2002 2500HD - Solid Axle Tow Rig

Would that mean I'm no longer banned from there? :lol:
 
So since I'm stuck in Maryland for work against my will...I got bored and ordered some more truck stuff. Finally got some more LED headlight bulbs. Had some in it 4 years ago when I wrecked it, so I got some more. Also ordered a 10 pack of 194 bulbs for license plate lights and interior lights. Oh...got backup light bulbs too. Since all three bulbs are 3157s, I'm going to see if they work for turn signals without hyper flashing and I'll see if they can function as brake lights.

I emailed WeatherTech about their low profile hood protector. It'd be cool if that fit. I don't like how the normal bug guards stick up and give it that grandpa truck look. We'll see what they say.

Really wish my weekend hadn't gotten robbed from me. I'd have the lower oil pan on, the fuel tank installed and be working on the oil cooler. :kaioken:
 
Remind me what you do for work again? I seem to remember you were in Norfolk not too long ago doing contract work.


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Yep. Civil service job, federal employee. I'm a machinist at FRC East. We get paid decently. Still able to make more per hour than I am years old. Going to try and keep that up in to my 40s!

I'm actually in my hotel room in Maryland right now. I'm up doing a job in Pax River on a V22.

Since I'm bored, I was on Boost Auto Parts' website and ordered a set of mirrors and a replacement key fob, both 2015 style. Went with chrome mirrors, amber dotted and non-smoked turn signal lenses, both pieces of glass have defrost, and the rear facing LEDs are high output flood lights. Pretty excited about those! The key fob was more practical and much cheaper. I almost kinda needed one, so why not, right?

1999 - 2002 GM Tow Mirrors

2015 Style Chrome GM Key Fob Retrofit (1993-2014 Trucks & SUV's)
 
New key fob is here and awesome.

Mirrors are on and leveled, just not wired up yet.

New fuel tank is in. Over 400 miles and haven't used half a tank yet. No room for the lift pump inside the frame any more. Currently, temporarily zip tied on the outside of the frame and completely visible. Going to hide it up under the filler neck and inside that area of the bed. Ordered some wheel well liners to protect and keep it clean.

All of the exterior lights have been changed to LEDs and I ditched the DRL sockets to add another turn signal socket. Now the whole marker light is a turn signal/marker light and it looks awesome.

I'll post a bunch of pics later. I hate that I have to resize them on my phone first. Oh well...
 
Galaxy S20 5G. The pictures it takes are 9248x6936 and too big to upload. I just resize them to 1849x1387. I think this thing has a 64 MP camera...I know it takes some KILLER pictures. Very clear and crisp.

Got the mirrors wired up this afternoon and they look amazing. Turn signal speed was fine with all the LEDs until I tapped the BCM wires for the signals in the mirrors and it went back to hyperflashing. A quick trip to Advance for an LED flasher solved that issue. I can see pretty much everything everywhere with all the backup lights I have now :D

The wheel well liners came in today and I got those installed as well. Had to cut out to cleat the B&W gooseneck hitch and had to put the WeatherTech mudflaps back on. That actually worked out well and left me two extra push pins per side, so I drilled the bottom pinch weld inside the wheel well to hold the liner where I trimmed it and it was a little flimsy. Looks like it was meant to be there though!

I'll try to work on posting all the pictures today. Next thing will be building a bracket to move the lift pump up under the filler neck. It'll tuck up in there quite nicely, I believe.
 
Time for a picture dump.

Got some LED headlights and the rest of the exterior bulbs. The headlights are 1:1 for size with a regular halogen bulb and these are actually focused unlike the last ones I had that were very scattered and didn't shine very far on high beams. Went ahead and did all of the interior bulbs as well. Then, you can see the new key fob next to the old one. I like the feel of the buttons MUCH better. Like I said, ditched the DRL sockets for another signal/marker socket. Looks awesome! The mirrors really set it off too and have the red arrows in the glass as well as the ambers on the front. There's very little to question about which direction I'm turning. Not having hyperflash is amazing as well. The new flasher is quieter than the factory one as well, which I really appreciate...likely due to it being solid state. For 16 bucks, it's totally worth it. It'll also power a mix of LED/regular bulbs and isn't affected by whatever bulbs your trailer might use.

I would have wired the backup lights on the mirrors to the cargo light switch, but it doesn't actually have power to the switch. It and the fog light switch merely ground the circuits and they're controlled through the BCM. I'm sure I could have done enough digging to find out how to do it, but I actually like the way it works. If I need to use them as cargo lights, I can simply cut the truck off and pop it in reverse...or add a switch so I can turn them on when needed. We'll see if there's even a demand for it. I'm just glad to have them and the rest of the mirror lights functional right now.

