Ok guys, Right now I'm deployed again... the Dakota is with the wife in AZ. It needs a tune up, new shocks ect. My wifes cousin is mechanically gifted, not a pro, but knows his stuff. he will be doing the work for free...

Here's the deal... the truck has 57,000 miles now.

What maintaince did you guys do around this time?

wife says its ridding a little rough and thinks it needs shocks, also says that between 40-50 it seems to want to cut out. Her cousin thinks that the injectors need to be cleaned, also new fluids all around on everything. what do you guys think?

Also I have a TM leveling kit, What shocks are you guys running with the leveling kit? Stock shocks? Rancho? Monroe? Is the ride better?

I swore I read on here awhile back that somebody said the rancho's really aren't better with the leveling kit. I just dont wanna waste my money. The wifes cousin says to go with the stock ones. IDK. Thanks

 

oh and while I'm at it should I get the Jet Chip stage 1 or stage 2?

 

I have the Rancho shocks and struts with the TM leveling kit. I would definitely recommend the Ranchos, I've never heard anything negative about them. The ride is great, a little stiffer than the Monroes, but no complaint here.

 

Go with a Superchips programmer if you want more flexablitly; you can pick them up new for under $300. Plus they are coming out with the trans tuning option for the 4.7s which is awesome. Chips are nice but you have no options to change anything. With the SC you can recalibrate your speedo with the programmer with your bigger tires, choose between tow, 87 octane, performance or mileage tunes .... much more potential.

 

thanks guys, I'm gonna go with the ranchos, and get the superchips programer. You guys happen to know a place to get the best deal on them?

 

I just ran into the same situation after I got back from my deployment, 60k miles. Ranchos, programmer, new fluids all around, synthetic when able. Get your brakes checked... electric fan couldn't hurt.

 

as far as the cutting out it might be as simple as the pcv valve needs to be replaced. at 60k you are looking at doing the regular maintanance along with trans flush and filters and dif oil.

 

I dont like advertising but here is where I got mine:
http://www.truckcustomizers.com/
They have some pretty awesome prices, and free shipping. Watch thier facebook/twitter page and they post up $10 off coupon codes sometimes. I got my SC 3865 for $286 I believe after I got the $10 off, and it was at my door 2 buisness days later.

 

thanks guys! How often should you change plugs and wires? I'd download the service manual online here, But I'm in Iraq, it would take too long and use up my internet usage That i pay WAY too much for here! Thanks...

 

I just changed out my plugs at 100k. They didnt appear to have been changed in a long time, if they ever were. Scariest part is there was no anti-sieze used on the old champion plugs. I was pulling out plugs in the rear cylinders though with over .100 gapping and almost no electrode left .... and the truck actually ran fine before the tune up. I only changed them because I figured it was probably time.
If your at 50k I would probably change them out. And to save you some research, the best type of plug to use is a copper core. The platinums are reported to not do well in our trucks, while the coppers tend to do best over anything else. I went with OEM Champions, but many people do go with Autolite coppercores.