Sportin' Wood
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- Sep 24, 2007
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I'm weird; so is my wife.
As you get older you sometimes set your mind to something that people won't understand. This is one of those stories.
It took us almost 20 years to achieve our goal of living in Montana. Some might fancy us separatists, homesteaders, preppers. Depending on your perception that might be true. I don't want to share details of our jobs, but we both work remote. It took that posturing to be able to live in Montana. Montana makes this adventure uniquely possible. Montana does not care if your car is a gross polluter, Montana don't care if your car is old. Montana only asks you to register your ten year old truck once for life. I like old trucks, and so does Montana.
Montana also makes servicing a new car a bit more challenging. Sure you may have a warranty on that fancy new truck, but the nearest dealership might be an hour away and no guarantee they have a service department that can fix it, or are able to get parts. A brand new broke truck is no better than a broke down old truck. Except there are decent parts houses in every small town and they get parts mostly next day from Spokane. Old trucks don't have as many sensors and emission controls that can trigger a limp mode. Problem is, in Montana, old cars and trucks are rusty, beat down tools.
I wanted an EMP proof truck, but not because I fear an atmospheric nuclear event. We all should fear that type of thing; my interest is in a vehicle free from technology that I can make run no matter where in the west we might travel, but also because getting stuff fixed here in Rural America is easier for me to do myself as long as a computer diagnosis tool is not required. While I'm not a mechanic, I'm pretty handy with a wrench and have assembled a lifetime of tools fit for service.
That thing you hear the World Economic Forum say about owning nothing and like it, seems true. A new truck these days costs as much as our first house in Murrieta, California. The manufacturing process uses MTBF methodology to maximize profit and keep us Americans buying a new car every few years. I like all those fancy features, but I don't want to pay that kind of money for a truck I can't trust. How many stories have we heard about "Known Issues" like transmission failures? DPF failures, DEF sensor failures, ETC.
So for two years I've been researching and shopping for a truck. I narrowed it down to a 1998 Ram 12v 4x4 manual. What I learned is that people want a lot of money for that truck even if it is rung out. I came really close multiple times to winning one of those trucks, but something always prevented me from getting one. For those that don't know that truck, here is the details.
12 valve cummins, the only thing it really needs to run is actually a way to shut it off. The PCM controls 2 key elements. The heater grid and the fuel cut off. They will start without the heater grid and many people have ditched them. Fuel shut off can be converted to a manual system, or block the air flow. The NV4500 5 speed is just a gear box. The Dana 60 front end just needs a set of locking free spin hubs and a long side axle to be robust, the Dana 70 or even Dana 80 is a respectable rear end. The 12 valve can be modified to make a lot of power. Parts are easy to get your hands on.
The downside is the dash tends to self destruct, the paint is suspect, the interior in general is sub par when compared to new trucks. The factory automatic is weak sauce.
About two months ago I found a suitable substitute to the unicorn 98 12 v 5sp. A 1996 12 valve with an Allison Conversion. A unicorn of a different kind the truck was professional converted by CA conversions in Florida. I think many truck guys have all thought of the idea of a 12valve Allison with Dana axles would be just the hot ticket. Sure the Allison requires a PCM, but it is a stand alone control module and it is tunable. Plus this truck has an aluminum flat bed, and a history of retired owners that kept every receipt, a collection of service manuals and no rust. Those receipts coupled with the mileage lays out a truck that was completely rebuilt including a replacement motor, turbo, injectors, rear end steering box and the Allison 30K miles ago, with only 5K miles in the last 5 years.
Because I was going to have to take the money to buy this out of the stock market and I did not really need the truck, I ended up telling the owner I was going to pass on the opportunity. He was pulling the truck off the market because he was not getting any interested buyers. Seems anyone with available money, was not wanting to take money from the market. That was the end of our text messages.
Then last Tuesday I got rear ended by a speeding motorist who was distracted driving.
The truck I was driving is a limited edition AEV Bison zr2 Colorado. It has a 4 cyl duramax diesel and lockers front and rear, plus all the offroad goodies. The crash sent me to the hospital and scared hell out of my family. My SIL is a PA and was driving to work when he saw my crash. In moments I had my own personal Physician checking me out and getting my family to the hospital. Thankfully I was quickly released with a bad case of whiplash and a sore body. I've got a sinus infection they say and a deviated septum. (not from the crash, or at least this one LOL)
The Bison did not fare quite as well. I'm not sure what the insurance company is gonna do, but the frame is bent in multiple places (note bed to cab alignment). Needless to say, I'm not sure who, how, when or if that truck is going to get fixed. It was our primary vehicle. So I texted the owner of the Ram to see if he was still interested in selling. We made a deal, I showed proof of funds, he showed proof of ownership and we booked a flight for Arizona for Saturday, leaving Montana 6 am.
Three days, 1375 miles, what could go wrong?
To Be Continued.
As you get older you sometimes set your mind to something that people won't understand. This is one of those stories.
