For some reason, it won't let me upload the picture...
CK5
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The Green Machine - parked
- Thread starter noJeepshere
- Start date
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I'll tell ya, the more I use Bilstein shocks, the more I'm converted. I'll likely never run anything else on whatever I drive. The Yukon rides and handles better now than it ever has since the axle swap, and for several years before then, given it had a broken spring that caused some handling issues. Now it's about as good it'll get without a lot of work.
Did the Golden Crack today, pretty flexy for stock squarebody springs.
So, carnage report: a few scratches in the paint, a dent in the driver's door, and a destroyed transfer case bushing. Not bad considering what others have gone through.
Thought it was the t-case bushing, turns out it's actually the motor mounts.
I had a feeling that's what the issue was.
I realized I never showed some of the interior upgrades I've done over the years, so I'll gather some pictures and show what I've done. Later though, gotta go to work and adult for a bit.
Did you tear into the rear axle yet?
Almost, ordered the locker and it should be arriving soon.Did you tear into the rear axle yet?
First up, the frankly terrible and ugly stock center console. I don't have any good pics of my interior of it, but I snagged this off the interwebs of the engine pod for the Starship enterprise- I mean center console. It was not very useful, lots of wasted space, the cupholders sucked, the cubby was tiny and overall a fail on GM's part. Especially because in the older trucks (88-94) they had this marvel. Very little wasted space, huge cubby, great cupholders and a better latch. Found mine in a you-pull-it junkyard for $15, a little elbow grease to clean it, and 4 bolts, and you can't tell it wasn't factory in this truck. In the future I'll probably replace it with one of them security consoles, but for now, it works great.
Next, the radio. I never really cared for the factory radio in these things, sound wasn't great and not much adjustability in the sound. Bass and treble, that was it. I like my tunes and I like good sound. I realize this is not a quiet ride by any means, but still, good sound is good sound. But, I hated the way a single din aftermarket piece looked in the dash, it just screamed "aftermarket!" Not that a double din radio doesn't...
So, I decided on a double din radio for many reasons: first, it has backup camera capability. Second, I can put a nav system in it. (Though right now my Magellan roadmate is still working) Thirdly, the sound output from this unit set back indefinitely the need to upgrade the speakers. And I can tune the sound through 10 channels, like it should be. Problem was, I had to make it fit, which was no easy task. First I went to the junkyard and picked up a broken dash out of a similar truck to do measurements and practice cuts, then I hacked an aftermarket single din install kit to work, then I hacked my dash in the right places to make it fit, and voila! I have a fairly decent looking install. I was going to use some plastic and filler putty to fill in around the holes beside the unit, but forgot about it and now I don't really care. Function over form I guess...
So, I decided on a double din radio for many reasons: first, it has backup camera capability. Second, I can put a nav system in it. (Though right now my Magellan roadmate is still working) Thirdly, the sound output from this unit set back indefinitely the need to upgrade the speakers. And I can tune the sound through 10 channels, like it should be. Problem was, I had to make it fit, which was no easy task. First I went to the junkyard and picked up a broken dash out of a similar truck to do measurements and practice cuts, then I hacked an aftermarket single din install kit to work, then I hacked my dash in the right places to make it fit, and voila! I have a fairly decent looking install. I was going to use some plastic and filler putty to fill in around the holes beside the unit, but forgot about it and now I don't really care. Function over form I guess...
Now for the interior upgrade y'all will most likely be interested in, and that's the gauges on the dash. I love that GM puts several gauges in the dash, and what I call "real" gauges, as they actually work and aren't glorified idiot lights like Fords and most new cars are. (ie. they move to a preset point and don't move from that spot unless something really bad happens) GM's truck gauges, at least, indicate small changes and fluctuations. And I like that they have what I consider to be the minimum number. Kudos to GM on this one for doing it right.
However, I like gauges, I like a lot of them. One reason I like semi-trucks, they have lots of little dials all over the place. So, I've always wanted more gauges. Trans temp at the minimum. But I can't stand the pillar pods (they're completely "rice" in my book) and a single gauge hanging out somewhere just doesn't quite do it for me, as I like a clean and factory look. Under the dash was out, obviously, so that left on top of the dash, and like I said, a single gauges would look a little silly to me, so I decided on a two gauge setup. Since I don't have onboard air (yet) I decided on an oil temp gauge to go along with a trans temp gauge.
