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David
David
CK5
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One Piece at a Time: My 1985 Diesel Suburban
- Thread starter AgDieseler
- Start date
Ah.
Martin
Martin
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Man! That looks like a lot of fun! Love them gauges!
I've rediscovered hiking in the last few years (grew up in Scouting and camped every month and for several weeks each summer), and the wife has taken to it quite strongly. Sustaining in the mountains gets us completely out of cell range and resets. Fortunately our careers place value on that.
We really want to get out more your way - the Willamette National Forest is one we've talked about. Looking at next summer to go further afield, maybe following "Wait For It".
Awesome photos and beautiful scenery! Glad to hear you're getting a lot of trouble free miles out of your Suburban.
And yeah, that's the wrong Las Vegas, haha! Only in CO have I been asked if I was from Las Vegas, NM.
And yeah, that's the wrong Las Vegas, haha! Only in CO have I been asked if I was from Las Vegas, NM.
y5mgisi
1 ton status
It's all fun to see!
I'm ready for fall.
David
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David, you're doing an awesome thing. My Dad and I always talked about doing something like this, but we just couldn't see eye to eye long enough to do it. That is the real tragedy of him taking his own life...
But still, it warms my big ol' heart to see what you're doing. I am thoroughly jealous, but in the very best way!
When my Bride finally starts her disability pay maybe, just maybe I can afford to start my mods...
But still, it warms my big ol' heart to see what you're doing. I am thoroughly jealous, but in the very best way!
When my Bride finally starts her disability pay maybe, just maybe I can afford to start my mods...
Ray - thanks for the support and encouragement. I've found that sharing progress with you guys helps keep me motivated; even when it's 105F outside. And so, I look forward to seeing your project on here, too.
David
David
It'll come...gotta take care of the kids and grand kids first.
Lately, the suburban has been filling the role of work/support vehicle for various other projects.
A couple of weeks ago, we helped drag and stack large brush piles in preparation for a controlled burn, and the mixed use of 2:1, 2.72:1, and 5.44:1 reminded me to post a summary of what has become my favorite mod to the truck - the PCS controlled 4L80E and ORD Magnum-205.
Quick background: since moving to 35s and beyond, I've not had a 700R4 last more than 50K without some problem - slipping, late shifting, incomplete lockup, and even a twisted output shaft. I made a plan to upgrade the entire powertrain from the bell housing to the output yoke. The existing 700/241 was freshly rebuilt and operating perfectly, so it found a good home to a fellow CK5'er.
This would be the longest the truck had ever been down - 4 months - and the first large project completed in our newly built garage. Winter in Texas is still a pretty decent time to work in the shop. I always start with a list, though it tends to get longer as I go:
While Stephen's team at ORD built the Magnum box and 205 as a unit, I started mounting the 4L80E. To use the early style poly mounts, I made an adapter to clear the rear of the transmission pan:
Very similar to other designs, the crossmember has a cutout for the front shaft. When this photo was taken, I had just finished walling the interior of the garage, and you can see my makeshift workbench. Through all the welding, it only caught on fire once or twice, and has since been retired:
After measuring the space around the engine fan in the shroud, there was enough room to raise the transmission tail shaft 1.5". Using the 241 as a general proxy for the 205 (ORD hadn't shipped yet), it looked like everything would fit up close to the floor with minimal protrusion below the frame (turned out to be 3.5" at the point of the 205):
The shop that built my transmission also let me borrow an empty 4L80 case for mockup purposes - let me do a lot of fit up work solo.
The two powertrain mounts bear roughly equal weight, but at the suggestion of the ORD crew, the Magnum crossmember acts as the main twist stabilizer and the bushings are spaced in line with the engine mounts (also ORD poly). 1.75" bushings frenched into square tube tie into a clevis style mount:
This allows the crossmember to tuck tightly into the powertrain, thus making for a compact and high clearance skidplate/crossmember package:
It's worth noting two of the four Magnum midplate holes were not threaded completely from ORD, but Stephen (as always) was very helpful and accommodated a solution where I wouldn't have to return the transfer case for rework.
