2000 GMC SAS: Hydro assist assistance

[Cruz89K5]

Either my twin sticks or my steering will be here today. Hopefully its the steering so I can finally get this thing on the road. The next package should be here tuesday or wednesday.

I bought a new mig the other day and a nice welding hood. I built my shop earlier this year and I'm just now recovering enough financially to start buying more tools. I still need a torch, using a sawzall and a grinder gets old quick.

Took it to my land up the dirt road a mile or two and checked clearances a little more. Managed to get the front tire into the rear of the fender a little bit. And I'm going to have to trim the front fender mount where it attaches to the core support. No big deal.

I cant get the rear to work. I figure its just the 3/4 ton spring rate. I was thinking it was the overloads being in there, but that doesnt seem to be the case. Most of the time the overload wont touch. I managed to almost get one rear spring flat yesterday, but the other side looked like it was normal arch. I dont have much shackle angle on the rear, but I plan to add more weight with a spare and a toolbox and other stuff before moving the mounts again.

Hopefully the next pictures will be of it with a tag and on the road. It doesnt feel too bad on the dirt roads. Tons of body roll, but nothing unmanageable.

 

[Deuling]

Sweet!! Keep takin pictures! Im interested!!

 

[Cruz89K5]

So my drag link and twin stick kit came in. The drag link a little too long. The left handed threads were pretty burred up and took multiple cleanings to get the rod end most of the way in. The right hand threaded side was right. I have a tiny bit over 37" center to center measurement as seen here in my ghetto mud truck tractor 3 point drag link.

With the right hand thread ran as far as possible for correct orientation:

And the left side ran as far in as I could force it after cleaning it (2 or 3 threads IIRC):

I'm close to 37 3/4" eye to eye. No more adjustment. I'll probably trim the link down and one of the rod ends down enough to get my wheel straight. I've still got full lock to lock, but my wheel is off and my arm is off center a bit.

I got the twin stick done. My factory front rail had a bigger recess that the ORD modified rail and the interlock wouldnt let it into position. So I reused the original front rail and the ord rear rail. I was going to get a picture of the rail difference, but I tore half the skin off my thumb above the nail down toward the finger tip on the mount for the shifters off the front output. Ouch.

I reused the factory pins over the absurdly long and random assortment of ORD hardware. All of nuts are nylon lock so I'll have to go buy a dye before I can cut them to a reasonable length. I have to say the shifting action is very nice, but I wasnt impressed with the hardware in the kit.

See something missing? Yeah, the small screws arent there.

I had expected a short description of rail installation and maybe a better description of the shifter assembly. No such luck. Here's the instructions for the twin stick assembly:

The twin stick operation guide is complete and informative.

Thankfully CK5 has a wonderful write up on the rail install, and the shifters are pretty straight forward.

Now all I need to do is get a rear VSS figured out and I'm ready to put the 205 in.

I got it tagged and insured and I've driven it a little bit. I'm going to find some mudflaps pretty soon, but the cops in down dont seem too interested in it running around with no exhaust and no rear fenders. I'm sure the highway patrol wont be so kind.

Most importantly, I got a new mirror for the drivers side. It doesnt match, but it was brand new, has defrost, and cost $35. Now I just need a new grill.

The salvage yard up the road has several van 14 bolts, he said 200 each on them but I'm going to talk him down. He said he crushed 10 vans the day before because he's never sold any. I'm going to do some measuring on them, hopefully it will work for me.

Thats it for now.

 

[Deuling]

Looking good. Siked to see it in action!!

 

[63chevyll]

That's the same helmet I have. You will like it

 

[Deuling]

That is one sweet helmet. I'm too crappy a welder to have one like that lol

 

[Cruz89K5]

That is one sweet helmet. I'm too crappy a welder to have one like that lol

I'm not that great either. I figured with all the practice I needed I would need a good helmet! I'm not bad with the mig, but my stick welding leaves a lot to be desired. I had a friend come out and burn the spring and shackle mounts on.

 

[Deuling]

I'm takin a welding class at college so hopefully I'll be much better when I'm done. I can now oxy/acetylene weld like a champ though!!!

 

[y5mgisi]

Nothing to add, but that truck looks bad ass from the front!

 

[greatwhitez71]

pretty damn sick man. i dig it

 

[Russell]

This thing is awesome man!

I just picked up an 02 2500HD and I am very much considering doing the same thing to mine!