What else?...oh, you can see the 1/2 NPT to -10 AN fitting in the sump on the side of the tank. Then you can see the tank during install and later that night as I was fueling up. For its size, they did an awesome job at not letting it hang down super low. It's a snug fit up in there...very little room left around it! I was also concerned about fuel temps since it encapsulates the entire fuel cooler, but even at 80 degrees the highest temp I saw was something like 122 degrees and it cools dowb fairly quick once you're cruising down the highway. You may be wondering why fuel temp matters and that's because it will pull timing if it's too hot. It's been run through a motor that's coolant temp is 187 or so, pressurized to around 26k PSI, sent through some fuel rails and injectors, then whatever isn't used will return to the tank. You can see how it could get pretty warm. I think the design on the bottom of the tank funnels air across the cooler fairly well and the greatly increased volume of fuel helps keep the temperature down. So I'm happy with that.

I think that's about it for now. I'll fab up a simple bracket for the lift pump to bolt to the front spring hanger, reroute the fuel hoses again, extend the wiring, change the filters, and finally get that crossed off the list. It's really bugging me, but it has over 500 miles on it being zip tied to the outside of the frame :lol:

Of course, I'll get back to the lower oil pan and oil cooler swap soon. If it wasn't for having to drain the cooling system, I would have already done it. I have an inexplicable hatred for messing with antifreeze...and brake fluid. :shaking:

Stick around, there'll be more stuff soon!

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I was feeling froggy last Tuesday and washed it again. Then, while I was off work this past Wednesday, I dusted it off, cleaned the glass inside with Invisible Glass while the outside got RainX glass cleaner, then it got a coat of Ultra Glaze followed by two coats of Butter Wet Wax. Tires got shined, rims coated with spray on protectant, plastics rubbed down with Back2Black, and haven't driven it since! I happened upon the glaze while I was at Advance getting some sidepost battery extenders for my CUCV winch project. Looked it up and the wax was suggested for afterward. Not sad about it one bit. Fills in lots of swirls and little bity scratches. You can see how deep the paint looks. I like it!

I've got to work tomorrow, but if I'm free after work, I'm going to start on a lift pump bracket. I gotta get that damn thing permanently mounted, out of sight, and put some new filters on it.

Unfortunately, it's going to need another steering box soon. When I get around to that, I'm going balls deep. New PSC XD box setup for hydro asaist, PSC power steering pump, PSC axle mount and tie rod clamp, 1.5x8 ram, and the rest of the associated items to finally go hydro assist.

Oh...haven't forgotten about the oil cooler and lower oil pan. I need to do all that too so I can change the oil.

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Still think it rides way better then a
Factory IFS truck.
 
There's no thinking to it. It absolutely does!
 
Got a wild hair today and decided to change the oil cooler and lower oil pan. Should have gotten started a little earlier, but I got done by about 8pm. I'm tired and my hands hurt, but it's done and I'm happy. I also forgot how much of a pain in the ass it is to bleed this cooling system. You can tell immediately if it's not fully bled because it'll cool off 15 degrees at idle and it annoys the ever loving hell out of me! Anyway, the 2020 cooler is a direct bolt on, all of my bolt lengths worked out well, and it's the same process as a regular oil cooler replacement. The lower oil pan was very straightforward as well. Drain the oil, pull the pan, try not to get covered in oil, swap the low oil sensor, and bolt the new one on. Easy enough. Just going by the dash gauge, oil pressure is up a little, so that's cool. I'll see what the temps are like later on. Maybe it's just me, but the engine sounds quieter and smoother. I read something about the oil pickup being more open with this pan, who knows, but oil pressure does react to throttle input much quicker than before.

Kinda looks like my headgaskets may be leaking around the edges. Not super excited about that. If the heads come off, it'll get studs and maybe some other upgrades while I'm at it. You guys know how I am :D

BTW, I STILL haven't moved my lift pump. I do plan to work on that this week though.

Here's pictures!

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Dude...no h-word or anything (dunno if I can get away with saying --mo anymore without being chased out of town by an angry mob with torches and pitchforks), but that truck is just so damn purdy! And all the stuff like these recent adders that you don't see right away that make is just so damn cool.
 
