We managed to find a door for the CTD in Ohio, so Dad went and picked that up for me last month. I’ve been trying to get things organized, winterized, fixed, put-away, etc. enough to allow me to leave for a road trip back to PA to retrieve it ever since. Can’t even remember the last time I was home for a visit, so now that I’m not working, the time for that is long past due:
CRD has needed a new steering gear ever since I bought it 6 years ago. The truck was a repo sitting on a dealer lot down in Vernon TX for about 4 months because the front suspension and steering was beat to shyt from a lift-puck death wobble. I was prepared for it, but still nearly soiled my shorts the first time it happened on the way home. The death wobble phenomenon is the most scary and dangerous automotive driving experience I’ve ever had. The entire truck shakes like it’s coming apart, with the steering wheel whipping back and forth violently and no steering control whatsoever. At 70mph. In traffic. Nice.
But this truck happened to be the exact model I was looking for – long bed ’07 quad cab, last of the 5.9’s. I suppose they figured a sucker would come along sooner or later, so I kept my eye on it until they dropped the price to $25k. I offered $23 and they took it. Blue book on it was $35. I spent $5k in parts and alot of time replacing most of the front suspension and steering, so I guess it was a wash from a money standpoint.
But now it has all upgraded parts to include a Thuren lift. The only thing I did not do initially was the steering box. It was OK driving the relatively short trips I did with it around town here, but the sloppy steering would have been too tiring on a cross country drive. So I ordered a Borgeson 6-bolt unit and shaft. Took me the better part of 2 days to get it done, but wow, what an improvement!
Since I’m now waiting for prescription refills to show up, I might have time to go ahead with the final upgrade project on CRD: a front air dam. It would be interesting to see how much over 20mpg I can get out of a lifted Dodge diesel with 35″ tires. Pretty cool.