$3,000 driver build

[Mikeeal33]

I agree, any longer and I bet it would have failed completely.

I'm on Napa's site now, gonna buy em all there in hopes that the quality is a bit better, but I've read here on the site that even the Napa ones can be pretty crappy quality???

[Xeen]

I would buy Spicer u-joints, as far as the carrier bearing assembly goes it's a crap shoot because when guys get a bad one you hear about it but when they get a good one you don't hear about what brand they purchased
Your guess is as good as mine on which brand you should purchase that's why I linked you to www.rockauto.com so you would have a bunch of choices on brand.
The DEA part A6056 for $9.23 looks pretty decent, but you need to measure your drive shaft for O.D. to make sure you are getting the correct I.D. size bearing for your drive shaft.
Also you need to figure out if you have a "end yoke" or "slip yoke" style because the assembly is different.

[nlped]

I recently bought some of the "high-line" Napa u-joints & they were reboxed Spicer blues. Just an FYI.

[Mikeeal33]

Brian thanks for the info on the two different types of yokes, this I didn't know.

Ed I just called Napa, the guy said they don't have Spicer, and that they carry Precision brand.

Hmmmm.

[Mikeeal33]

Here's a pic of the rear u-joint before I pulled the bed off, nasty lookin:



And brake fluid all over the frame and trailing arm:



I really need to address my switch situation too, haha:

[Mikeeal33]

[Mikeeal33]

Leaky union:



I had to take it off when I was installing the notches, I never tightened it back up!

[Mikeeal33]

Back on the road! Driving nice and smooth as far as the drive line goes. Still making that noise though, I think it may be the transmission. It sounds like it's coming from under my feet.

[hanly2]

Mike, how did you mount the air bags in the back? I am looking on airbagit.com and trying to piece together a air ride system

[Mikeeal33]

I drilled holes for the top:



And the bottom uses the factory hole through the trailing arm:

[hanly2]

That seems pretty easy. Where did you get your notch and bags from?

[Mikeeal33]

It was. I got the notches at Summit cause they had them in stock and I wanted them NOW! (I live near one of their retail stores) The bags I got from eBay.

[BigDaddyV]

Lookin good Mike, Keep the pics coming. You know we all love pics

[Mikeeal33]

Thanks! And I know! More to come.

[Xeen]

Mike so the new carrier bearing and rear u-joint took the vibration out the drive line, good deal I was sure that would clean it up.
I wonder if all the vibration and movement that the driveshaft was doing wore out the output shaft bearing in the transmission and that's the noise you are hearing.
You could also be hearing the transmission slapping against the transmission crossmember if the mount is wore out or missing, something is definitely still loose under there.
With the condition the mechanical was in when you got it I would check, double check, and triple check all the mechanical on the truck, don't assume anything is ok until you have gone through it.
Get under the truck and grab a hold of the drive shaft near the transmission and use all your body weight and shake the hell out of it and see if anything moves both up and down and side to side.
Be safe because when you apply that much force to the truck you might pull it off of the jack stands so keep the jack under there just in case.

[Mikeeal33]

Maybe the C10 gods will shine down on me and let it be a tranny mount instead of the shaft bearing! I'm planning on getting it on a lift this week, maybe the next couple of days. The truck was thrust into a daily this weekend so I have to tidy stuff up. I need a stereo real bad lol.

NEW SHOES!!



Also found a hole under the dash, already there, pretty much right where I wanted to mount my bag switch:



It fits! I like it there.

[Mikeeal33]

Also I have a question about these badges.

Here's the drivers side:



Here's the passenger side:



I pulled the CST/10 one off cause it was broken, but it sure looks like both have been there a while. These trucks didn't come with two different badges right? Or did they?

[Mikeeal33]

Ok and one more.

I have hot air coming into the cab when I'm driving, no problem in a month or two but for now I'd like to know why. Am I missing the top arm here that closes the vents to the cab?



Or is air gonna come in either way? I've heard of guys putting a valve on one of the heater hoses, is this why? To keep hot air from coming in? The blower motor is definitely OFF.

[knomadd]

Is your firewall all sealed up? Not sure about the heater since I've never had the factory heater in mine. the PO took it all out.

[boynton]

The lever you are missing on the top is to change from defrost vents or floor vents. the cutt off valve you are referring to cuts the water from circulating through the heater core. If you are getting hot air from an unknown source it may be from the seal around the heater box, clutch rod hole or various other places.

[boynton]

Or could be from the manual vents in the kick panel...

[Mikeeal33]

It's coming out of both the lower vent above the tranny hump and the defrost on the dash so I'm assuming the top lever that I'm missing is in the middle splitting the output. The air is not coming from an unknown place, it's out the vents. The kick panel vents function good and are closed.

[boynton]

Ok I am not sure why it is blowing or catching a draft you can probably reach on the back side of the controller and move the lever by hand and see if it helps?

[knomadd]

I had that happen with the factory stuff in my GTO. Not sure why it did it since the fan was "off." Maybe the heater control valve isn't fully closed so you're getting ambient heat from the heater core forced in from the fresh air vents??? Always thought that was the case on mine.

[Mikeeal33]

Thanks guys.

So, let me see if I'm understanding this correctly. The top lever, (the one that's broken on mine) moves the output from defrost to the lower vent, is that correct? So even if it was working all it would do is either all defrost or all lower. But that wont shut the vents though right?