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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
More. The leaves move around and when you turn the wheel, especially if its articulated it will make them move more. You want tons of room.
Where the inner fender bolts to the firewall is where you are going to have issues.
Just plan on moving the axle.
Get it cut to where you think it is good. Take it out stuff the passenger side, then move the axle. Or get rid of a bunch of up travel.
Just plan on moving the axle.
Get it cut to where you think it is good. Take it out stuff the passenger side, then move the axle. Or get rid of a bunch of up travel.
I do have it limited to just 3" up travel due to assist ram to engine crossmember clearance.
I'm happy with where it's at now.
On the picture above you can see it's rubbing the slider and the inner fender bolt @kgblazerfive was mentioning. This was with the tire turning.
After that test I cut more off the sliders and cut the ends at an angle. The tire was rubbing on the inner part of the slider end. I was going to replace the inner fender bolt with a round head bolt but the passenger side bolt was seized so I just pounded back against the firewall.
Trimmed the front part of the rear fenders. I had done this before the 2nd RTI test. I basically cut them back to the support rod.
I also preemptively cut the exhaust before that 2nd RTI test.
I've got everything to where it might rub some up front, but I made sure there isn't anything that should tear up the tires. If I'm rubbing a lot, then I'll look at moving the axle forward. I do think if I moved the axle forward, I could use my 5.5" square shackles which I think would be better for my caster
Another thing I had going on was an issue with my ARB twin compressor. A couple runs ago I was airing up tires and the compressor made a funny noise and then it started sounding different. On the Holy Cross run after that, it would hold the 150psi just fine all day. Then when I was airing up in the pouring rain, it was taking forever. It should take 2 minutes per tire, but it probably took 5 minutes per.
I did some diagnosing and figured out only 1 of the twins was running. I contacted ARB to see if they could give me some ideas to try. They told me to check the bolt that connects to motor to the crank. You just remove the filter and the flange that holes its.
It's the allen head bolt you can see below.
Came right out with a magnet, so yep it was broken.
ARB tech told me this can happen with their older models - I got mine in March of 2015 - and they have improved the design. Even though mine is over 5 years old, the sent me a replacment "motor" at no charge. It only took 3 days for it to come. I'm glad I went with ARB.
The replacement was super easy. It didn't take me more than an hour. Now that I've done it once, I could do in less than an hour I think. All you need for tools is a 10mm socket and 4mm allen wrench.
First think you do is unplug the 2 connectors that power the motors, Remove 4 bolts that hold the cover to the motors, 2 per motor. The cover is just slipped in some notches on the other end. You have to unplug the 2 wires going to the pressure switch, and the you can set the cover aside.
Then unfasten the bolt that is below the pressure switch. You can see it sticking out in the picture below.
Then loosen up the blue clamp with the allen wrench.
After that the motor just pulls out.
There's an oring to salvage from the old motor. I was able to use a plastic razor blade to get it out without damaging it. If I'd planned ahead, I probably could have ordered a new one. This one was still nice and pliable, so I reused it.
The install is the opposite of the removal.
I did some diagnosing and figured out only 1 of the twins was running. I contacted ARB to see if they could give me some ideas to try. They told me to check the bolt that connects to motor to the crank. You just remove the filter and the flange that holes its.
It's the allen head bolt you can see below.
Came right out with a magnet, so yep it was broken.
ARB tech told me this can happen with their older models - I got mine in March of 2015 - and they have improved the design. Even though mine is over 5 years old, the sent me a replacment "motor" at no charge. It only took 3 days for it to come. I'm glad I went with ARB.
The replacement was super easy. It didn't take me more than an hour. Now that I've done it once, I could do in less than an hour I think. All you need for tools is a 10mm socket and 4mm allen wrench.
First think you do is unplug the 2 connectors that power the motors, Remove 4 bolts that hold the cover to the motors, 2 per motor. The cover is just slipped in some notches on the other end. You have to unplug the 2 wires going to the pressure switch, and the you can set the cover aside.
Then unfasten the bolt that is below the pressure switch. You can see it sticking out in the picture below.
Then loosen up the blue clamp with the allen wrench.
After that the motor just pulls out.
There's an oring to salvage from the old motor. I was able to use a plastic razor blade to get it out without damaging it. If I'd planned ahead, I probably could have ordered a new one. This one was still nice and pliable, so I reused it.
The install is the opposite of the removal.
I will say this, when I did break an ARB (before you jokers start, it earned it right to die), the customer service was spectacular. They even sent me new seals and a cross pin for the spiders.
