My what I learned about my K5 thread.

[bp71k5]

Being somewhat inexperienced with big trucks and rough roads, I learned a few interesting things about how my truck works and doesn't work as well as I hoped. I thought it might be fun to describe those things for anyone else planning a trip in future years to learn from me.

1. My front E-locker does not like to disengage without rocking back and forth several times. This sucks when you make it up part of a tight obstacle and can't turn the wheel because the tires are locked and makes steering out of some obstacles impossible. I'm not sure how to address this and so I'm not sure I can recommend the e-locker because of it. On the other side of the spectrum, the rear ARB worked perfectly once I shifted the transfer case into gear.

2. My power steering pump whined at me constantly even though it's fairly new. I don't know if a better pump would be appropriate for me, or if it's just the nature of steering tiny 35" tires without hydroassist?

3. Hi-speed freeway driving really causes a lot of heat on drivetrain. I had lube leaking out of breather tubes on both transfer cases, the transmission, and the rear diff whenever it got hot. This was messy and dangerous as Kurt mentioned. I've got to find some way to keep those cooler at freeway speeds. Does anyone make lube coolers for any of those things?

4. After about 6 hours of driving out on gold bar rim, my gas tank was about 1/4 full and I started hearing a pretty loud high-pitched whine. That's weird I thought, the fuel pump isn't very old and should be fine. I thought maybe it was another truck having an issue until I couldn't resist getting out and locating it. I discovered the whine was coming from my gas cap! I cracked it open very lightly and a huge gush of fuel vapor came rushing out. Yikes! The lack of fuel combined with a hot exhaust pipe near the pump must have not been letting it cool down enough. Evidentally the vent was also clogged. On the advice of James, I wedged a small stick under the cap gasket and continued on, seeing the weird vapor trail of fumes behind me until we got back to town. Things turned out ok, but the fuel lines need more heat protection along with a more reliable venting system.

5. Seatbelts. I've got the stock two point belts and they hold you down ok, but don't prevent you from getting shoved side to side on hours of lumpy trails. I was constantly looking forward to finding a rock ledge to climb up because I was so tires of the mild-rocky roads between them. Better seats and belts are in order obviously.

6. My rear bumper took a good hit on the golden crack and collapsed a portion of my rear fender. It was expected since my bumper was more decorative than functional. I saw almost everyone using their bumper as a skid at least once which proves to me they are useful for more than just parking lot protection from shopping carts. A more rigidly attached bumper would protect the sheetmetal a little better and provide better recovery points should I need them.

7. My gas pedel is too twitchy. Just a slight bump on the truck would cause my foot to press on the gas and cause even more roughness. I'm going to try and play with the lever lengths on the throttle body to make it less sensitive to slight movements.

Those are the highlights, most everything else worked just fine and we make it back just fine.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

My .02 on all of these:

1. My front E-locker does not like to disengage without rocking back and forth several times. This sucks when you make it up part of a tight obstacle and can't turn the wheel because the tires are locked and makes steering out of some obstacles impossible. I'm not sure how to address this and so I'm not sure I can recommend the e-locker because of it. On the other side of the spectrum, the rear ARB worked perfectly once I shifted the transfer case into gear.

Happens, ARB's do it to, simply things are bound up and they don't want to disengage until things loosen up a bit. Shifting t-cases is the same way. Not sure if the E-locker is any more prone than any other selectable.

2. My power steering pump whined at me constantly even though it's fairly new. I don't know if a better pump would be appropriate for me, or if it's just the nature of steering tiny 35" tires without hydroassist?

Noise means the pump is at it's limit basically. Either the pump could be in better shape, or, more likely, that's all it can do with the stock setup. A cooler (trans coolers are easy) is a great idea, hydro assist will make all the difference in the world.

3. Hi-speed freeway driving really causes a lot of heat on drivetrain. I had lube leaking out of breather tubes on both transfer cases, the transmission, and the rear diff whenever it got hot. This was messy and dangerous as Kurt mentioned. I've got to find some way to keep those cooler at freeway speeds. Does anyone make lube coolers for any of those things?

