Great. Thank Derek. Good to know. I am glad you posted a link to a pic or else I wouldn't have known what you are talking about.

 

If it is a 555 HO, it is an 04. If it is a 600 ft lb engine, it is 04.5.

If it is a 555 HO it did not meet CA emissions. I have no idea how of if one can be brought to California.

 

Ah crap

 

I suppose ask CA DEQ. You could be allowed to bring in a used vehicle under certain conditions.

 

Ok, jsut found out from the seller that it is a 04.5 HO engine.

 

Can I disconnect put a by pass pipe in the 04.5 truck to take advantage of MPG? Anything else on that HO motor compare to the 04?

My 93 is a turtle on the HWY. I hope this 04.5 will be a rocket ship

 

Quite a bit is apparently different including a late injection event to keep the cat happy, and some degree of in cylinder exhaust recirculation.

 

Drove 8+ hour out to see the truck yesterday. Man, I have to say, I know why they keep improving these trucks. Its like driving a Corvette compared to my old fashion first gen. The on road handling is pretty darn impressive and the ride quality is like riding in a Cadillac. The power, man the power! Super quiet too. Oh, I almost to mention, I liiike it.

I hope its ok to ask a couple of questions here? If I spend two days searching, I may get the answer, but I must give the owner a call tomorrow afternoon on my decision. I have been on the road for 19 hours including the stupid rainy day traffic in LA since FRiday afternoon.

Here is goes:

I started the truck and there's no blow by but never checked if there are any after the truck is in operating temp. I jsut didn't know if that was necessary.

4WD truck but it does pull to the right slightly when I let off the steering wheel. May not be a big deal, but the tires seem to have pretty even wear.

Tranny (auto) would down shift unless its 1/4 to the floor.

Dropped tranny down to "1" but would stay there and goes to second, but moving about 20mph. AS soon as I slow up to 15, then I feel it and see the rpm go up as it shifts. Normal?

No smoke at startup, cold. That's good, right?

Slight oil drip at transfer case. I assume gasket.

Which section do I ask these "General" dumb questions? If this isn't the place, mods please move me along to the correct place.

 

Which company make good u joints and ball joints? My plan is to drive it to my mechanic on the follow day and have some base line things such as all fluids and filters. Ball joints and all U-joints. Shocks (Ranchos on there now and not sure if they are OK?) used to have them on my toyota truck and those thing can take a beating out in the desert. Alignment. I am kind of nuts about maintenance on all mechanical items. What else?

 

that looks like an ebay ad to me!!!

 

It is an ebay ad, couldn't find a pic otherwise.

 

I've been happy with Spicer U Joints. I will never buy anything else again for my vehicles, as the offshore brands fail rapidly for me. Ball joints on the newer trucks can be problematic from what I've read. There are a lot of threads on them, so I can't help you there.

Hope you like your new ride. Sounds like a nice truck.

 

My impressions of my '03 HO dually common fail points:

1) Transmission. Just a matter of time
2) Front ujoints at the wheels, common wear point
3) Ball joints, common wear point
4) Driver side window/lock switch fails
5) Multi function switch (wipers etc) fails due to being dirty
6) Front control module (FCM) and IPM (Integrated power module) failures common due to bad design
7) Injectors go bad, I guess typically between 200 and 250k miles (I have not had a bad one, knock on wood)
8) Headlights are trash, added auxiliary lighting
9) Original steering linkage is trash, changed to 2008+ linkage and it's much better
10) Steering box is trash, mine is loose but haven't changed it yet




So why do I like this truck? It tows great and it didn't cost a fortune to buy. I got lucky though. Had I payed full price, and had I not been able to fix all this stuff myself I
would have been ******. As it is I'm disappointed in the reliability of this truck overall.

Keep in mind it's a 14 year old truck so....

But when I compare it to my 1994 Intergra, or the wife's 1996 Civic, the difference in quality and longevity is startling.

But when the truck is right it's pretty great, which keeps me coming back. besides, after addressing these issues, it's a decent truck!!


Chay

 

Oh yeah, HVAC is trash too as mentioned.

Chay