Another member had a thread about these. He saw 10hp/tq from JUST doing the roller rockers. But, 3 or 4 hundred bucks for 10 hp? People spend more, to get less. And yes, it IS something you would need to keep in mind if you decide to change the cam later. If you do the rockers, and your engine is kinda high mileage, it also wouldn't hurt to change the valve seals.....

 

In the days of carburetors and no computers, a cooler thermostat would allow a denser fuel/air mixture. Add a hotter ignition and you got more power. With a computer and fuel injection, you don't have a choke. The computer goes into "open loop" mode and injects extra fuel to warm the engine up. Since it never warms up, you burn extra fuel to no profit. A cooler thermostat is just obsolete technology since the last carburetor was sold in the U.S. around 1990. I often get some kid tell me I'm wrong but I just ignore them.

 

Yeah, and folks try and convince me they got 50 horsepower from their throttle body spacer on their port fuel injected engine too...... Snakeoil abounds.

 

At 92,000 miles you may not need a timing chain, but if you're going to be preemptive, go for it. If you're going to do that much work, I'd consider a high VOLUME oil pump. This will over come any worn bearings and keep pressure up. Do NOT go with a high pressure pump. That will blow the seals out of the bearings and your pressure will eventually tank.

Your truck is a Granny car. (Okay, it was a Grampy not a Granny and it's a truck, not a car) You're going to find a lot of...um...unusual repairs. I had a Lincoln Mark VII that was 95 percent perfect. That other 5% was the right side as she just couldn't quite see the passenger side of her car and the garage door.

 

Hey everyone, Hope you had a great holidays. Wanted to give a quick update on the truck. I think my overhaul extravaganza is going to slow down a bit. The weather here has been wild and I've been dealing with a shed and back yard that have been taking on water. My brother has also been dealing with the same issues at we've been unable to get any work done. In one of our brief talks he said to worry about the trans pan and anything that crops up now and we can tackle the rest this spring once we dry out. I have been able to drive her a bit these days. I have noticed my serpentine belt squeaking on first start up. I ordered a good year replacement along with a mopar trans pan gaskest. I want to do the check ball delete at the same time, has anyone else bought the autozone hose: https://www.autozone.com/drivetrain/...156/836138_0_0

As for the valve covers and rockers, unfortunately I missed out. Hopefully I’ll get them next time. I’m new to using Facebook marketplace and still learning how to deal on it. I’m hoping I can find a camper shell, grille and rear bumper soon.

 

That hose looks like it has the check valve as well....

Some folks just drill it out, clean it, and reinstall. Others replace it with a piece of hose, and some clamps. I think there are a couple threads about that in the DIY/FAQ section.

 

Good evening everyone, it’s been a few months since I’ve updated anything but just wanted to give some info. My intended maintenance overhaul has been paused as my free time has been elsewhere. I’ve been helping my in-laws fix up their cars, my job lost a guy and I’ve been recruited to coach my sons little league team so my days are longer and my weekends are shorter for a few months. That said, I was browsing Facebook marketplace and found a camper shell a few streets over from my house for $100. I picked it up as fast as I could. Score one major goal for this truck. I still need to wire up the third brake light but I like the look.





The trans pan leak and occasional weird shifts bothered me so I took the truck into a trans shop to check it out. They replaced my gasket, trans filter and adjusted my bands. So far the shifts are better and my mind is at ease. While they had it on a lift, they went over the truck and the only thing they noted was the valve cover leak I already knew about.



Today my best friend stopped by with the 01 2500 he just bought. Funny to see the two trucks side by side, mine bare bones and his with every option under the sun. Here’s a shot of both.

Looking at both, it really makes me think my hood is messed up and I need to consider replacing it as well.



Next up I’d like to wire the camper shell brake light, and work on doing a tuneup. My brother keeps pushing I get a relay harness for the headlights and id like too. I still need to go through some pick n pulls and get a rear bumper grill and a hood. Time is limited so I think for now functional items trump cosmetic.

 

Hey everyone. It’s been a while but I just wanted to give an update. It’s been quite the year for me. Not long after my last update we found out my wife is pregnant with our second child! The truck started putting in work shopping for baby furniture and goodies and prepping our guest room for a baby girl. About a month after that, my nephew graduated high school and was accepted at a college near us. The decision was made to convert my shed into a room for him. So the truck continued it tour of duty hauling his belongings the 2 and half hours from his house and hauling building supplies.




One weekend I had a break so I finally wired up my camper shell and took my son camping. After that I finally got around to some tune up work I’ve talked about doing since I bought the truck. First up was spark plugs. Man these were a pain to get out. I had to use every wobble, extension, breaker and cheater I had to get these loose. I showed these to my brother and he thinks these might be original to the truck. 22 years and almost 95k miles, these were long overdue.




I then replaced the brake fluid, power steering fluid and serpentine belt next. No more squeak on startup. The truck runs a lot greater now. I broke down and bought the LMC truck relay harness. It was very easy to install, I didn’t have any issues with the wiring being too short. Testing it out, I don’t see much difference from switching to the harness output wise, it’s about the same with my sport headlights. But I now have the piece of mind I won’t melt my harness.



I also bought a grille of amazon and tried to put it on my truck and it didn’t come close to fitting. I returned it and I plan on ordering a replacement from LMC truck.



We’re about caught up on the truck front for now. My wife gave birth about a month ago and we had our beautiful daughter. Life has been pretty good. I tried putting her car seat in the truck and it’s not going to fit. There won’t be many family adventures in the truck for a few years, til she gets a forward facing seat. I am off work for another couple weeks. I want to replace the gear oil in the diffs and that will conclude most the maintenance I need. I got a non dented, less sun damaged hood from pick n pull over the summer I need to put on as well. I’m still on the hunt for a non dented rear bumper, which is much harder than I thought.

 

Congrats! On multiple fronts.

What kind of shape are your headlight housings in? If they are yellowed, then the LMC harness won't help much. Cleaning them is an option, but, replacement works better.

 

If you're looking for the formed shape factory, those are prone to rust. If don't mind the squared off rear bumpers that are one size fits all, those can be had fairly cheap. I've got one I'm holding in case I get a full sized truck needing a bumper.