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1986 K30 6.2 Diesel Truggy Build - "The Mule"

Overview Gallery Discussion
On to some finishing touches I added before Moab

ORD decal I thought it fit in perfectly here.

ORD sticker

ORD sticker


Cooler mount was just some Eye bolts and a strap but it worked well. Also notice the toolbox is mounted now too.

cooler mount

cooler mount


I wanted something to cover the rear of the cab where it is cutout. It was very obvious and stuck out to me so I wanted to close that out and keep from seeing under the truck and the slider mounts and stuff like that.

drivers flap

drivers flap


Pass Flap

Pass Flap


I bought a pair of cheap mudflaps from amazon and cut them to fit and riveted in place. I think it really helped clean up the rear of the cab.

I cleaned up and painted the old 6.2 badges flat black and then took an absurd amount of time painting the letters red to match the truck.

badge

badge


They turned out great and went well with my CK5 swag of badges and a hat.

swag

swag


RC

RC


I wanted some rock lights and stumbled on some LED strips in the clearance rack in Walmart one day. They work awesome and connect via bluetooth to your phone and you can change colors and patterns all kinds of cool stuff.

white

white


red

red


blue

blue


I think these are my sons favorite part of the truck build. I have a second set for the front inner fenders I just have not had time to install them yet. Next up the test run.
 
I have been really terrible about getting this caught up so I am finally going to do it

So where I left off was the test drive 3 days before we were to leave for Moab.

Loaded up and headed to Rausch Creek

loaded up

loaded up


I was happy to have my 90 year old grandfather accompany me on the maiden voyage of The Mule. Some back story there my first off-road truck build was a hand me down Bronco that used to be my grandfathers. He enjoyed going wheeling with me in that truck and it has been a few years since I have had a truck up and running so he was itching to get out with me.

Grandad

Grandad


RC4

RC4


RC3

RC3


He was concerned about getting into it but he did great with a two step stool. He really enjoyed the day and the truck seemed to be doing well. I didn't want to do anything crazy just wanted to make sure that there would be no major issues when we got to Moab.

RC2

RC2


Well after lunch we were driving around and the truck just shut off. After some cranking it would re-start and run a few mins then quit again. It kept doing this over and over. I finally got it limped off the trail and loaded on the trailer.

I was beside myself and had 3 days to sort it out. I was pretty convinced at first that it was the injection pump. In my head all the sitting around must have done it in. Once I finally stopped freaking out and started thinking rationally, I decided filters were the first logical place to start.

There are three filters in my fuel system. One 80 micron pre-filter (screen) before the lift pump. A 5 micron in the Racor fuel water separator, and a final 5 micron spin on. I started at the filter in the Racor and found some orange rust looking sludge in the bottom of the water separator and in the filter. I changed the spin on as well for good measure. Moving to towards the tank I opened up the pre-filter and found this:

rust

rust


clogged filter

clogged filter


Yes that is all rust and that screen pre-filter is totally clogged. I don't know how it was even running. Moving onto the tank it was full of rust as well.

rust in fuel

rust in fuel


I wish I knew where all the rust came from. My guess is that moisture sat in the return line for all this time and rusted the return line. That was then pushed into the tank and sucked up by the pump and clogged the screen. I spent time flushing that return line and did get more rust out of it. I probably should have replaced it but I was out of time.

I ended up pumping out the fuel tank and wiping it all down with brake clean to get rid of all of the rust sediment. With fresh diesel in the tank and using the prime button on the Kennedy Diesel lift pump harness it was bled and fired up with hardly any effort and with 1 day left. I could only hope that I got all the rust.
 
All I could do next is pack everything, load up, and hope for the best.

Loaded up

Loaded up


Loaded up

Loaded up


Splurged on some new Mac's straps (although I love the straps I would not recommend the red color they became almost pink quickly)

And we were off for a 2,000 mile journey to the offroad Mecca of Moab.

