I just haven't had time to figure out how the grid heater should be wired up and whether it should be controlled by the ECU. The symptom was a dead battery. It wouldn't even turn the engine over, so the grid heater wouldn't have helped me in this case........as soon as I had a jump start it...
Front Axle: I put some time in to regearing the front D60. The axle came with 4.10 gears, but the truck is 3.73. I am very happy with the 3.73 ratio. I can run on the highway at 75 mph at approximately 2000 rpms and 1600 at 65mph. I have never felt like it was geared too high.
I got a...
Update: I took some time off from working on the truck last month. We went on a 1000 mile trip up to the mountains for a week of winter sports fun. The truck ran very well except for 2 things.
1: Problems cold starting: We had a pretty good storm dump a foot of snow on us and pull temps...
Good observation. When I first assembled I had not put the shroud seal in, but installed it later when I got to doing final assembly. The seal is epoxied to the shroud and touches the radiator. So far I have had zero overheating issues. The electric fan thermostat is 180 degree on, which is...
Exhaust modification: After driving for a few months now, I decided I needed to add a muffler to the exhaust. I was not happy with the exhaust drone especially on the highway. It wasn't terrible, but after 8+ hours it did wear on me a little. Sooo I bought a class pack muffler that won't...
Air Conditioning: This past weekend I got around to wiring up the Air Conditioning system (Vintage Air). I had a vacuum pulled and it held vacuum. Then I charged it, and discovered a leak in the stock condenser that I was planning to reuse.... So I got a new condenser and installed.
I have...
Turbo Actuator Failure: Back in January the truck started running like crap. Lost power and, would stumble and stall. Upon investigation I found a blown fuse on the ASD circuit. I replaced the fuse and it immediately blew the new fuse. The ASD circuit runs the MAF sensor, Turbo Actuator and...
Rear Brake Lock Up: I pulled my rear brakes apart and sure enough the wheel cylinder seals were bad, and was leaking brake fluid all over the pads. It seems that this also caused the wheel seal to go bad. Wheel seals were replaced at the time of the axle install......so I can only assume that...
I have lots of progress to add, but not time to do it!
INSTRUMENT CLUSTER: I received the Dakota gauges ready to go in this weekend. I'll take some pictures and post once it is done. I also got my fuse panel and relay box installed after rebuilding the wiring harness.
REAR AXLE: The big...
I think I figured it out.....I have a leak in the left cylinder which I suspect was causing the lock up condition. I am going to do a brake job tomorrow and will report back the results.
I don't think I have the load sensing proportioning valve. I'll know for sure tomorrow after redoing the...
Rear Brake Lock up: Since getting the 1 ton rear axle, I have noticed that I am tending to lock up my rear wheels under hard braking. I did a little off pavement driving in the wet today, which at times was really problematic due to rear wheel lock up.
Does anyone have a fix for this? I...
AC plumbing: I spent some time plumbing the air conditioning. I made up stainless steel hard lines and flex hose to the compressor. Making the stainless lines was way easier than I expected, with the stainless being more malleable than I had feared. I got all the connections and fittings...
Back in action: The truck is back in action. The rear diff grenade'ed the day before Christmas eve.....I had it towed to a shop in Cedar City (Matts Auto and RV), and found a great salvage yard in Paragonah UT, with a ton of squares. I bought a 14 bolt FF with the 3.73 ratio (same as my old...
Key Learning Point: When people say don't run a 10 bolt......listen!
I had a catastrophic rear end failure today. It drove great for about 400 miles.....then I got an ugly pop sound in stop and go traffic, on a shift from 2nd to 3rd. I kept on going and it took me to my destination, but...