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.
'89 R3500 Crew Cab 2wd to 4wd conversion & beyond
- Thread starter mrk5
- Start date
Started out with 2wd TBI350 with SM465 to current 4wd with 454, 700r4, NP241
Thanks!
Made some more progress on the trailer. Added some a angle pieces along the front to keep the panel covering the bottom from blowing off.
Also of note in the picture above, if you look at where the tongue passes under the frame you can see a large bolt on each side. There are supposed to pins there instead. The idea is you pull the pins so the trailer can tilt. I don't want a tilting trailer and I just saw that as another place for the trailer to rattle around. A long 9/16" bolt left over from old suspension work on the K5 was a perfect fit to make that a nice, tight joint.
And I received the tongue box today so I bolted that on.
Kinda funny, they included (6) #10 D&T screws to secure the box to the frame. Don't even include washers. I was kinda dubious about that even tho I suppose it would hold fine as long as the trailer stays on its wheels. Just to be safe I used (4) 1/4" bolts with washers instead.
Got the tailgate made. A close examination of the pictures will reveal my opening ended up being narrow at the top. It's about 1/4" in on each side. But it works. Hard part about aluminum fab, it's easy for stuff to go out of square.
I cut the threads off long bolts to make pins at the bottom of the tailgate and those drop into holes. Then the barrel bolts hold the top in. We will use a clip to keep the barrel bolts from vibrating loose. The whole tailgate just lifts out, it's not hinged or anything like that.
License plate bracket and light. The bracket is a hinge because the plate will hang down below the frame. Hopefully this will allow the plate to swing up if the tail of the trailer drags.
The bracket for the light was bent out of aluminum. It is lit with a small LED module we would use in a sign.
Got the inspections done so hopefully tomorrow I can get plates for this thing and put it to use.
I cut the threads off long bolts to make pins at the bottom of the tailgate and those drop into holes. Then the barrel bolts hold the top in. We will use a clip to keep the barrel bolts from vibrating loose. The whole tailgate just lifts out, it's not hinged or anything like that.
License plate bracket and light. The bracket is a hinge because the plate will hang down below the frame. Hopefully this will allow the plate to swing up if the tail of the trailer drags.
The bracket for the light was bent out of aluminum. It is lit with a small LED module we would use in a sign.
Got the inspections done so hopefully tomorrow I can get plates for this thing and put it to use.
Got the tailgate made. A close examination of the pictures will reveal my opening ended up being narrow at the top. It's about 1/4" in on each side. But it works. Hard part about aluminum fab, it's easy for stuff to go out of square.
I cut the threads off long bolts to make pins at the bottom of the tailgate and those drop into holes. Then the barrel bolts hold the top in. We will use a clip to keep the barrel bolts from vibrating loose. The whole tailgate just lifts out, it's not hinged or anything like that.
License plate bracket and light. The bracket is a hinge because the plate will hang down below the frame. Hopefully this will allow the plate to swing up if the tail of the trailer drags.
The bracket for the light was bent out of aluminum. It is lit with a small LED module we would use in a sign.
Got the inspections done so hopefully tomorrow I can get plates for this thing and put it to use.
Good Idea on the license plate. I mounted mine to the fender of the trailer back when it was new. Never had a light, never been asked about it or stopped for it. So if it becomes an issue with trail damage just mount it there. Bending it is fine also IMO.
And I would take the plate once it's on and just bend the bottom of it around that bottom tube. It's going to happen in short order anyway when you back it into something so you might as well know when it happened
Do all trailers in CO need to be licensed? In UT a trailer that small wouldn't need to be registered.
They actually look for the light now with the inspections. Probably a good idea on pre-bending the plate. After I typed that post above it occurred to me the hinge doesn't help if I back into something. I do kinda like the fender idea. Maybe I'll move it there once I have the new fenders.Good Idea on the license plate. I mounted mine to the fender of the trailer back when it was new. Never had a light, never been asked about it or stopped for it. So if it becomes an issue with trail damage just mount it there. Bending it is fine also IMO.
And I would take the plate once it's on and just bend the bottom of it around that bottom tube. It's going to happen in short order anyway when you back it into something so you might as well know when it happened
Yes. The only thing the small trailer saves me is I don't have to have a weight ticket to prove it's under 2000lbs. If it was over 2000lbs I would have to trailer brakes as well. Incidentally, adding up all the materials the trailer weighs just under 500lbs.
