Attention: TDR Forum Junkies Boy, oh boy, oh boy (say that really fast), might as well start from the beginning! Well I was born in... just kidding. The truck arrived in June of '02. I could not even drive it home from the dealer due to a recent knee surgery. I really loved the '99 1500 (it was a "cool" truck) that was traded in for the new CTD. Unfortunately I was also really tired of feeling like it was being abused when towing our 6500# TT. Yes, I was a bit disappointed with the initial 7mpg while towing, but hey it was double my '99 gasser so for about the next six months I thought that my new 2500 was "okay" (LOL). I discovered the TDR around July of '02 and have been doing a lot of reading ever since. Thank goodness for the TDR members who have been patient with my newbyism and have helped me out with information. Certainly Steve, Bill, and Rob just to name a few!
Scheid's Diesel Extravaganza in August '02 was a royal eye opener. It certainly shattered my perception of the diesel truck. Never in my wildest imagination would I have thought that I would be bombing a new, inline 6 cylinder anything, let alone a diesel!
In January of '03, a service manual arrived as ordered. A couple of messages in early Feb. to TDR member Eric resulted in purchasing a set of his grill guards and a cubby plate from him. A short time later, I posted and received several very patient responses helping me find my "missing" heater plug. Its a standard feature... go figure. Response to a TDR classified for an EZ later that month put me in contact with TDR member, Ron, from whom I purchased the MagnaFlow exhaust, AFE intake, and Edge EZ. Next came a full set of gauges from TDR member Rob. Both Ron and Rob provided me with a wealth of information for which I am very gratefull.
I started on the TDR as wesoule, a common login name for me that is easy to remember. However I hated it as a screen name, so with an e-mail to Robin I discovered the Patton sense of humor. I asked for a name change and provided several suggestions. And for the sake of sarcasm, I added R-N-R (as it remains today) to the list. Yes, of course Robin has sincerely offered to change it for me, but I kept it. However that is another story...
Let's see... oh yeah, I needed more light so I replaced the head light bulbs with some kind of blue bulbs (they actually look pretty cool during the day) for a much whiter lighting. The factory reverse light bulbs were exchanged for halogen bulbs. A set of Pilot aux back up lamps were also installed with switching available from the trans (reverse), cab, or bed. A status lamp in the cab "lights" when the bed switch is used for the aux backup lights. Theorectically, this will prevent me from accidently driving off into the sunset with them on. While I was at it, we wired in a new cap light and also set up a cab switch to turn on aux back up lights mounted on the TT. Thank you members: Joe G. , Johnny5, lizzyhermit, rfcom, emjay, and therman!!
Well Rob put me in touch with TDR member Greg who helped further my education and subsequently set me up in May with DTT equipment. Timing worked out perfect with the truck and myself both being "down" for a few days. The truck with the drivetrain and myself with the walktrain (surgery on the "other" knee). WOW, what a difference!! The truck that is, the knee is just "better". I sure have learned to appreciate the driving tips associated with a high performance truck that Greg shared with me. I still wonder how many people would stop with a trans upgrade if it were the first bomb. I think perhaps most need to build faith before dropping the coin for a trans job. By then, the bug is embedded... .
About this time, TDR member ShannonPhillips saved me some serious bucks with a tip on where to purchase side tubes! They were about a one hour install. You know, 45 minutes on the first side and 15 minues on the other, typical.
Well several consultative phone calls later, thank you TDR members: Rob, Greg, Larry, Stephen, Kurt (1), and Kurt (2), as well as a few more posts and a lot more reading I found myself back in the classifieds looking at injectors. Well, a bit larger than recommended, but I hated to pass up a good deal from yet another TDR member. Kurt also had a comp box for sale and once again, experienced knowledge was shared by Kurt. Well by now the project was way over budget and scope had already crept into phase II ('04) anyway, so it was onto big injectors and a box swap. My old (4 months) EZ sold to another TDR member. It sure was a drag driving without a box and on stock injectors for a week while the cartons were exchanged. btw, I actually have purchased from a few TDR advertising dealers such as Geno's, and Jannetty. I have also learned quite a bit from frequenting numerous TDR advertised sites the names of which are too many to list.
Hhhmmm, let see now, The DD3s were installed this past Saturday. LMills, thank you for the instructions! And, thank you TDR member FMCclaren for your assistance! Sunday was spent doing some serious cleaning up of "the beast" as my wife calls it (check out the "polished" album in my readers rig section. It's really amazing what 13 someodd hours of detailing can accomplish.
