1991 V3500 Project Heavy Hauler

[MTCK]

Good thing I never throw anything away. These hubs came with the Dana 60 I owned briefly to put in my 77.

[joe231]

Geez
The snowball is my life right now lol
While I was fixing and painting the pinch weld for my windshield I noticed some substantial rust bubbles around my cab lights, it never ends!

It's certainly nice to have what you need in the spare pile!

[MTCK]

Your repair turned out good! With the exception of the trans and t-case I'll have touched everything on this truck, which gives me a level of confidence to go far.

[MTCK]

Originally Posted by MTCK

Your repair turned out good! With the exception of the trans and t-case I'll have touched everything on this truck, which gives me a level of confidence to go far.

Well that was a couple years ago, but excellent foreshadowing. I'm cautiously optimistic about the trans. It had one weird deal during the week I drove it where it locked into second gear. A restart fixed it and it's behaved correctly since then (the one time I drove it). I'm going to wait for temps to get a little more civilized and try it again. I'm glad I asked for and received a 2 year warranty on the work.

The Yukon's problem turned out to not be the thermostatic plug end, but heating element itself. Replaced under warranty so that's good. I still like the circulating heater more than the block heater that only comes on at 0F or colder...

Something worth noting on the NP205 rebuild: I chased what I thought were loose wires for over two years, and in reality it was so much play in the output shaft that the VSS was missing the tone ring enough to make the speedo bounce. I also thought I needed a new front driveline due to noise in four high, and only had front wheel drive in four low, but all those problems went away with the rebuild.

[oltronj]

Can you post a pic of how you set up the circulating heater? We had a nasty cold spell down here in Montana in February and had 1 morning where my crewcab wouldn't start. It has a freeze plug heater that is either dead or just couldnt keep up so I bought a KATZ 1000 watt but the return hose from heater core goes back to the radiator so that has to be changed.. Just curious how yours is set up.

[joe231]

Thanks Marcus!

It is a good feeling knowing your truck inside and out!

[MTCK]

Was able to make a good hub out of the pair of used ones in my parts bin. Everything is back together. Good thing too I have some dirt work to do around the house so I can throw a shed up. Over the scales at 22,500. Man this thing pulls like a dream. It has to work but keeping up with traffic is doable.

[MTCK]

15k with the dump trailer. That's even easier. I filled up prior to all this towing so I can compare to the 7.8 mpg I was getting with the 5.7.

[y5mgisi]

Nice! How do you like all the interior work you have done? Anything you would do differently?

[MTCK]

Thanks! Interior has been great. I like the tough rubber floor, stereo, A/C, gauges on the a-pillar, headliner, steat fabric, power ports, LED lights and I've actually used the seat heaters on a couple cool mornings.

What would I change: someone should fix my drivers vent window whistle and I wish someone would finish wiring my switches and relays for my light bar, fog lifts and backup lights! Shed first... Plow truck is going to haul some lumber later this week.

[rgunlock]

Originally Posted by MTCK

I wish someone would finish wiring my switches and relays for my light bar, fog lifts and backup lights!

Glad the truck is working out for you Marcus. Don't ya'll up there in Alaska have elves that come out in the middle of the night and handle things like wiring chores?

[watahyahknow]

a trick i read about a long time ago :
get some black silicone , saranwrap and soapy water in a spraybottle
open the vent window and aply some silicone directly on the rubber seal
let it dry a little then aply the soapy water over the silicone cover it with saranwrap and close the window
once the silicone is dried out open the window again and remove the saranwrap
you should have a perfect fitting seal now between the ventwindow and the rubber

[MTCK]

Thanks for the tip on the window. It is actually an older wing window assembly that is totally hammered in every way. I have a newer one from the junk yard along with felts and seals ready to install.

The wiring is pretty involved and I'm going to install everything similar to what I did on my dad's 2500HD last spring. Waytek wire sells tons of cool power blocks, circuit breakers, relays, fuses, switches etc. and I sourced everything from them.

On Dad's truck, added factory fog lights, a Rigid LED light bar in the bumper opening, and LED backup lights in the rear bumper. Stock switch for the fog lamps, override switches for the backup and light bar wired into the ashtray hole, buss'd power distribution block under the hood where the auxiliary battery would go.

[MTCK]

Ran all the wire in braided loom with heat shrink on the ends. Light bar switch is powered by the high beam circuit so it comes on when the switch is closed and high beams are activated. Backup light switch is powered by the positive lead to the backup lights so they come on when in revers and switch is closed. Power distribution block is buss'd and powered direct to the battery with a 100 amp breaker. Used weatherpak connectors for the seat heaters which are also powered by from the distribution block, on a relay that energizes with the ignition in the on position.

[MTCK]

His truck turned out very nice. It was a lot of hours, but my goal was a maintenance and trouble free install as my folks live in a different town. Also installed mud flaps, window vents, tint, spray in bed liner and new tires before I delivered it. Couple shots going through Three Guardsman Pass in April.

[Dieselwrencher]

Marcus, looks like your truck is doing great! Very nice wiring work on your Dad's truck. That is very nice! I've spent some money at waytek too. I as well don't want to be redoing wiring in a few years. Bad wiring can reak havek on a person! Is that you hangar? That's a nice space to work in.

[MTCK]

Thanks! Hanger is not mine, but I've been able to use it through the years. Funny thing is I did my largest project (L29 swap) at my house without going there. It's often full of planes but great when available.

[ryanroo]

those lights are bright! install is great too.

[whitels1]

Nice job on the install!

[NewType72]

Love those lil cubes definitely have grown into a fan of leds and better lighting

[MTCK]

Thanks guys. I'm hoping I can muster up the gumption to do all my wiring before it gets too cold to work outside. Filled up after all the heavy towing work and got 8.5 mpg. Not great but better than it would do with the 350 on the same project.

[MTCK]

Cut a lap to anchorage last weekend. Truck worked flawlessly. Got the standard 11 mpg with the hubs locked almost all of the way. The only complaint I have is the vintage air system doesn't pull moisture out worth a crap, and my windows want to fog up. Most OEM hvac systems have an option for inside or outside air, and it seems my only option is inside air. A/C on or off seems to have no bearing. Here's a couple pics of the trip.

[MTCK]

Temps got as low as -4F on the way down and road was pretty slick on the way back. Dang it this truck has a headlight out too!

[MTCK]

Supermoon assisted my LED light bar on my return.

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice trip. Man, does it usually get this cold up there this time of year? It seems early to me but I have no idea what the norm is for up there. I'm sorry to say, but keep that white stuff up there for a while longer would you? How do you like your led light bar? Any cons to it?