look at all the "warranty denied" issues the 6.0 boys got in their hands. I have to admit tho, a few of my friends who have 6.0's don't have a problem with them, but none of those trucks are primary drivers. 50k for a backup truck is alot of dough sitting around.

 

[ericboutin]

OH BOY!!! You've done it now!! I'm almost glad I'm not gonna be around much tomorrow to see how this gets played out!! I hope you at least got your flame suit out and that it's within easy reach!!

 

[Mikes91]

Well, good luck with your decision. I'm an O-3 in the military and just can't justify the expense of a new truck while investments/savings are suffering. I bought the truck in my sig, rather than a new one, knowing I'd be marrying a woman with a daughter and additional children coming within a year of the wedding if everything panned out (which it did). Didn't want to be married to a new truck payment, too, along with having to support a family.

I'm planning to hold out till late 2006, or longer. I've always said I'd have at least 65% down before buying a new truck... not planning to change that position.

Frankly, I was leaning up against my wife's 2000 Silverado yesterday and couldn't believe how easily the sheet metal flexed. I'm thinking that maybe I *don't* want to trade a good, heavy truck for something made of paper-thin aluminum. How can that possibly last?

Remember the problems the F-150s were having a few years ago with cracking in the doors due to the sheetmetal not being able to withstand forces generated by the power window motors?

Have you considered an economical car for your daily transportation needs? My current car payment is a 2001 Chevy Impala... 20mpg in the city, 32 on the highway, 0-60 in 7.x seconds, and very comfortable. The truck is driven onrainy days, trips to the barn to work with the horses, trips where I need to pull a trailer, and every day to the trail head where I do my daily run.

Might be worth it to get a reasonably-used car to get your wife through while you're gone. Lower insurance and lower fuel bills, too.


Mike