1972 Highlander 6.0/4L80E/LoMax

[niceguy678us]

It's been a while but I had time today to upload a bunch more pics to photobucket so I could make another post.

I re-did the trans cooling lines with AN-6 fittings and braided lines. I used rubber hose from the auto parts store and brass barbed fittings from Lowes initially just to get the truck driving. In the meantime I researched and found the exact fittings I would need to make the permanent lines.


The secret parts that really made it happen were the radiator fittings that have the right bevel and screwed right into the auto trans cooling sockets on one end and with a -6AN male on the other end


Also the special 4L80 fittings that screw right into the case and extend into the pump just like the factory clip fittings. They are available here:
http://www.sweetperformance.com/prod...wCat&catId=243
And here is a pic

Here's a comparison shot with the factory clip fittings


Here are the install pics (the brass 90 fitting coming off the radiator next to the -6AN fitting is for the steam line to the throttle body, I left it like it was since it really is not that vital)







I could not get in the trans tunnel to get any good pics of the lines there. I just screwed the special -6AN trans fittings in place of the factory clip fittings, and put a 90degree swivel -6AN fitting on them.

I also did the vintage air install. When I ordered the kit, I specified that I wanted the high side and low side lines UN-CRIMPED AT THE COMPRESSOR END.





Nothing special there except I had my friend at the local radiator shop crimp the VA high and low side lines to the 2005 truck hard lines at the compressor. Everything else installed like normal with the rest of the kit. And it works great.

Next up is my 1 ton axle swap Dana 60 and 14 bolt M1008 axles.

[niceguy678us]

O.K. guys, here's the axle swap.

I bought an 84 M1008 off of craigslist. Parted it out and kept the axles which were the only items I was really after. The teardown begins.



I sterted finding all sorts of problems like this grenaded hub lock gears.



And half the teeth were sheared off of the ring gear as well as the pinion gear teeth. When the teeth let go they got caught up in the carrier chewing up everything in the pumpkin. Sadly I don't have any pics of this, I wasn't thinking of the camera at the time, only explatives and plots of P.O. murder.

So the parts quest began. I'll try to remember everything and break it all down into a list, I have included part numbers where available):

http://diy4x.com/




14 bolt rear disk kit
easy inch
14 bolt guardsman
14 bolt razorback bolt on shock mounts
greasable bolts (12)
FG engine crossmember kit (for a later date)
FGB52 kit w/frame eye hanger and shackles
FG axle flip-n-switch kit with shackles

http://www.offroaddesign.com/catalog.htm


bolt in steering box kit (GU29001)
extended brake lines front and rear (Gu30011)
PSC economy steering box (80-872WD) (later version box with O-ring type fittings)
U bolt kit for Dana 60
U bolt kit for 14 bolt

http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/



Double shear D60 kit (HSA611)
Full steer kit with 7/8 QA-1 Heims (STE-623-1)
D60 diff cover (DIF-2002-2)
14 bolt diff cover (DIF-2001-2)

Captain Fab Hydroboost Kit with his tool
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=347480

http://www.rustysoffroad.com/
RX200 shock (R-211) (for the rear)
RX200 shock (R-213) (for the front)

http://performancetruck.com/

Deaver/Stanley spring (002x/22-613) (front)
Deaver/Stanley spring (200x/22-579) (rear)

http://www.classicheartbeat.com/default.htm
Brake rod boot
72 blazer front brake line set (inline tube)

http://www.highangledriveline.com/default.htm

14 bolt 1350 u-bolt yoke
NP205 rear flange kit
1350 CV drive shaft
(will also buy the NP205 rear E-brake kit at a later date)

http://www.ringpinion.com/
D60 front ring and pinion kit 4.56
D60 front axle carrier rebuild kit with shims/bearings/seals
D60 shaft u joints
D60 hub rebuild kit with all bearings /seals
D60 kingpin rebuild kit
D60 set-up bearings
Eaton E-locker
Warn premium locking hubs
14 bolt hub rebuild kit with bearings/seals
14 bolt front pinion seal

http://www.partsmike.com/
D60 lower kingpin cap (PM37299) (custom made with recessed grease zerts)
D60 ARP studs (ARP-D60AK) (ballistic fab F-ed up my order and I had to buy three of these studs from parts mike to finish my install)

https://www.rockauto.com/?merchant_r...ockAuto%2C+LLC

Front D60 brake caliper rebuild kits
Front D44 calipers with soft lines
Brake pads
Brake rotors
Brake caliper banjo bolts with copper crush washers for front and rear

That's all I can remember at the moment.

