Hey new guy here! I got a 2001 2500 4x2 with the 5.9V8. Every time I have the truck running and I lift the column the truck shuts off. The only thing that stays running is the heater. Do I have a crushed wire or what? Where should I start?

 

Yea, definitly sounds like you have a crushed wire or something.
Your gonna need to take the trim off around the steering column to get access to the wire bundles. Start by looking for obvious damage...
At the top of the Gen 2 page, there should be a FAQs post, or a "merry christmas" post where you can download a 2001 service manual, which will have wiring diagrams which can help you to try to located specific wires.

 

fwiw, I would lose my head/tail lights when I tilted the column. I just took off the trim around the turn signal stalk, I was able to see a wire had backed out of the big connector. I just reseated the wire into it's proper position and it was done. There are a lot of wires in that bundle, I'd check to see if any of them are loose.