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'89 R3500 Crew Cab 2wd to 4wd conversion & beyond

Started out with 2wd TBI350 with SM465 to current 4wd with 454, 700r4, NP241
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Been running CO2 for tire refills for several years. I was just leasing the bottle from our welding supplier for $6/mon. Finally decided to buy my own.

Got a 15# bottle from Poly Performance. Then I had some fun making sure mine didn't get confused with anyone else's.





 
mrk5 said:
Been running CO2 for tire refills for several years. I was just leasing the bottle from our welding supplier for $6/mon. Finally decided to buy my own.

Got a 15# bottle from Poly Performance. Then I had some fun making sure mine didn't get confused with anyone else's.





Click to expand...

WANT!!!!! :pimp: :thumb:
 
I could do one if someone asked. I"m curious to see how it holds up in an application like this.
 
I decided to change out my front driveshaft setup. I've been running the front shaft from the General which has single 1410 joints at each end. It worked okay but this truck as about 2" more lift and the axle isn't moved as far forward. I'm also looking for something that will run higher speeds. And this shaft was almost too long.

I ended up with a 1350 CV and 1350 at the axle. I changed the axle end because I prefer to keep the same joints for continuity. The driveshaft was made by Bill's Englewood Driveshaft. I got a tall 1350 yoke from WFO. It uses u-bolts.

Here is my homemade yoke removal/install tool.

2014-03-09124800.jpg


Holds the yoke in place while turning the pinion nut.

Axle end of the new driveshaft.

2014-03-091652.jpg


And the other end.

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I picked up 2 tools for this job. A used 250ft-lb Snap-On torque wrench I bought used on ebay and a seal puller. Never had used the seal puller before. I think it was worth the $8 as it was easier to pull the seal than using a screw driver.

2014-03-09171258.jpg


Didn't have time for testing today. Damn time change screws everything up. I'd like to see how it does at droop make sure nothing is binding. Also need to make sure I have enough crossmember clearance.
 
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Tested the driveshaft up 45mph and it runs smooth.

Several months ago I tried replacing the worn out hinge bushings on the passenger front door but I couldn't get the hinge pins to fully seat. So I decided to just throw some white paint on the old K5 door and swap door and hinges at the same time.

Before:



After:



Really going to miss the flaking black spray paint courtesy of the previous owner. However I did forget the k5 doors had issues. Had to cover speaker holes and it has crappy tint job.



Also rust spots I had forgotten about. So I'm going to put a good coat of white on the original door and put it back on. Aside from the crappy paint, it's a better door.

The other thing I did was add an outside bracket on the shifter. Only bolted to one side made it move too much.

Before:



After:

 
The white on the exterior is a decent rattle can job but they used flat and it picks up dirt like mad.
 
Been working on a few piddling things, but nothing I felt was worth doing much documenting of. I laid down some adhesive backed thermal/sound barrier on the transmission tunnel to reduce the heat radiating off it. Also made an impressive reduction in noise.

I went to drive the truck into the shop and found some distressing evidence of foul play. It took a little while to register. I found little bits of shop towel on the driver floor board and a tore up muffle wrapper. My first thought was it looked like the dog had been getting into things but I couldn't figure out how she'd gotten in the truck.

A bit later I was in the glovebox and found the stash of shop towel there all torn to little bits. It was then I realized a mouse must be in the truck! After that realization I noticed the mouse turds all over the seats. So I took some time vacuuming out the truck.

Then it started bugging me where the mouse might be nesting. Particularly I'm concerned about it getting into the firewall insulation and the seats. I decided to tear the dash apart to see if I could find anything. I didn't find any trace of the mouse but I did find another wonderful gift from the previous owner.

If you've been following this thread, you will know I've found lots of hinky previous owner wiring and apparently this may have been the result.

The following is what I found (the green lines I drew are next to the wires in question):
:
ffc8e0d1-cfe1-4936-bd81-52e7b061e7c8.jpg


66bf200e-0e5d-4431-8a5f-b6ee1e892c0e.jpg


Both wires are connected to the headlight switch. The first picture is of a brown wire. The good lead has a plug on the end that wasn't connected to anything. The melted lead was cut by a previous owner under the top of the dash in the area of the heater controls.

The second picture shows a wire sharing a connection with an orange wire. I'm guessing this wire originally had orange insulation until it all melted off. There's no insulation on it now. The scary thing is this wire has power all the time.

So I'm going to have to trace the "orange" wire through the harness and figure out where it goes. Which stinks because that means unwrapping all of the factory covering. I guess I don't have to worry about the brown wire because it wasn't connected to anything anyway. :dunno:

Same pictures without the green lines drawn on.

2014-05-18170116.jpg


2014-05-18170101.jpg
 
And I think I might know where the mouse came in. I still have an open hole where the clutch master cylinder was located. So I made a piece to cover the hole. I used a Seals-It grommet in the middle so I can route wiring through it in the future.

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It's a little curved in on the one side because of a small bolt it has to clear. I also added some weatherstripping to seal it off better.

I'm hoping this will help keep the mice out in the future. I don't know if the little bugger is still in there, I suspect knowing mice he is. So I'll probably put some poison in the cab for a couple of weeks.
 
Mothballs for the mice.
They make them in Cedar smelling now which apparently still have the same effect.

As far as the previous owner goes while we are not done with R&D desertrat and I would like to offer the services of our previous owner seeking missile.
 
jekquistk5 said:
I hate mice!!! So far I haven't had any issues with them in my new barn but its only been a year. Someone told me to use dryer sheets before, but I doubt that works. I bought one of these and so far so good.
http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Opera...3819&sr=8-6&keywords=ultrasonic+mice+repeller
Click to expand...
Never had a problem in the K5 and it was parked for long periods with the doors off. I checked today and didn't find any new turds so hopefully he didn't stick around. Threw in a couple boxes of d-Con just in case.

We used to get mice in the office at the shop. We adopted a stray cat and we don't have those problems anymore. I tried to get him to hang out in the truck for a while yesterday in hopes he would pick up on the scent but he's a cat and wouldn't do what I wanted.

AJMBLAZER said:
Mothballs for the mice.
They make them in Cedar smelling now which apparently still have the same effect.

As far as the previous owner goes while we are not done with R&D desertrat and I would like to offer the services of our previous owner seeking missile.
Click to expand...
Mark me down for one. :popcorn:

Cedar smelling mothballs would be cool. Might be worth throwing a few in just for future protection.
 
We have a pretty fair sized mouse problem with the garbage trucks at work, including my 2013 Pete. One of the few trucks they stayed out of was my buddy's 2011 Mack. He stashed a half dozen Bounce sheets in the truck...:dunno:

I had the shop bait/poison my truck and mousey was gone in a couple of days and haven't had any new mice since. Gonna have to look into the cedar smelling mothballs though. For us it's mostly a winter problem. Verry cold winters, trucks parked inside at night in a big heated shop, and a ready food source.
 
I used to throw a box on Big Ugly's floor board every winter. No issues.
 
Hmm I guess I'll throw some dryer sheets in next winter. Even if it doesn't actually repel mice, it will make my truck smell nice :)
 
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