Yukon Jack
1/2 ton status
Sorry to hear about the hail damage - you sure have a great attitude about it! Keep on enjoying that truck, even with the new mother nature modifications.
CK5
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The Story Of A Cummins Suburban (Lots Of Pics)
- Thread starter mosesburb
- Start date
Ok, well I am not convinced that I need x-over. The drag link is brand new and not bent. It might look odd in a pic, but it is not bent in real time. I like how the truck drives and have had no issues with bump steer so far, so I am not seeing how it is necessary, but I am willing to listen to arguments for or against it.[/quote]
Well take it out on you secret testing area
drop the drivers side in a ditch and see what it does. Your right you may not need it but you could use it. It would be something I would save for and plan but probably not be in a rush to do
Well take it out on you secret testing area
drop the drivers side in a ditch and see what it does. Your right you may not need it but you could use it. It would be something I would save for and plan but probably not be in a rush to do
Peteasauras
Registered Member
Ouch, sorry to hear about the hail damage. I was watching it come down in N. Phx. (I just saw the burb last weekend and it looked better in person than the pics.)
Yeah, I have to admit that when I went out to go home that night in the dark (several hours after the damage was noticed), I was feeling kind of overwhelmed by it. Something about getting in it being cold and then sitting on what should be a dry seat, but is wet and looking through the broken windshield with the light refracting off of all of the cracks and seeing the hood and, well it kind of bugged me, and it may sound a bit corny but when I hit the key and it rattled to life--all was well then. Let's go home already.
Thanks. Bah, it still looks better in person than it does in the pics, just a bit more, uh, textured. You can judge for yourself next Sunday.
lectric80
3/4 ton status
You know, when Mythbusters tested to see if dents like a golf ball benefited a car, they found that gas mileage went up. This means it isn't hail damage, it is fuel efficiency upgrades.
You know, when Mythbusters tested to see if dents like a golf ball benefited a car, they found that gas mileage went up. This means it isn't hail damage, it is fuel efficiency upgrades.
LOL, I'll let you know how it turns out!!
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Im sure that most of us have had "momsents" with our trucks.
So I got the glass replaced on the 9th. I was lucky and the same guy that installed it last year replaced it this time. The guy was very good. He managed to get it out completely intact. He even had his doubts, but he pulled it off.
That put the truck back in service. My boy had the next week off from school. Fall break. I want a fall break. I get to do the old-man thing with the "you know, we didn't have those fall breaks when I was your age...." But I digress. I took Thursday off to get a few things done with a planned adventure for Friday. I had put the BFG M/T's on it on Sunday, but the thing that I didn't like about them is they threw my speedometer off by an unknown amount. So first thing Thursday morning, the boy and I head down to get the speedometer corrected. What I did was I had them regear another correction box so I have one for the street tires and one for the muds. After that we headed over to the Mom and Pop parts house that I use. It oftentimes ends up as much of a social call as a parts run, but this time I actually remembered everything I needed. So we got our parts and headed over to my favorite bolt store to pick up some inventory. After buying waaaaay too much inventory (always happens there), we head over to Cabelas to get a few supplies for our Friday adventure. We get in and get out and all is well. That is until I go to start the Suburban. Yup, you guessed it, nothing. No click, no rrrrr, nothing. Just like a few weeks ago. It had not acted up since--no problems at all.
Well, this is not good. I have my boy crawl over and hit the key when I say so. I grabbed the hammer that I installed under the seat and ever-so-lightly tap the starter and the thing cranks and starts instantly (as usual). Hmm, a starter issue on a Friday adventure could be a real, real bad thing. I make a call to a friend at the mom and pop parts house and he is going to bring a starter home. We get home and I pull the starter out so it is ready to go. I then find out that the flight my MIL is on is coming in earlier than I thought. I have to take the Sub because my wife went to some appointment and left me and the boy at the house to pick up her mom. I need the Suburban all of a sudden. Er, uh, but it's got no starter man!!
So my buddy forgets the starter at the store. D'oh!! This is really not good now. He saves the day by having a co-worker bring it home with him and I pick it up. I throw it in (almost literally) and I ask my boy if he thinks it will work. He says yes, and i say I hope so. I hit the key and we are in business. It actually sounds great. The old started had been going for awhile--possibly before I bought the motor. The new starter throws the motor over with no effort at all. I pulled my heavy-duty contacts out of my old starter and put them in a bag for possible future use.
Of all the things that Cummins did with their motor nothing confuses me more than the bolts they used on the starter. Every bolt on the motor is a reduced hex, flange head bolt. Every single one--except three. The three that hold the starter to the engine. Those three are reduced diameter flange head TWELVE POINT bolts. Why in the world would they do that?? Well, when I assembled this thing I could not bring myself to install those so I go the proper grade 10.9 reduced hex flange head bolts instead. How goofy to need a special socket just for that.