[niceguy678us]

I found a set of Hummer H2 rims off of craigslist for 150 bucks, that I couldn't pass up. I had been reading all the tire torture tests in the 4x4 mags and on the websites. The Hankook Dynapro MT-RT03's always performed well on different terrains, had a good tread wear rating, and were on the quieter side at highway speeds. So I found a set in 35's for a great price from a tire shop that was closing down and liquidating their inventory.




In my research, I found out that 07-11 silverado center caps fit inside the recess in the H2 rims. So after a trip to the local dealership, and tire shop, this is what I had.




While I had the axles all taken apart I brought a D60 and a 14 bolt hub to my friends machine shop along with two of the silverado center caps. I had him mount the 14 bolt hub in his lathe, and screwed on the center caps one at a time. He turned them down in the middle untill they fit around the D60 locking hub.


I won't bore you with the axle rebuilding stuff, it's been beaten to death all over the internet on Pirate 4x4, Colorado K5, etc. But I will show you the after pics.
Front




Rear



This is the bracket I made out of stainless for the "T" fitting to bolt to.

These are the brackets I made for the soft lines to pass through. They fit between the leaf springs and the leaf spring pad. The hole where the soft line fitting passes through has been filed to match the "key way" so it is fixed, and won't spin in the bracket.



I put the truck up on jack stands and used my cutting torch to cut the rivet heads on the rear hangers. Then I used a hammer and punch to knock the rest of the rivets out. The DIY4X brackets then bolted up where the rivets used to be.




For the front, I did the same thing, except I installed the steering box and steering brace while it was all open, and I could reach everything easily. As well as the new front brake lines.








For the rear frame eye hangers I had to cut a new hole further back so the shackels would be vertical with the weight of the vehicle on the spring.

[niceguy678us]

Hydroboost!!!

I snagged the hydroboost unit from the donor truck when I got my pullout a few years ago. I ordered the Captain Fab stuff from the previous link, as well as stainless steel braided teflon lined hose kit from Talon Hydraulics so I could fab up all my own lines, and they are rebuildable in the field if necessary.



Also picked up a factory style disk/disk proportioning valve while I was at it.
(NOTE: ditch the shiney new proportioning valve bracket for your original one, the new one positions the proportining valve in a different location, all the replacement lines fit with the proportioning valve hung in the factory position)

Talon Hydraulics also supplied the cut to fit pushrod kit.


This is the tool I made to press out the original pedal rod, so I could install the threaded Talon Hydraulics rod.
(NOTE: you can't press off of the hydroboost housing itself, you have to press against the little collar that is crimped around the ball end)






I also ordered the weld on bungs from Pegasus auto racing.
https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/pr...p?Product=3259

And welded them on my power steering reservoir.







Here's the pinion tool I made so I could install my new 14 bolt 1350 pinion yoke kit.





Torgued it down to 350 ft/lbs, then finessed it down till I had between 25 and 30 inch pounds of rotational resistance.


The High Angle Driveline shaft is PLENTY beefy for anything I'll do with this truck.
(NOTE: that's a quarter I'm holding)




Next, since I had to move the frame eye shackle hangers back for the front longer leafs, I had to ditch the factory 1972 trans shifter set-up that I have been using on my 4L80E. Here's the new bracket I made to bolt to the trans, that lets me use the 72 shift rod.

I cut through it a little bit just enough to where I could twist it and get the proper shift rod geometry back.


All welded up.

[ghettoluxury]

How are you going to make the speedo work with the cable output from the 205?

[niceguy678us]

Well I took the rear housing to my friends machine shop and did a little work to it. I machined a flat spot on the case, drilled the proper sized hole, and threaded it for the factory 2006 4L80E 4x4 style rear speed sensor. I then took the original speedo cable piece and welded it up to seal the hole, didn't have a plug handy that had that thread pattern.


You can kind of see it here.

Far away, but these are the only three pics I could find that actually show it.


I did have more pics, but that computer died a horrible death, and I was only able to salvage fragments from the hard drive, which means I lost a lot of pics from back then. Like of the tone wheel I used with the spacers I made(just find one that fits the splined output shaft and make your own spacer sleeves to put it under the sensor). When you torque down the rear pinion, it will press against your spacers and keep the tone wheel from sliding back and forth in there.

[Gunny Davis]

Niceguy,
I am finaly to a place were the instrument cluster is the last item to get knocked out and I am having a hard time figuring were these wires hook up.

A4 Brn 41 Fused ign feed -
A5 Gry 1036 Serial data class 2
A12 DkGrn/Wht 1932 Trans shift select switch signal
B5 Ppl/Wht 1382 LED dimming signal

Also does your hazard lights / High Beam / Cruise indicator show up on the dash cluster? What wires feed these?

