Sharksbaja - 4-8-2006 at 11:11 AM
Man, I sure had my share of u-joint failures in my old Power Wagon.
When I bought my new Dodge I looked at the cross and liked the size ok. In fact the driveline is pretty beefy.
It is smooth runnin' puppy at many MPH. But somewhere between Sta. Rosalia and Mulege I noticed a vibration that felt like a rougfh road. I slowed a
bit and it disappeared. Hmmmm. I sped up again and looked at my wife and said can you feel that? I could feel the vibration on the steering wheel. I
sped up to 70mph whereas it seemed to disappear completely. We concluded it was the road.
A week later after many miles off road, here and about I was once again cruising the hiway at 60 mph. Dang! There it is again. So when I got back to
the casa I was determined to find the source. What I did was check and torque any and all nuts and bolts possible. No biggie. I figured I'd eyeball
everything as it was due. What I found was a giant clump of cholla on the inner sidewall up front but nothing loose. I pryed it off and figured the
extra weight was throwing the tire out of balance. I took her out on the hiway and I swear the vibration went away.
a week passes......
It's time to get to the Loreto airport. Bout half way there, guess what......it's back. Ok I speed up it goes away. Slow down, it goes away. Strange.
Well to shorten the story, I drove it back to Oregon and slowly but surely it was getting worse. Not enough mind you to quit driving but I did slow a
bit.
I figured either a u-joint or tail shaft bearing was out.
So I figured I'd grease the zerk fittings while checking the truck with absolutely no load on the driveline.
WTF!!!!! No grease fittings on the u-joints! WTH!
So I take my pry-bar and sure nuff', BAD!
What's up with that.
You mean I have to remove and hand pack those babies or either drill and tap em(that is of course if they are drilled and channeled for grease) or
replace em. The new ones of course have fittings.
So boys & girls,,,,take a look at them thar newer u-joints and give em a squirt (if u can)
Hey, I better go look at the yolk!!
Planned obsolesence?
jerry - 4-8-2006 at 06:10 PM
them dodge bros get too cheep when building a truck so they cut out the grease zerks
cant blame spicer for givin them what they want
have a good one jerry
jerry - 4-8-2006 at 06:46 PM
i live among loggers and by far there are more dodge 4 wd pickups then any otherbut its not because theres good its because there cheeper
as a general rule i good logger drives ford or chevy
just an observation
have a good one jerry
Pompano - 4-8-2006 at 06:56 PM
jerry...and I think the old-time look of that grille sold a few, too.
Do you know why men like women in leather pants?
'Cause they smell like a new pickup.
Bob and Susan - 4-8-2006 at 07:44 PM
i thought you were buying a GT-40
jerry - 4-8-2006 at 07:45 PM
no dought about that
isnt it weired that the different brands grills well allways be recognised with the brand they have been changed and changed but still keep a piece
of the old time
and im gonna get flannal setcovers for our annivrciry
just for old time sake
Pompano - 4-8-2006 at 08:41 PM
Good thoughts, jerry and whistler...I agree on the manual. Grew up on them hauling heavy loads. I would take an Allison tranny with a Cummins diesel
for sure..just wish they would start making them that way.
I test drove these tonner diesels: Dodge..the GMC/ Allision..and the Ford with the Powerload adjust. The Ford is rated to pull about 3000lbs more
than the Dodge and GMC/Chevy...topping out at over 19,000 lbs. total.
What this means is we can take my wife's shoe locker on the next trip.
Naw...she packs light. We are gong to get a larger 5th Wheel, though, and need all the power and braking we can get. That steep Diablo Canyon north
of Sta. Rosalia can be a killer. I think the Ford will be the way to go this time. The only alternative would be to go with the Cummins and the
6-speed manual tranny.
[Edited on 4-9-2006 by Pompano]
Pompano - 4-8-2006 at 09:02 PM
Yup, whistler..the Ford Powerstroke has the exhaust-brake option.....lessens the pucker-factor going down Beartooth Pass or El Diablo. Still like the
looks of the Dodge better, though..and the Cummins is bulletproof. We'll let you know what we decide.
[Edited on 4-9-2006 by Pompano]
Diver - 4-8-2006 at 09:47 PM
After 4 trips with the F250 diesel and pick-up camper, we drove the '04 F350 this year and towed a 24' camper. First truck I've had with an automatic
and its over 80,000 miles with no problems !! This thing has been rock solid towing, pulling others out of the sand and not bad to drive on the
highway either. All the power I ever need !