That put the truck back in service. My boy had the next week off from school. Fall break. I want a fall break. I get to do the old-man thing with the "you know, we didn't have those fall breaks when I was your age...." But I digress. I took Thursday off to get a few things done with a planned adventure for Friday. I had put the BFG M/T's on it on Sunday, but the thing that I didn't like about them is they threw my speedometer off by an unknown amount. So first thing Thursday morning, the boy and I head down to get the speedometer corrected. What I did was I had them regear another correction box so I have one for the street tires and one for the muds. After that we headed over to the Mom and Pop parts house that I use. It oftentimes ends up as much of a social call as a parts run, but this time I actually remembered everything I needed. So we got our parts and headed over to my favorite bolt store to pick up some inventory. After buying waaaaay too much inventory (always happens there), we head over to Cabelas to get a few supplies for our Friday adventure. We get in and get out and all is well. That is until I go to start the Suburban. Yup, you guessed it, nothing. No click, no rrrrr, nothing. Just like a few weeks ago. It had not acted up since--no problems at all.
Well, this is not good. I have my boy crawl over and hit the key when I say so. I grabbed the hammer that I installed under the seat and ever-so-lightly tap the starter and the thing cranks and starts instantly (as usual). Hmm, a starter issue on a Friday adventure could be a real, real bad thing. I make a call to a friend at the mom and pop parts house and he is going to bring a starter home. We get home and I pull the starter out so it is ready to go. I then find out that the flight my MIL is on is coming in earlier than I thought. I have to take the Sub because my wife went to some appointment and left me and the boy at the house to pick up her mom. I need the Suburban all of a sudden. Er, uh, but it's got no starter man!!
So my buddy forgets the starter at the store. D'oh!! This is really not good now. He saves the day by having a co-worker bring it home with him and I pick it up. I throw it in (almost literally) and I ask my boy if he thinks it will work. He says yes, and i say I hope so. I hit the key and we are in business. It actually sounds great. The old started had been going for awhile--possibly before I bought the motor. The new starter throws the motor over with no effort at all. I pulled my heavy-duty contacts out of my old starter and put them in a bag for possible future use.
Of all the things that Cummins did with their motor nothing confuses me more than the bolts they used on the starter. Every bolt on the motor is a reduced hex, flange head bolt. Every single one--except three. The three that hold the starter to the engine. Those three are reduced diameter flange head TWELVE POINT bolts. Why in the world would they do that?? Well, when I assembled this thing I could not bring myself to install those so I go the proper grade 10.9 reduced hex flange head bolts instead. How goofy to need a special socket just for that.
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Crazy stuff. At least you have some piece of mind with the new starter.
MaxPF
1/2 ton status
Cummins didn't do that - Dodge did. Dodge made the adapter, and they install it and the starter after they receive the engine from Cummins.
As far as the bolts go...just a guess...choice may reside on the oem chassis side of the house...
Sorry about the hail damage...thats flat out weirdness for down your way brother nick. Can u source the fenders and a hood down there? If so let me know and i'll chip in on the replacements...after all it was my burb years ago and you are brother nick...give me a few weeks on that as i had to sit at the house for 3 weeks as i took a few days off for cams 7th bday and it turned into 3 weeks off....a rarity i know...if i wasn't paying off the ex's debt i would drove the new dodge down for a visit.
[/IMG]
DW
Sorry about the hail damage...thats flat out weirdness for down your way brother nick. Can u source the fenders and a hood down there? If so let me know and i'll chip in on the replacements...after all it was my burb years ago and you are brother nick...give me a few weeks on that as i had to sit at the house for 3 weeks as i took a few days off for cams 7th bday and it turned into 3 weeks off....a rarity i know...if i wasn't paying off the ex's debt i would drove the new dodge down for a visit.
DW
Absolutely!! The best thing is it gave me fair warning. I have no issues whatsoever with replacing parts that are tired/worn/broken, but the fact that it did not leave me stranded is the icing on the cake. You can't ask for anything more than that.
Wierd. I have a Cummins parts catalog for this motor and all of those parts have Cummins numbers on them (even the blasted 12pt bolts). Are you sure that they did that?? It seems odd that Cummins would ship a motor to a customer and have them finish the assembly with Cummins parts. I know stranger things happen, but with the volume they did, it just seems strange.
I'm not doing anything with the sheetmetal. It wouldn't be that tough to do, but I just don't feel like doing it. I have a rear hatch and tail gate that I need to build and paint, but I'm not planning on much past that.