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

I got the twin stick done. My factory front rail had a bigger recess that the ORD modified rail and the interlock wouldnt let it into position. So I reused the original front rail and the ord rear rail. I was going to get a picture of the rail difference, but I tore half the skin off my thumb above the nail down toward the finger tip on the mount for the shifters off the front output. Ouch.

I reused the factory pins over the absurdly long and random assortment of ORD hardware. All of nuts are nylon lock so I'll have to go buy a dye before I can cut them to a reasonable length. I have to say the shifting action is very nice, but I wasnt impressed with the hardware in the kit.

See something missing? Yeah, the small screws arent there.

I had expected a short description of rail installation and maybe a better description of the shifter assembly. No such luck. Here's the instructions for the twin stick assembly:

The twin stick operation guide is complete and informative.

We are working on better shifter instructions, not sure why you didn't get the smaller screws but they should have been included.

Did you get the draglink from us? What ends are you using?

 

[Cruz89K5]

We are working on better shifter instructions, not sure why you didn't get the smaller screws but they should have been included.

Did you get the draglink from us? What ends are you using?

Just a short paragraph or two with pictures of the freeze plugs and detent balls would go a long way. Are there different rails for different years? The front rail I received from you was nothing like what I had in my case. The machined spot for the front interlock was much shorter than my factory rail's groove.

The drag link is yours. I gave you my measurement over the phone a few weeks ago. I'm using the ends you sell, I removed them from a standard drag link from a K5 crossover kit I bought a few years ago.

 

[Cruz89K5]

Nothing much is new. I've been driving it quite a bit. Its thirsty, and with 3.73's and 38.5's its not very quick. The only problem I've had in nearly 400 miles is a leaking brake line on the front brakes. Banjo bolt backed out a bit.

Bought a tone ring for the 205, remembered a good friend of mine is a machinist, so he's going to cut the tone ring down and drill the hole and mill the housing so the sensor will fit for me. Here's the ring with the part number. $27 at the GM house.

I had some ford towers off another truck I bought, so I cut away some more bracketry and tacked them in. I need a little bit longer shock because I cant easily move the ford towers any lower than that. That tough country shock has about 14" of shaft, but at full stuff I've got 3 or 4 inches of shaft showing. So I figured I could run a little longer shock on the same mounts and get back the little bit of down travel I lost and limit strap it. I dont plan on the ford towers being permanent, but knowing me they will be in there 6 years from now. I've still got a lot more cleaning on the frame to do but its coming along. Its nice to actually get to drive it after working on it. Keeps me from getting burned out.

New windshield on wednesday, then we'll start on the 205 swap.

 

[Cruz89K5]

Progress has been slow. My machinist buddy had a kid, so hes been too busy to get around to my VSS install, so I've been doing other things. I've got the old 14 bolt under the truck now. I cut the old Ruff Stuff perches off and moved them out. They barely cleared, but it worked. I had to rotate the caliper brackets down around the 5:30 position so I could get the bolts into the calipers around the springs. The bleeders are at 3:00 or so, so it bled pretty easily.

Here you can see how bent the rear of my frame is. The smashed bed floor makes it look worse than it is. Its about an inch lower on one side than the other. Plus my driveway is at a bit of an angle. It bent where the frame necks down above the axle. Still goes straight down the road, so I'm not too worried about it.

For a reference to anyone else doing this swap, the 14 bolt I'm using is from an 85 CUCV. I believe it was 67" WMS to WMS. The semi float 14 bolt is roughly an inch and a half wider WMS. The big 14 bolt makes up the width difference in the spindles, outboard of the brake mounting surface. The semi float has almost 3 inches of tube per side more than the full float 14 bolt. Perch width is 49" center to center for the semi float 14 bolts, and the spring perches are pretty high. The tubes look to be as big as the full float axles tubes, so I lost a little height in the rear. Even with the Ruff Stuff perches.

The rear brakes work well. I moved the stock rubber line from the truck down from the top of the frame rail to the bottom for extra length. The extended lines off my K5 from ORD was the exact same length as the factory GMC line. The hardlines use a bigger nut on the fittings, something like 15mm vs the 3/8 on the old style GM hardlines, but the threads are the same size. The new truck's line is offset to the left, so I used a short section of line from the parts store and the long factory line for the other side. I need to cut them down a little more.

I kept reading that you needed to plumb the ABS module out when removing the factory brakes. I left it in when I did the fronts and all was fine. It braked as well as it did before. I expected the abs to go nuts when I removed the rear calipers. They arent wired in, there is no wheel speed sensor in the rear wheels or the axle. So I'm leaving the ABS module in place for now. I hate brake work.