I like the larger wheels, better brakes and better front-end suspension on the '05 and newer models. I've heard lot's about problems with 6 liters but
mine has been fine. I hear there's a chip that will get me 18 mpg ?? I would probably have gotten a 6 speed if I could have found one but they are
more and more rare.
You guys crack me up!
Sharksbaja - 4-8-2006 at 11:52 PM
Wadda they say " give em an inch...."
"cheap " my arse !
Still take a dodge over the others , always have.
Ok, I ranted about the u-joint but heck, it'ss just a u-joint. I can take responsibility for that. I drive in saltwater, I live in Oregon ., I drive
the livin crap' outta the poor thing and I don't like to spend hours maintaining the thing. I do however like comfort and ease of use. Still a
work-in-progress my truck like my last one is a fun-machine. I love the truck don't get me wrong. But I pay for it. Simple upgrades like u-joints or
mods are really not a biggie. What a biggie is is what happened to Pompano and his diesel. Had that ever happened to me I would maybe switch also. But
fer now I have few complaints, actually just that one. Well, the gas mileage sucks too. Wanna race to the top of the Grapevine sometime???
HEMIS RULE!
It's a thing of beauty in the off--road universe
Jerry- check out this area sometime. I swear it's the lifted Dodge capital of the world. Mines' the best of course!
Bob and Susan - 4-9-2006 at 05:29 AM
remember the acronym for FORD..."fix or repair daily"
Pomp and Shark the reason you have problems now is...
you bought a "baby" unit...
you guys don't even have 6 tires on the ground
Dodge-Chevy-Ford...the only choices we have for hauling a heavy load...
Pompano - 4-9-2006 at 08:57 AM
..until Toyota gets into the BIG pickup market.
Ideally.... I would get a Ford body with a Cummins motor and an Allison transmission. Naturally, I couldn't find that model so I bought a
Dodge/Cummins as a compromise a few years ago.
Some people don't like Ford's PSD 6.0 motor and prefer the previous 7.3, some people don't like the aluminum heads on the Chevy/Isuzu Duramax engine
and everyone seems to respect the Cummins motor. Honestly, I don't think any of them have severe limitations that should stop you from looking at them
as long as they meet your weight requirements for the trailer or load you are looking at.
The answer lies only within yourself.
All three of the 250/350/450/550 series trucks are good trucks, and they all have about the same limitations on weights.
A Cummins is no doubt the best engine.
The Allison Transmission appears to be the best overall tranny.
Certain aspects of the Ford Body appear to be better than the above two. Problem is you can't get this combination anywhere.
Look at the towing guides from all three. When push comes to shove, the BIG limitation is what you can haul (5th wheel pin wt., etc.) and not what the
vehicle will tow. All three will pull a locomotive, but you can't put one of the locomotive wheels in the bed of the truck without overloading either
the axle weight or Max vehicle weight (GVWR).
This is what we will look like when RVing around our favorite fishng holes. (The Dodge does this well these days on the flats on the midwest and
central provinces.. but no mountains or long grades!) Sure love that Dodge...I could go with that manual tranny, I suppose..
What do some of you heavy-load haulers think? Any other RVers out there? And perhaps I should have taken this to another thread?...I have got off
the Spicer U-joints theme, I'm afraid.
[Edited on 4-9-2006 by Pompano]
Sharksbaja - 4-9-2006 at 11:33 AM
Dats OK! Man thats a long rig!! If I had a choice I would have opted for a manual. They just don't mate them with Hemis for some reason??? Let's hope
the auto holds up. I can change out the clutch in about an hour or less in my old ride. It sure is nice when stopped on a hill with a BIG load.
Bob and Susan - 4-9-2006 at 11:41 AM
Pompano ...you win...
Pompano - 4-9-2006 at 12:06 PM
sharks...you are right about that rig being long. We are just about 1/2 inch from 75 feet altogether..which the maximum length allowed by any state
of province. Most are quite a bit less, if they allow double-towing at all. We had to research quite a bit to find out just WHERE we could go.
Turns out California, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Saskatchewan are our haunts when taking the boat with us. Baja? Just do it. Whole rig
weighed in at 24,880 lbs at a Flying-J scale.
