mws

Define hot: Literally, smoke is a risin' Melting the plastic cover? Can't touch for more than 1 sec? Can touch for 5 secs, but it really hurts? Uncomfortable, but can leave hand on it indefinitely? And lastly, compare it to the temperature of the floor right next to it.

Just get one. 2.25" for stock engine, 2.0" min, 2.5" max.

ON my '88 5 speed, it just unscrews.

He is correct. I see you're in Oregon. You would benefit from having number two in the summer. Just tape a piece of cardboard over it in the winter to avoid overcooling.

I would focus your attention on the belt going to the alternator. Right after you start, the alternator has to put out major juice to re-charge the battery. All that load means the belt is more likely to squeal. And as it gets colder, the starter draws more current so pulls the battery down further so the alternator has to work harder to recharge. Makes sense, eh? As soon as the battery recovers a bit, the load goes down so the belt stops squealing.

The 5 speed in my wife's BMW was starting to get difficult to shift - particularly 2nd to 3rd. It would just not slide into 3rd like it used to. And it only had 172k miles which is way too low of mileage to be expecting problems in a BMW 5 speed. Behavior was completely consistent with dying synchro... So started thinking about a rebuild and was starting to reconsider my opinion of the durability of BMW's (sacrilage!).... But before doing so, thought I should double check maintenance. DOOOOHHHHHH! I never got around to changing the transmission oil during the last major PM cycle! The oil (Redline D4 ATF) had almost 100K miles on it. So I changed it last night. Shifts like brand new again. Wiped egg of face and enjoyed the ride! The moral: Change the oil in your stick shift every 50K miles to keep it shifting slick as snot. Only cost $20 to do the BMW using Redline...

If you're looking for more power than what you can generate with hand tools, you want to be looking for a MINIMUM of 400 lb-ft of torque. Any less and you'll be disappointed. 500 or more lb-ft is really awesome to have for suspension jobs. And no, it's not cheap...

If you're into fabbing, I would not hesitate to put 150 pounds on my roof bars... Heck, I've put well over that. They do require drilling holes in the body and adding "hard points" to the inside of the sheet metal to distribute the load. Which requires removal of interior body panels and some fidgeting around. I used 1/4" aluminum plate for the hard points. They are shaped to conform to the body sheetmetal, and are siliconed to the body so they stay in place when the bars are removed.

Keep us posted, and remember.... they're just "challenges", not "flaming disasters that just prove the universe is against me and anything that can go wrong will go wrong and I hate life and I hate this engine and I hate this truck and why did I ever start this and goshdarn it all to heck and I hate..." Oooops..... got a little carried away there. I will be the first to request you document it as much as you can and share all you learn, as I definitely hope to do the same to mine. Some day...

Haven't tried it on VG30. But on most vehicles, it will adversely affect low speed drivability and fuel economy. Small amounts of intake dilution actually helps engine efficiency at lower throttle settings.

Err, I was wrong. Coulda swore at one time.... See this article. http://www.4x4wire.com/jeep/tech/susp/rancho05/ On the plus side, it is not diverting oil outside the shock body, so oil leaks should not be a problem. If the air line lost pressure, it seems that the shock would just go to full soft (or hard)?

I thought the remote controller was just a module that clamped over the existing knob and turned it? In other words, no, adding that would not reduce the chances of the adjustor seizing. Honestly, although I have a set, I am NOT a big fan of Rancho.

Yup... that's one of the few warts on these things. If it makes you feel any better, at least it can be eliminated! And it is unlikely to leave you stranded. Just annoyed. I had to pull the right side header to do the clutch, so I went ahead and changed all 6 studs over to the ZX studs just to be sure. The old ones weren't broke (yet), but I didn't know if they were the hardened ones or not.

I agree.

Just as Michael Jackson has proven: Spending mondo dollars changing the looks of something doesn't guarantee it will look any better!

ohh... crikey. I don't dare list all I haul when headed out to BFE county in Nevada by ourselves, as you would all think I be wayyyyy too anal about it... It would fill pages, but it all fits in a couple tubs and I have NEVER failed to make it home. But a few key things I'll mention: - recovery gear - First aid kit (including survival blanket) - water, clif bars for 2 days (more in winter) - idler arm - tie rod end - spare u-joint - spare front locking hub - v-belts - various critical truck fluids - Lots of material for macgyver festivals - tubing, hose clamps, zip-ties, bailing wire, scrap chunks of angle iron and sheet metal, various fasteners, duct tape, electrical wire, relays, silicone, jb weld/epoxy, fuel tank patch, radiator patch....

Oh my.... all that effort and expense. And that was the result. I feel for the guy. What a waste. Hopefully he enjoyed the trip, because the final destination, ummm, blows.

That's exactly what I was going to ask. What makes it more noticeable, or less noticeable? Throttle position? Brakes? Gear? speed?

Don't know for sure, but GENERALLY, the black is the signal wire, and the other two on a three wire O2 sensor are 12 V for the heater and a ground. Put an ohmeter across any two to confirm. If the reading is infinite, one of the wires is the signal. If the reading is high resistance but continuity is there, those are the two heater wires. And the two heater wires canbe reversed with no problem.

Usually, not very feasible to do so... I've heard some folks burn off the deposits with a propane torch. But that can also easily overheat and destroy it.

Rancho offers shocks and struts in the RSX line. The RSX is for folks who prefer a nicer ride. It has velocity sensitive damping so it is not as harsh over small bumps. IMO, they are the best shock Rancho offers - and the only one using semi-modern velocity sensitive damping technology. I despise 5000's as they are way too harsh for normal use. 9000's are great on vehicles with widely fluctuating loads (I use them on my tow van), but are also a primitive technology shock.

Give Thorley a call... With the radical changes in the front suspension and steering design between WD and R50, I suspect there would be interference issues between the primary tubes and chassis parts.

On the balancing part of it: It is POSSIBLE that you have some kind of higher order imbalance problem - which comes from side to side variations in weight, or heavy-light-heavy-light problems at 90 degree intervals. There are basically 3 kinds of balancers - Static, cheap dynamic, and high end dynamic. Dynamic meaning a spin balancers. The static and cheap dynamic balancers do the same thing - have the operator put a weight opposite the heaviest point. That is good enough 90% of the time - especially at lower speeds. BUT, it does not take into account "side to side" or diagonal imbalances. The high end dynamic balancers do. They not only tell the operator to put the weight on a certain area of the wheel, but whether to put it on the inside edge or outside edge. They also instruct to put 2 weights on at 120 degree intervals instead of 1 at 180. This avoids the heavy-light-heavy-light problem at 90 degree intervals, which causes a 2nd order vibration (2 cycles per revolution)

To check for roundness, I just watch the tire while it is spinning on the balancer. This at least spots serious defects. It won't catch internal defects that only materialize when a load is applied, but it catches obvious stuff. The balancer operator at a good shop would be watching the tire as they balance. At the average shop, the operator is counting the boogers under his fingernails...

Pathfinders are only for those who don't need to be seen in a monster truck looking rig to compensate for their personal shortcomings, or have to follow the herd of pathetic sheep to conform and "fit in". Capable, they are. Flashy, they ain't.