72 GMC Short Step Build

[OutlawDrifter]

i'm really interested to see how the powertrax works out for you. i've been wanting to try one in my 95 sierra, but i don't want something noisy or that makes corners or lane changes under power "interesting".

[jmking9]

Where did you get the little brackets you welded to the axle?

[jmking9]

Also, are you running a booster with your Wilwood master? Do you have any pictures of the way you ran the stainless lines you bent up?

[Z10]

Originally Posted by jmking9

Also, are you running a booster with your Wilwood master? Do you have any pictures of the way you ran the stainless lines you bent up?

Yes, it's a CPP booster. It took me 3 tries to get this one. The first one had the wrong bracket, the second didn't work, and I'm not confident this one is working correctly. Also I was on my second CPP master cylinder. The first one leaked. Finally decided to replace the unused replacement with Wilwood.
Once again, not a fan of CPP.

Here's a few pics I had, if you need to see something else, let me know and I'll take some more for you.

[jmking9]

Thanks for the pics. Your setup looks great! I'm also using the CPP booster with the same Wilwood MC and prop valve kit that you're running. S here are my ?'s
*Was the pushrod that was in the CPP booster and MC the correct length to work with the Wilwood MC?
*Did you have to use the little bullet looking thing? I know Wilwood sells them in different lengths, so I was curious.
*What did you use for sealant on the threads of the plug where the brake switch was? Wasn't sure if brake fluid neede something different than normal.
*Do you think it would be ok to plug one of the "front out" ports on the prop valve and just run one hard line down to the T fitting on the crossmember?
I really appreciate your help. I'm going to try and install all of mine this weekend and it's nice to know ahead of time what additional parts I might need, so I can have them on hand. I live out where it's over an hour round trip to a good parts store. So, if there was anything else you can think of that you needed, let me know. Thanks again!

[Possmguts]

Man.. where can I get me one of those Car Bosses? They sure look handy...

[Z10]

Here it is painted and mounted with a custom fabricated aluminum spacer by Diceman.

[Z10]

Originally Posted by jmking9

Where did you get the little brackets you welded to the axle?

Jmking, that's a Car Boss fabrication piece, like so many details on this truck.

[Z10]

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

i'm really interested to see how the powertrax works out for you. i've been wanting to try one in my 95 sierra, but i don't want something noisy or that makes corners or lane changes under power "interesting".

Drifter,
I installed a unit in my 69 Camaro several years ago, and I do notice a little "squirm" when the rear tires don't have equal pressure. But if the pressures are the same, not so much. I drove the truck about 250 miles this past week, more than half of it at 75mph and didn't notice anything. I'm not sure how it would work for auto crossing, but for pulling and straight-line traction, pretty awesome. I'm happy.

[Advanced Design]

After some test drives I would be interested in your evaluation on braking performance compared to the before Wilwood brake system. Is it worth the investment? My Burb could use braking performance improvement and this package looks good. Really appreciate your thoughts.

[diceman50]

With the understanding that this is not what I suggest for your situation I will tell you what we did on Z10's truck.

As for the push rod. It depends on whether or not your truck had power brakes from the factory or not. We used the pushrod that came with the CPP booster on Z10"s truck. On a vacuum boosted system there are 2 separate push rods. (I don't know about the hydro boost units) One from the pedal to the booster and one from the booster to the M/C. The one on the pedal can be installed and adjusted independently of the other. I suggest installing the booster without the master cylinder and hooking up the pushrod to the pedal. You can then adjust the rod until there is approx. 1/2" pedal travel before engagement. Make sure that the pedal bushings and other hardware are in good condition.

If your truck had a manual brake system originally there are different pedal ratios and pushrod lengths and possibly other differences.