There are coolers but none of those actually pump fluid so making a cooler setup for them is expensive and involves an outside pump. #1 is are you sure they're getting hot and not overfilled? If that's ok, everything is in ok shape (I assume so since you drive a long way and it's doubtful all would be bad at once). Synthetic fluid can cause a pretty dramatic drop in temps but your hi temp issues (if that's what it is) are far from typical.

4. After about 6 hours of driving out on gold bar rim, my gas tank was about 1/4 full and I started hearing a pretty loud high-pitched whine. That's weird I thought, the fuel pump isn't very old and should be fine. I thought maybe it was another truck having an issue until I couldn't resist getting out and locating it. I discovered the whine was coming from my gas cap! I cracked it open very lightly and a huge gush of fuel vapor came rushing out. Yikes! The lack of fuel combined with a hot exhaust pipe near the pump must have not been letting it cool down enough. Evidentally the vent was also clogged. On the advice of James, I wedged a small stick under the cap gasket and continued on, seeing the weird vapor trail of fumes behind me until we got back to town. Things turned out ok, but the fuel lines need more heat protection along with a more reliable venting system.

Sounds like just a vent deal, I don't think there should be any pressure (positive or negative) in your tank. It's just a straight vent. Many newer cars don't use a regular vent, they have a solenoid/charcoal canister etc to vent the tank into the intake rather than the atmosphere. That's where the "hiss" from the fuel cap comes from, they only vent while the car is running.

5. Seatbelts. I've got the stock two point belts and they hold you down ok, but don't prevent you from getting shoved side to side on hours of lumpy trails. I was constantly looking forward to finding a rock ledge to climb up because I was so tires of the mild-rocky roads between them. Better seats and belts are in order obviously.

Harnesses, IME, are not super comfy while four wheeling. They hold you in place much better but I always end up with little bruises where the harnesses go. They're tight and your body still pushes against them with every bump.

7. My gas pedel is too twitchy. Just a slight bump on the truck would cause my foot to press on the gas and cause even more roughness. I'm going to try and play with the lever lengths on the throttle body to make it less sensitive to slight movements.

Well, some of that is having low gears. The lower the gear, the touchier the pedal. Some of that may be your doubler, maybe your throttle is touchy I don't really know because I haven't been in your truck. My advice would be to leave that for a bit and see if you get used to it, but you can change it for sure.

 

[mrk5]

You might also try a heavier spring for the throttle return.

You will find that suspension seats would help you more than a harness. When I decided to get one I just wasn't sure if they would be all they are cracked up to be, but they make a huge difference. The seats just hold you in place and you're not wearing yourself out trying to hold your body in place all day.

 

[bp71k5]

#1 is are you sure they're getting hot and not overfilled? If that's ok, everything is in ok shape (I assume so since you drive a long way and it's doubtful all would be bad at once). Synthetic fluid can cause a pretty dramatic drop in temps but your hi temp issues (if that's what it is) are far from typical.

I've triple checked them. They are fine for short or low speed driving in hot weather(no issues on any trails). They are even fine on the freeway during cold weather. It only happens after 2-3 hours of 70 mph in 90+ degree heat. I can certainly try a heavier or synthetic lube.

The transfer case issue may be due to a bad internal seal, but the rear end is isolated from all that so heat is my only guess. Maybe it's time to inspect the gears in both or check for bad bearings.

 

[bp71k5]

You might also try a heavier spring for the throttle return.

I thought about that too, but it's already very strong. I was being thrown forward just as often when a bump would cause me to let off the pedel too much. I found that wedging my heel down farther would prevent me from letting off the throttle quite as easy. Maybe I could add some kind of heel stop to make that easier? Also, the way the cable is setup now, the pedal has about 6 inches of travel, but I only ever use 2-3 inches of it. I'm thinking that requiring more pedal travel to produce the same RPM change might help that? I suppose it could just be the nature of the low gear like Chris mentioned and I just need to deal with it.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

I've triple checked them. They are fine for short or low speed driving in hot weather(no issues on any trails). They are even fine on the freeway during cold weather. It only happens after 2-3 hours of 70 mph in 90+ degree heat. I can certainly try a heavier or synthetic lube.