The rear (third) crossmember is nothing special; just straight across and mounts the rear of the skid plate. The tubing is 2" square 3/16" wall because it's what I had on hand. The skid plate is 1/4". Hardware is all 7/16" grade 8. Not that I'm a calorie counter, but she put on more than a few pound with this setup:
A brief note about a very understanding spouse: I relegated her daily driver to the driveway for 4 months because my project vehicles occupied all the available garage space, and only one of those was anywhere close to driving; the other wasn't much more than a shelf for stuff to be organized:
Shifters are the simple and very well constructed floor mount option from ORD which let me keep my center console in the factory position. The 205 shifters occupy a modified factory 208 mounting space, while the Magnum box only required cutting a slot about 2.5" into the floor:
Related to the 4L80, we still had the TH400 flexplate on hand from when my dad and I pulled this from an M998 engine crate, and everything slid together with new 12 point ARP hardware and red loctite. The PCS harness routes from the injector pump TPS down the spine of the case along the two speed sensors, and up through a grommet under the center console and to the computer. This gives easy access to the digital and analog inputs for future optioning, as well as general programming:
Everything is shifted using Lokar's factory style column linkage. Note the reverse assembly to accommodate the 4" exhaust crossover. Lokar makes nice gear:
At the same time, my dad was working on the wiring for the newly relocated batteries. CustomBatteryCables.com built the roughly 19' long 2/0 cables that snake along the driver inner frame rail. RuffStuff has some nicely made Odyssey battery boxes, and we finally got to use the flat spare tire well for what we had intended:
A handful of other smaller projects took place while truck was down: ORD rear springs, Lokar throttle cable and a new high idle setup, and installed the Ron Davis (2) 1.25" row radiator.
It's been 18 months since the conversion, and I couldn't be happier. We've put around 7000 miles on this setup with road trips and lumber yard runs (I don't have to drive far at all for work), and the performance has been flawless. The PCS controller is close to infinitely tunable, and I enjoy dialing things in to get the most out of the engine. The low range selections fundamentally changed my driving style on more technical trails. What was "slow and steady" with careful modulation of the brake and foot feed is now "double low and idle" through. The loosest nut is behind the steering wheel, and honestly, low gearing makes me look like a better driver than I actually am.
Back to the checklist.
David
A couple of weeks ago, we helped drag and stack large brush piles in preparation for a controlled burn, and the mixed use of 2:1, 2.72:1, and 5.44:1 reminded me to post a summary of what has become my favorite mod to the truck - the PCS controlled 4L80E and ORD Magnum-205.
Quick background: since moving to 35s and beyond, I've not had a 700R4 last more than 50K without some problem - slipping, late shifting, incomplete lockup, and even a twisted output shaft. I made a plan to upgrade the entire powertrain from the bell housing to the output yoke. The existing 700/241 was freshly rebuilt and operating perfectly, so it found a good home to a fellow CK5'er.
This would be the longest the truck had ever been down - 4 months - and the first large project completed in our newly built garage. Winter in Texas is still a pretty decent time to work in the shop. I always start with a list, though it tends to get longer as I go:
While Stephen's team at ORD built the Magnum box and 205 as a unit, I started mounting the 4L80E. To use the early style poly mounts, I made an adapter to clear the rear of the transmission pan:
Very similar to other designs, the crossmember has a cutout for the front shaft. When this photo was taken, I had just finished walling the interior of the garage, and you can see my makeshift workbench. Through all the welding, it only caught on fire once or twice, and has since been retired:
After measuring the space around the engine fan in the shroud, there was enough room to raise the transmission tail shaft 1.5". Using the 241 as a general proxy for the 205 (ORD hadn't shipped yet), it looked like everything would fit up close to the floor with minimal protrusion below the frame (turned out to be 3.5" at the point of the 205):
The shop that built my transmission also let me borrow an empty 4L80 case for mockup purposes - let me do a lot of fit up work solo.
The two powertrain mounts bear roughly equal weight, but at the suggestion of the ORD crew, the Magnum crossmember acts as the main twist stabilizer and the bushings are spaced in line with the engine mounts (also ORD poly). 1.75" bushings frenched into square tube tie into a clevis style mount:
This allows the crossmember to tuck tightly into the powertrain, thus making for a compact and high clearance skidplate/crossmember package:
It's worth noting two of the four Magnum midplate holes were not threaded completely from ORD, but Stephen (as always) was very helpful and accommodated a solution where I wouldn't have to return the transfer case for rework.