As for the M/C you must use the bullet with a vacuum booster. If you look at the front of the booster you should see a short pushrod protruding from the center. This short pushrod will not engage the piston in the M/C unless the bullet is installed. With a straight edge and ruler measure the distance from the front of the booster (where the M/C bolts on) to the end of the pushrod. Then measure from the same mating surface on the M/C to the center of the cup on the bullet. Make sure the bullet is fully seated in the M/C. The second measurement should be close to but not greater than the first. In other words there should be slight clearance between the pushrod and the bullet when the brakes are not applied. Without some clearance the brake might not release completely when applied and released.

As for the thread sealant we used a Teflon based pipe dope being careful not to get any on the face or the first thread of the plug.

As knomadd said the Wilwood instructions say you can plug one of the front out lines. On Z10"s truck the adapter for the stainless flex lines required a different size tube nut than the original line. Instead of cutting and reflaring the original I decided it would be easier and look better to make a separate line for the left side. I replaced the "T" fitting on the cross member with a coupling of the same size.

These suggestions are just that and are my opinion only. You may get some different views form other people but, it is your responsibility to decide what to do. Also, I don't care to get into a debate on this and I will respond only to you on this subject.

[Z10]

Originally Posted by diceman50

With the understanding that this is not what I suggest for your situation I will tell you what we did on Z10's truck.

As for the push rod. It depends on whether or not your truck had power brakes from the factory or not. We used the pushrod that came with the CPP booster on Z10"s truck. On a vacuum boosted system there are 2 separate push rods. (I don't know about the hydro boost units) One from the pedal to the booster and one from the booster to the M/C. The one on the pedal can be installed and adjusted independently of the other. I suggest installing the booster without the master cylinder and hooking up the pushrod to the pedal. You can then adjust the rod until there is approx. 1/2" pedal travel before engagement. Make sure that the pedal bushings and other hardware are in good condition.

If your truck had a manual brake system originally there are different pedal ratios and pushrod lengths and possibly other differences.

As for the M/C you must use the bullet with a vacuum booster. If you look at the front of the booster you should see a short pushrod protruding from the center. This short pushrod will not engage the piston in the M/C unless the bullet is installed. With a straight edge and ruler measure the distance from the front of the booster (where the M/C bolts on) to the end of the pushrod. Then measure from the same mating surface on the M/C to the center of the cup on the bullet. Make sure the bullet is fully seated in the M/C. The second measurement should be close to but not greater than the first. In other words there should be slight clearance between the pushrod and the bullet when the brakes are not applied. Without some clearance the brake might not release completely when applied and released.

As for the thread sealant we used a Teflon based pipe dope being careful not to get any on the face or the first thread of the plug.

As knomadd said the Wilwood instructions say you can plug one of the front out lines. On Z10"s truck the adapter for the stainless flex lines required a different size tube nut than the original line. Instead of cutting and reflaring the original I decided it would be easier and look better to make a separate line for the left side. I replaced the "T" fitting on the cross member with a coupling of the same size.

These suggestions are just that and are my opinion only. You may get some different views form other people but, it is your responsibility to decide what to do. Also, I don't care to get into a debate on this and I will respond only to you on this subject.

What he said.

[jmking9]

Thanks for the response. I finally opened some of the boxes tonight and read through the paperwork. I should have done that before asking a couple of those questions, and I apologize for that. I'm still curious about one thing. Earlier it was said not to use the short rod and the bullet. And that using them could result in the rod falling out of position and having no brakes. That could only happen if the short rod was too short, correct?

[diceman50]

The only time you don't use the bullet is on a non power brake system. On that setup the pushrod goes directly from the pedal to the M/C piston and extends into the M/C the same distance as the bullet. This is to prevent the pushrod from falling out of the M/C if the pedal retracts a little too far.

[Z10]

Retrosound Install

Well it was time to get Double E in on the fun, so he tackled the audio install. The truck finally has some tunes and it sounds excellent. The system consists of a Retrosound Model 2, JBL P26t tweeters, and Custom Autosound Undercover II underseat enclosures with 8" woofers and 2each, 2" piezoe tweeters.

