Bought a New Ram - No Thinking Required

[Ted]

Oooh oooh new thread! LOL

I've debated whether to start a thread on it here, but I've never heard anyone on here talk about ballooning. My wife is handling the research on this far more than me. LTA flight seems to be its own society, kinda akin to gliders although many glider pilots have some sort of powered/fixed wing flight background or aspirations. It seems with a lot of LTA folks that isn't necessarily the case, and it's its own secret society.

My wife's managed to find some good resources and we're going through the downselect process of trying to figure out what we want in a balloon.

You can thank the ''not in my back yard folks'' for that.

That's the thing I've never understood. Nobody likes to have a power plant in their backyard, but if we have nuclear plants, we need fewer power plants and the local pollution goes way down from it.

The real problem is that people look at Chernobyl and Fukushima and think of the horrors. But while both were significant disasters, you almost have to write of Chernobyl because it was a classic Soviet Era case of doing things the wrong way. Fukushima you could argue was a bit more surprising, but it was also a really old plant and the technology (and safety mechanisms) just weren't the same as modern ones. They even knew it was getting to be an older plant, just didn't react quickly enough. A friend of mine who lives in Tokyo said that there was really no significant impact to him or anyone he knew. We don't get rid of commercial airliners because of a couple of tragic crashes.

 

[FormerHangie]

You can thank the ''not in my back yard folks'' for that.

Not really, it's the economics. Georgia Power, and others) is expanding Plant Vogtle. It's many years behind schedule and many billions over budget.

Not too long ago, the Georgia Public Service Commission's professional staff recommended abandoning the project, because completing it is uneconomic. The elected PSC commissioners overruled them , provided the Feds coughed up $800 million in tax credits. There was another plant expansion in South Carolina that was abandoned a couple of years ago, because it was not going to be economically feasible. According to that report, "“We would have to raise rates an additional 41% to complete both units and 37% to finish just one unit.”

 

[Matthew]

I've debated whether to start a thread on it here, but I've never heard anyone on here talk about ballooning. My wife is handling the research on this far more than me. LTA flight seems to be its own society, kinda akin to gliders although many glider pilots have some sort of powered/fixed wing flight background or aspirations. It seems with a lot of LTA folks that isn't necessarily the case, and it's its own secret society.

My wife's managed to find some good resources and we're going through the downselect process of trying to figure out what we want in a balloon.

Used to be a member here, might still be, I think I remember his user name and I do know him on FB. He bought himself a balloon a few years ago, because.

That's the thing I've never understood. Nobody likes to have a power plant in their backyard, but if we have nuclear plants, we need fewer power plants and the local pollution goes way down from it.

The real problem is that people look at Chernobyl and Fukushima and think of the horrors. But while both were significant disasters, you almost have to write of Chernobyl because it was a classic Soviet Era case of doing things the wrong way. Fukushima you could argue was a bit more surprising, but it was also a really old plant and the technology (and safety mechanisms) just weren't the same as modern ones. They even knew it was getting to be an older plant, just didn't react quickly enough. A friend of mine who lives in Tokyo said that there was really no significant impact to him or anyone he knew. We don't get rid of commercial airliners because of a couple of tragic crashes.

Spent fuel disposal is probably the biggest logistical headache. It's more of a political problem than anything else.

 

[gkainz]

...we're going through the downselect process of trying to figure out what we want in a balloon.

I think the answer you're going to find is universally going to be "hot air" (or maybe helium)...

 

[jsstevens]

Not really, it's the economics. Georgia Power, and others) is expanding Plant Vogtle. It's many years behind schedule and many billions over budget.

Not too long ago, the Georgia Public Service Commission's professional staff recommended abandoning the project, because completing it is uneconomic. The elected PSC commissioners overruled them , provided the Feds coughed up $800 million in tax credits. There was another plant expansion in South Carolina that was abandoned a couple of years ago, because it was not going to be economically feasible. According to that report, "“We would have to raise rates an additional 41% to complete both units and 37% to finish just one unit.”

But part of what's driving the economics is the many ecological, impact and other hoops they have to jump through to build them.

 

[FormerHangie]

But part of what's driving the economics is the many ecological, impact and other hoops they have to jump through to build them.