The rear (third) crossmember is nothing special; just straight across and mounts the rear of the skid plate. The tubing is 2" square 3/16" wall because it's what I had on hand. The skid plate is 1/4". Hardware is all 7/16" grade 8. Not that I'm a calorie counter, but she put on more than a few pound with this setup:
A brief note about a very understanding spouse: I relegated her daily driver to the driveway for 4 months because my project vehicles occupied all the available garage space, and only one of those was anywhere close to driving; the other wasn't much more than a shelf for stuff to be organized:
Shifters are the simple and very well constructed floor mount option from ORD which let me keep my center console in the factory position. The 205 shifters occupy a modified factory 208 mounting space, while the Magnum box only required cutting a slot about 2.5" into the floor:
Related to the 4L80, we still had the TH400 flexplate on hand from when my dad and I pulled this from an M998 engine crate, and everything slid together with new 12 point ARP hardware and red loctite. The PCS harness routes from the injector pump TPS down the spine of the case along the two speed sensors, and up through a grommet under the center console and to the computer. This gives easy access to the digital and analog inputs for future optioning, as well as general programming:
Everything is shifted using Lokar's factory style column linkage. Note the reverse assembly to accommodate the 4" exhaust crossover. Lokar makes nice gear:
At the same time, my dad was working on the wiring for the newly relocated batteries. CustomBatteryCables.com built the roughly 19' long 2/0 cables that snake along the driver inner frame rail. RuffStuff has some nicely made Odyssey battery boxes, and we finally got to use the flat spare tire well for what we had intended:
A handful of other smaller projects took place while truck was down: ORD rear springs, Lokar throttle cable and a new high idle setup, and installed the Ron Davis (2) 1.25" row radiator.
It's been 18 months since the conversion, and I couldn't be happier. We've put around 7000 miles on this setup with road trips and lumber yard runs (I don't have to drive far at all for work), and the performance has been flawless. The PCS controller is close to infinitely tunable, and I enjoy dialing things in to get the most out of the engine. The low range selections fundamentally changed my driving style on more technical trails. What was "slow and steady" with careful modulation of the brake and foot feed is now "double low and idle" through. The loosest nut is behind the steering wheel, and honestly, low gearing makes me look like a better driver than I actually am.
Back to the checklist.
David
Last edited:
I gotta admit, the magnum/205 combo makes me jealous. Someday...
I wish I had an NP241 range box instead of an NP203.
Martin
Martin
That's the main reason I sprung for the magnum, and that I never had the money for the 203 doubler when it was the main option, so finances chose for me at that time.
Give it a test drive next May. You'll be hooked.
David
Cross member looks busy, but came together very nice
I like it.
I like it.
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Cool stuff!
Idling in traffic, steering gets tight, volts are down, and water temp is rising. Fortunately, an exit and parking lot are just a few yards away. Swiftly switching lanes, I'm going through all the possibilities of what has gone wrong. Clearly the belt is gone, but I have a spare in my field kit. I hope that's all it is.
As the water temp spiked to 240, I rolled back the key and coasted to a stop near the garden section of Walmart.
Raising the hood, I find this:
Further inspection:
The PSC 5.2" pulley had failed, and thrown the belt. I'm fortunate this happened in town and not on the trail or towing as I've never carried a spare pulley and installation tools:
The tech folks at PSC were surprised, and I returned it to them for study and failure analysis. I'm of the mindset that the vibrations of a diesel are just more than that little pulley can handle. And so, I went back to my factory steel pulley - slightly less responsive with the hydro assist, but I'm confident as to its durability.
Roll on.
David
As the water temp spiked to 240, I rolled back the key and coasted to a stop near the garden section of Walmart.
Raising the hood, I find this:
Further inspection:
The PSC 5.2" pulley had failed, and thrown the belt. I'm fortunate this happened in town and not on the trail or towing as I've never carried a spare pulley and installation tools:
The tech folks at PSC were surprised, and I returned it to them for study and failure analysis. I'm of the mindset that the vibrations of a diesel are just more than that little pulley can handle. And so, I went back to my factory steel pulley - slightly less responsive with the hydro assist, but I'm confident as to its durability.
Roll on.
David
Idling in traffic, steering gets tight, volts are down, and water temp is rising. Fortunately, an exit and parking lot are just a few yards away. Swiftly switching lanes, I'm going through all the possibilities of what has gone wrong. Clearly the belt is gone, but I have a spare in my field kit. I hope that's all it is.
As the water temp spiked to 240, I rolled back the key and coasted to a stop near the garden section of Walmart.
Raising the hood, I find this:
Further inspection:
The PSC 5.2" pulley had failed, and thrown the belt. I'm fortunate this happened in town and not on the trail or towing as I've never carried a spare pulley and installation tools:
The tech folks at PSC were surprised, and I returned it to them for study and failure analysis. I'm of the mindset that the vibrations of a diesel are just more than that little pulley can handle. And so, I went back to my factory steel pulley - slightly less responsive with the hydro assist, but I'm confident as to its durability.
Roll on.
David
Wow what an odd failure! Damn lucky it happened when/where it did.
They should leave those lightening holes out...or at least make it an oval ala the old Halibrand mag wheels...
They removed too much material... not enough material left to take the stress and impulses from a diesel.
They removed too much material... not enough material left to take the stress and impulses from a diesel.