I had already adjusted the Retrosound head unit to the dash, so Double E was set loose to install everything. We test fit the JBL's in a few different locations on the dash, above the visors, and decided the top of the dash sounded right and would make for a clean install. Two pilot holes were drilled for each tweeter using a slick drill guide Double E fabbed up, cross overs added and wiring was run to the head unit.

The front seat was removed to make access to the area below easier to access and make running the necessary wiring easier also. Velcro was added to the bottoms of the Undercover II's to stop them from moving around. Double E did an excellent job of wiring everything and the head unit was switched on. With some fine tuning of the tone and balance controls, the system sound great to these old ears. I had run the Undercover II's previous to this with and old head unit and no tweeters and they were a bit muddled do to them firing at the bottom of the seat, really lacking highs. The JBL tweeters made all the difference. If you're not running tweeters up high, you should consider adding them.

This Retrosound Model 2 is a full featured head unit a vast menu and extensive features. Bluetooth audio, Bluetooth phone, USB 1, USB 2, 2 audio in's, and the list goes on. I'm much happier so far with this head unit than the older Custom Autosound unit I have in my 69 Camaro. If I drove the Camaro more I'd replace it with Retrosound. Side note: Keep the instruction manual handy, because this thing has all kinds of tricks it will do, but you'll never remember how to control and set this up with out it. Fortunately it's dialed in, and I primarily use my iPhone 6 plugged into USB1 to feed the deck music and it will also charge the phone. If not using the iPhone, I'm using the radio.

So here's a few pics.

[Advanced Design]

Awesome. That is so cute. Our 3 year old gradson cries when he has to leave the shop.

[Advanced Design]

That was nice work on the radiator! I am enjoying his build on the engine as well. Very talented friends you have!

[Z10]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

That was nice work on the radiator! I am enjoying his build on the engine as well. Very talented friends you have!

Thanks, and it is working great. I would highly recommend this radiator. Now getting him to fab up another fan set up, is another question.

[Z10]

Fender Mount Spare Tire

Well many of you have asked why I haven't mounted my fender mount spare. The truth is, I've had a heck of a time locating all the parts to do it. I found the main mount and the brace that mounts under the fender, but the other two part have been elusive.

Diceman to the rescue. Here's a few picks of his work, prior to mounting. After looking at photos of other trucks and using his imagination, he fabricated a small bracket which mounts between the bed rail and the fender and the vertical support that that mounts above the step. All of these are complete with captive nuts to ease installation.

Excuse the sideways pics, I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong?

More pics to come. Need to paint the parts.

[lolife99]

Your truck looks much better with the new suspension adjustment!

[Z10]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Your truck looks much better with the new suspension adjustment!

Thanks Keith. I think it's a good compromise.

[knomadd]

I'm curious if that bumper has the dreaded curve everyone is complaining about with the aftermarket rear bumpers, or if it's straight across the top like the factory ones? Post a pic when you have it installed. I hope you got a good one!

[Z10]

Originally Posted by knomadd

I'm curious if that bumper has the dreaded curve everyone is complaining about with the aftermarket rear bumpers, or if it's straight across the top like the factory ones? Post a pic when you have it installed. I hope you got a good one!

If you're talking about the top rear edge, that butts up against the bed? It looks straight to me.

[Z10]

I may have to change the name of this truck to "The Onion" every time I pull something off I tend to find an issue. Fortunately I've literally gone from the front to the back and there's not much left to discover.

I removed the roll pan and found that the rear bed sill had been cut to accommodate the license plate recess in the roll pan. Looks like I'll be replacing this and when I start on the wood bed.

[Z10]

Originally Posted by knomadd

I'm curious if that bumper has the dreaded curve everyone is complaining about with the aftermarket rear bumpers, or if it's straight across the top like the factory ones? Post a pic when you have it installed. I hope you got a good one!

Per your request a couple pics of the bumper in relationship to the rear bed sill. Looks pretty straight to me. If you need another pic let me know.