You have evidence for that? Remember, this is an expansion of an existing facility, the environmental impact stuff was done when the original units were built.

Here's a rundown from a trade publication on how the costs ballooned from $14.3 billion to $27 billion and the completion time went from 8 years to 14: https://www.powermag.com/how-the-vogtle-nuclear-expansions-costs-escalated/?pagenum=1. I don't see any mention of environmental issues. Incidentally, the first two units were expected to cost $2 billion but ultimately were close to $9 billion. This is standard stuff with large reactor construction, at least in the US. There a reason no utility wants to build these things. They're too much of a risk, they never get finished anywhere close to budget or schedule. The other issue is their size. If a unit has to be taken out of service, that's an entire gigawatt that goes out of service.

 

[jsstevens]

I don’t know the specific impacts. I do know that expansion or even shutting down requires a quite impressive set of environmental and other impact studies in Florida. (Check out the Crystal River nuke plant refurb and shutdown.

I make no judgement as to whether those are the right environmental regulations or not, just that they add cost.

 

[NealRomeoGolf]

I've debated whether to start a thread on it here, but I've never heard anyone on here talk about ballooning. My wife is handling the research on this far more than me. LTA flight seems to be its own society, kinda akin to gliders although many glider pilots have some sort of powered/fixed wing flight background or aspirations. It seems with a lot of LTA folks that isn't necessarily the case, and it's its own secret society.

My wife's managed to find some good resources and we're going through the downselect process of trying to figure out what we want in a balloon.

Have you already looked into the cost of customizing a balloon with the Cloud 9 logo? That would be cool.

 

[Ted]

Have you already looked into the cost of customizing a balloon with the Cloud 9 logo? That would be cool.

I hadn't even thought about that, but that would be cool. Right now we're looking at various balloon options and trying to understand which brands are worth considering in the first place and trying to define the mission and what we want. We're figuring something small that we can handle ourselves, and thinking that a basket that can handle pilot + 1 or 2 passengers is fine. If we buy used as we're currently thinking, that obviously limits the design to whatever is available.

One thing that we're noticing is that the used balloon market seems to move very, very slowly - probably more on the order of what you see with some hard to sell boats than planes. It's low supply, low demand. Nothing seems to move quickly. So right now we're thinking of buying a "starter balloon" and then maybe upgrading later, but if selling is that hard it may make more sense to buy our last balloon first, so to speak.

The big thing about it is ground handling and while I normally prefer getting bigger and more capacity, I feel like this is a situation where doing so could mean that we just never use the thing.

 

[Ted]

Yesterday was the first day since getting my new tires on the truck that it was raining. So got to check wet traction and, since I was driving home on the backroads for part of it, the dirt/mud traction.

In wet the tires are so-so, definitely no better than the Firestone all terrain tires they replaced, maybe worse. But it's still adequate and wet traction was never a complaint.

On the dirt roads I think the tires gripped better than on wet pavement. Really excellent traction, could barely get the tires to break loose even in 2nd gear, full throttle, 2 wheel drive. Pretty cool.

 

[CJones]

You have evidence for that? Remember, this is an expansion of an existing facility, the environmental impact stuff was done when the original units were built.

Here's a rundown from a trade publication on how the costs ballooned from $14.3 billion to $27 billion and the completion time went from 8 years to 14: https://www.powermag.com/how-the-vogtle-nuclear-expansions-costs-escalated/?pagenum=1. I don't see any mention of environmental issues. Incidentally, the first two units were expected to cost $2 billion but ultimately were close to $9 billion. This is standard stuff with large reactor construction, at least in the US. There a reason no utility wants to build these things. They're too much of a risk, they never get finished anywhere close to budget or schedule. The other issue is their size. If a unit has to be taken out of service, that's an entire gigawatt that goes out of service.

I hadn't seen that article. It's interesting. Seems like a 'typical' mismanaged project.

Bad requirement definition and/or scope creep:

November 2012: Construction contractors Westinghouse and The Shaw Group (bought in 2012 by Chicago Bridge and Iron [CB&I]) file suit against the utility partners seeking $900 million for construction design changes.

