So how much money do you have into this SFA conversion?
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.
2004 Silverado Crew Cab Solid Axle Swap (LLY with ZF 6 speed)
- Thread starter r3dd0g
- Start date
I've done a lot more than just the SFA conversion, and I've gotten some discounts on some of the parts. WFO's prices are listed on their website, which would be the core of the swap. I also did bumpers, LEDs, tiregate, tires/wheels, air compressor, fixed numerous other issues, Deaver springs for the rear, King shocks for the rear (still waiting for delivery) etc. etc.
I haven't really tracked the dollar amount, but it's substantial for sure.
I haven't really tracked the dollar amount, but it's substantial for sure.
Looks better w/ the rear end raised up a hair like that. Not as 'tugboat-ish'.
I played around with trying to burp the steering some more tonight, puked out some more fluid, but never needed me to add any regardless of how many times I cycled it (slowly)... I drove it around the neighborhoods here randomly turning left and right for 20 minutes or so and could not replicate the issue I had last night. I moved on to the ABS light, the code says it's one of the sensors (c0035) but doesn't specify which... The Ford sensors have a much higher resistance than the Chevy ones (5 Mohms compared to 1000ish ohms), but one of them shows open circuit when I measure between the posts one way, but 5Mohms the other way... I ordered new sensors and maybe I'll flip the wires and see if that works better.
We took the truck on a nice drive to dinner (15 miles or so round trip), no issues, steering was great, gauge cluster looked like christmas, but it was a nice drive.
I'll be taking it to work tomorrow for sure!
We took the truck on a nice drive to dinner (15 miles or so round trip), no issues, steering was great, gauge cluster looked like christmas, but it was a nice drive.
I'll be taking it to work tomorrow for sure!
possibly look to see if the sensor is the same body size on the wheel bearings . and could maybe swap them .
also if the resistance is that far off maybe the pig tail adaptors have something built in to them to help this like a resistor.
code shows front wheel speed sensor . . most say left but could be right . for a few years gm had them reading backwards on scanner info .
also if the resistance is that far off maybe the pig tail adaptors have something built in to them to help this like a resistor.
code shows front wheel speed sensor . . most say left but could be right . for a few years gm had them reading backwards on scanner info .
I'm not sure what you're trying to say on the first statement. Are you saying to use the Chevy sensors? They physically look the same but are taller so I don't know if they'd fit inside the rotor or not or if they'd work with the Ford tone ring. WFO uses the Ford sensors so I'm assuming they'll work if I get the wiring right.
The Ford sensors have the higher resistance, there's no way to drop the resistance in the pigtail. WFOs site says "buy are pigtails so you don't have to guess how to splice it and hope you're right" or something like that. I e-mailed them this morning to ask if it matters. I wouldn't think polarity would matter on a sensor like this, but maybe it does. FWIW I wired the black Chevy wire to the black Ford wire and the brown Chevy wire to the white Ford wire.
I found the same info. In fact my code reader says "Left front speed sensor" but under possible resolutions it says "replace right front speed sensor"...
The Ford sensors have the higher resistance, there's no way to drop the resistance in the pigtail. WFOs site says "buy are pigtails so you don't have to guess how to splice it and hope you're right" or something like that. I e-mailed them this morning to ask if it matters. I wouldn't think polarity would matter on a sensor like this, but maybe it does. FWIW I wired the black Chevy wire to the black Ford wire and the brown Chevy wire to the white Ford wire.
I found the same info. In fact my code reader says "Left front speed sensor" but under possible resolutions it says "replace right front speed sensor"...
You an add a resistor in parallel to drop the resistance of the ford unit down. Wiring resistors in series increases the resistance adding in parallel diminishes it. Had to do it last week to communicate with a C7.1, needed a 60 ohm resistor but only had access to two 120 ohm ones. Wired the two 120's in parallel and got right at 59.8ohms. If switching wires doesn't help maybe a resistor will.
That would partially bypass the sensor itself (short circuiting it basically) and mute the signal going to the computer even more. It's just a tone ring with a hall effect sensor. I think as long as the computer can see the voltage pulses it will be fine. As I said it worked fine (and one of them is still working fine), it just died. These are the off brand units that came in my new unit bearings. I ordered Motorcraft ones to replace them with.
