Yah do them in white please.
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.
The Green Grendel
- Thread starter campfire
- Start date
Yah do them in white please.
I thought you were in the non-white-wheel camp...
Either way, when I do them, white is the most likely color by far.
They are pretty bleh in black.
Martin
Martin
Yah they don't look good in black so don't do that 
beags86
Eastbound and Down
Aluminum rims....
Getting back to the 8-lug build...We went down to Iowa last week to pick the truck up from its storage place. It has spent the last few years of its life in the back of a pole barn:
This truck has amazed me every time I've used it. In the 3 years that I've owned it, it has never been roadworthy, though I did drive it about 12 miles from the PO's location to the pole barn. In first gear. At ~17MPH.
Since that time, it has pretty much just sat. I've never filled the fuel tank, and I have no more than 15 miles on it since parking it. But every time that I've cranked it, it has fired right off when the automatic-yet-kinda-broken glow plugs fired. This time was no exception, even though I hadn't started it since Christmas. I turned the key, fiddled with the glow plugs, and it fired right up.
I then took it for a front-wheel-drive trip through the woods. At least, Iowa's version of the woods.
1 year's worth of farm dust did obscure the vision somewhat.
Fun to be driving it again.
This truck has amazed me every time I've used it. In the 3 years that I've owned it, it has never been roadworthy, though I did drive it about 12 miles from the PO's location to the pole barn. In first gear. At ~17MPH.
Since that time, it has pretty much just sat. I've never filled the fuel tank, and I have no more than 15 miles on it since parking it. But every time that I've cranked it, it has fired right off when the automatic-yet-kinda-broken glow plugs fired. This time was no exception, even though I hadn't started it since Christmas. I turned the key, fiddled with the glow plugs, and it fired right up.
I then took it for a front-wheel-drive trip through the woods. At least, Iowa's version of the woods.
1 year's worth of farm dust did obscure the vision somewhat.
Fun to be driving it again.
The tub is rusting through in a number of places on this truck. But the most glaring of them is underneath the passenger seat. That section of floor is no longer attached to the support under the door. Which is also rotted out. Not rare for these trucks in the rust belt, but body work is almost my least favorite part of owning these trucks.
If I get this supported, I can probably live with the rest of the rust on the rig. At least for now. I think every other spot on the truck has at least half the metal it's supposed to have. I've only found a few small soft spots in the pan. So aside from hating rust issues, it's not something that I plan to deal with this year.
If I get this supported, I can probably live with the rest of the rust on the rig. At least for now. I think every other spot on the truck has at least half the metal it's supposed to have. I've only found a few small soft spots in the pan. So aside from hating rust issues, it's not something that I plan to deal with this year.
View from the underside. The section under the door is soft enough for me to push my finger through both the inside and outside walls. So I'm not going to count on that for my reinforcement.
Here are some general body shots. The exterior body looks fine enough for this area. It's just the pan that is in bad shape.
Rear passenger wheel well:
Rear driver wheel well:
All the metal underneath the black spot has rusted out. Which is probably why it has been painted black.
Did I mention that this truck isn't road-worthy yet?
Rear passenger wheel well:
Rear driver wheel well:
All the metal underneath the black spot has rusted out. Which is probably why it has been painted black.
Did I mention that this truck isn't road-worthy yet?
Front driver wheel well:
Underbody shots from underneath the driver door. Looking rear:
Looking forward:
Underbody shots from underneath the driver door. Looking rear:
Looking forward:
Cut out the rockers, and weld in square tube.
Martin
Martin
Tailgate area:
P. O. evidently replaced the normal lock cylinder with a 3/8" drive socket welded to the crank mechanism inside. So raising/lowering the window requires a 3/8" ratchet and extension. I can't decide whether this is a security-enhancing feature or a security risk. Either way, I don't particularly care about the security aspect (I doubt the truck will ever be locked). But it has irritated me a few times to be unable to readily open it.
Not sure what this mount is for:
Spare tire holder works (though I don't have anything in there now):
cab/bed seam area:
what do you call this "lip" area, anyway?
This is next to the missing floor seam. I think I could push my finger through this section if I tried. But at this point that does not bother me. Yet.
