Good morning all. The 01 5.9 cummins I bought sight unseen from an auction just arrived and I got more questions than answers since its arrival.
Engine looks bone stock. 156k.
Undercarriage looks mint
Interior looks 7/10. Trash and cigarettes aside.
Bed looks like a couple of meth vagrants collected rocks, trash and dog food and left it all there for me to sort through like some sort of a modern day archeologist.

The repair list so far is as follows but I'm inquiring about anything else I'm missing.
-Already doing oil and filter. Fuel filter. Air filter. Coolant looks bright and green so going to leave it.
-The lower control arms look like someone's taken a detour through a rock climbing course so changing those out. Is the cam bolt guaranteed to be stuck and I need to buy a pair with the control arms or is that rust dependant?
-FO gauge shows 14psi. Found a fass DDRP with a relocation kit but no inline filters other than stock locations. Is the full FASS or Airdog setup a must for the filters or is the DDRP good enough? If you switch to the full setup with the filters do you guys keep the stock filter under the airbox and change out every once in a while and replace the fass every 5k?
-The shifter (6 speed) feels like mush. I have driven stick for a long time on everything from GTIs to 1st gen Tacos to Wranglers to Kubota Tractors and this thing is pretty bad by that metric. Is this normal and I'll just get used to it or should I look into bushings/short shift kit?
-The build sheet shows this truck very well optioned, it does have power locks and windows. However, The methy previous inhabitants left me with an aftermarket key and no fob. Can I add a factory remote door lock module to the truck and go to dealer to have a master programmed? Anyone have a writeup?
-The ignition module I have is also very tempermental. I assume most of the problem is in the aftermarket lock cylinder and not in the ingition module but the key will not turn if not oriented in a very specific way (think usb plug only working if plugged in one orientation). I've never seen this before but is this normal? Should I spring for a factory lock cylinder and have the door rekey'd?
- Clear coat is toast. I will eventually get the truck repainted (1-2 years) after the house stops performing the magic trick of making my money disappear. Is there something you guys are aware of that can temporarily protect the paint after sanding? Maybe vinylwrap or plastidip? Appearance isn't a priority but I want to keep things reasonable and the guys at the shop from laughing and pointing... too much.

Anyways. Thanks!
Happy to be part of the club.
Any productive advice is solicited.

 

A lot depends on where the truck was originally from. If it isn't a rust bucket, you *might* be able to re-use the cam bolts. Chemicals are your friend here. SOAK them fellers for a few days before you try and remove them. (though, having another set on hand when you do the job probably wouldn't be a bad idea....)

Did your truck originally come with remote keyless entry? On some, if you don't have a programmed FOB, you may need a pretty high zoot scan tool to program the first one. (or, take it to the dealer....) Not sure about the ignition stuff.

Don't know much about diesel, so, can't really help there either.

If you want to sand it, go for it. You can grab a couple rattle cans of clear to cover the paint, but, paint is pretty durable in and of itself..... if you don't sand thru the color coat, should be fine.

 

Where are the pics?

 

I left out the pictures of the underwear and the syringes.

 

Really doesn't look that bad..... Does the car hauler come with it?

 

no but it’s getting hard to find parking with the Jeep and the trailer and the wife’s Jeep and the kids bikes and the Dodge and the tractor so probably for the best I not keep the hauler.

 

Ok, that seems reasonable.

 

Was the convinience group the option for keyless entry?
What holds the glovebox from just dubping out? My gloevox has intact hinges and holds in place but I don't see any kind of a retainer that holds it in place and stops it from dropping it down to the floor.

 

Probably have to contort yourself around to see the stop.

 

First and foremost, make absolutely certain you have the title transferred into your name. Before you spend any more money on it. Once that is taken care of, I'd address the suspension, brakes and steering.

As for appearance, I think your truck looks pretty good. A lot better than mine did when I got it a couple of years ago.



The day I brought it home.




Getting ready to paint it with a roller and brush.




Painted and put back together. The tires don't really need the flares, I'm just not a good body man and the flares cover up my poor body work where I welded metal in the small rust holes and smoothed it, sort of, with filler.

As for co-workers pointing and laughing, when I worked (I'm retired now) they had to hit me up for favors to pull them out a lot so no jokes. I think you can wait a bit on paint. Now, one thing you might think about doing down the road, you need to do NOW is a good deep cleaning of the truck. You just bought it so you have a grace period.

You say the previous owners were possibly meth heads. ANY time I buy an auction car, I clean it out good. Especially former police cars. Then I ask the police to bring a drug dog to check it. I have found all sorts of goodies in police cars where a prisoner will dump stuff in the seat before they get to jail. The biggest jackpot was when I had a salvage yard. A police dog was going crazy in a car parked next to some I had just brought in from auction. His handler was curious about what would set a dog off like that. It was closing time anyway so we drug the car out from the storage row to let the dog have a sniff. It was an abandoned wreck that had slid into a pole so we only wanted the drivetrain as the rest of the car was junk. When we cut where the dog indicated, I found two bricks of cocaine. After getting that out and the cops had it, the dog did a walk around. All in all, we found 6 bricks of cocaine in various places in the car. So, if the PO left some meth, make sure the police know it ISN'T yours.