On Friday I finished up the wiring so I have my air compressor, locker and air horn wired up. The lights in the bumper are wired up to the factory fog light switch already. I made a custom panel to hold the switches over an unused pocket on the dash.
Saturday, we packed up for camping and met up with some friends to take some pictures and go camping. Here's the first time the truck was in 4WD since the swap, everything worked great!
Flex test!
After picture and test time, we hooked the camping trailer back up and went for a drive up 4 peaks with some extra time going through the washes at Saguaro Lake. We went to our normal spot up on top (~6000ft) and we were greeted by 10,000,000 gnats... It must be from all the rain, because I've never seen it like that up there. Luckily they went away once the sun went down.
Sunday we headed down the back side of 4 peaks towards Roosevelt Lake. I found a little loop that went around a fenced wildlife preserve to give me an excuse to get back into 4 wheel drive.
Then we stopped for lunch and relaxing in the water on a beach on Apache Lake before heading back up Apache Trail by Canyon Lake and home.
I'm very pleased with the performance, the truck worked flawlessly. There's still a small list of things to finish up, the rear springs are so soft that the front springs don't max out. I need to get some bump stops in the rear to limit the flex, and the current shocks aren't letting the rear axle droop all the way out. I've got a set of 10" Kings on order, but I think they're still about a month out. It might end up that i need to run a small sway bar in the rear to force the front to flex more.
Saturday, we packed up for camping and met up with some friends to take some pictures and go camping. Here's the first time the truck was in 4WD since the swap, everything worked great!
Flex test!
After picture and test time, we hooked the camping trailer back up and went for a drive up 4 peaks with some extra time going through the washes at Saguaro Lake. We went to our normal spot up on top (~6000ft) and we were greeted by 10,000,000 gnats... It must be from all the rain, because I've never seen it like that up there. Luckily they went away once the sun went down.
Sunday we headed down the back side of 4 peaks towards Roosevelt Lake. I found a little loop that went around a fenced wildlife preserve to give me an excuse to get back into 4 wheel drive.
Then we stopped for lunch and relaxing in the water on a beach on Apache Lake before heading back up Apache Trail by Canyon Lake and home.
I'm very pleased with the performance, the truck worked flawlessly. There's still a small list of things to finish up, the rear springs are so soft that the front springs don't max out. I need to get some bump stops in the rear to limit the flex, and the current shocks aren't letting the rear axle droop all the way out. I've got a set of 10" Kings on order, but I think they're still about a month out. It might end up that i need to run a small sway bar in the rear to force the front to flex more.
Looks awesome. Glad the hard work paid off!
Good action shots! Love this truck it's one of my favorites.
Looks awesome, makes the trailer look tiny! I think I remember you having a dual disk clutch, how's that on the rocks?
runamok151
1 ton status
Yesterday afternoon I raised the rear suspension about 1", installed some shims to get the driveshaft angles right and replaced the steering box.
.
Nice build. This is the truck GM should be making: SFAs in HD trucks. Leave the IFS for the 1/2 tons.
It's a learning process for sure. One thing I've discovered is that the DMAX makes zero torque below 1000rpm. You have to be careful about gear selection before climbing, because if the RPM drops too much the engine will bog down, then if you happen to get the RPMs up enough for the turbo to spool, it takes off and surges, then you let off and it bogs again. Not a big deal, but I did misdiagnose what was happening at first. I thought I was starving for fuel, that's why I installed the lift pump. Turns out it's just a manual transmission/diesel thing. Not a big deal though, I plan on doing upgrades that will require the lift pump anyways.
For the most part, I won't be doing hard stuff like I was posing on, this is a trail rig and does awesome on the long bumpy trails. I do need to swap out the mirrors though, I have a set of the smaller ones at home, they were on the truck when I got it.
Very nice!
This is awesome
Hey that's cool!!!
You gotta feel good about that. Congrats!
You gotta feel good about that. Congrats!
I'm conflicted... I didn't give them the pictures...
A friend of mine works at the same factory as they are made (didn't know that when I bought them). He showed them the pictures and now they are on their website.
A friend of mine works at the same factory as they are made (didn't know that when I bought them). He showed them the pictures and now they are on their website.
It's like the picture of Wade welding on his Jimmy that's featured on this website on the main page (cycles through). My wife took that picture and suddenly, it's being used for advertising on this website.