Scooter402 said:
Dude...no h-word or anything (dunno if I can get away with saying --mo anymore without being chased out of town by an angry mob with torches and pitchforks), but that truck is just so damn purdy! And all the stuff like these recent adders that you don't see right away that make is just so damn cool.
Click to expand...
NO :gay:
 
I FINALLY got the lift pump permanently mounted where I wanted it! The bracket just sorta happened with some stuff I had laying around in the shop and the mounting wasn't what I had previously thought of, but it worked out better than I ever expected it to. Sometimes that's the best way!

I wound up hanging it from the middle bed mount bolt. I looked at some of the aftermarket mounts that do this and it'd be fine with that alone, but decided since it was so close, to go ahead and add a brace to the front spring hanger.

So, the top mount is a piece of ⅜ plate that was already 2"x4", then I had some 1" square tubing with an angle already cut on one end, the ¼" plate is 4" wide and I just cleaned up a saw cut on one end, cut a 2"x4" piece of ¼", and got fancy by covering the hole in the square tube with some random ⅛" plate. Of course I did some welding, drilled a few holes, ground a few spots smooth, and shot it with some Rustoleum universal paint/primer in the gloss black flavor. Then I ran over it with a propane torch to flash it off and the air nozzle to dry it quicker. It was like 40 degrees the other night...had to do what I had to do :D

Got everything mounted up, wiring extended, and fuel lines rerouted. Fired it up and it died after about 30 seconds. I had the suction and pressure lines backwards. Flipped those around real quick and it's good to go! Finally ran the tank down low last night. 900 miles on 57 gallons. It'll take me a while to figure out how low I can run it, but that was good enough. 138 bucks to fill it back up.

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I think, if I'm feeling froggy, I might find a piece of rubber or something to put between the lift pump and the bracket to try to reduce noise transfer. The pump is really quiet, but being solid mounted and in the new location, it kinda echoes and is a noticeable noise. Doesn't bother me, but I'll still see if I can make it a little more incognito. We shall see!
 
That's cool and all, but when are you going to cummins swap it like the cucv?

Had to ask...purdy work either way
 
Well...the head gaskets look like they might be leaking on the outer edges. So...who knows? Might be cheaper to swap motors :D

Really not looking forward to pulling the heads. Plus, I'm kinda broke....so they'll be staying put for a while.
 
I totally forgot to mention that I've reached the age (apparently) that when I get tired, I need to get where I need to be. That being said...last Friday night on my way home from a buddy's house, I ran off the road not once, but twiceded. First time on the inside of a curve and hopped a little ditch. The coilovers made for a smooth ride. The second time, a few miles later, I woke up looking at a road sign straight ahead of me. I was able to calmly and quickly get the front end back on the pavement, but the rear got away and I did a little drifting. All was well and I would have made Ken Block proud right up until I hit that road sign, or possibly a rubbermaid mailbox, from about the middle of the fender flare to the tail light. I can't have nothin' nice! Oh well...that's what comprehensive coverage is for, right?

I had another set of tail lights at home, so I swapped out the broken right rear before my trip to Maryland this past Monday. Sent pictures and already had my body shop buddy work up a quote before I got back and called to file the claim today. We'll see how it goes. It aint exactly cheap... If it hadn't put a hard crease right in front of the light, I'd have been much better off, but oh well. Nobody got hurt and it could have always been way more damage.

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Damn if that doesn't bring the suck..... and I know that tired feeling. Glad you made it away unscathed! That bedside - at'll buff out.
 
Croatan_Kid said:
I totally forgot to mention that I've reached the age (apparently) that when I get tired, I need to get where I need to be. That being said...last Friday night on my way home from a buddy's house, I ran off the road not once, but twiceded. First time on the inside of a curve and hopped a little ditch. The coilovers made for a smooth ride. The second time, a few miles later, I woke up looking at a road sign straight ahead of me. I was able to calmly and quickly get the front end back on the pavement, but the rear got away and I did a little drifting. All was well and I would have made Ken Block proud right up until I hit that road sign, or possibly a rubbermaid mailbox, from about the middle of the fender flare to the tail light. I can't have nothin' nice! Oh well...that's what comprehensive coverage is for, right?

I had another set of tail lights at home, so I swapped out the broken right rear before my trip to Maryland this past Monday. Sent pictures and already had my body shop buddy work up a quote before I got back and called to file the claim today. We'll see how it goes. It aint exactly cheap... If it hadn't put a hard crease right in front of the light, I'd have been much better off, but oh well. Nobody got hurt and it could have always been way more damage.

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Thanks for being honest about what happened and fessing up to your mistakes. Hopefully the fix isn't too expensive and you've learned your lesson.
 
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