The transfer case issue may be due to a bad internal seal, but the rear end is isolated from all that so heat is my only guess. Maybe it's time to inspect the gears in both or check for bad bearings.

The heat issue is odd, might try to find out why that is happening. I ran my 465/205 to and from moab at least 15 times before I started trailering everything. Never had anything get much past warm, easy to touch trans and t-case by hand. Any chance you could find an IR temp gun and see what temps everything is running?

Synthetic fluid really does make a very noticeable drop in temps but it won't fix any underlying problems.

 

[oatsk5]

there is a cooler for the manual trany.I will get the info from my buddy he was melting down nv4500's behind his chiped stroke since he added his cooler no issues.The kit he got has a pump and over sized pto covers. He got the kit from Atsdiesel.com

 

[Stephen]

drivetrain parts you can't touch after a hot day on the freeway are pretty normal but keep in mind that "can't touch" can be 150 degrees which isn't really that hot. 1st step is run the vents in to catch cans in a safe place so you can moniter them. You may just be ejecting fluid the cases don't need. If you get to a point they quit spitting and still have a reasonable level in the case, don't fill them back up. Synthetic fluids are great

Pump whine: Whine is probably cavitation or the pump processing foam. A remote res might help calm the fluid down when you're using it hard. A cooler helps too. A new pump and res with a cooler would also be a good step toward an assist system. We use amsoil tractor hydraulic fluid or factory GM fluid also, they resist foaming very well and can make a difference too.

Pedal: we build brandon's buggy pedal with a linkage that we could adjust and it was a REALLY long pedal till we put the 6.0L in there. I had to get used to it since you moved your foot a lot to get to full throttle. It was nice to drive since it wasn't twitchy at all.
We also put some work into building a "fence" or rest alongside the pedal to help hold it steady when we're being thrown around. We can wedge the pinkie toe side of our foot against the rest and kind of roll the pedal down with the other side to give better control. A heel cup isn't a bad idea either, we just haven't messed with that yet. You might be able to use a piece of grip tape to keep your heel in position too.

Seats, harness and softer springs and better shocks will help out a lot on the long days. I don't mind the harness but I only wear the shoulders on the hairier stuff, lap always. Seats are a tough call on a door slammer since the deeper sides help hold you in better but will be hard to get into. When you go in the window you drop into the seat so the depth of the side doesn't matter much. You'll probably want a little lower side on the seat but even a little will be way better. You will also develop a technique for getting in and out that is a bit more like standing up our of the seat rather than sliding out of it.

Overall it sounded like you had an awesome trip and did great on a pretty demanding trailride. I know Dad had a great time riding along and helping out. It's nice to be addressing your list of problems, there can be bigger ones to deal with, good job!

 

[r3dd0g]

I thought about that too, but it's already very strong. I was being thrown forward just as often when a bump would cause me to let off the pedel too much. I found that wedging my heel down farther would prevent me from letting off the throttle quite as easy. Maybe I could add some kind of heel stop to make that easier? Also, the way the cable is setup now, the pedal has about 6 inches of travel, but I only ever use 2-3 inches of it. I'm thinking that requiring more pedal travel to produce the same RPM change might help that? I suppose it could just be the nature of the low gear like Chris mentioned and I just need to deal with it.

I would actually go to a softer spring on the throttle. I ran a double spring on mine (very stiff) for one trip. It was so jerky I couldn't stand it, I pulled one of the two springs off and it drove just fine. I'm running a pretty much identical setup to you now (NV4500, 203/205). I just found that it was easier to control my foot on the pedal with a softer pedal than a very stiff pedal.

 

[mrk5]

You may be right about the spring. I know I had the same issue and changed the spring and improved it a lot. Maybe I switched to a softer spring.