Could be we need a Peterbuilt.
Cypress - 4-9-2006 at 12:29 PM
Jeez! Don't want to get into a dead end with that rig. Looks like it would be tuff to back up. A cul-de-sac maybe? 
Pompano - 4-9-2006 at 12:32 PM
A Piece of Cake, as they say, Cypress. Of course, it helps if you have been brought up with hay wagons and tractors.
No grease
Sharksbaja - 4-13-2006 at 02:54 PM
Well, I found the cause! No grease in three outta four needles. What gives with that? Oh, and you can't drill & install zerks......no grease
passageway.
Carry a spare. oh well..... the good news is the replacements have em. Cheap bastards!
jerry - 4-13-2006 at 05:38 PM
my bro is on his second duramax 3/4 ton the first had a injector problem and being it took a lot to get to it was a hastel that a front wheel
bearing was the only problem in 212,000 miles, towed a 31 ft 16,000lb boat for about 50,000
the second one has the injector lines on the out side of the valve covers i better idea
with 80,000 miles one wheel bearing he added a chip bringing it to over 500 hp max added an exhust break now towing a 16,000 36 ft fifthwheel
says the hd 3/4 ton will tow more then the 1 ton but carry a little less
says he really wants the new one with the 6 speed ally hes allreaddy got more hp then the new one has he just feels better that chevy is taking a few
more horses out of it so its safer for him to do the same but the 6 speed is awwwson i rode in one a few days ago he was a good logger lol
to each there own and we will keep them all in busness
personally i love my silverado have a good one jerry
ps no ujoint problems yet
jerry - 4-13-2006 at 06:41 PM
THE CHIP IS SET UP WITH A PRYOMITER AND WILL DETUNE IF IT REACHES A POINT HE ALLSO INLARGED THE EXHUST AND INTAKE FILTERI NO HE CANT JUST PUT HIS
FOOT IN IT UP A HILL UNDER LOAD BUT HE CAN SURE GET IT MOVING IN A HURRY ANDTHEN BACK OFF A BIT TO HOLD IT THERE HIS FUEL MILAGE JUMPS FROM 12.8 TO
14 PULLING 16000 LB PLUS THE PICKUP WITH A ADDED 100 GAL TANKE ON THE WEST COAST OREGON CALI AND DOWN ARIZONA PRETTY IMPRESSIVE I THINK AND HE DRIVES
IT NO LOLYGAGING
AND WHEN THE INJECTOR WENT OUT ON HIS FIRST ONE YES IT FILLED THE CRANK CASE AT 60,000 MILES AND IT WAS STILL GOING WITH NO PROBLEM WHEN HE SOLD IT
CHEVY SAYS THE IT WOULD RUN WITH PURE DIESEL IN THE CRANK?? GUESS IT DIDNT HURT IT??
jerry - 4-13-2006 at 08:32 PM
MY BROS A 4 WHEEL DRIVE CREWCAB 21 MPG NOT TOWING
THE TEMP DEFULING IS KINA TOUCHY IT SRE SMOKES BLACT TILL THE TURBO KICKS IN
I THINK THE NEXT THING IS NITRICE OXCIDE??
SOMTHINGS GONA BREAK?? LOL
THATS FOR PEOPLE WITH MORE DOLLARS THEN CENTS NOT ME HAVE A GOOD ONE
bufeo - 4-13-2006 at 08:45 PM
Happy with our 15-month old PSD. Pulled ATRV to the Arctic Circle and back. Made 10 trips over the San Felipe - Punta Bufeo 'road'. No problems.
Mods: Bilstein 7100 series reservoir shocks; 285 tires; 50 gal extra fuel tank.
[Edited on 4-14-2006 by bufeo]
jerry - 4-14-2006 at 09:24 AM
LOOKS GOOD MY IDEA IS IF IT WORKS DONT FIX IT JERRY
ditto...I fixed it once and now it's good to go...
Pompano - 4-14-2006 at 10:05 AM
..after overhauling the drive train a while back, my '99 Dodge runs okay and now has 265,000 miles. It's good for what I use it for and I expect it
to last at least another quarter-million miles, but soon I will have need of more power and braking ...therefore another truck... bigger!
Moral being....man can never have enough truck.
So I will keep the now-fixed Dodge for everyday fishing/hunting..and hauling these labs around.