Though I went with a 60 at that point, I installed it in my sisters Jeep and she used it another 5 years. Kudos to ARB
Though I went with a 60 at that point, I installed it in my sisters Jeep and she used it another 5 years. Kudos to ARB
In your flex pic post of where you cut the exhaust off, I had done that and the exhaust heat from driving melted the spring bushings. If it's in line with that I'd put a turn down or something to direct it away from the shackle area.
The only thing I took away from the ARB repair was, you had a 10mm socket. Wow.
Good point. I actually did think about that. I made the mistake of doing something similar with the exhaust and the rear bumper. It melted all my trailer wiring. On the flip side, I've been thinking I should replace the rear bushings, so maybe this would help make that easier to get the rubber bushings out.
I want to find a big bro-dozer tip to put on it.
Please tell me that's photoshopped.
Sadly I bet it's not. I've actually seen some that big.
@obijuank5, I think I might be okay on the direction of exhaust flow. What do you think?
I don't have enough room between the tire and the bend in the pipe for a turn down. I might be able to get a cheapy one; I was looking at the nicer stainless steel versions.
The fender trimming was enough, at least for the trail we ran Saturday.
I swapped in the mechanical fan today. The shroud had a crack so I did a repair by riveting a piece of aluminum across the crack. I also put some silicone on the aluminum.
I used 2 pieces of aluminum because it was on a compound curve.
I have a fan from a 6.2L. I also have the fan I pulled from the 73 C10. The C10 has a heavy duty cooling package so it had a heavy duty fan clutch and a 6 bladed fan. The 2 fans are the same diameter.
The install was pretty straight forward since I already had the 6.2 radiator and brackets.
I have to admit I'm a little on the fence about it right now. I drove around town for a bit. Some street and some highway. The fan works great for that. With the heavy duty fan clutch, you can really hear it wind up. Coolant temps ran around 180-185F.
When I got back to the shop and sat with the truck running in gear, with the brake on. In less than 5 minutes it was up to about 205F. I could get the temps down to 188F revving to motor to 1500rpm.
I'm trying to decide if this will be a problem on the trail. I think the next test would to be drive around a bit and then sit with the truck idling in park to see if coolant temps will rise.
Also noticed the transmission was running warmer when I was sitting stopped in gear. It looks like the fan I have on that cooler isn't working. With the electric fans I couldn't hear that it wasn't running.
I swapped in the mechanical fan today. The shroud had a crack so I did a repair by riveting a piece of aluminum across the crack. I also put some silicone on the aluminum.
I used 2 pieces of aluminum because it was on a compound curve.
I have a fan from a 6.2L. I also have the fan I pulled from the 73 C10. The C10 has a heavy duty cooling package so it had a heavy duty fan clutch and a 6 bladed fan. The 2 fans are the same diameter.
The install was pretty straight forward since I already had the 6.2 radiator and brackets.
I have to admit I'm a little on the fence about it right now. I drove around town for a bit. Some street and some highway. The fan works great for that. With the heavy duty fan clutch, you can really hear it wind up. Coolant temps ran around 180-185F.
When I got back to the shop and sat with the truck running in gear, with the brake on. In less than 5 minutes it was up to about 205F. I could get the temps down to 188F revving to motor to 1500rpm.
I'm trying to decide if this will be a problem on the trail. I think the next test would to be drive around a bit and then sit with the truck idling in park to see if coolant temps will rise.
Also noticed the transmission was running warmer when I was sitting stopped in gear. It looks like the fan I have on that cooler isn't working. With the electric fans I couldn't hear that it wasn't running.
That’s about what mine runs also during those conditions.
My stat is 180.
I'm probably obsessing about it too much. I don't think I end up just idling on the trail all that much. Been doing a little searching to see what kind of fan options might be available. I'd have a lot more choices if it spun counter-clockwise.
I'm probably obsessing about it too much. I don't think I end up just idling on the trail all that much. Been doing a little searching to see what kind of fan options might be available. I'd have a lot more choices if it spun counter-clockwise.
My BBC is just the opposite, cool as a cucumber idling and rock crawling but lugging up a hill or mountain at speed and I’ll get hotter.
I think you'll be good for now. Save up for a serpentine swap. Then you could use a L29 fan.
Quick makes the brackets to use small block (cheaper and easier to find) setup brackets on a big block.
Quick makes the brackets to use small block (cheaper and easier to find) setup brackets on a big block.
I still may end up buying an L29. I haven't given up the 400+ horsepower dream.
This fan would be interesting, but I'm not a "fan" of the price: https://www.ecklerstrucks.com/1969-...50-396-454-for-use-with-fan-clutch.html#close It's an inch bigger than the current fan and it has an extra blade.
This fan would be interesting, but I'm not a "fan" of the price: https://www.ecklerstrucks.com/1969-...50-396-454-for-use-with-fan-clutch.html#close It's an inch bigger than the current fan and it has an extra blade.