"Lowest bidder" results in incompetent vendor selection:

April 2012: NRC inspectors report that the rebar in the basemat for Unit 3 has been improperly installed. The NRC finally approves a proposal to compensate for the faulty rebar in October 2012, but it puts the project six months behind schedule.

December 2012: The independent monitor reports that The Shaw Group “clearly lacked experience in the nuclear power industry and was not prepared for the rigor and attention to detail required to successfully manufacture nuclear components.” Between July 2012 and December 2012, the project contractors were forced to repair “welds on [reactor components] that were found to be the wrong type of weld.” The project is now a full year behind schedule.

August 2013: The independent monitor reports that the construction contractor has “not demonstrated the ability to fabricate high-quality CA20 submodules at its Lake Charles, La., facility that meet the design requirements at a rate necessary to support the project schedule.”

Of course it could be argued that there is no demand in the market place for these types of projects because not enough of them are being built. If more nuke projects were underway, there would undoubtedly be a growth in competent vendors to implement the projects successfully. Instead, we are stuck in an infinite loop of no demand = no skills = no demand...

 

[bnt83]

Well I got bored and...

Mounted the tires onto the new wheels myself with nothing but an exercise mat, block of wood, lube, 5 gallon bucket and an air compressor.

I was really curious if they would be noticeably out of balance or not, I can't tell. Damn thing is smooth, 0 to 80 and everything in between.

Really shocked the bigger tires fit without rubbing and the wider wheels and deeper backspacing don't hit anything.

 

[Ted]

I’m thinking about buying the AFE intake elbow. They have a Black Friday sale going and I doubt it will get any cheaper. I still can’t find any reviews other than one on Amazon that looks fake.

The intake looks like it would do something although whether it would increase engine sound I don’t know.

https://afepower.com/afe-power-46-1...IllYcwgXsK4OWqwNDZ2bR45FjhmQYRK9D_1f0#add-ons

 

[bnt83]

I think I'm bout done working on the truck till spring, then maybe a little re-fresh, oil pan, timing cover, valve cover, intake manifold, fuel pump, rear main gaskets/seals to start with.

I suppose if going that far might as well consider new head gaskets. Then if any one piston looks to be burning oil I could hone that cylinder and drop in some new rings. IDK if these have valve seals or not so maybe some minor head work could be worth the effort.

I'm pretty sure it has some exhaust manifold leaks.

 

[Bill]

Here's what that old mopar really needs!

https://www.schwartzperformance.com...ine-6-2l-supercharged-707hp-dodge-challenger/

 

[Ted]

Here's what that old mopar really needs!

https://www.schwartzperformance.com...ine-6-2l-supercharged-707hp-dodge-challenger/

You know, I am honestly surprised at what a good value that is. $16k not a small amount of money but to have a modern powerplant with OEM build quality and reliability producing 707 HP, with a big ol' supercharger, fuel injection, coil-on-plug ignition, all out of the box... that's a lot you're getting for the money.

 

[Ted]

Did a bit more reading and am still doing some more thinking.

The AFE intake elbow is probably on as good of a price as it's going to be. That said, looking at it some more it might help with throttle response but I don't see it helping significantly with engine noise, which is my primary complaint. Maybe combined with the grid heater delete it would. But, those are fairly high effort with what I imagine would be minimal return.

But, I've been thinking about something else. The exhaust is very quiet and aside from doing an emissions delete there's not much I can do to change the volume. What I could do, though, is change the location of the outlet. Right now the exhaust after the DPF/SCR goes over the rear axle and exits behind the rear wheel on the passenger side. Pretty standard. Also it's 4", and has some extra bends in it to get around the axle.

So here's my idea. I can't do much to change the volume of what's coming out of the exhaust without deleting it, but I can change the location of that volume source. After the DPF is just straight pipe to the back. What I'm thinking about doing is removing that piping aft of the DPF, buying a 4 to 5" adapter, and then putting on a 5" exhaust pipe (90 degree bend) to dump the exhaust out on the passenger side still, but ahead of the rear wheel. That would move it forward about 3-4 feet and the bigger diameter should lower the tone a bit.

My thinking is that this would increase the sound in the cabin (think about moving a speaker 3 feet closer to you) and make it a bit lower note. People next to the truck should notice essentially zero difference.