Thanks for your help... sorry wiring is def my weak point

[niceguy678us]

I am currently working on making the BCM work in my truck. Kind of a side project just to get the little lights to work, like the headlight on light, high beam indicator and the E-brake light. But to get all your gauges to work, all you need to do is tap that grey serial data wire into any of the other serial data wires on your harness. If you don't have any of the dash wiring, you can splice it into the serial data wire on your OBD2 connector. All it has to do is tap into that one wire system to be able to communicate with the other modules, like the PCM, BCM etc.

What year pull out are you using and does the cluster match that same vehicle?

You may run into some problems if you are using different generation (body style) parts.

Also as a side note: another reason why I'm de-bugging the BCM stuff is to get my battery gauge to work. All the other gauges work off of the PCM gauge values that pass through the serial data wire. The battery gauge on the other hand supposedly gets it's info from the BCM. The BCM watches the charging circuit and operates some kind of battery monitoring system. The BCM actually operates the battery gauge. I have been daily driving my truck for years now without the BCM wired in, and without a battery gauge. All other gauges work fine.

I have tried messaging all the wiring guru's from ls1tech.com as well as other sites, but no-one has been able to help me finalize the BCM integration. Not many people want to use the factory gauge clusters. I used mine because it saved me from spending another $1000 on gauges.

[niceguy678us]

Ghettoluxury,

I also forgot to mention that by putting the sensor after the transfer case like I did, makes everything work like it was stock. Meaning the PCM thinks the original transfer case is still there and needs to see a switch signal when you put it into 4LO, because the gearing in the transfer case changes the speed of the tone ring. When I sent my computer off to get modified, I told the tuner to change the values in the 4LO equation to match my new 3:1 LoMax gearset. I then hooked up a simple toggle switch to simulate the signal that the original truck would provide when you pressed the 4LO button on the dashboard to shift the original t-case into 4LO.

If you don't put a switch in, and you put your transfer case into 4LO, the truck will run and drive, but it won't shift out of first gear, because it sees something is wrong with the transmission or the transfer case because the sensors are not reading the right speeds of the tone rings. It's some kind of "limp mode" to protect the transmission.

[ghettoluxury]

thanks for the help.

[mcmlxix]

I have read your build a few times. I really like the choices you have made so far and your truck is very similar to mine. I chickened out on the B52s up front so I will be interested to see what kind of road manners they have. I was led to believe the longer springs would be too soft for highway driving and I need to be able to use my rig as a daily driver or for road trips...

What shocks will yo be running? Will you have a front swaybar?

[niceguy678us]

I used Rusty's offroad shocks. I put the part numbers in one of the posts above. They are really well made, and so far give a nice ride. I am not running a sway bar, but I might if I find it's necessary.

At the moment I am fighting with pitman arms, so I have not put any real miles on the set up yet. Evidently, there's only two manufacturers who make pitman arms for everyone. Those two companies have the spline hole tool for the pitman arm splined hole. Well according to what I've found out from purchasing many arms and shipping them back and forth, the tool is very worn and is producing large variances in the past few years. I have measured three arms side by side BRAND NEW off the shelf, and found 70 thousandths difference between them. That's HUGE when you are trying to fit a tapered splined shaft. I am done with the "ford style" 3 inch drop arms, I should have known better than trying to use a F****'n ford part on my truck.

Right now I am on the "dodge style" 4 inch drop arms. I found an old used one on ebay that measures within 5 thousandths of my output shaft, so well see. It fits nice and tight at the bottom of my splined shaft so it should get really tight once torqued on.

I am looking into welding some pieces to it so I can have the heim joint captured in double shear, another reason why I am using the 4 inch drop arm.

Here are some pics so you'll know what I'm talking about.

This is the ford style arm 3 inch drop "teardrop arm"


This is the jeep style arm


And this is the dodge style arm 4 inch drop (more robust of the three)

[niceguy678us]

O.K. I finished the Pitman arm mod. I did a lot of research, and talked to a few professional welders and they all said the same thing about welding on forged steel. You have to heat it up to between 400 and 500 degrees before you weld it, and then you have to cool it down in stages over a long period of time.

I took the pitman arm to my buddies machine shop and had him bore the tapered end out to 3/4 inch with his end mill nice and slow. I also had him do a scrap piece of 2" x 1/4" flat bar, so I could make the top piece.

I have a gas oven and I preheated it to 450. While it was preheating I tacked all the pieces together.