After much perusing of the internets, I settled on a dash pod intended for the '11-current Ram pickup, with two holes and mounting bracket. The Ram dash is more flat whereas my dash is curved outward, so I needed to trim the pod for a close fit. After some trial and error, I got the correct curvature on the pod and the location finalized, right above the other gauges. I found a satin finish paint that was barely half a shade off from the factory plastic. For the gauges themselves, again, I wanted a factory look, so Autometer was out of the question. The motorcoaches I drove mostly used VDO, so I looked into them and nothing worked, then someone I know tipped me off to Speedhut. Speedhut will put any face on the dial you want, even a picture you send them, and any color needle and backlight color. Perfect. Quick visit to the site, get my order in and in two weeks I got some dials that look like GM themselves made them.
Doing the wiring and electrical work for these was not something I was too keen on doing, so I had my local mechanic (he's highly qualified, he builds his own dragsters to race and often has rare and expensive cars in the shop, and has had his work featured in magazines) do the wiring. I'm glad I did, electronics and myself don't get along very well...
So now I've got tabs on my trans temp and oil temp at all times, along with the rest of them. The only thing I would have done differently was I would have put 270 degree swing dials instead of the 90 degree units I've got. Right now they match the factory stuff, but eventually I want to scrap the factory stuff and put all new dials in, and I want 270 degree dials. I'll figure that one out then.
However, I like gauges, I like a lot of them. One reason I like semi-trucks, they have lots of little dials all over the place. So, I've always wanted more gauges. Trans temp at the minimum. But I can't stand the pillar pods (they're completely "rice" in my book) and a single gauge hanging out somewhere just doesn't quite do it for me, as I like a clean and factory look. Under the dash was out, obviously, so that left on top of the dash, and like I said, a single gauges would look a little silly to me, so I decided on a two gauge setup. Since I don't have onboard air (yet) I decided on an oil temp gauge to go along with a trans temp gauge.
After much perusing of the internets, I settled on a dash pod intended for the '11-current Ram pickup, with two holes and mounting bracket. The Ram dash is more flat whereas my dash is curved outward, so I needed to trim the pod for a close fit. After some trial and error, I got the correct curvature on the pod and the location finalized, right above the other gauges. I found a satin finish paint that was barely half a shade off from the factory plastic. For the gauges themselves, again, I wanted a factory look, so Autometer was out of the question. The motorcoaches I drove mostly used VDO, so I looked into them and nothing worked, then someone I know tipped me off to Speedhut. Speedhut will put any face on the dial you want, even a picture you send them, and any color needle and backlight color. Perfect. Quick visit to the site, get my order in and in two weeks I got some dials that look like GM themselves made them.
Doing the wiring and electrical work for these was not something I was too keen on doing, so I had my local mechanic (he's highly qualified, he builds his own dragsters to race and often has rare and expensive cars in the shop, and has had his work featured in magazines) do the wiring. I'm glad I did, electronics and myself don't get along very well...
So now I've got tabs on my trans temp and oil temp at all times, along with the rest of them. The only thing I would have done differently was I would have put 270 degree swing dials instead of the 90 degree units I've got. Right now they match the factory stuff, but eventually I want to scrap the factory stuff and put all new dials in, and I want 270 degree dials. I'll figure that one out then.
And lastly, this:
First pic is showing the blank panel where the buttons for the electric transfer case used to be.
Second is the shifter, all pulled from a junkyard truck and cleaned up and wired in. The lights in the shifter light up just like they're supposed to from the factory. My favorite part of installing the shifter was that the hole was already there, I just had to cut it, even the holes for the screws were there. Good job GM!
First pic is showing the blank panel where the buttons for the electric transfer case used to be.
Second is the shifter, all pulled from a junkyard truck and cleaned up and wired in. The lights in the shifter light up just like they're supposed to from the factory. My favorite part of installing the shifter was that the hole was already there, I just had to cut it, even the holes for the screws were there. Good job GM!
In the future, I want to try and make something like this work:
I like the clean lines of the tailgate, and the rear wiper and no vertical bars blocking my view out back, but at the same time, that tailgate gets in my way a lot, even with my long arms.
I like the clean lines of the tailgate, and the rear wiper and no vertical bars blocking my view out back, but at the same time, that tailgate gets in my way a lot, even with my long arms.
Excursions also used a similar 3-door setup.
I looked a few years ago and I think it was autometer made factory match gauges for the 1995+ interiors. But I love that dash pod idea I may have to copy that
One more pic I found of the gauge pod, showing how it doesn't really get into your line of sight.
I looked at autometer and I couldn't find any in any of their series. They had Ford mustang factory match and that was about it.
