Bill at Midwest Rod and Reel has a good supply and he’s reasonable on freight http://www.midwestrodandreel.com/.

It could be a the transmission slipping, but with it happening after you make a turn makes me wonder about another common problem. The rear axle if equipped with a locking rear end has a problem with releasing the wet clutches. This will cause the rear axle to lock up and feel like a slip. It’s a binding in the rear axle and when you go around a corner you will find one wheel has to make a larger arch than the other. One of the tires has to give and will make a jump or break free to make the corner. This is a guess, but if you take it to a dealership for a test drive, they may be able to diagnose the problem for a minimal cost.

Suzuki, I’ve got 30+ years in Ford parts. Send me an e/mail at [email protected] and I’ll try to help you out. Please send the Vin, description of the part (part#) and any info you have. I should be able to give an IDO discount as well. Mark

I build some rods for myself and a few others. The custom rod is what you make of it, if they are set up properly they can be far superior to a factory rod. The builder needs to spend some time on the craft before they start building for others and need to become proficient before they build for others. I can build a rod that will look better, perform better than a factory rod and it can be made to your specs. If you want a spiral wrapped, micro guide with a wooden grip you can have it. Add some thread wraps for color and you have a set up that no one else can ever have. The custom rod is only as good as the builder, but be very specific about what you want or you may be surprised as to what you get.

RAM HEMI excluded of course…390 HP

Sounds like the Ecoboost is nothing like the HEMI MDS, although similar in mpg ratings.

---

The Eco-Boost is a 3.5 liter, 365hp with 420ft lbs of torque, the ram is a 5.7 liter, 390 horse with 407ft lbs of torque. The Eco-Boost is nothing to sneeze at for pulling power and it’s been trouble free since we have sold the first one at our shop. The people that have purchased a new Eco-Boost love them.

I toured the factory last week with the Custom Rod Builders Guild and they had some of the new line up of blanks for sale. The blanks built with the NSi tech and are supposed to be 30% stronger than the previous blanks. I’ve got a few of the 7’6″MLXF and 7’MLF in the walleye series, and they are a great blank. I also purchased a couple of the new bass series in 6’10″MXF and MLXF, both great blanks as well. The factory is state of the art and you can’t go wrong with their customer service as well. They are also putting a different finish on the rods that is spray painted instead of spread on. It will give the rod a much different look.

I have to ask, what is a “Banksia Nut Handle?”

It’s a hard nut that is full of voids for seeds. They turn like wood and are a very attactive grip. I have a link to one from Terry Henson if you want to look at a finished grip http://www.rodbuilding.org/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/9139/cat/500/page/1 .

I like to use wood for grips myself and hope to bring 4-5 rods along. The gathering last year was a great time and it runs the gamit from novice to expert. If you get a chance you should really try to make it.

I believe that they had a problem with ceramic and recoils using braids years ago, but not in the last few years. The braids used in the early years were porous and would collect debris; the debris was abrasive and would cause the grooving in the guides. From what I understand the braids have been reformulated so it will not collect debris and the grooving problems have been corrected. St. Croix is a fantastic company and I’m sure Jason has tested and re-tested to make sure that it won’t fail. The recoils are light, but the next thing in custom rod building is the micro guide (5mm down to 1.5mm). They are very small guides about 1/2 to 1/4 the size of the standard rings. I have built 3 with micros that will out cast any thing currently offered by the factories plus you remove a lot of weight from the tip of the rod (great on a jigging rod). The biggest down fall with the micros is passing knots and icing, if you have a chance take a look at one.

BTW here’s a photo the the micros with a size 8 photo 1

A batch of 15 on a dime photo 2

It depends which one you’re looking at. If it’s the picture that’s third from the left hand side top row? It’s called an elliptical or celtic knot. They are made but cutting the blank diagonaly and inserting a contrasting piece of wood the thickness of the saw blade on 4 sides of the blank. The wood varies by what I have available, the darker wood was IPE, there’s maple and just about anything else. If you want you can contact me I can try to explain it better. Thanks Mark

Yes I do sell a few, (I have a few I should put on the sale board) but my turn around time is slow. That’s the nice thing about it as a hobby. You can do it as you please. I build mostly on St Croix and Batson blanks. I also like to use some burl cork. The burl is heavier than regular cork but seems to hold up and look better thank regular cork. I turn a few pens as well, it makes use of the left overs from the rods. Dman the handles will take any where from 1 to 10 hours to build depending on the segments in it. I did a segmented turning for a handle that looked like a spider (couldn’t get it to load) web when done it took about 10 hours to do.

I look at it from a rod builders perspective. Flipping fish breaks a lot of rods. More and more rod companys are putting limits on their warranty because of breakage due to abuse.

I would guess a cam position sensor for the truck as well. Part number F7TZ12K073B price has been reduced to $27.62 as of a couple of months ago. They have had some problems with the sensor, but that doesn’t guarantee that that is the problem. You should have someone check it out before you just throw a part at it. But for $28 you might want to try it, but I just can’t guarantee that’s the problem.

Funny thing about the 710 cap, I sell autoparts for a Ford dealer and we did have a lady call up looking for the 710 (oil) cap one time and she was serious. It took me the longest time to figure out what she was looking for.

Mudhole has a great selection and the price is on par with most others. You might want to check out http://www.Rodbuilding.org they have a list of sponsors on the left hand side and they all seem to be very helpful and good to deal with. I have used Bingham Enterprise, Fishsticks 4U, and Custom Tackle all seem to be great suppliers. If you have any questions shoot me a PM. Mark

AkDan – You might want to look at Mudhole.com as well. They have a great selection and a lot of rodbuilding how to’s. The one problem is once you start building rods you can’t stop.