On Monday, I had an absolutely awesome drive going to TDR member Greg's place!!! I missed Greg's exit by five miles (each way) and cut my fuel mileage at least in half on that ride, but what a riot. Greg allowed me to interrupt his dinner while he located a '01 -> '02 map sensor/Edge adapter and a pump wire tap thingy thus enabling me to hook up the Comp in EZ mode for the ride home.
After work Tues. , the turn buckle was re-installed and the comp & pump wires became "accquinted". I am very pleased to report the the VP44 survived the first 40 minutes and another 1/4 tank of rip-roaring fun after that!
WOW, what a ride, the truck is pure fun and excitement to drive. What a rush! I have not had such a perma grin since... . well I suppose that is also another story
I now understand Greg's comments about starting to save $$ for tires... Okay Frank, quite laughing And, boy am I glad I went ahead with the billet input shaft... Of course the added horsepower requires added responsibility, but oh how cool it is! I taught my wife how to drive the new power last night. Basically all she has to do is be very aware of spinning the tires and "clouding" the intersections
Drawbacks to fast bombing... . I did not have much time to spend avoiding a (street) race, looking for somebody to race, and now trying to find someone willing to race. It does not seem to take too much of a tap from the right foot to discourage people
Naturally all the TDR members with serious power are excluded from the last two comments 
Its kind of funny how some information simply falls into place. Take the cruise control for example. I never could figure out what the issue was regarding it's "adjustments". Add some horsepower and put it to the ground and you will sure feel the inefficiency of cruise control. Now where was that post from Mundgyver about the needle valve... .
Where to go from here, Phase III ???
I think I need bigger tires on the road... . (phase II. 25?)
A fuel delivery system is in order to correct the 4psi @ WOT I am experiencing (phase II. 5), as well as some traction bars from Michigan Performance Diesel (a well earned plug). Then perhaps a bigger turbo... replacement shocks... oil filter rlocation kit... etc... etc... etc... .
My tip for new bombers... . Do a search and read the info, ask three or more members and take an average on the responses, sleep on it, then flip a coin.
I know that I am still a "greanhorn" here, but I have to say...
What a totally awesome "club" that Roger, Robin (as if we know each other or something), and the moderators operate for us. (illflem must use three computers, two for research & one for posting, and he must type with both hands and his toes or something. ) As you can tell from reading the above, this site is about as close to one stop shopping as you can get! Sure there are some "more controversial" members, but I choose to believe that is more communication issues than personality defects. How about all the people willing to share their time, expertise and wisdom? Read above, do a search by your own member name (talk about a trip down memory lane). Nothing is perfect, but I am sure that I would still be driving a stock slug (comparitively speaking) without this membership!
Hopefully I will meet many of you in Muncie this weekend. I'll be the one (of many I suppose) with the huge grin all weekend.....
Thank you all,
Bill Oo.
Scheid's Diesel Extravaganza in August '02 was a royal eye opener. It certainly shattered my perception of the diesel truck. Never in my wildest imagination would I have thought that I would be bombing a new, inline 6 cylinder anything, let alone a diesel!
In January of '03, a service manual arrived as ordered. A couple of messages in early Feb. to TDR member Eric resulted in purchasing a set of his grill guards and a cubby plate from him. A short time later, I posted and received several very patient responses helping me find my "missing" heater plug. Its a standard feature... go figure. Response to a TDR classified for an EZ later that month put me in contact with TDR member, Ron, from whom I purchased the MagnaFlow exhaust, AFE intake, and Edge EZ. Next came a full set of gauges from TDR member Rob. Both Ron and Rob provided me with a wealth of information for which I am very gratefull.
I started on the TDR as wesoule, a common login name for me that is easy to remember. However I hated it as a screen name, so with an e-mail to Robin I discovered the Patton sense of humor. I asked for a name change and provided several suggestions. And for the sake of sarcasm, I added R-N-R (as it remains today) to the list. Yes, of course Robin has sincerely offered to change it for me, but I kept it. However that is another story...
Let's see... oh yeah, I needed more light so I replaced the head light bulbs with some kind of blue bulbs (they actually look pretty cool during the day) for a much whiter lighting. The factory reverse light bulbs were exchanged for halogen bulbs. A set of Pilot aux back up lamps were also installed with switching available from the trans (reverse), cab, or bed. A status lamp in the cab "lights" when the bed switch is used for the aux backup lights. Theorectically, this will prevent me from accidently driving off into the sunset with them on. While I was at it, we wired in a new cap light and also set up a cab switch to turn on aux back up lights mounted on the TT. Thank you members: Joe G. , Johnny5, lizzyhermit, rfcom, emjay, and therman!!
