What did you do to your truck today??

[Just call me Sean]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

That's nice and bright. You had mentioned possibly modifying the backup lights to make both filaments light up. Have you taken a look at that?

I decided that wouldn't make much of a difference so I didn't bother with it.

Why didn't you swap the whole rear in?

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by Just call me Sean

I decided that wouldn't make much of a difference so I didn't bother with it.

Why didn't you swap the whole rear in?

I figured it would be less back-breaking work to just swap the carrier. Swapping the entire rear end would have been less technically challenging, assuming I could have found a 3.42 rear end without too much searching.

[pjmoreland]

I installed a Gov-Lock differential carrier in my '89 K1500 today. Got it out of a '97 Suburban K1500 that had the G80 option. The Suburban gears were 3.73, and mine are 3.42, but the same carrier works for both. I was not expecting the left-handed ring gear bolts.

Took it for a test drive. Put one wheel on gravel and the other on pavement and then punched the throttle. The gravel wheel peeled out a little bit initially, and then the diff locked up as it should. A friend of mine said he had one of these explode on him once, so I'll need to be gentle with it.

[special-K]

You have to drive the Gov-Loc understanding how it works. They engage off of inertia, so once one wheel spins it will lock. If it engages while wheel speed is up under throttle it's a hell of a stress. That's where people blow them up. The one wheel doesn't have to be spinning that fast to engage. If you start to spin out just let it spin under minimum throttle till you feel it engage, then hit it as hard as you want. They are strong disengaged and engaged. It's how they engage that sets their fate.

People say the same thing about automatic locking hubs (on solid axle trucks) exploding. It's the same with those. Let them engage easy, then give it hell.

Both are convenience features designed for the way GM would like you to drive. Not hard core off road use. I've run Gov-Locs with 35" tires and it worked like a charm... and held up

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by special-K

People say the same thing about automatic locking hubs (on solid axle trucks) exploding. It's the same with those. Let them engage easy, then give it hell.

That's helpful advice. Thank you. It's probably a good thing that my engine is quite mild.

[special-K]

My '67 project has a trashed ring & pinion due to towing it home not knowing the pinion was not torqued on, worked loose, broke teeth. I have a 3.42 posi set which wasn't offered in that coil spring rear, so I've planned to swap that. This is for the 4spd car transmission to keep grunt while having better hiway ratio. Now I'm thinking screw the hiway and I'd like 3.73s and a tougher posi. But I'll still keep the same axle, unless I find a great deal on a complete 3.73 coil rear with a beefy posi ready to go.

[pjmoreland]

I've got a 3.73/700R4 combo in my '68, and first gear is way lower than I need it to be. The 3.42/700R4 combo in my '89 makes first gear more reasonable, but then the jump to second gear is big for that mild TBI 350. The 3.73 is a little more fun to drive, but the 3..42 seems better for gas mileage.

[special-K]

That's how I was thinking with 3.42s and manual 4spd, best fuel consumption w/o overdrive without being to tall off the line. My ultimate plan is install a Gear Vendors o/d and I consider 3.42s the tallest I would want with o/d. If I knew for sure a Gear Vendor was going to happen, I'd go with 3.73s to reap the most pleasure out of the 327/4spd, and still be great over the road. Traditionally, I've been a 4.10 guy. But looking at my elder years on limited income I'm willing to compromise for economic reasons. I want to use it not look at it.

[Hart_Rod]

Almost ready to fire up the LT swap....

[Just call me Sean]

Best pictures I could get while driving, but I can't get the picture unless I drive.

[special-K]

Originally Posted by Hart_Rod

Almost ready to fire up the LT swap....

Looks right in there. Nice job on that, Rob. Going to be a sweet ride.

Originally Posted by Just call me Sean

Best pictures I could get while driving, but I can't get the picture unless I drive.

Cool! I caught my '92 turning over 300,000 on video. Unfortunately that video is held ransom on Photobucket

[pjmoreland]

All of the DIN radio adapters for 88-94 trucks seem to be the same general style where they stick way out of the dash to make room for a CD player in the otherwise shallow portion of the dash where the original cassette player was located. I don't like the way it looks having the stereo sticking way out, so I got a short Kenwood stereo, and I'm working on fabricating a mount for it. I made the faceplate this evening. I'll use the mounting tabs i cut off of a stock unit at the wrecking yard to mount it to the dash.

[Just call me Sean]

That's cool. I want to do something similar, I want to make a plate for the cubby to mount my power mirror switch. It's just dangling from under the dashboard.

[Boog]

Originally Posted by Just call me Sean

That's cool. I want to do something similar, I want to make a plate for the cubby to mount my power mirror switch. It's just dangling from under the dashboard.

I used my pocket to mount a small tach in my 88 GMC years ago. I first cut a flat piece of textured black plastic and used black screws to attach it to the pocket then drilled a hole for the gauge. It looked better than my big old empty pocket.