I was a little disappointed because I hoped the Harbor Freight trailer route would at least save me the homemade trailer hassle, but unfortunately it doesn't. I guess because it's more of a kit trailer I still have to go through all the steps as if I'd made it completely from scratch. Again another reason I feel it's worth $300 but not the full $500 list.
This weekend I worked on getting the sending units installed for the Autometer gauges.
In some searching I did it seemed like the TBI trucks have an oil pressure sender at the back of the motor near the distributor for the oil pressure switch that kills the fuel pump. Then another down on the block above the oil filter for the factory gauge. My truck had both but the one down by the oil filter was not hooked up. Yet I still had a functioning factory pressure gauge. Does the sender at the rear of the intake manifold do both? It has 2 wires.
I went ahead and swapped out the one down by the oil filter for the Autometer unit. Here's pic of where it's located:
It even has a little heat shield around it. There was a cut wire nearby that maybe used to be connected to it. This is another example of some things that make me think maybe this isn't the original motor to the truck. Or at least that the motor was pulled at one time.
If you look closely in the picture above you will see I was missing the rear most exhaust manifold bolt. Yay! Cured the annoying exhaust leak that I thought was coming from the flange or somewhere in the pipe.
Also discovered further proof to the genius of the previous owner (PO). The PO installed a tach and he just stripped one of the wires between the coil and distributor to twist the tach signal wire onto. I have since fixed that (blue arrow below). I discovered there is already a plug on the coil for connecting the tach (red arrow). What a damn moron.
In some searching I did it seemed like the TBI trucks have an oil pressure sender at the back of the motor near the distributor for the oil pressure switch that kills the fuel pump. Then another down on the block above the oil filter for the factory gauge. My truck had both but the one down by the oil filter was not hooked up. Yet I still had a functioning factory pressure gauge. Does the sender at the rear of the intake manifold do both? It has 2 wires.
I went ahead and swapped out the one down by the oil filter for the Autometer unit. Here's pic of where it's located:
It even has a little heat shield around it. There was a cut wire nearby that maybe used to be connected to it. This is another example of some things that make me think maybe this isn't the original motor to the truck. Or at least that the motor was pulled at one time.
If you look closely in the picture above you will see I was missing the rear most exhaust manifold bolt. Yay! Cured the annoying exhaust leak that I thought was coming from the flange or somewhere in the pipe.
Also discovered further proof to the genius of the previous owner (PO). The PO installed a tach and he just stripped one of the wires between the coil and distributor to twist the tach signal wire onto. I have since fixed that (blue arrow below). I discovered there is already a plug on the coil for connecting the tach (red arrow). What a damn moron.
The only thing worse that PO work is when you realize that the work was done by you years before when you knew a lot less than you know now.
Glad you got a few more problems solved.
Glad you got a few more problems solved.
Yeah, it is true I did some dumb stuff back in the day.
Didn't we all.
Finished up connecting my gauges. Once again my 56 series connectors came in handy. I used a male connector to connect with the existing female plug.
The oil pressure and coolant temp senders are pretty straight forward with ring terminals.
While I was connecting the coolant sender I noticed this problem with the plug wires:
About 3 of them were like this. I was wondering if maybe it was due to extreme heat. Like maybe the motor is running super lean.
Along with installing new plug wires I decided to rebuild the throttle body and see about bumping up the fuel pressure. I read a few tips on how to make the factory regulator adjustable. The slickest one I saw was to grab the collar on the bottom of the regulator and give it hard twist. Worked like a charm with the water pump pliers.
The little tab was at the bottom (closest to the collar). I just took it up to halfway up the opening/window. Kinda have to play with it a little as I don't have a pressure gauge.
I also replaced the cap, rotor, and plugs since I have no idea when it was done last. Figured it would be a good idea to check the timing as well. The pisser of it is I can find the timing disconnect plug ANYWHERE. Now the wiring at the firewall is pretty messed up so I think, like many other things on this truck, someone has messed with the wiring.
I checked the timing as it sits now and it is at 0 to 2 degrees advanced. In other words just like it would be if the timing plug is disconnected. So now I'm suspecting the plug has been cut out of the system, or if it is still there it must be disconnected. This would explain why the truck runs like such a dog.