Well Rob put me in touch with TDR member Greg who helped further my education and subsequently set me up in May with DTT equipment. Timing worked out perfect with the truck and myself both being "down" for a few days. The truck with the drivetrain and myself with the walktrain (surgery on the "other" knee). WOW, what a difference!! The truck that is, the knee is just "better". I sure have learned to appreciate the driving tips associated with a high performance truck that Greg shared with me. I still wonder how many people would stop with a trans upgrade if it were the first bomb. I think perhaps most need to build faith before dropping the coin for a trans job. By then, the bug is embedded... .
About this time, TDR member ShannonPhillips saved me some serious bucks with a tip on where to purchase side tubes! They were about a one hour install. You know, 45 minutes on the first side and 15 minues on the other, typical.
Well several consultative phone calls later, thank you TDR members: Rob, Greg, Larry, Stephen, Kurt (1), and Kurt (2), as well as a few more posts and a lot more reading I found myself back in the classifieds looking at injectors. Well, a bit larger than recommended, but I hated to pass up a good deal from yet another TDR member. Kurt also had a comp box for sale and once again, experienced knowledge was shared by Kurt. Well by now the project was way over budget and scope had already crept into phase II ('04) anyway, so it was onto big injectors and a box swap. My old (4 months) EZ sold to another TDR member. It sure was a drag driving without a box and on stock injectors for a week while the cartons were exchanged. btw, I actually have purchased from a few TDR advertising dealers such as Geno's, and Jannetty. I have also learned quite a bit from frequenting numerous TDR advertised sites the names of which are too many to list.
Hhhmmm, let see now, The DD3s were installed this past Saturday. LMills, thank you for the instructions! And, thank you TDR member FMCclaren for your assistance! Sunday was spent doing some serious cleaning up of "the beast" as my wife calls it (check out the "polished" album in my readers rig section. It's really amazing what 13 someodd hours of detailing can accomplish.
On Monday, I had an absolutely awesome drive going to TDR member Greg's place!!! I missed Greg's exit by five miles (each way) and cut my fuel mileage at least in half on that ride, but what a riot. Greg allowed me to interrupt his dinner while he located a '01 -> '02 map sensor/Edge adapter and a pump wire tap thingy thus enabling me to hook up the Comp in EZ mode for the ride home.
After work Tues. , the turn buckle was re-installed and the comp & pump wires became "accquinted". I am very pleased to report the the VP44 survived the first 40 minutes and another 1/4 tank of rip-roaring fun after that!
WOW, what a ride, the truck is pure fun and excitement to drive. What a rush! I have not had such a perma grin since... . well I suppose that is also another story
I now understand Greg's comments about starting to save $$ for tires... Okay Frank, quite laughing And, boy am I glad I went ahead with the billet input shaft... Of course the added horsepower requires added responsibility, but oh how cool it is! I taught my wife how to drive the new power last night. Basically all she has to do is be very aware of spinning the tires and "clouding" the intersections Drawbacks to fast bombing... . I did not have much time to spend avoiding a (street) race, looking for somebody to race, and now trying to find someone willing to race. It does not seem to take too much of a tap from the right foot to discourage people
Naturally all the TDR members with serious power are excluded from the last two comments Its kind of funny how some information simply falls into place. Take the cruise control for example. I never could figure out what the issue was regarding it's "adjustments". Add some horsepower and put it to the ground and you will sure feel the inefficiency of cruise control. Now where was that post from Mundgyver about the needle valve... .
Where to go from here, Phase III ???
I think I need bigger tires on the road... . (phase II. 25?)
A fuel delivery system is in order to correct the 4psi @ WOT I am experiencing (phase II. 5), as well as some traction bars from Michigan Performance Diesel (a well earned plug). Then perhaps a bigger turbo... replacement shocks... oil filter rlocation kit... etc... etc... etc... .
My tip for new bombers... . Do a search and read the info, ask three or more members and take an average on the responses, sleep on it, then flip a coin.
I know that I am still a "greanhorn" here, but I have to say...
What a totally awesome "club" that Roger, Robin (as if we know each other or something), and the moderators operate for us. (illflem must use three computers, two for research & one for posting, and he must type with both hands and his toes or something. ) As you can tell from reading the above, this site is about as close to one stop shopping as you can get! Sure there are some "more controversial" members, but I choose to believe that is more communication issues than personality defects. How about all the people willing to share their time, expertise and wisdom? Read above, do a search by your own member name (talk about a trip down memory lane). Nothing is perfect, but I am sure that I would still be driving a stock slug (comparitively speaking) without this membership!
Hopefully I will meet many of you in Muncie this weekend. I'll be the one (of many I suppose) with the huge grin all weekend.....
Thank you all,
Bill Oo.
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i have driven up to 5 hours each way in 1 day for meetings and i find that it's totally worth it. Oo. 
, these guys take this performance thing serious!!! :--)
