I don't know of any locks on it. It shouldn't be that hard to turn though, so I'm guessing something is jammed up or rusted.

 

i was able to beat a 10mm socket onto the shaft and got it lowered 6 inches so i was able to lift the tire up and get it off the cable.then i took the winch apart and the cable was all jammed up inside and frayed so once this snow storm passes i'll be checking the junkyard for a new one. or maybe i can come up with a new way to hang the tire under there.

 

ok so while talking to a guy about the little parts i need ie the spare tire lift 2 window motors and the shocks for the tail gate. he said 100 for all the parts or 250 for the whole 2000 durango that has a blown up 4.7. he says the tires are about a year old but there only 245 75 16 ours has 265 75 16 on it what would the smaller tires do in terms of gas mileage? if the tires aren't a problem i'm gonna pick it why go to the junk yard when i could just have a parts truck here. except i don't think the 4.7 trans would mount up to a 5.9

 

That's right, the transmissions aren't compatible there. I don't think you'll get any noticeably better gas mileage with the smaller tires either. But $250 is a hell of a deal for a whole parts truck.

 

i was actually thinking i would get worse mileage since with bigger tires the truck would move further forward with each revolution. our first thought was to use the tires for now and pick up a used 4.7 and keep it around as a winter truck for 1 of our kids. but after seeing the rockers or lack there of. but i'd bet i could sell the trans and transfer case since i can't use them anyways.

 

wow today was a pain in the butt. our closest advanced or auto zone is about 45mins each way. so yesterday i drove over and picked up the water pump,fan clutch,timing gear and chain set,all the gaskets,a new belt and bypass hose. got up this morning got the fan and water pump off then noticed my harmonic balancer puller won't work on the newer style with the balancer and pulley being 1 piece. it was back to advanced i went to get the loan a tool puller. once i got it off the rest of the job went pretty easy. all thats left is to top off the coolant and change the oil in the morning. the timing marks were still lined up within half a tooth but i couldn't believe the difference in made starting. before it would crank a few seconds before starting and now i just barely bumped the key and it fired right up.

 

Good job. I'm from Detroit, been wrenching for over 50 years. I absolutely know the good feeling you get when the job is done right and things all works better than before. That never gets old.

 

the other hard part is the weather were half way between alpena and *******. working outside in the snow makes everything a little harder. i wanted to flush both heater cores while i was at it but all of my hoses are frozen so that didn't get done. as of now i'll be picking up the parts truck either wednesday or thursday i'm also thinking about gutting the converter before we take the trip. it's not showing any signs of it being clogged but it looks factory so i might pick up some gas mileage by doing it. were taking it for a test drive acrossed the state today. still haven't decided if i change all the brake lines or not. nothing is leaking and they work fine but there looking crusty so i'm a little worried about them.i'm also worried that the bleeders will snap off and i'd have to end up replacing everything thou

 

Yeah, I can only imagine that part getting old really quick. I've always had garages, and from 1978 to 2011 while in NY it was heated. Now in NM since 2011, still a garage, but heat it's not an issue.

 

well we just back from a 200 mile trip with the durango. everything went great untill the 150 mile mark when the check gauges light came . it was showing no oil pressure. so right away we started to pull over and before we were even on the shoulder the pressure came back. then about a minute later it went back to zero.this time we pulled off shut it down and checked the oil which was fine. so we started it back up and it showed pressure and never dropped it again for the last 50 miles home. i had done a oil change this morning and used the valveoline max life 10w30. we did notice when we first started it this morning the gauge was at the half way point after it gets up to temp the gauge dropped to about 1/4 which from my memory is where is normally runs. i can think of 3 options right now.
1 the new oil broke crud loose in the engine that blocked the sending unit temporarily.
2 the sending unit is failing
3 the oil pump is failing

does anyone have any ideas? if it is the pump can the pan and pump be dropped without lifting the engine?
thanks for any advice