Bob – You’ll want a flasher if your going to fish Blackhawk in Cobb. You might want to look for one with the ability to voom in on different depts as the 12″+ crappies will suspend in the deeper (20′) waters in frt of the beach.

I don’t think the dexcool is as much of a problem as the fact that people never change the antifreeze. I know that the dexcool is supposed to be able to be left in for life but it really should be flushed every 3 years. It will become acidic after a period of time because of electrolysis. That’s caused by dissimilar metals in the engine. Ford and Gm are trying to make the vehicles maintenance free but the truth of the matter is changing the fluids once in a while is cheap insurance. Mark

If you look at the back of the Manufacturers (Honda, Yamaha, ECT) oil bottle you should find a two digit API Service rating. As long as the rating on the oil you are looking at meets or excedes that rating your warranty will not be voided. I know alot of dealers will tell you this but, according to our warranty and policy manual from Ford we can’t refuse the customer warranty because they don’t use Motorcraft oil. However we can refuse warranty if the oil doesn’t meet the min API rating or the oil is not changed at the required intervals. Mark

I know what you’re saying. I have 4 days to burn before year end. Fortunately I can give them a day’s warning and be off. It was a beauty of a day yesterday.

I was up in the Blackhawk area yesterday the water temp was 43 with plenty of grass coming down. We were out in the middle of the day so the bite was slow but I broke into the 10 pound club. It’s to bad it was a 30″ sheephead that must have gone close to 15 pound’s. The current was low and we had a wind out of the south so boat control was some what of an issue but not bad. Good Luck. Mark

One you may have overlooked as well is the Bushnell (AKA Baush & Lomb) 3200 and 4200. I have several Leupolds, Nikons, Simmons and Burris I like the Bushnell 4200 better than the others. If it came down to Nikon or Leupold the Leupolds seem to have a sharper focus around the peripheral and would be my choice. My 2 cents. Mark

Thanks Brian – I think that sounds about like the blank I have. I bought a bunch of Elite and Avids while on vacation at Park Falls. This one I must have picked up by mistake and was in the mix when I got home. I only paid $14.00 for the blank and when all is said and done I should only have about $40.00 in the whole works. I thought for that price I could have some fun at the river for a small investment. Thanks Again Mark

I never gave much thought to the reel seat. I have two that would fit the rod one with exposed blank one with out. The one with out the exposed seat seems much beefier but I don’t have a reel to test on either. Is it the length or the width of the seat that gives problems with the 6500? Also how many guides on a 7′? I know that 7 plus the tip for 8 total is standard but a lot of the Bass rods I have built are 8 or 9 plus the tip, would 10 total be a better number or is that too much? Thanks for the input. Mark

Bob, It’s not a bad deal as said before it’s about $50.00 to replace the rod. I think the medium light (probably has a Moderate tip) may be a better rod for cranks than it would be for jigs. You may want to look for a Med to Med Heavy with a fast or extra fast tip for jigs. The tip will mean more in sensitivity than the action type. An x-fast tip will bend back to about the top 20% of the total rod length, a fast the top 30%, and a mod tip will bend in the top 40% and so on. The slower the tip the less sensitive it will be. The action will be noticed more in the fighting of the fish as that describes the back bone of the rod. If your rod had a fast or x-fast tip you would think it was great rod for jigging. Mark

Is the Explorer a manual shift (lever on the floor) or electronic shift on the fly (ESOF) transfer case? If it’s a manual shift it’s more than likley the sensor on the transfer case. If it’s the ESOF transfer case it could be the shift motor, the transfer case shift control module, or a wiring problem. The first 2 run about $500.00 a peice and are usually non-returnable because they are electical parts. It may be cheaper in the long run to take it to a mechanic and have them estimate the repairs. This way you shouldn’t be held responsible if the diagnosis is incorrect.

You might want to check out the Batson line of blanks. I have bought a few and had good luck with them. They also have Batson guides and reel seats that I’ve used and had good luck with. I think that the Kistler Rods all use Batson guides and components. If you want check out Rodbuilding.Org and read through the forums as they have a lot of builders on the site and I’m sure they are better informed than I on the Shikari blanks.

I would return the fish as the regulations are in effect and should not be broken. I have heard serveral people try to explain that the fish died to the DNR only to have the CO reply “The turtles need to eat too”. The DNR is very quick to write a ticket.

We sell both GM and Ford at the dealership that I work at. The Ford 150 has a little better fit and finish than the GM but doesn’t seem to get the mpg that the Gm does. If you flip a coin you would get a good truck either way. I work at the Ford store so I’m not sure but I thought that you should get a discount through your son as a family member through GM, I know we do on the Ford side. But rules change and I haven’t kept up on the GM deals. As stated before you should support your son and it does meen something to the Dealer Priciple when a family member buys from the dealership.

I saw the Pirates movie over the week end. It was 2 1/2 hours long but it didn’t seem like it. Like stated before it was fast paced and fun to watch. Mark

Usually the a/c drain is on the rh (passenger) side. Was it raining out that day or night? We have had a few Fords that the butyl seal in the windshield will dry out or crack. When they do that you will get quite a bit of water inside. If you want to test for that just run a garden hose over the w/shield (or sun roof if equiped) to see if you have an external water leak. Mark