12-Valve Manual Fuel Shutoff

A common failure point on a 12-valve Cummins, the fuel shutoff solenoid finally failed on my '95 and I found myself no longer able to start the truck. Well, I could start it, but I had to pop the hood and move the fuel shutoff by hand to get it to fire up. I could have replaced the solenoid, as they're readily available on various Ram-specific stores, but where's the fun in that?

I found a company called Contagious Diesel that makes a cable kit to replace the solenoid, and had it installed in an afternoon. I didn't even have to drill a hole for it, as I already had a hole in the dash where the winch controller had previously been. So far it works great, and makes the truck just that much less dependent on electricity. We'll see how the quality of the kit holds up over time (I'm a bit wary of the small, hex-head set screw that holds the cable in place, but at least it's not moving as much as a throttle cable would).