Interesting. I've never heard anyone on it before. Hopefully they gave you coordinates to their stash of buried loot
CK5
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'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
Interesting. I've never heard anyone on it before. Hopefully they gave you coordinates to their stash of buried loot
Ha, no it was something more like hey what are up to. Just got out of the shower. Blah blah
The driveshaft turned into one of those, "if I'm going to be doing this I might as well do this too."
The new carrier bearing crossmember required me to modify the exhaust. While doing that, I wanted to see if I could quiet the exhaust some, I know I'm getting old. I added 3ft after the muffler and it made a huge difference. I took this picture to show how I use a combination of old and new pipe welded together. I call it Frankenstein exhaust.
I want to redo the exhaust completely but I was already pushing my luck with projects. That means I do have a couple spots with exhaust clamps. I tried using "guillotine" style clamps but they have a weakness:
Where I circled the piece is splitting apart.
I fixed it by welding it together.
I have one spot I have to use that style, but I really like this one better.
Adding 3ft to the tailpipe definitely quieted the exhaust so I'm happy with those results. Down the road I'm going to swap out the 2 exhaust clamps for bolt together flanges. Full length exhaust in a long bed crew cab requires places to break it apart.
The other work I did was in the interior. The catalyst was modifying the floor for the driveline brake. First I figured since I was removing the seat frame I would add some additional legs. I was just using the 4 anchor points for the factory bench. When 2 adults rode in the front seats there was a creaking noise.
You can also see another thing I decided to add, carpet. Trying to tame the beast a little. The floor boards near the transmission tunnel get so hot the passenger have to move their feet to the side by the door. I also added some insulation/heat shield to the underside of the tunnel. Very curious to see/feel the difference.
Also added the piece projecting out towards the motor you can see in the photo below the steering wheel. The square tube is for mounting the tcase shifter.
Here it is all put together with the tcase shifter mounted. Because the cable exits towards the engine, the shift pattern is backwards from factory.
I also installed new seat belts from Wesco. The factory best were getting glitchy, especially the rear belts. There were times my youngest son couldn't get his belt to function properly. You can order the belts in quite a few different colors. My wife's favorite color is purple I ordered her belt in purple to match the piping on her seat. You can also see in the picture I finally installed more of the interior trim.
The belt retracting mechanism is completely different than factory.
I like it because it is much more compact. By the way you can see my belt is "electric" blue. Kinda fun to be able to customize seat belt colors. Still haven't gotten used to how much smoother the buckle engages now.
Finished off the weekend greasing all the joints and checking fluids. Just need to load a crap-ton of stuff in the bed and we'll be ready to go to Blazer Bash.
The new carrier bearing crossmember required me to modify the exhaust. While doing that, I wanted to see if I could quiet the exhaust some, I know I'm getting old. I added 3ft after the muffler and it made a huge difference. I took this picture to show how I use a combination of old and new pipe welded together. I call it Frankenstein exhaust.
I want to redo the exhaust completely but I was already pushing my luck with projects. That means I do have a couple spots with exhaust clamps. I tried using "guillotine" style clamps but they have a weakness:
Where I circled the piece is splitting apart.
I fixed it by welding it together.
I have one spot I have to use that style, but I really like this one better.
Adding 3ft to the tailpipe definitely quieted the exhaust so I'm happy with those results. Down the road I'm going to swap out the 2 exhaust clamps for bolt together flanges. Full length exhaust in a long bed crew cab requires places to break it apart.
The other work I did was in the interior. The catalyst was modifying the floor for the driveline brake. First I figured since I was removing the seat frame I would add some additional legs. I was just using the 4 anchor points for the factory bench. When 2 adults rode in the front seats there was a creaking noise.
You can also see another thing I decided to add, carpet. Trying to tame the beast a little. The floor boards near the transmission tunnel get so hot the passenger have to move their feet to the side by the door. I also added some insulation/heat shield to the underside of the tunnel. Very curious to see/feel the difference.
Also added the piece projecting out towards the motor you can see in the photo below the steering wheel. The square tube is for mounting the tcase shifter.
Here it is all put together with the tcase shifter mounted. Because the cable exits towards the engine, the shift pattern is backwards from factory.
I also installed new seat belts from Wesco. The factory best were getting glitchy, especially the rear belts. There were times my youngest son couldn't get his belt to function properly. You can order the belts in quite a few different colors. My wife's favorite color is purple I ordered her belt in purple to match the piping on her seat. You can also see in the picture I finally installed more of the interior trim.
The belt retracting mechanism is completely different than factory.
I like it because it is much more compact. By the way you can see my belt is "electric" blue. Kinda fun to be able to customize seat belt colors. Still haven't gotten used to how much smoother the buckle engages now.
Finished off the weekend greasing all the joints and checking fluids. Just need to load a crap-ton of stuff in the bed and we'll be ready to go to Blazer Bash.
Great little details. Love the Dynamat on the roof - curious your results.
David
David
Exhaust looks good to me! Scuff it up and throw some BBQ paint on it!
I've had the Dynomat on the roof for awhile. I had a problem with the roof rattling/vibrating but not since applying the Dynomat.
I did that once before but I was disappointed how quickly it burned off.
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Nice work. The driveshaft mods will definitely pay off! On the first pic of the truck with the new shaft installed I was like well great the angle looks awesome but what is that boxy looking thing hanging down under the truck? Then I realized it was a dumpster in the background.
I will have to look back at the driveline brake in the thread. I really would like an E brake of some type on mine.
I will have to look back at the driveline brake in the thread. I really would like an E brake of some type on mine.
Yeah, the dumpster was irritating when I saw it after uploading the pic. That's why I cropped it out of this one:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y177/MrK5/89 Chevy Crew Cab/Rear driveshaft/Comparison-1.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y177/MrK5/89 Chevy Crew Cab/Rear driveshaft/Comparison-1.jpg
Last add before the Bash:
Figured it was reasonably important since now the pattern is backwards from factory.
Figured it was reasonably important since now the pattern is backwards from factory.
Did the seatbelts come with the plastic gizmo for putting the latch up near the edge of the seat like the factory setup or do you just have them tied up there some other way? My OEM plastic pieces have not survived the passage of time so I'm kind of looking for replacements to say the least.
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Cool stickers, easily understood even by those who can't read.
Last add before the Bash:
Figured it was reasonably important since now the pattern is backwards from factory.
Yes. I think you choose bucket seats option to get the plastic sleeve. I don't think the bench has the sleeve. They are black regardless of belt color.
After a weekend of use my one detractor would be the retractor requires smooth somewhat slow pull to put the belts on or they will lock. I thought this would be an issue on the trail because I thought it would mean they'd be locking up all the time. However I never noticed it being an issue, I'd say they locked up less often than the old belts.
Also these will not ratchet like factory belts if you need to lock in a car seat. This is a very nice thing for big people like me, tho.
Last add before the Bash:
Figured it was reasonably important since now the pattern is backwards from factory.
Since we have the exact same shifter for our same tcase's...can you send me one of those stickers?
...only make the color red instead of green to match my rock rings, haha
But you don't have any place to stick it...
Actually, right between my trans shifter and tcase shifter on my little platform I made, it would work perfect...just saying
Bought a donor truck but what could it be donating......
Bed? Lol
- Joined
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Dana 60 for my truck????