There are currently DPF-back exhausts that do this, but all of them exit in the stock location instead of my idea of moving the exit ahead of the rear wheels.

Thoughts?

 

[Ted]

I've given this some more thought.

The AFE intake may be at the best price it will be at for a while, but since I don't see it doing what I want (and still being more money and effort than I want to put forth) I'm going to forego it. AFE jacked up the pricing significantly on that intake elbow earlier this year when the EPA started shutting down all the people making deletes and equipment for deletes, probably theorizing that it would increase demand for emissions-compliant upgrades. However the markets will ultimately determine what pricing people are willing to pay and we'll see what happens long term. The risk of paying more later is one I'm willing to make.

However, the more I think about my exhaust idea, the more I think it ought to do something. The bigger diameter piping ought to produce a nice lower pitch tone that I like, and moving it further forward ought to make that more audible. So, I think I will order the parts for that on Monday and work on that at some point.

 

[flyingron]

I completely ignored this thread because my Toyota Tundra was still going strong at 15 years and 130,000 miles. That was until Bambi decided to run through the side of the car last Monday. I decided that spending $4000 to fix it so I could open the passenger side door again (and fix the other damage) wasn't worth it to still have a 15 year old truck (that likely needed a new windshield and tires before February's inspection date rolled around).

After hunting around for a replacement, I ended up with a new RAM 1500. Since we use our truck as our comfort vehicle for long trips (our other two cars are my Chevy Volt and Margy's A4 cabriolet), we chose a lot of the comfort options. I find now having taken it on it's first long trip that the adaptive cruise control is well worth the cost. I'm still a little leery of the autoparking feature.

 

[MIFlyer]

I completely ignored this thread because my Toyota Tundra was still going strong at 15 years and 130,000 miles. That was until Bambi decided to run through the side of the car last Monday. I decided that spending $4000 to fix it so I could open the passenger side door again (and fix the other damage) wasn't worth it to still have a 15 year old truck (that likely needed a new windshield and tires before February's inspection date rolled around).

After hunting around for a replacement, I ended up with a new RAM 1500. Since we use our truck as our comfort vehicle for long trips (our other two cars are my Chevy Volt and Margy's A4 cabriolet), we chose a lot of the comfort options. I find now having taken it on it's first long trip that the adaptive cruise control is well worth the cost. I'm still a little leery of the autoparking feature.

Congratulations on the new ride!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Ted]

I completely ignored this thread because my Toyota Tundra was still going strong at 15 years and 130,000 miles. That was until Bambi decided to run through the side of the car last Monday. I decided that spending $4000 to fix it so I could open the passenger side door again (and fix the other damage) wasn't worth it to still have a 15 year old truck (that likely needed a new windshield and tires before February's inspection date rolled around).

After hunting around for a replacement, I ended up with a new RAM 1500. Since we use our truck as our comfort vehicle for long trips (our other two cars are my Chevy Volt and Margy's A4 cabriolet), we chose a lot of the comfort options. I find now having taken it on it's first long trip that the adaptive cruise control is well worth the cost. I'm still a little leery of the autoparking feature.

Which engine did you go with?

 

[Bill Greenwood]

A guy that will pay full new retail price for a truck is one of the foundations that our sort of capitalistic economy is built on, Some dealer is going to love you.
I once had a friend buy a brand new Beechcraft from the dealer in Denver and that salesman sure liked me after that.
Strange that the only two new cars I have bought in my lifetime were not very good ones. I've never bought a new airplane.

 

[flyingron]

Which engine did you go with?

I have the 5.7 Hemi with the e-torque.

A guy that will pay full new retail price for a truck is one of the foundations that our sort of capitalistic economy is built on, Some dealer is going to love you.
I once had a friend buy a brand new Beechcraft from the dealer in Denver and that salesman sure liked me after that.
Strange that the only two new cars I have bought in my lifetime were not very good ones. I've never bought a new airplane.

My previous Toyota truck I bought used. I just lucked into finding one that was set up the way I liked when I was looking. My history is about 70/30 new:used ratio. I actually found year old RAM that would have been "acceptable" but really wouldn't have fully met our goals.

And the only airplane I've ever purchased was over 40 years when I bought it 16 years ago and I still have it.

