alright, had a real good day yesterday - after 4-1/2 years (4 yrs, 4 months, and 29 days to be exact) of being apart...and two engines...the Dakota 'went' someplace. We took the truck out to our local Ram Off Road Park and got the truck good n flexed out...and fully heat soaked.

Overall pretty good - couple teething problems but nothing massive. It was a hot day - about 80*, and after about an hour and a half of continuous running and mostly idling the engine never got above 190*!!, mostly hovered in the low 180's, and that was the huge . Had Tracy's Grand Cherokee out with us but didn't need it.

One of the main tasks was to confirm placement of the rear leaf shackles, and in order to get a good suspension test I loaded as much 'weight' as I could to try to simulate a 'full load', so I tossed on the topper, spare tire, tools, rear winch, and an extra battery in the bed box next to the service battery.

Issues:
1) D-side motor mount allows too much torque-flex (up) and the radiator fan was contacting something on the shroud, so I'll likely get a polyurethane version on the drivers side, maybe both.

2) Power steering pump and ram output lines are 'kinda' close to the exhaust manifold and the fluid got kinda hot and was making some noise so I have to do something about that (heat shields n such to shield the pump and ram lines from the exhaust, etc).

Flexes good - didn't get air under any tire, and everything else seemed to be 'good'.