P. O. evidently replaced the normal lock cylinder with a 3/8" drive socket welded to the crank mechanism inside. So raising/lowering the window requires a 3/8" ratchet and extension. I can't decide whether this is a security-enhancing feature or a security risk. Either way, I don't particularly care about the security aspect (I doubt the truck will ever be locked). But it has irritated me a few times to be unable to readily open it.
Not sure what this mount is for:
Spare tire holder works (though I don't have anything in there now):
cab/bed seam area:
what do you call this "lip" area, anyway?
This is next to the missing floor seam. I think I could push my finger through this section if I tried. But at this point that does not bother me. Yet.
More tailgate pictures:
It doesn't have a huge amount of rust in the usual places for street trucks. It's just the underside. But it was rusty in the places where mud would have gotten. And it was wearing mud tires when I got it.
It doesn't have a huge amount of rust in the usual places for street trucks. It's just the underside. But it was rusty in the places where mud would have gotten. And it was wearing mud tires when I got it.
Engine compartment. More wires crammed under there than my other 6.2 trucks, but not much different overall. No battery on this side:
They're both over here. I think the extra battery will make the 6.5 turbine a tight fit.
Underneath the passenger floorboard, the frame and cross-members have been well oiled. That doesn't surprise me, given that the slip yoke is sitting inside the cab.
They're both over here. I think the extra battery will make the 6.5 turbine a tight fit.
Underneath the passenger floorboard, the frame and cross-members have been well oiled. That doesn't surprise me, given that the slip yoke is sitting inside the cab.
Oh yeah. And somehow, during this last year, the passenger-side axle shaft has walked off. Nobody seems to know where it is or what happened to it.
Yet another thing that keeps this truck off the road.
Yet another thing that keeps this truck off the road.
I wondered how long it would take this suggestion to surface.
I decided to mimic the contours of the OEM floor with angle iron. Starting point was an old bedframe:
And, of course, my favorite angle grinder to remove metal and former metal pieces:
I took 3 such pieces of angle and used them to mimic the 3 edges of the factory sheet metal. Pics of it tacked together for fitment:
I have a piece of angle for the weather stripping lip, a piece supporting the floor, and a piece running against the original rotted out support:
I wanted to have an edge for the weather stripping to attach to, since the original one was gone. This top piece of angle should line up with where the sheet metal lip was:
The piece will tie into the cross supports in front and rear of the door. Not sure if I will bother replacing the sheet metal tube underneath the door. It's not adding anything at this point.
I have a piece of angle for the weather stripping lip, a piece supporting the floor, and a piece running against the original rotted out support:
I wanted to have an edge for the weather stripping to attach to, since the original one was gone. This top piece of angle should line up with where the sheet metal lip was:
The piece will tie into the cross supports in front and rear of the door. Not sure if I will bother replacing the sheet metal tube underneath the door. It's not adding anything at this point.
I then went to weld it up and discovered how rusty I am (pun intended 
). My welding skills were never all that impressive, but this one is definitely in need of some practice. So instead of welding in just a few places, I kept laying down beads until the skills started coming back. It wound up with much, much more weld than I needed to simply hold the floor in place. But I finally started finding the rhythm again, so it was a worthwhile training exercise.
). My welding skills were never all that impressive, but this one is definitely in need of some practice. So instead of welding in just a few places, I kept laying down beads until the skills started coming back. It wound up with much, much more weld than I needed to simply hold the floor in place. But I finally started finding the rhythm again, so it was a worthwhile training exercise.
When I was done with welding school, I sprayed it green (to match what's left of the truck paint), and the welds magically looked nicer.
I now have a support beam that can be bolted into the floor metal, the cross supports in front and rear of the door, and it could be bolted into the rocker if there was anything left to bolt into.
I now have a support beam that can be bolted into the floor metal, the cross supports in front and rear of the door, and it could be bolted into the rocker if there was anything left to bolt into.
At this point, instead of installing the beam, I loaded up the truck on a trailer and hauled it up to our home in the Northwoods. Full story is in the Suburban thread, but I'll put a few pictures up here, too.
Further updates will be coming to you from the Northwoods.
Further updates will be coming to you from the Northwoods.