 

[Ted]

I’m past the 36k mile mark so my normal warranty is expired now. The truck is doing well, although the GPS has a clock error that causes it to be unable to get GPS signal sometimes.

I need to get the software update to fix that and then start playing around with the exhaust bits I bought.

 

[denverpilot]

I’m past the 36k mile mark so my normal warranty is expired now. The truck is doing well, although the GPS has a clock error that causes it to be unable to get GPS signal sometimes.

I need to get the software update to fix that and then start playing around with the exhaust bits I bought.

Now the real fun begins?

 

[Ted]

Now the real fun begins?

The powertrain warranty remains until 5 years/100k, so I’m a ways away. Also with the EPA really cracking down on emissions deletes, I’m thinking I don’t want to go that route. I have other ideas though...

 

[Ted]

The past week or two it's been colder, below freezing with some single digit overnight lows. With these lower temps, I am definitely noticing the harsher shifting when cold with the Pennzoil Synchromesh vs. the ATF that came with the truck. Now, that goes away after my normal letting the truck warm up a bit and then driving it a few miles, but it's definitely noticeably harder to shift than the ATF was for this cold.

Still definitely worth doing, though. And I don't mind the double-clutching on the downshift or having to work with the transmission to get it to shift properly.

 

[timwinters]

Can't help but to think of Ted every time I see this meme on the interwebz!

 

[Ted]

Can't help but to think of Ted every time I see this meme on the interwebz!

I've never seen that one. Laurie hit a deer with her Mercedes a couple weeks ago. I wish that she'd been driving my truck and RAM'd it instead. Then I could've taken the insurance payment to buy a Ranch Hand (or similar type) front bumper! Instead her Mercedes is at the shop getting an expensive repair. Oh well...

 

[flyingron]

It was a deer that killed the Tundra which was the immediate predecessor of my Ram. Dang antlers when right through the outer door skin and nearly came into the passenger compartment. This thing was a monster. It dented both doors of the double cab and a good portion of the box.

I took the $4000 they alotted to repair the Tundra and $2000 the Mr. Dodge gave me as a trade in as a starting point on the new truck. I've been driving it for over a month now and I'm happy with the truck. I've added the bed cover, utility rails, and the bed extender. Only thing I wish I'd have shopped around for it NOT having was the stupid tow mirrors which delete the surround camera.

Of course, I'm ****ed at the service department where I bought the truck. After two weeks I call to ask where my bed cover is (it was rolled into the deal, but they didn't have one in stock when I grabbed the truck). The girl in the parts department says, oh yes, it came in yesterday, do you want us to put it on for you. I thought that was a courtesy offer (as it was supposed to be on the truck when I bought it). Turns out they want $300 and me to leave the truck for several hours to have it put on. I say, screw this, I already put on all the other accessories myself, how hard can it be. The guy reiterates the difficulty in the install and drags the thing out tot he show room like it ways 200 pounds or something.

I pick the thing up, hell even in the box, it can't way more than about 40 pounds and throw it in the bed and drive off. I get to wondering and pull over in a Harris Teeter parking lot a half mile away. I go pull the installation manual out of the box. They were full of excrement. I installed the cover myself in the parking lot, in the rain, with no tools. It doesn't require tools. It attaches with nurled hand knobs and springs. It took me longer to stomp the box into submission so I could stuff it under my new bed cover than it took to install it. I griped on their facebook feed and they promised to "investigate." Of course, I've not heard anything. I know where i won't be taking the car for service.

 

[Ted]

Finally got around to starting on my exhaust upgrade. You could call it a “cat-back”.



This doesn’t touch any emissions equipment and goes after the DPF/SCR. Instead of keeping the stock 4” exhaust to the back, I’m going to a 5” exhaust with a 6” tip, and putting the exit in front of the axle. This will hopefully add a deeper note and make it a higher volume, but lets me keep the emissions equipment intact.

I expect no performance or mileage improvements. Theoretically a bit less restriction but not much.

 

[Mtns2Skies]

 

[CJones]

Finally got around to starting on my exhaust upgrade. You could call it a “cat-back”.