So now I'm going to spend some time tracing out wires to figure out what going on. I just have to rig up a more comfortable perch while I do my searching.
The oil pressure and coolant temp senders are pretty straight forward with ring terminals.
While I was connecting the coolant sender I noticed this problem with the plug wires:
About 3 of them were like this. I was wondering if maybe it was due to extreme heat. Like maybe the motor is running super lean.
Along with installing new plug wires I decided to rebuild the throttle body and see about bumping up the fuel pressure. I read a few tips on how to make the factory regulator adjustable. The slickest one I saw was to grab the collar on the bottom of the regulator and give it hard twist. Worked like a charm with the water pump pliers.
The little tab was at the bottom (closest to the collar). I just took it up to halfway up the opening/window. Kinda have to play with it a little as I don't have a pressure gauge.
I also replaced the cap, rotor, and plugs since I have no idea when it was done last. Figured it would be a good idea to check the timing as well. The pisser of it is I can find the timing disconnect plug ANYWHERE. Now the wiring at the firewall is pretty messed up so I think, like many other things on this truck, someone has messed with the wiring.
I checked the timing as it sits now and it is at 0 to 2 degrees advanced. In other words just like it would be if the timing plug is disconnected. So now I'm suspecting the plug has been cut out of the system, or if it is still there it must be disconnected. This would explain why the truck runs like such a dog.
So now I'm going to spend some time tracing out wires to figure out what going on. I just have to rig up a more comfortable perch while I do my searching.
Also, maybe you all have some tips on where to look for the connector. This is my first TBI truck so I don't have a lot experience with it. I was just looking in the area around the distributor/back of the motor.
I'll try to remember to take a picture of the connector and location tomorrow...
The timing wire is near the one you found for the tach hook up
Okay I may have been looking to far over towards the passenger side. I found some pictures of other people finding it around the brake booster even. I know there are a couple of plugs near mine I could check.
I was probably getting a little too frustrated to look a little more "smartly" by that point Saturday.
I was probably getting a little too frustrated to look a little more "smartly" by that point Saturday.
It's by the brake booster.
Martin
Martin
Give my phone a moment to upload to Photobucket.
Martin
Martin
It barely even sticks out of the split loom. Single brown wire.
Martin
Martin
Cool. Now I'm excited to get home. I definitely did not look for it there.
So here's the situation. Martin nailed it on the head; that was exactly where the plug is.
Not anywhere near where I was looking.
Anyway, much as I suspected, I have fallen victim to more PO jackassery. I unplugged the timing wire and sure enough the truck was running at a base timing of at least 12° AFTER TDC. In other words the last time the timing was set, the plug was left connected.
There was electrical tape wrapped around the plug that had been on there a very long time.
Now that I have the timing set properly it has totally woken the truck up. It literally drives like I have unhitched a 4-ton trailer. Can't wait for another trip up into the high country to see how well it's really running. It also drives a lot smoother and quieter. A couple of times when coming to a stop I had to look at the tach to verify the truck was still running.
Still can't believe I hadn't checked this sooner. I guess since the truck was running well enough, I never messed with it. Just figured it ran like a dog due to age/wear.
As another example of the PO's wiring prowess, here's how he had the washer motor ground wired.
The power side was wired to a push button on the dash. I guess maybe the switch on the turn signal quite working so the PO decided to do his own wiring setup.
Not anywhere near where I was looking.
Anyway, much as I suspected, I have fallen victim to more PO jackassery. I unplugged the timing wire and sure enough the truck was running at a base timing of at least 12° AFTER TDC. In other words the last time the timing was set, the plug was left connected.
There was electrical tape wrapped around the plug that had been on there a very long time.Now that I have the timing set properly it has totally woken the truck up. It literally drives like I have unhitched a 4-ton trailer. Can't wait for another trip up into the high country to see how well it's really running. It also drives a lot smoother and quieter. A couple of times when coming to a stop I had to look at the tach to verify the truck was still running.
Still can't believe I hadn't checked this sooner. I guess since the truck was running well enough, I never messed with it. Just figured it ran like a dog due to age/wear.
As another example of the PO's wiring prowess, here's how he had the washer motor ground wired.
The power side was wired to a push button on the dash. I guess maybe the switch on the turn signal quite working so the PO decided to do his own wiring setup.
Last edited:
