Slartibartfast

I'll bet it'll be nice to hear it fire again. Hope all goes well with the new bits.

If you could get it to the front, is it small enough to fit the drain hole? From what I've heard, the transfer case is a PITA, mostly because it's heavy. Any chance you could fish it out with a wire? Too bad you can't pull it out, turn it over, and shake it until the offending bushing came out!

Are the idler arms the same throughout?

Oh... I get it now. Nevermind.

Parallel, you mean?

Vacuum it out... I found three different kinds of french fries in mine!

BTW, I used my cruise control yesterday and today with no difficulty... so the operation of my pump (and yours) is correct.

Me gusta. Maybe try thinning it a bit for the last coat? That might help with the brush strokes.

15W-40? At this point, if you've got a new engine... might as well. You might even find the problem while you're pulling the old one!

While you probably didn't do it any favors, it's most likely fine. I'd keep an ear out for funny noises, maybe check the diff fluids, but unless it's making snapping crunching godawful noises I'd say don't worry about it.

Vac lines?

Stolen from PoHo...

Sounds like your rear link bushings are shot.

I checked out the oldest one... and opened, like, three tabs XD Very cool to have the archive! I had no idea what this place used to look like. Speaking of what it used to look like... Stop! Rep hammer time.

I would assume that the common hose leads to the washer reservoir. Gotta come from somewhere, right? My WD's pump quit working a while back, but I managed to get it working again, just tore it open and cleaned up/oiled the seized bushings. If yours are truly toasted, you could cut the plugs out of them, solder them to your Tricos, and then plug in the factory harness.

I've never been able to work the forum search feature. I usually just Google my search terms, and then NPORA threads come up.

Also, a body lift doesn't stress your suspension and steering components. A suspension lift will stress your steering system, CVs, joints, etc. But a BL doesn't get your frame, bumpers, etc any higher (except from the bigger tires you put on). It really depends on how you'll use the truck. Some people do both (see UNCC's sig above).

Auto, right? IIRC the TPS on manual trans trucks is different.

So, the pink pill?

^Does look a little taller... then again it might just be adjusted for factory droop! 31s, I think the T-bars have been monkeyed with, but it sure isn't lifted.

You say it got better when you messed with the cleaner... this makes me think, A, there's a crack between the air cleaner and the throttle body (I know there's a rubber pipe that can crack or lose a vac hose on the MPFI trucks, dunno about TBI though), or B, it's temperature-related... is it still getting worse each time you try starting it? Maybe check the coolant temp sensor?

The farthest I've ever been into my trans was pulling the dipstick to check the fluid, so... no idea. The kit you're looking at looks like it's got everything. Chances are you'll get a few things that aren't broken in yours, but if you're stripping it to the shell, seems like you might as well put new bits in. Also beats getting into it and realizing something you didn't get is bad! If you click the 'info' thing next to the part number, it tells you how many of which part # you get. Oddly, the factory service manual doesn't seem to specify by #. If you don't have the FSM, go here and download the AT section (if not the whole thing, it comes in handy). It's got an overhaul procedure with expoded views, torque specs, test procedures, the lot.

Good to hear it's alive. I hate crimp connectors, I've been going through and soldering stuff up on mine.

My understanding is that you drop the old trans, bolt the new one in its place, fill it and go. Plugs/bolts right in. It's pretty much the heavy-duty version of the older trans. You're looking for a Pathy or Xterra trans, up to 2004 IIRC, that came with the VG33 engine. I'd see if a junkyard near you had one, get a price, and compare that to a rebuild kit. Looks like these guys have the kits: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php?carcode=1211926&parttype=8512&partkey=1286247&a=FRc1211926k1286247-894518 If you do decide to swap the trans, but still want to wrench on something, see if you can pick up the VG33 from the donor vehicle. I hear that's a fun project.

I just tied mine on a little tighter with fence wire... I'll see how long that lasts. They sure are a pain to get to!