Nice looking truck (For a Dodge) LOL. I understand the reasoning behind it, but I can honestly say that it wasn't that long ago that I would have said with confidence that you would never own a Dodge.
Yeah, if you get down here let me know as I have been thinking of maybe doing some wandering around the Columbia area when there is snow on the trails up north.
Ok, so at this point I have a truck that starts and runs. So Friday morning I head down to give the state a bunch of money and time so I am allowed to continue doing what I do for a living. I get done there and head home and load the truck up for an adventure. The adventure ended up becoming slightly abbreviated as my wife's half-day turned into more like a 3/4 day or even a 7/8 day. So we got a bit of a late start and even at that, I forgot a couple things. Oh well.
So the adventure as it was ended up being rather sedate, but a bunch of fun just the same. We left out of here and headed up toward Crown King. It is an old mining town/ghost town in the Bradshaw mountains. There are several ways to get there, but we took the easiest way by going in through the front door. This is not much of a wheeling adventure as it is graded and a passenger car can navigate it without much trouble at all. But hey, it is twenty six miles of dirt road and dirt is better than pavement so I'll take it.
Along the way in, we pass through the thriving metropolis of Cleator. It is about half way in and it has a bar. I bet this little bar can challenge some of the larger bars in Phoenix for revenue.
So, once passed Cleator, you are greeted by views like this:
So we got into Crown King at about 1600 and figured we would eat there so we didn't have to deal with cooking in case we had trouble locating a suitable spot to camp. We stopped at the Crown King Saloon to eat. The Saloon was brought piece by piece over the mountain from Oro Belle (another ghost town site) in 1901. It is a very neat old building. So anyways, we head out from there and head over to the Senator Highway. This is a dirt road that is very nice in some areas and rough in others, but generally a decent road. We head north on it looking for a place to camp. Several of the trails leading off of the road are closed to motorized travel. Swell. We pass many, many spots that are right off of the road where people literally get their wheels off the road and call it a camp site. Well I like a bit more privacy and less traffic through my campsite so we keep rolling and find a narrow little trail off the side. I turn down it and it goes in a ways and levels off. Off the side of the landing is a smaller trail that looks about the right size for a Rhino. I walk down a little bit and there are three trees on either side of the trail that are very close together. I figure I can get the compact Suburban through it. "What's the worst that can happen" I say as I point the truck downhill at the narrow spot. We get through with no scratches dings or dents and are rewarded with a great little spot. It looks like an adit pile, but I could find no evidence anywhere of an adit or shaft.
From up the hill:
A little closer:
It ended up being a great place with no noise, dust, or mayhem. I started setting up the truck for the evening and we got a nice sunset:
One of the things I got at Cabela's was a self inflating air matress. The last time we camped in the truck both my wife and I woke up with sore hips from the board we were sleeping on. Now mind you, I had a high density floor padding on the bottom, an eggcrate foam on top of that, two thick sleeping bags on top of that and we slept on top of all of that and ended up sore. Well, this little air mattress made the difference. It worked great!! I don't have a pic of it, but I did take a pic of the master bedroom:
I also took one of my boy's bedroom complete with the grand staircase:
We crashed out and got up in the morning and packed up to head toward Prescott. My wife and boy were wandering around and found a little furry friend:
When we were ready to head out, I took a pic of the view. Something about getting in the truck to go and the hubs are still locked, the transfer case is still in low range and this is the view (so much better than the driveway):
It was a good night and the air matress was worth the high price of admission. The only issue that we had was it got pretty warm in the truck when we were going to sleep. It did this the last time also but the ambient air temp was much higher then. I wrongly figured that the lower ambient air temp would take care of that issue. I started out in long pants and long sleeves and ended up in shorts and short sleeves. I need to figure out a ventilation setup with screens because we encountered alot of mosquitos up there.
So we head toward Prescott and see some beautiful scenery along the way:
I have a few more to add but I still have to load them.
So the adventure as it was ended up being rather sedate, but a bunch of fun just the same. We left out of here and headed up toward Crown King. It is an old mining town/ghost town in the Bradshaw mountains. There are several ways to get there, but we took the easiest way by going in through the front door. This is not much of a wheeling adventure as it is graded and a passenger car can navigate it without much trouble at all. But hey, it is twenty six miles of dirt road and dirt is better than pavement so I'll take it.
Along the way in, we pass through the thriving metropolis of Cleator. It is about half way in and it has a bar. I bet this little bar can challenge some of the larger bars in Phoenix for revenue.