View attachment 83959

This doesn’t touch any emissions equipment and goes after the DPF/SCR. Instead of keeping the stock 4” exhaust to the back, I’m going to a 5” exhaust with a 6” tip, and putting the exit in front of the axle. This will hopefully add a deeper note and make it a higher volume, but lets me keep the emissions equipment intact.

I expect no performance or mileage improvements. Theoretically a bit less restriction but not much.

Interesting. Trying to remember what the issues were that Ford had when they put the exhaust in front of the axle.. Don't see many of them like that on the road anymore.

 

[SoonerAviator]

Interesting. Trying to remember what the issues were that Ford had when they put the exhaust in front of the axle.. Don't see many of them like that on the road anymore.

I don't know what issues there would be aside from having exhaust black on your wheels. I suppose it could result in tire/rubber issues if there were enough heat near the tire sidewall, but I doubt that's really an issue. They did it with the 97-03 body style Harley-Davidson Editions trucks, the same model-year Ford Lighting. The Roush-editions (Ford factory warrantied) also had side-exits for the '04-'08 F-150s and numerous Mustangs. If there was a problem they didn't learn from it, lol.

 

[denverpilot]

SavageGeese did the 2020 Ram 1500, and the commentary on the touch screen almost made me spit out my coffee. Not often you hear the word “engorged” in an automotive review! LOL.

Don’t let that fool ya, he has some nice things to say, too. Love his reviews!

 

[CJones]

I don't know what issues there would be aside from having exhaust black on your wheels. I suppose it could result in tire/rubber issues if there were enough heat near the tire sidewall, but I doubt that's really an issue. They did it with the 97-03 body style Harley-Davidson Editions trucks, the same model-year Ford Lighting. The Roush-editions (Ford factory warrantied) also had side-exits for the '04-'08 F-150s and numerous Mustangs. If there was a problem they didn't learn from it, lol.

That may have been the only issue - dust on the wheel. I can't imagine it getting hot enough to affect breaks or tire sidewall. Maybe the reason you don't see many on the road is because it's more than 2 years old and Fords don't last longer than that.

 

[Ted]

Interesting. Trying to remember what the issues were that Ford had when they put the exhaust in front of the axle.. Don't see many of them like that on the road anymore.

They also did it on the 2000ish era F-150 Lightnings. One of my friends had a 2000ish F-150 extended cab that he converted to a wanna-be Lightning.

The exhaust outlet being further forward will increase the exhaust volume, which in most cases is considered a negative.

I jacked up the truck and then let the rear axle hang down to give the worse case scenario and I had to drop the exhaust about an inch or so. If I were going to do it again, I would've changed the order of the pipes slightly and that would've let me move the exhaust outlet a bit further forward and keep it a couple inches taller. But, this still has plenty of ground clearance and I think should be fine.

I'm waiting on an exhaust clamp to show up from Summit to physically bolt it to the DPF, but otherwise it's all ready. I'm not going to start the truck unless I have to until I get the clamp. My welds still leave plenty to be desired, but it's definitely strong enough, especially for an exhaust.

 

[mondtster]

Interesting. Trying to remember what the issues were that Ford had when they put the exhaust in front of the axle.. Don't see many of them like that on the road anymore.

Going off memory here, but I believe this was a one year only exhaust. To top it off, there was a TSB concerning discolored right wheels which recommended replacing the exhaust with a behind the wheel exit pipe. Many of those trucks likely died in the cash for clunkers program and the ones that are left likely have the newer style exhaust by now.

 

[Grum.Man]

The before wheel exhaust ruin the wheel especially if it’s aluminum. I did it on a truck I had back in high school.

 

[Ted]

Going off memory here, but I believe this was a one year only exhaust. To top it off, there was a TSB concerning discolored right wheels which recommended replacing the exhaust with a behind the wheel exit pipe. Many of those trucks likely died in the cash for clunkers program and the ones that are left likely have the newer style exhaust by now.

I’ve never seen a Lightning concerted to a behind-the-axle exhaust. And all the Cobras have sidepipes, as do many Vipers, etc. of course those aren’t driven as many miles.

I saved all the original parts so I can swap back if I notice a problem. I’m mostly going to adjust the location of the tip so it’s outside of the wheel. But given that my truck already has black wheels and the exhaust on my truck is soot-free, I’m not too concerned.