Category: Geno’s Garage

Brake Fluid Expose

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DOT 5.1 Brake Fluid

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Brake Fluid (And are probably still afraid to ask) by James Walker Without a doubt, changing brake fluid is at the absolute bottom of most owners’ lists of “fun things to do with their trucks.” Unfortunately, this mystery fluid is also one of the most vital components of all of your truck’s safety systems, yet it can be neglected for years and years at a time. Heck, there are some people who would not change their fluid for the life of their truck…

Dodge Ram Spring Cleaning

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Dodge Ram exterior cleaning products.

Whether you want to believe it or not, your RV/trailer/camper/tow vehicle has feelings and a personality. When it’s covered with pitch, bug guts, bird doo, mud or just road grime, and the tires look like they’re about to be recycled at the local flea market, you can see the frown on its face. It’s a scientifically unproven fact that a clean truck runs and pulls better. Got it, unproven, but a clean ride does wonders for the self-esteem. Our personal truck and camper may be different from yours, but it…

Buying a Pre-Owned Ram Cummins Truck

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Pre-owner Ram Cummins truck.

Last year, the new vehicle display at our local Costco featured a stunning 2018 Ram Cummins 2500 Longhorn 4×4. Upscale accessories and options lured a stream of curious consumers. The $75,800 MSRP window sticker caught the most attention. In a recent post at the TDR forum, a reader shared his search for a used Ram truck. Citing noteworthy design flaws on models he could afford, his first diesel truck quest was fraught with concerns. New truck prices have soared. The Ram Tradesman trim level, trucks like this well-equipped 2500 4×4,…

Ram Turbo Diesel Out of Fuel? Are You Sure?

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We heard from a Ram Turbo Diesel owner who wrote of a situation where his 2001 truck ran out of fuel while the fuel gauge was showing 1/4 of a tank. He was fifty feet away from the fuel island when it happened, and strangers helped him push his truck up to the fuel pump. He learned to drive the truck by resetting the trip odometer and running a certain number of elapsed miles before refueling. Problem Diagnosis The problem is fairly simple to diagnose. In this case, where the…

Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) for Dummies

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MOPAR DEF Jug

If you own a 2013+ Ram diesel you know that you need to use diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) or you run the risk of going in to limp mode. You probably have some questions. What does DEF actually do? Does DEF go bad? Are any brands of DEF better than the others? DEF is made up of two things, Urea and de-ionized water. This mixture (32.5% urea/67.5% water) is sprayed via an injector in to the exhaust to lower the N0x emissions emitted from your diesel truck. If you decide…

When is Dodge Cummins Diesel Fuel Pressure Important?

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Undoubtedly you have heard from friends or internet forums that you need a fuel pressure gauge on your Cummins Turbo Diesel or else you run the risk of damaging your injection pump. This is true, but only if you own a 1998.5 (first year of the 24-valve engine) to 2002 truck. During these four years of production, a Bosch VP44 fuel injection pump was used on these engines. The VP44 is fuel cooled and needs to have more than 5psi to maintain proper cooling. “The VP44 is fuel cooled and…

’94-’02 Dodge Ram HVAC Service

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Dodge Ram dash strapped up and out of the way.

I’ve been putting off replacing the heater core in Red Ryder (a ’98 Dodge Turbo Diesel) for a lot longer than I should have. I’ve been keeping a car blanket in the cab during the winter for a few years now. It generally takes about 30 miles at highway speed to bring the cab to a comfortable temperature when the outside ambient temperature is in the low-40s. I hadn’t observed coolant leaking in the cab…yet. On the return trip from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in January this year there were some…

’98-’02 Dodge Ram Replacement Dashboard

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In Issue 90 of the Turbo Diesel Register magazine, the folks at Geno’s Garage had a press release talking about the development of a ’98-’02 Dodge Ram replacement dashboard. The short version of that story is that they cut the front structure from a wrecked vehicle and had the tooling made to injection-mold a replacement dash. It has been a long process to bring this product to the market, but the replacement dashboards are now in stock for immediate shipment. Call now—operators are standing by. Seriously, this is a full…

’98-’02 Dodge Ram Dash Installation

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Originally published in TDR Issue 82. November 2014 REPLACING YOUR ’98-’02 DODGE RAM CRACKED DASHBOARD by Brent Boxall All you have to do is Google “Dodge Ram cracked dash” and you can get as many pages of results as you want. I’m thinking that unless you leave the truck parked in a cave the Second Generation Ram dash is going to crack and/or break. There are three solutions to solve this problem: First, purchase a fabric mat to cover the unsightly problem. Second, purchase a plastic dash cover which comes…

How Do I Change My Dodge Ram Shock Absorbers?

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SHOCK ABSORBER REPLACEMENT/BILSTEIN SHOCKS by Jim Anderson At a technical seminar hosted by Geno’s Garage and presented by Bilstein sales manager Scott MacDonald, I became aware of certain signs indicating that after 60,000 miles in a 2006 two wheel drive Dodge Ram 3500 dually, the shock absorbers should be replaced. Over the course of the seminar, Scott educated us about the construction and features of the different types of shock absorbers commonly found on the market. We learned that original equipment shocks typically do not last much longer than a…