2004 Silverado Crew Cab Solid Axle Swap (LLY with ZF 6 speed)

[r3dd0g]

It's amazing how many parts have to come off to get to that point. My whole chest and ribs were bruised from laying on the fenders and core support for the teardown.

I thought about pulling the cab, but with all the aftermarket electronics and stuff on my truck that would have been a pain.

 

[Truckman4life]

I like most of the super duty trucks cuz you can fairly easily strip out the cooling package and the whole front and just stand there to work on the engine. Winches and add on stuff dependent though.

 

[max 02]

It's amazing how many parts have to come off to get to that point. My whole chest and ribs were bruised from laying on the fenders and core support for the teardown.

I thought about pulling the cab, but with all the aftermarket electronics and stuff on my truck that would have been a pain.

Need one of those creeper things to lay on over the top. The name of them escapes me right now?

 

[Truckman4life]

I also pull the front wheels and set the truck down as low as possible. Lifted trucks are just harder no matter what though.

 

[r3dd0g]

Need one of those creeper things to lay on over the top. The name of them escapes me right now?

Over engine/topside creeper. I thought about it, but for how infrequently I'd use it, it would really take up a lot of space.

I just looked at prices though and they've come down a lot, used to be about $500, now you can get one for half that.

https://www.amazon.com/Traxion-3-100-Foldable-Topside-Creeper-dp-B00QGXSODA/dp/B00QGXSODA/ref=dp_ob_title_auto

 

[max 02]

Over engine/topside creeper. I thought about it, but for how infrequently I'd use it, it would really take up a lot of space.

I just looked at prices though and they've come down a lot, used to be about $500, now you can get one for half that.

https://www.amazon.com/Traxion-3-100-Foldable-Topside-Creeper-dp-B00QGXSODA/dp/B00QGXSODA/ref=dp_ob_title_auto

Yeah that’s the name.

 

[max 02]

I like most of the super duty trucks cuz you can fairly easily strip out the cooling package and the whole front and just stand there to work on the engine. Winches and add on stuff dependent though.

Thought this was funny!

 

[obijuank5]

The superduty cab is intended to come off but the dmax techs would usually pull the cab just because of the headache it saved even though it added several hours of work.
I did a water pump on a 2010 and said I'd never lay a wrench on one again lol

 

[r3dd0g]

I bit the bullet and ordered one of those creepers, it said $299 on Amazon but when I put it in my cart it was only $229! It will be here Saturday so I may delay putting the heads back on until I have that.

I got the turbo back today (super quick!) I didn't realize how bad my old compressor wheel was, here's a before and after for comparison.

I'm not sure what caused that, the shaft was nice and tight with no play so it has to be FOD. I'm thinking water maybe as I know the truck splashes water right into the air filter. It may be time to do something different there.

Everything is getting put together slowly, I had other stuff I needed to work on today so I only spent a few hours in the shop. I put the new gaskets in the upper valve covers and bolted them down as well as getting the intake and exhaust manifolds on the second head.

More parts showed up as well, the most exciting one was the new intercooler (Mushimoto).

More updates as I finish things up.

 

[centexk5]

Could also be dirt getting through the filter. Or barking the turbo.

 

[max 02]

Wow that new wheel should make quite a difference!

Your ribs will be happy you ordered that topside creeper.

 

[Truckman4life]

Mishimoto stuff is way nice. That turbo definitely had some crap going through it.

 

[r3dd0g]

I've been busy working on some other stuff, but I'll be getting back to the Silverado this weekend. I thought I'd throw up a picture of the cooling stack bolted together and ready to go back in just for filler.

 

[r3dd0g]

I'm not sure what's going on with the creeper now... When I first clicked on it, it said it would be here today, when I ordered it it switched it to Saturday, now it's still sitting at Traxion with just a UPS label printed saying it will be here Tuesday, but if it doesn't get picked up today there's no way that's happening.

So much for not bruising my ribs this weekend.

 

[max 02]

I'm not sure what's going on with the creeper now... When I first clicked on it, it said it would be here today, when I ordered it it switched it to Saturday, now it's still sitting at Traxion with just a UPS label printed saying it will be here Tuesday, but if it doesn't get picked up today there's no way that's happening.

So much for not bruising my ribs this weekend.

That sucks

 

[r3dd0g]

Parts are going back on finally! I cleaned the block with a carbide scraper, new head gaskets went on and ARP studs went in.

Next I need to adjust the valve lash and reinstall the valve covers. I'm hoping to have it back up and running by Friday.

The creeper is now out for delivery, so maybe I'll have it at some point today.

 

[max 02]

What head gaskets did you use?

I got Cs from The GM dealer. They were actually cheaper than aftermarket head gaskets.

The rest of the gaskets I got from Merchant auto in a head gasket kit.

 

[r3dd0g]

I got Mahle head gaskets with the ARP studs off of Amazon, they are grade C.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BDM948J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[r3dd0g]

I didn't get anything done on the truck today, but I did get some deliveries finally. The Bosch reman injectors that were flow matched by LDS showed up.

The new Y-bridge and cold pipe from Wehrli (I may have accidentally broken the tabs off the stock one):

Also the topside/over engine creeper finally got here and we got it put together. This should save me some bruising on the reassembly process.

Hopefully I can spend the whole day in the shop tomorrow putting this thing back together.

 

[mrk5]

Curious to hear how you like the creeper. I've been thinking about getting one, just haven't been sure if they're as handy as I think they would be.