Drove the truck to work on Friday. It got me there and back without any drama.
Over the weekend I fixed the plate light short circuit. I got two pigtails and two bulb covers from the junkyard. The plate lights now function and the parking lamp fuse shouldn't blow anymore.
I also got a grille emblem at the junkyard too. Mine was missing. I think this emblem is around $50 from FCA or Stellantis or whatever the f*ck Chrysler is calling themselves now. I got it for $1. A little cutting polish and it looks new.
I took it for a drive Saturday night and noticed a few things. First, it was 36° when I started it and the truck and it was not plugged in. I cycled the grid heater and it started right up. It coughed for the first minute or so but after warming up it was fine. That's a definite improvement over the last cold start.
Secondly I noticed the transmission acting up again. Same symptoms as before- reverse intermittently working, not shifting without letting off the throttle, and some slipping. I pulled over at a gas station and checked the transmission fluid. It was down below the safe range on the stick. Fortunately I had a quart of ATF with me, so I dumped the whole thing in and drove back. From that point on, the transmission worked fine. So the transmission is clearly sensitive to fluid levels. I'm very suspicious of the cooler lines so I'll be changing those out soon.
This afternoon I was able to sell the cap/camper shell/canopy/whatever. Last time I tried to sell a cap, I couldn't even give it away; I wound up cutting it up and throwing it in the dumpster, so I was thrilled to have someone actually give me a few dollars for this one. I think it looks 10x better without it.
Now that there is some light inside the bed I can see that this truck definitely had bed sides put on it. Not anything to worry about and it looks like it was done properly, but I can see where the welds were ground down on the pinchweld.
Not sure how I feel about the warped plastic drop-in liner. The liner has cutouts for a 5th wheel but the bed doesn't.