I then put the arm in the oven and left it for two hours. I pulled it out and ran outside with it and welded it up. Of course I didn't weld it with the heim joint in there.


I then ran it back in the oven and baked it at 450 for another hour, then I turned it down 50 degrees every hour after that untill it was at zero. I left it in the oven the rest of the night without opening the door so it would cool down to room temp as slow as possible.

The next morning I took it out and tried fitting the heim joint back in there and it had shrunk down just a bit, just enough. So I mounted it in my vise, and broke out the trusty old Nicholson file and "messaged" it just a bit on the pitman side, until I had a slip fit with a little tension.

[yfs200p]

Wow, what an awesome build. Your fabrication knowledge and skills are really impressive! Doesn't seem like you're scared to get into anything. Very nice work and keep the pics coming

[niceguy678us]

Thank you. I just try to make/build things as heavy duty as possible. I do a lot of homework on the internet before I get into anything, just to make sure I don't miss something. My blazer is nowhere near as nice as some of the others on this board. Everything I have done is functional, I haven't spent any time restoring anything. One day in the future when I retire this blazer from active duty, I will worry about making it "pretty".

You can't take a pretty truck down a trail and have REAL fun in it.

[niceguy678us]

O.K., time for another chapter. The crossmember saga.

I started out with the DIY4x first gen engine crossmember. Here's a direct link:
http://diy4x.com/cart/index.php?rout...&product_id=80
The pic on their site is the first(old) design, the new design has a drop out center section. Here's what the new design looks like.


Another member "Thealien" had already posted up that this crossmember would not work with an LS motor. Check out his thread there are a lot of detailed pics.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=375380

I knew this before I bought the crossmember, I bought it anyway because it came with all the laser cut pieces and materials I would need. All I had to do was cut and re-angle a few pieces to get it to work.

I carefully cut the welds out with my 4" thin metal cutting disk on my 4" grinder. I re-angled the lower pieces that have the crossmember flange and mocked them up in the truck to make sure they would clear the motor and oil pan. These are the pieces that bolt to the frame bracket and house the poly bushings.



Then I modified the pieces that were supposed to bolt to the old v8 block. This just made them clear the 4 bolts that the LS motor uses at the motor mount location.


I didn't take a pic of the plates I made to bolt to the ls block. I just took a rectangular piece of 1/4" steel plate and drilled the 4 holes so it could bolt to the ls motor. Also worth noting is that I had to make two 3/4" spacers between the old v8 pieces that I modified in the pics above, and the Ls 4 hole engine plates I made. For this I just cut two pieces of 3/4" plate to the size of the old v8 pieces in the above pics. This put the motor where it needed to be in the frame.

Next was the crossmember. Since I had re-angled the poly mount pieces, the angle on the crossmember plates would be off. So I cut a pie wedge out of them leaving a little bit of material so I could bend it over to the proper angle.

Heres a pic holding the wedge I cut out.

Then I cut the crossmember in half since the mounting plates were now further apart.

Then I bolted both sides in for mock up.


Here is the gap I needed to fill.

I used a scrap piece of schedule 40 pipe (I forget what the size was) to make the center piece.

Beveled ready for welding.

All welded up with an "F" for "front".

I also welded a "D" on all the driver side pieces, and a "P" for the passenger side pieces, to make re-assembly faster later if I ever have to take it apart again.

[1972 Banana]

Are you on the road yet and if so did you ever get to see what your fuel milaege was like? awesome job. would like to do this swap one day!

[niceguy678us]

Yeah I've been driving it. I don't know what my mileage is with the new axles because my speedometer is out of calibration with the new 35's and 4.56 gears. But it drives GREAT!! It drives so good that I don't even have a steering stabilizer!!

[Shooters_7]

Love the blazer!

[niceguy678us]

Thank you sir. Where in Texas are you located?

[niceguy678us]

Had a few days off this week. Cold front came through so I loaded the dogs up and got out of town. Needed to do a little trail riding and enjoy the weather.



I should probably take pics more often, but I'm always caught up in the fun and don't think about it.

[RatRod68]

awesome build. I love how you did the dash.

[Low Elco]

Just WOW. Awesome skills. Cool truck.

[niceguy678us]

Hey, thanks guys. I appreciate the comments. I hope I could help out someone that may be struggling with their project.

Get em back on the road and drive them. It's sooo worth it. There's nothing like driving something you built with your own two hands, something that you know inside and out.

[niceguy678us]

I just picked up an old Ramsey worm drive winch for cheap. Date plate says 1978!! The year I was born lol.

I'm going through it and rebuilding it. I will post up the pics when I'm done. Not too much longer.