So, once passed Cleator, you are greeted by views like this:
So we got into Crown King at about 1600 and figured we would eat there so we didn't have to deal with cooking in case we had trouble locating a suitable spot to camp. We stopped at the Crown King Saloon to eat. The Saloon was brought piece by piece over the mountain from Oro Belle (another ghost town site) in 1901. It is a very neat old building. So anyways, we head out from there and head over to the Senator Highway. This is a dirt road that is very nice in some areas and rough in others, but generally a decent road. We head north on it looking for a place to camp. Several of the trails leading off of the road are closed to motorized travel. Swell. We pass many, many spots that are right off of the road where people literally get their wheels off the road and call it a camp site. Well I like a bit more privacy and less traffic through my campsite so we keep rolling and find a narrow little trail off the side. I turn down it and it goes in a ways and levels off. Off the side of the landing is a smaller trail that looks about the right size for a Rhino. I walk down a little bit and there are three trees on either side of the trail that are very close together. I figure I can get the compact Suburban through it. "What's the worst that can happen" I say as I point the truck downhill at the narrow spot. We get through with no scratches dings or dents and are rewarded with a great little spot. It looks like an adit pile, but I could find no evidence anywhere of an adit or shaft.
From up the hill:
A little closer:
It ended up being a great place with no noise, dust, or mayhem. I started setting up the truck for the evening and we got a nice sunset:
One of the things I got at Cabela's was a self inflating air matress. The last time we camped in the truck both my wife and I woke up with sore hips from the board we were sleeping on. Now mind you, I had a high density floor padding on the bottom, an eggcrate foam on top of that, two thick sleeping bags on top of that and we slept on top of all of that and ended up sore. Well, this little air mattress made the difference. It worked great!! I don't have a pic of it, but I did take a pic of the master bedroom:
I also took one of my boy's bedroom complete with the grand staircase:
We crashed out and got up in the morning and packed up to head toward Prescott. My wife and boy were wandering around and found a little furry friend:
When we were ready to head out, I took a pic of the view. Something about getting in the truck to go and the hubs are still locked, the transfer case is still in low range and this is the view (so much better than the driveway):
It was a good night and the air matress was worth the high price of admission. The only issue that we had was it got pretty warm in the truck when we were going to sleep. It did this the last time also but the ambient air temp was much higher then. I wrongly figured that the lower ambient air temp would take care of that issue. I started out in long pants and long sleeves and ended up in shorts and short sleeves. I need to figure out a ventilation setup with screens because we encountered alot of mosquitos up there.
So we head toward Prescott and see some beautiful scenery along the way:
I have a few more to add but I still have to load them.
MaxPF
1/2 ton status
No, I'm not 100% positive. The info I have is probably third hand at best...
Well, I'm doubting it in this case as the flywheel adapter had the same nasty black paint as the motor did indicating it was painted (or dipped judging by paint quality) at the same time as the motor was.
Now, it would not surprise me if other vehicle manufacturers did this depending on whether it was getting an SAE 2 or 3 etc, depending on the customer order.
I was chatting with a tech at a dealer in town and he said that 12pt bolts on the starter is fairly common across the board with several different manufacturers. Probably just the typical sadistic engineer crap.
MaxPF
1/2 ton status
I actually like 12pt stuff. That said, I used 6pt flanged bolts to attach my housing and starter. Since my engine is out of a commercial vehicle, it had an SAE 2 housing on it. I had to buy the Dodge housing and install it. The bolts used to attach it to the engine were th same ones that held the sae adapter on. I just had to buy bolts for the starter and the bellhousing.
CrewCab59
1/2 ton status
The 12 point starter bolts is a dodge thing, all B series dodge 5.9 versions cam with them. The fun part is when some jag leg rounds off them off and the inside bolt is a pain to remove.
Nick...
"I was chatting with a tech at a dealer in town and he said that 12pt bolts on the starter is fairly common across the board with several different manufacturers. Probably just the typical sadistic engineer crap."
Even the bigger motors have the same 12pt set up on the 42 MT's...
Nice to see that the dream that lit your eyes up in 2002 has finally come full circle!
No a huge dodge fan...but the price was right (14.5k...crank no start) which was an easy fix...(ecm). The 2 selling points were 1) Cummins 2) SFA...if i had bought another 2500 HD i would have cut the front IFS out of it day one and swapped in a SFA for durability in the earl patch which murdered the IFS.
So far...ecm...all new brakes...park brake cable...a few minor interior pieces...windshield...ATS air horn...3000 turbo...exhaust manifold...HID lights and fogs....and i managed to salvage my bullydog programmer from the 06 duramax and just reload it with the cummins software. Ran the the ohead this am with 109k on the clock...some loose valves...but not really that bad. Also been f'ng with the boost fooler...and now i have awesome power all the way to 2800....and 20 plus mpg...go finger a 1 ton dually getting 20mpg on semi wheels...
