Hey All,
I'm back from my vacation. I had a chance to read some of the
archives and it seems like a bunch of ya'll had a ball at the BBQ. Maybe
next year, I'll get to go to it, thats, if ya'll will let a 2WD pick show
up, LOL. I got my Lund headlight covers and they look good, but I had some
trouble getting them installed. The cover for the passenger side was very
loose. I tried to use steam to heat the cover and shape it a tighter but
that didn't work. What I eventually ended up doing was putting some 3/16"
foam weather striping on the bottom of the cover. Worked like a charm. I
also got my factory cruise control kit and read over the instructions about
3 times before I attempted the installation. I had to buy a couple tools
that I didn't have on hand (steering wheel puller and tamper proof torx
bits) but all in all it was an easy install. Dodge was very nice in
installing the needed wiring and connections and making the kit plug and
play. The only thing that made me a little nervous was the removal of the
air bag but following the instructions, it was a snap. If any of ya'll are
looking for factory accessories and OEM parts at a really good price, check
out www.dodge-parts.net or call 1-800-272-7050 and ask for John in parts,
he was a great help. I also got in my 1st DML decal, (thanks Jon!) and I
had a wee bit of trouble installing it. I followed the directions but just
as I went to place the decal on the window, a gust of wind caught it and
wrinkled the whole dang thing. Totally ruined my afternoon. Grabbed the
checkbook, jumped on-line and fired off an e-mail to Jon, begging and
pleading to send me a replacement. Dropped the check in the mailbox . less
then a week later, I had a replacement decal in my hands (Thanks again
Jon!) Got started on the install, checked the weather, warm and still.
Sprayed the window with a little soapy water, peeled off the backing paper
and NOW the wind starts blowing, LOL. I managed to hold onto it this time
and not get it wrinkled up. Took about an hour to get it to adhere to the
glass and get the transfer film peeled off. I think I used just a bit too
much soapy water, but I think it looks great. I've even had a few people
ask me about it already. Now then, for the big deal. All the little budget
mods I've done, relocating the IAT, tweaking the TPS, removing the rubber
flap, re-ducting the air filter, and swapping over to the 180 deg
thermostat, definitely helped the gas mileage. I left Dover for Mount Airy
NC on the 2nd of Jul with a full tank of gas. I stopped in Natural Bridge,
VA for gas at 303 miles. My low fuel light had not even come on yet and it
took 12.5 gal to fill it. That was running 65-70 most of the way, a small
load in the back, tailgate closed and the AC on. On the way back, I ran 317
miles at the same speeds, no load, tailgate down and the AC on. The low
fuel light only came on as I bounced over the gas station entryway. Took
the same 12.5 gals to fill the truck. I'm gonna be interested to see if the
cruise control makes a difference when I go back down next month. Anyway, I
guess the next few things I'm gonna do for looks are some Pilot fog lights
and some fender flares. I also want to start on the performance end of it
too with a cat back exhaust and a set of headers, but the bank says I gotta
wait. Gotta recover from this vacation first. Well I guess I better get
back to work and earn a couple of bucks so I can keep my little project
moving along.
Talk to ya'll soon,
Ray
Dover, DE
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 12:05:04 EDT