I was looking for a truck to haul my car trailer. I had been using the 2 1/2 ton stake beds from my work whenever it needed to move. They were both gassers, and while neither had any problem pulling it. (no matter what I put on it) I was pretty sick of the fuel bill. So I went looking around online for info about diesels. Being a ford guy, and a poor guy, it pretty much came down to the IDI and the first gen powerstroke. So obviously threads from here started to take over my googles.
Not long after that, the She-Devil fell into my lap. I stole her for like $600 because she was missing batteries and had a bad GP controller. Before this I'd never even looked at a diesel engine. Literally knew nothing at all. So I spend a few nights learning about the 87 6.9. Figure since I bought it, I might as well join. You know, If I actually have a question or two that hadn't actually been answered by the guru's here already. Three months later, I had her starting on the first crank, and hazing the city. So after driving her for a few months, and pulling more than a few heavy loads... I get the crazy idea.... I'm just going to pile all 8000# of my shop, my first supra (with it's 4.6 v8) and whatever else misc crap I can fit onto truck/trailer (about 19k gross) and move from Sac to Vegas!
That didn't go well.... That didn't go well at all....
So my first post here was actually in the 911 section, where DragRag (who is a saint) Stayed up late into the evening so my brother in law could pick me up a new trans, and I could attempt to put the She-Devil back together on the side of the road. A few hundred "*** am I doing? and *** am I doing this?" posts later, I've learned more than I think I would have taking a diesel tech course. I tried to kill this truck with FIRE and she runs better now than she ever has. Not only that, I've stuck around. I never do that online, but this is the most welcoming community I've ever seen or been a part of. Period.
I do so enjoy this place.