In preparation for the 205 install I've got 3 of the 4 VSS senders on the auto track case unplugged. The truck is running fine on the rear left VSS. No service Four wheel drive lights, no funny business. I'm not about to push the buttons on the dash though.

So all this leaves me with is getting the VSS into the NP205, cutting a hole for the shifters, figuring out how to ground the TCCM signal wire to tell the truck when it shifts to low range, getting it tuned to get rid of my array of dash lights, getting my front shaft redone and getting a rear shaft built, and getting some mufflers put on it. And then about 10,000 other small things. Getting closer.

 

[munepit]

Love this truck! Looks killer. I have a 03 2wd, I wish I could do the same thing as you did.

 

[Cruz89K5]

My friend and I have been putting in some late nights trying to get the truck done and we're making good progress. My machinest buddy finally wore enough of the new off that baby of his to get out to work and get my VSS done. Took him a few hours, mainly finding the right tap and drill bits. Looks good. The housing was thinner than anticipated, so we werent able to get the VSS as close to the gear as I had wanted. I never could find a spec, but I'd assume mine is .050 or less away from the gear. The VSS sender is plastic, so it might get ground down if it is too far away to read the gear properly.

As usual, a cell phone picture.

The 205 is in. Kind of. The bolts would not fit through my adapter with the NWF spacer in place, so I have to go to the hardware store and get some new bolts today. I had some random bolts that fit laying around, so we used them to locate the case to test fit the cross member. The factory cross member fits. I took the foot off of the auto track case and it bolted to the 400/205 adapter. With the 5/8 spacer on the adapter the foot was dead center in the cross member's mounting holes. Pretty excited about that.

I've got the twin stick shifters in. It took some modification to the ORD plate. The shifters are pretty far to the right on the trans hump, so I had to move the holes inboard for the bigger screws. There isnt a whole lot of room to bolt the sticks to the adapter, so I recommend putting the adapter up first with the sticks attached, or leaving the boot off and doing them thru the top. I found out I didnt know a good way to estimate where to cut a hole for the shifters. I also figured out I'm not much good at welding sheetmetal. Its in, but ugly. Carpet hides all.

It looks to be a pretty straight shot from the tcase output to the diff. The tranny heatshield may need to be removed, and the cross member might need a little trimming, but I dont see any other problems.

Plans tomorrow include test fitting my old shaft. It will be too short, but it should give a good idea of clearance. Unplugging the transfer case control module. There are a lot of hanging plugs down there now.. Filling up the 205 and topping off the trans. I'm going to run it without any shafts to make sure the rear VSS is reading. Hopefully I'll get an order in with Tom Wood's for a new rear shaft and get my front retubed and rebuilt this week as well. I cant wait to drive it with power to the front end. It still needs a tune and exhaust as well, but those are easy.

I'll get more pictures tomorrow of the 205 in the truck. Its not as exciting to look at for you folks as it is to me, but its neat seeing that old cast iron pig underneath a new truck.

 

[Cruz89K5]

Transfer case is in. Shifters are done. In high they just touch the center console. Front output seal has a leak, but its minor. Speedometer works. Need to get some driveshafts made next. The dash is apart, the TCCM is unplugged and there is no service 4wd light or anything. With no shafts its hard to tell if the truck is shifting or not, but the speedometer jumps on occasion, so I think its shifting not locked in limp mode. Here's pictures of the shifters. I'll get more pictures soon.

 

[Cruz89K5]

Just a few random pictures of the TCCM and the 205 in place. Excuse my hacked wiring on the VSS plug. After trying every plug I found the one I was missing in front of the crossmember. It would have been much easier to put the VSS on the left of the 205. I'm not known for doing things the easy way. Plus, it was in the teens outside and my roll of wire wasnt in the shop, so I scavenged some wire from around the shop.

My paint job got scratched up riding around the bed of my dodge..

TCCM. Orange plug has a pin that needs to be put on a switch and ran to ground for low range. Need to have the truck tuned to change the low range ratio in the PCM before messing with this too much.

What it takes to get that small plug out of the TCCM. Its got a lock in a dumb location.

Thats it for now. Need to get some cash for shafts and exhaust and we'll be in business.

 

[greatwhitez71]

what was the point of grounding the wire? i may have missed it...but i swapped a manual in place of my electric shift and I havent had any issues with low range and anything else.