[pjmoreland]

That would be a nice use for an otherwise useless cubby. I've got that same style in my truck.

I did a test fit of the stereo just now. The exposed edges of the DIN mount don't look great, so I covered them with wide electrical tape. We will see if it holds up in the summer sun.

***EDIT: I got rid of the tape. I doubt it would have held up long-term. What this really needs is a second plate mounted over the top of the first plate to hide the DIN mount. Another option would be 3D printed pieces that match the profile of the stereo and fill in the square areas.

[Just call me Sean]

Is the radio new? It looks like it's missing a trim piece.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by Just call me Sean

Is the radio new? It looks like it's missing a trim piece.

It is a new radio, and I have the trim piece, but it is taller than the slot in the dash panel, so I can't use it with the way I'm installing the radio.

[Boog]

You know anybody with a 3D printer?

[Just call me Sean]

Originally Posted by Boog

I used my pocket to mount a small tach in my 88 GMC years ago. I first cut a flat piece of textured black plastic and used black screws to attach it to the pocket then drilled a hole for the gauge. It looked better than my big old empty pocket.

I want to bend a piece of sheet metal and make the mounting tabs so it screws in place where the cubby did, but I haven't checked how hard that will be yet.

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

It is a new radio, and I have the trim piece, but it is taller than the slot in the dash panel, so I can't use it with the way I'm installing the radio.

It looks pretty close, maybe you could cut off the sides of it and epoxy them on.

[Ol Blue K20]

I finally fixed heat/ac control panel fixed and working on the 95 Burb. I bought a conversion harness to convert to the 96-99 control panel. When I took it apart I found it already had the conversion harness. Oh well, I guess I sell it or put in the inventory cabinet....lol

[special-K]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

Taking the dash apart on my truck stresses me out. I have only seen one 88-94 bezel out of maybe a total of 25 at wrecking yards that wasn't broken in some way. The little posts that the headlight switch screws onto are pretty much always broken. I have no experience with the 95+ bezels, but I sure hope GM addressed that issue on the redesign.

Nice to get that done. These dashes get brittle alright. My surround has been cracked since I got it. I have a nice one but keep waiting to use it until I know things are good behind there.

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

I finally fixed heat/ac control panel fixed and working on the 95 Burb. I bought a conversion harness to convert to the 96-99 control panel. When I took it apart I found it already had the conversion harness. Oh well, I guess I sell it or put in the inventory cabinet....lol

Mystery solved! Dale, I just did catch your voicemail and now I see this. I didn't check it for a while. Glad you got it worked out. So these are pre-made harnesses with '95 vehicle side and '96 control side connectors? I was going to change mine over at the pins, but ended up just doing splices

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by special-K

Nice to get that done. These dashes get brittle alright. My surround has been cracked since I got it. I have a nice one but keep waiting to use it until I know things are good behind there.

Mystery solved! Dale, I just did catch your voicemail and now I see this. I didn't check it for a while. Glad you got it worked out. So these are pre-made harnesses with '95 vehicle side and '96 control side connectors? I was going to change mine over at the pins, but ended up just doing splices

Yeah, it's a plug and play harness made by Ac Delco .

[special-K]

I'm a space case when it comes to parts. I have this basic suburban that came with AM/FM. A member posted a WTT. He put an aftermarket stereo in place of the AM/FM/Cass/CD and needed a cubby to fill the hole left. The offer was trade the deluxe GM stereo for a cubby, I pay shipping. So that's what I did. I was waiting to install it for when I fixed my heat controls. I ended up replacing the controls somewhere other than home, so didn't have the stereo with me. Looks like I need to go back into the dash, so the stereo is waiting for then.

Meanwhile, I used to have a '95 K3500 I wrecked. That was also a Cheyenne that came with AM/FM. I had put an Alpine AM/FM/CD with amp and component speakers I forgot all about having stashed away. That thing sounded great! If I put that in I'll need to find a cubby . I had installed that using an installation kit that finished it off nicely

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by special-K

Looks like I need to go back into the dash, so the stereo is waiting for then.

Taking the dash apart on my truck stresses me out. I have only seen one 88-94 bezel out of maybe a total of 25 at wrecking yards that wasn't broken in some way. The little posts that the headlight switch screws onto are pretty much always broken. I have no experience with the 95+ bezels, but I sure hope GM addressed that issue on the redesign.

I finished installing the nee stereo last night. My wife will be happy to have Bluetooth so she can listen to her audio books while driving. She uses this truck occasionally to drive down into the canyon near our house to go hiking.

I also replaced the heater control panel with a nice clean one I found at the wrecking yard. You can't see it in the photo, but I mounted the microphone for hands-free calling inside the cubby.

[Just call me Sean]

I know what you mean about the bezels and headlight switch, here's mine. They changed the design of the switch in 95, it twists instead.