Family Truckster Vol. 2

DanStew said:
When i towed my project Willys home last January I was not that impressed with the Suburbans towing. Just seemed to not be stable and kind of gutless. Not like a CJ2a is very heavy. Just wasnt as sure as I felt in my F150.
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Yeah, Burgundy's 1500 was all over the place with the camper. This 2500 is a completely different animal.

Remember, the chassis and suspension are the same as 2500 pickup. It's not the coil rear like the 1500. It pretty much is a suburban body on an HD truck frame.
 
The energy suspension generic bump stops did survive the trip, but I went ahead and ordered the correct ones (15716479) and swapped them out today.
 
rolledxj said:
I considered doing the same thing this weekend, but would have been lucky to have a mattress 1/4 as thick!
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I'm a little concerned about the air mattress getting cold, but I'll put a blanket under my sleeping bag, and it isn't supposed to be really cold. I just have to remember not to sit up too quick.
 
The last hour to Uwharrie in the dark and then driving home in the dark and rain was miserable. I started looking around for upgrades but didn't want HIDs or LEDs that would blind everybody. I found that 9011/9012 HIR bulbs are suitable replacements for 9005/9006 and produce more lumens at the same power. They fit in place of the stock bulbs with just a snip of one of the tabs.

I also did a Cerokote headlight restoration kit, which I'm not sure if it did more harm than good.

In the short drive over to Tripp's tonight it seemed like a good upgrade. I'll report back after more night driving.

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LBarr2002 said:
The last hour to Uwharrie in the dark and then driving home in the dark and rain was miserable. I started looking around for upgrades but didn't want HIDs or LEDs that would blind everybody. I found that 9011/9012 HIR bulbs are suitable replacements for 9005/9006 and produce more lumens at the same power. They fit in place of the stock bulbs with just a snip of one of the tabs.

I also did a Cerokote headlight restoration kit, which I'm not sure if it did more harm than good.

In the short drive over to Tripp's tonight it seemed like a good upgrade. I'll report back after more night driving.

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Larry, the Yukon XL that I just picked up has very nice headlights.
 
After striking out on finding a hidden winch mount, I decided front reciever was the way to go. I ordered a Curt 31108.

I didn't take a picture of the test fit, but this is how it's supposed to mount.

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Too low. So, I chopped the ends off and flipped the center section.

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Tomorrow's project- mount the old Engo 10k from the LJ onto my old winch mount from the green explorer and wire it up.
 
Today didn't go quite as planned. I converted the Engo over to my quick disconnect cables, but the truck side cables from the explorer were too short. I don't have what I need to crimp the 175 amp Anderson connectors so I hooked it up with jumper cables and spooled on the new rope.

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Since our weekend plans got interrupted (again again) I had some time to finish this up. I ordered a set of 5 foot battery cables from amazon and chopped the terminals off one end for the connector.

Back when I had this cradle on the explorer, I drilled an extra hole in the tube to slide it all the way in against the bumper. The cables coming out of the control box were the first thing to hit, keeping it from going all the way in, so I flipped the control box around.

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Can't afford to drive it, might as well do some maintenance. Plugs and oil change today.

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This is how an e fan swap works, right?
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I installed the factory e fan harness and tested operation. When I get my tuning appointment scheduled, I'll pull the mechanical fan and shroud, install the fans, and jumper the trigger wires for the drive there.
 
So much more room for activities!
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A little wiring tomorrow and then a trip to the tuner and she'll be like she should have come from the factory. Only took hopping to every parts store in town then a trip to Saluda to get the fan clutch spanner wrench that I'll probably never use again...

A week or so ago for some reason I looked at all my trucks and determined that out of the 3 stock exhaust manifold trucks, I have 6 broken manifold bolts. This one has 3 (front and back on driver's side and middle on passenger side). It ticks a little on cold start so decided to try these clamps.

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If they work well, the avalanche is missing front on driver's side and ticks a little. Burgundy's yukon is missing front and rear on driver's side but is quiet. Jeep has ARP bolts. Denali parts truck is also missing one in the middle.
 
LBarr2002 said:
Yeah, it's a very common issue. Aluminum head and cast iron manifold heat cycling and it just pops the heads off the bolts. Jeep motor had 2 broken that I extracted while on the pallet.
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My ecoboost has been in for that a couple times as well...its just a common problem.
 
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