It took us almost 20 years to achieve our goal of living in Montana. Some might fancy us separatists, homesteaders, preppers. Depending on your perception that might be true. I don't want to share details of our jobs, but we both work remote. It took that posturing to be able to live in Montana. Montana makes this adventure uniquely possible. Montana does not care if your car is a gross polluter, Montana don't care if your car is old. Montana only asks you to register your ten year old truck once for life. I like old trucks, and so does Montana.
Montana also makes servicing a new car a bit more challenging. Sure you may have a warranty on that fancy new truck, but the nearest dealership might be an hour away and no guarantee they have a service department that can fix it, or are able to get parts. A brand new broke truck is no better than a broke down old truck. Except there are decent parts houses in every small town and they get parts mostly next day from Spokane. Old trucks don't have as many sensors and emission controls that can trigger a limp mode. Problem is, in Montana, old cars and trucks are rusty, beat down tools.
I wanted an EMP proof truck, but not because I fear an atmospheric nuclear event. We all should fear that type of thing; my interest is in a vehicle free from technology that I can make run no matter where in the west we might travel, but also because getting stuff fixed here in Rural America is easier for me to do myself as long as a computer diagnosis tool is not required. While I'm not a mechanic, I'm pretty handy with a wrench and have assembled a lifetime of tools fit for service.
That thing you hear the World Economic Forum say about owning nothing and like it, seems true. A new truck these days costs as much as our first house in Murrieta, California. The manufacturing process uses MTBF methodology to maximize profit and keep us Americans buying a new car every few years. I like all those fancy features, but I don't want to pay that kind of money for a truck I can't trust. How many stories have we heard about "Known Issues" like transmission failures? DPF failures, DEF sensor failures, ETC.
So for two years I've been researching and shopping for a truck. I narrowed it down to a 1998 Ram 12v 4x4 manual. What I learned is that people want a lot of money for that truck even if it is rung out. I came really close multiple times to winning one of those trucks, but something always prevented me from getting one. For those that don't know that truck, here is the details.
12 valve cummins, the only thing it really needs to run is actually a way to shut it off. The PCM controls 2 key elements. The heater grid and the fuel cut off. They will start without the heater grid and many people have ditched them. Fuel shut off can be converted to a manual system, or block the air flow. The NV4500 5 speed is just a gear box. The Dana 60 front end just needs a set of locking free spin hubs and a long side axle to be robust, the Dana 70 or even Dana 80 is a respectable rear end. The 12 valve can be modified to make a lot of power. Parts are easy to get your hands on.
The downside is the dash tends to self destruct, the paint is suspect, the interior in general is sub par when compared to new trucks. The factory automatic is weak sauce.
About two months ago I found a suitable substitute to the unicorn 98 12 v 5sp. A 1996 12 valve with an Allison Conversion. A unicorn of a different kind the truck was professional converted by CA conversions in Florida. I think many truck guys have all thought of the idea of a 12valve Allison with Dana axles would be just the hot ticket. Sure the Allison requires a PCM, but it is a stand alone control module and it is tunable. Plus this truck has an aluminum flat bed, and a history of retired owners that kept every receipt, a collection of service manuals and no rust. Those receipts coupled with the mileage lays out a truck that was completely rebuilt including a replacement motor, turbo, injectors, rear end steering box and the Allison 30K miles ago, with only 5K miles in the last 5 years.
Because I was going to have to take the money to buy this out of the stock market and I did not really need the truck, I ended up telling the owner I was going to pass on the opportunity. He was pulling the truck off the market because he was not getting any interested buyers. Seems anyone with available money, was not wanting to take money from the market. That was the end of our text messages.
Then last Tuesday I got rear ended by a speeding motorist who was distracted driving.
The truck I was driving is a limited edition AEV Bison zr2 Colorado. It has a 4 cyl duramax diesel and lockers front and rear, plus all the offroad goodies. The crash sent me to the hospital and scared hell out of my family. My SIL is a PA and was driving to work when he saw my crash. In moments I had my own personal Physician checking me out and getting my family to the hospital. Thankfully I was quickly released with a bad case of whiplash and a sore body. I've got a sinus infection they say and a deviated septum. (not from the crash, or at least this one LOL)
The Bison did not fare quite as well. I'm not sure what the insurance company is gonna do, but the frame is bent in multiple places (note bed to cab alignment). Needless to say, I'm not sure who, how, when or if that truck is going to get fixed. It was our primary vehicle. So I texted the owner of the Ram to see if he was still interested in selling. We made a deal, I showed proof of funds, he showed proof of ownership and we booked a flight for Arizona for Saturday, leaving Montana 6 am.
Three days, 1375 miles, what could go wrong?
To Be Continued.
hopefully not too colorful. 
the sunset was pretty, though.
It is a P-pump, correct? Really, it may just need a little adjustment to bring it to where you want it. It probably kicked ass around town, or on the highway towing a trailer/loaded down. You pretty much bobtailed the thing with no throttle angle like it's been used to. It's probably thinking it got retired