@newoldscottsdale77 was my partner in crime for the trip. We are both running almost identical tow rigs and very similarly capable rigs so it worked out well.

fuel stop

fuel stop

fuel stop

Fuel stop

Mississippi

Mississippi

river crossing

The Mule crossing the mighty Mississippi and if you look real hard you can see the arch too.

Saw some snow crossing the Rockies and just missed a big blizzard there

Snow

Snow

Snow in Rockies

Vail CO

Vail CO


Three grueling days and a stomach bug later we made it to Utah.

Utah line

Utah line


Moab is such a gorgeous town. Here is the view from our hotel parking lot.

Arrived at Hotel in Moab

Arrived at Hotel in Moab


It took us three whole days to get there but we were technically a day ahead of schedule so that left us a day before the official start of Fullsize Invasion and gave us time to sleep in and get the trucks ready and play a bit before a full trail day.
 
On to the pics!! The first day was not an official Fullsize Invasion trail day but we wanted to get our feet wet and I wanted to get more seat time in the truck. So off to Sand Flats Recreation area outside of town to try out Fins & Things.

Entering the Park

Entering the Park

Entering the Park

I forgot to mention that we met up with another CK5er Dan @85k5witha6.2 . He was unfortunately not in his awesome linked Escalade but a bone stock Rubicon LJ.

the gang

the gang

the gang

Fins & Things is considered an easy trail and was a good intro into the crazy traction and "fins" that the slickrock offers.

Slickrock

Slickrock

slickrock

the mule

the mule

the mule

looking back

looking back

looking back

Mule Downhill

Mule downhill

Mule Climb

mule climb

Some poser shots where were took a break on the trail

Nick and me

Nick and me

Nick and me

two together

two together

two together

two together 2

two together 2

two together 2

two together 3

two together 3

two together 3

two together 4

two together 4

two together 4

side 2

side 2

side 2

back

back

back

FEF

FEF

FEF

And some great "action" shots

Nick Jump

Nick Jump

Nick Jump

Jump

Jump

Jump

That takes us to thru 3pm. Continued on the next post.
 
That afternoon Dan was talking to Dave at Extreme 4x4 Tours who is also one of the major sponsors, trail leader, and organizers of Fullsize Invasion. Dave was heading over to Hells Revenge trail in his beautiful Full vert so we met him at the entrance.

This is a hard trail that has lots of steep climbs and decents. I was still getting the feel for the truck and this trail forced me to get more comfortable. Dave is awesome and a great spotter and helped us East coast guys get acclimated to the totally different world of Moab wheeling.

Hells Revenge

Hells Revenge

Hells Revenge

rock

rock

rock

Hells revenge overlook

Hells revenge overlook

Hells revenge overlook

It offers great views of the Colorado River on the overlook. There even was a wedding taking place there when we came up on it.

Hells revenge overlook

Hells revenge overlook

Hells revenge overlook

Hells revenge overlook

Hells revenge overlook

Hells revenge overlook

both trucks overlook

both trucks overlook

both trucks overlook

This trail is famous for obstacles like Hells Gate and Escalator Nick did both of these obstacles but I was still not feeling it just yet. I regret this and wish I would have run these. We were hoping to have time to run this trail again but we ran out of time.

Another thing is is famous for is the hot tubs. Here is @newoldscottsdale77 making short work of one and a shot of Dave's Blazer there at the end.

Hot tub hop

Hot tub

It was a long day but it was awesome. Truck ran great no starving for fuel, no rust in the tank. It did great but it is very light in the back end. When going down hill and dropping off ledges it likes to pickup a tire. I am assuming it is from the sway bar and the weight unloading to the front. The suck down winch helps with this some but it can make things interesting at times. Beers and sleep then ready for the first day of Fullsize Invasion.
 
I stumbled across your YouTube videos and am admired with your build. I love the fact that you kept the 6.2 Diesel and tied in the ORD front bumper to your exo cage. Last post was in 2019 but have you done anything to it recently and/or gone on any more cool trips?
 
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