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

Started out with 2wd TBI350 with SM465 to current 4wd with 454, 700r4, NP241
Dear lord.....

Hey I call em like I see em

Dimples the truck just sounds nice

I know you understand that you don't have a say in this. It has been brought forward, seconded and confirmed now.
 
I told my mommy on you guys and you're all in big trouble for being Internet bullies.
 
I told my mommy on you guys and you're all in big trouble for being Internet bullies.

Trust us

Things will escalate from here. :whistle:

If only I knew a sticker guy that would make me some stickers for Dimples
 
Yeah I've been thinking a few stickers may be popping up around Blazer Bash....
 
Trust us

Things will escalate from here. :whistle:

If only I knew a sticker guy that would make me some stickers for Dimples

Don't you have better things to be doing... I may have to drop Eric a note about how much free time you have to Internet bully... :flipoff7:
 
Finally have music in my truck. My primary goal was to have a stereo without a head unit. Last time I had a stereo in my K5, jackasses broke into and ruined it trying to steal it. So I want a hidden stereo.

I had planned to put a subwoofer enclosure behind the rear seats. I built one but unfortunately it didn't fit and building one that would isn't practical. So I picked up a 6.5" Bazooka tube based on the reviews and that it was a perfect fit.



Per the instructions, it's mounted facing into the cab corner about 4" from it. Here it is with the seats installed.



You can see in the pictures above the amp is also mounted behind the seats. And I took the opportunity to add some sound deadener.

It is a 4 channel amp meaning it will run 4 speakers, 2 front & 2 rear. You can also run it like I am as a 3 channel amp, 2 front speakers and the sub. The 2 rear channels are bridged for the sub.

I wanted to be able to connect my phone without wires. I found a bluetooth adapter sold for boats. I uses RCA inputs. I also still want to connect with an audio cable from the headphone jack because my MP3 player will use that cable to act as an FM antenna. I had to figure out how to get 2 inputs into the amp.

If you only have a single input, you can just use an adapter cable with RCA connectors on one end and an headphone audio jack on the other. This would allow you to connect a phone or MP3 player directly to the amp.

Another thing I realized was that I needed to have 2 outputs for the amp; front and rear channels. If you only need 1 pair of speakers you can still connect direct to the amp like I mention in the previous paragraph. Another option is to get a Y connector or splitter to make the one signal into two.

This was looking complicated; I somehow needed to get 2 signal sources coming together to then split out into 2 channels, front & rear. I found an equalizer for $30 on Amazon that had 2 inputs as well as outputs for front, rear, and subwoofer. Not to mention the tuning benefits it will provide. I mounted this in my Tuffy console.



It comes with L brackets to mount it under the dash. This won't work with the Tuffy console so I made my own brackets using the factory mounting screws.



I don't have my DIY4x dash in yet so I just threw a switch in the dash. This switch turns on the amp, equalizer, and bluetooth antenna.



The bluetooth antenna is hanging there below the switch.

The amp and equalizer also need battery power. I pulled that from the battery through a 50amp circuit breaker mounted on the fender by the battery. The amp has two 25A fuses so that's why I went the the 50A breaker. The equalizer only pulls 3A.

I mounted component speakers up front so i could mount tweeters up on the pillar to make it easier to hear. I mounted the woofers in speaker pods on the kick panels.





I forget to get pictures of the tweeters.

You can see the passive crossover in the first picture above to the left of the speaker.

I ran the speaker wiress from the amp under the door sills wrapped in some nylon sleeving.

The system works great. I'm really impressed with the base from the Bazooka tube. Still playing with the filters and levels. It was kinda weird driving home with music and not hearing the motor so much.
 
Last edited:
I HATED those kick panel speakers in my 1990 K5. So much so, that they had to go.

Martin
 
Finally finished a long holding project. I have a skid plate!

The new front shaft was hitting the crossmember again so I pulled it to notch it and finished the skid at the same time.

je7yty9a.jpg


Heated a piece of flay strap and bent it to fit the notch. Welded it in place. Here it is after paint:

u4e9e3e3.jpg


Several months ago I had started building a skid plate. I had made an second crossmember identical to the first and a frame for the skid. Stopped when I couldn't decide how I wanted to do the plate itself.

I decided to use some 3/4" thick high density polyethylene (HDPE) sign panel. It is impact resistant, colorful, and made mounting easy.

uvy3e5up.jpg


Beveled the edges with a radial arm saw and used a paddle bit to recess the bolt heads.

I used some threaded weld-in things I got from Ruffstuff on the top of the frame.

u7eqe3yd.jpg


Required a 3/4" hole to drop in.

jehu8y3e.jpg


The threads are fine, 3/8"-24. The bolts I have are longer than I'd like but they work. Put medium strength loctite on them

reta9ane.jpg


yge7eraz.jpg


Feels good to have this done. And it's good I did it. Last time I had intended to get right back to the project the following weekend so I just put in plain nuts and bolts to hold the crossmember in. Well when I started today 2 of 4 bolts were loose and 1 was gone!
 
Good work in the stereo install! If you can call it that. Sound system maybe? Either, way, I do dig!
 
Thank you. Maybe it's an audio system. Found a knob on the equalizer that made the system sound way better. Might be too many adjustments. LOL.
 
I was worried about that. I've been planning this for some time so I had been paying attention to where I put my feet and I never seem to put them over in that area. So far the couple of times I've driven the truck it hasn't been an issue. We'll see how it works on a long drive to Moab, 8hrs plus.
 
I hate to disappoint, but I filled in my dimples. :p:

803da893-d91f-4180-a88e-f689e2e782ca.jpg
 
I also tied up the steering lines to the ram.

2014-09-01135856.jpg


I used a strip of .040 aluminum wrapped 3 times with electrical tape. Put a bolt through and clamped the spring between. The hole in the frame is from the factory shock mount.

It doesn't look like it in the picture, but the brake line doesn't touch the steering line. I have it held over to the bump stop can to keep some separation.
 

Latest Posts

Top Bottom