I’ll second the inline thermostat mod from Extinct. I just put it in about a month ago and I’m kicking myself for not doing it earlier. As far as “replacing the whole system” you will want to, at the very least, flush out the old coolant and replace it. I run the boring old green stuff as popular opinion is that dexcool can be bad news if it’s not replaced regularly (which it probably hasn’t). If the cooling hoses are supple I don’t think you have a whole lot to worry about. The thing to worry about, hose wise, are the brittle plastic ones. Easy to break, but luckily, also easy to replace with a length of plain old heater hose bought by the foot at you local auto parts store.

 

for peace of mind out in the middle of nowhere, yes. refresh the entire system. look closely at the black plastic "T" up top and the black plastic "Y" by the factory thermostat. they can both degrade and break at inopportune times. there is also a BMW brass bleed screw that can be used to replace the black plastic bleed screw. of course, if you go with Extinct's inline mod then you don't need to worry about the black plastic "T" up top as it is eliminated. there are a few other hard plastic coolant lines that should be replace, also.

the entire cooling system is pretty easy to replace. even the radiator isn't that difficult to remove and replace.

 

There's lots of big proponents of the in-line thermostat. I've done three conversions and I'm currently in the middle of a fourth, waiting on parts, I'll never go back. The most recent one I am coming up with a system to remove all plastic from the cooling system, but retain the factory radiator.

You do not need a different driveshaft for a 2" lift, or even a 4" lift. Lucky 8 makes a good driveshaft for the price.

 

Thanks again everyone. The people have spoken! I'm going to grab the inline thermostat and then replace the whole system while I am at it. Living in Nevada, the middle of nowhere is often where I am Thankfully I run the Garmin inreach for hunting/fishing trips so I'm never really out of touch if **** hits the fan, but would rather have to use it!

The driveshaft is making a little noise so I am sure something is up, I'll give it a full inspection and have a look. Good to know that I can use the same one with a lift or without.

Speaking of lift, does anyone have a suggestion for something in the 2" range? Information on the parts suppliers pages is somewhat vague in terms of lift height achieved and ride quality.

 

My current truck still has the stock Driveshaft with a 2" Terrafirma lift that the previous owner installed and it's been hitting the lower crossmember. I think that's why getting one meant for a lift is preferred. On my previous truck, I had the Tom Woods double cardon driveshaft.

In terms of lift, I like the 2" OME. To me it rides better than the Terrafirma and I'm not a big fan of Terrafirma in general. I'm currently removing the Terrafirma off my current truck.

 

I was leaning towards the 2" OME medium duty, good to hear you think it's better and worth the increase in price from the Terrafirma.

I'll do some more research on the driveshaft, if there's any threads in particular you think I should check out, send them over.

 

I had the OME HD and I thought it rode pretty well so the MD should ride even better if you're not loaded up all the time.

I just got a stock Driveshaft from Lucky8 as I'm returning my truck back to stock height and I wanted one with greasable U-joints. I think it was $158 during their sale which happens to be the same price they sell it for on ebay all the time. They do have some other options for lifted trucks. I never had an issue with my Tom Woods driveshaft.

 

Yup, not looking to add too much to this truck (famous last words), so medium duty will be fine.