Well...if ya doo decide to find a front clip...i'll help ya out as i remember they are not cheap.
Tryin like hell to decide what to do with the 79 and or the chalet.
Story is the 79 know has a whipple on it...walker evan shocks and
all the other bucket of coins thats been spent on it over the years
and it now has a light weight in awesome shape...lightweight 4wheel
pop top camper that i need to reseal to cab properly...and have fun adding stuff inside. Or...save or pitch the chalet. Made it all the way back from phx no issues only to loose number 6 in delta...so...bad motor...good 3/4 gear..good H2 wheels and tires...rare camper....and a swiss cheese body...
so in effect i can't sell it...do i keep it so i can get down to maybe on K5...or two if i keep the 78 2wd i have out back? So hard to make up my mind...i have a fair mind to sell all three and replace them with a new 4 door heep so i have a dependable back up rig thats child friendly....
About 10k away from breaking even minus the 2700 bonez a month alimony and child support payments...and i want to save for a cheap house or townhouse in az so no matter what happens i have my 2 biggest life issues solved...a paid for truck and a paid for house so if the patch takes another hit i am not homeless again...
Any thoughts brother nick?
Columbia sounds good...will be a few months as i need to break even and save about 7k or so so my bills are covered even if i take a month off. And i need to buy a trailer to haul the 79 with as well....its all puzzle pieces i tell ya.
PS...you forgot to mention in your history lesson that the road from cleator to crown king (named after the crowned king mine) was originaly a rail bed to haul ore out of that district back in the day...
PPS...ask marv or harley and or fred about a trail run we did on the east side of table mesa many moons ago...emptied out to the sweetest camp site i have ever seen in my live right on the verde!
"I was chatting with a tech at a dealer in town and he said that 12pt bolts on the starter is fairly common across the board with several different manufacturers. Probably just the typical sadistic engineer crap."
Even the bigger motors have the same 12pt set up on the 42 MT's...
Nice to see that the dream that lit your eyes up in 2002 has finally come full circle!
No a huge dodge fan...but the price was right (14.5k...crank no start) which was an easy fix...(ecm). The 2 selling points were 1) Cummins 2) SFA...if i had bought another 2500 HD i would have cut the front IFS out of it day one and swapped in a SFA for durability in the earl patch which murdered the IFS.
So far...ecm...all new brakes...park brake cable...a few minor interior pieces...windshield...ATS air horn...3000 turbo...exhaust manifold...HID lights and fogs....and i managed to salvage my bullydog programmer from the 06 duramax and just reload it with the cummins software. Ran the the ohead this am with 109k on the clock...some loose valves...but not really that bad. Also been f'ng with the boost fooler...and now i have awesome power all the way to 2800....and 20 plus mpg...go finger a 1 ton dually getting 20mpg on semi wheels...
Well...if ya doo decide to find a front clip...i'll help ya out as i remember they are not cheap.
Tryin like hell to decide what to do with the 79 and or the chalet.
Story is the 79 know has a whipple on it...walker evan shocks and
all the other bucket of coins thats been spent on it over the years
and it now has a light weight in awesome shape...lightweight 4wheel
pop top camper that i need to reseal to cab properly...and have fun adding stuff inside. Or...save or pitch the chalet. Made it all the way back from phx no issues only to loose number 6 in delta...so...bad motor...good 3/4 gear..good H2 wheels and tires...rare camper....and a swiss cheese body...
so in effect i can't sell it...do i keep it so i can get down to maybe on K5...or two if i keep the 78 2wd i have out back? So hard to make up my mind...i have a fair mind to sell all three and replace them with a new 4 door heep so i have a dependable back up rig thats child friendly....
About 10k away from breaking even minus the 2700 bonez a month alimony and child support payments...and i want to save for a cheap house or townhouse in az so no matter what happens i have my 2 biggest life issues solved...a paid for truck and a paid for house so if the patch takes another hit i am not homeless again...
Any thoughts brother nick?
Columbia sounds good...will be a few months as i need to break even and save about 7k or so so my bills are covered even if i take a month off. And i need to buy a trailer to haul the 79 with as well....its all puzzle pieces i tell ya.
PS...you forgot to mention in your history lesson that the road from cleator to crown king (named after the crowned king mine) was originaly a rail bed to haul ore out of that district back in the day...
PPS...ask marv or harley and or fred about a trail run we did on the east side of table mesa many moons ago...emptied out to the sweetest camp site i have ever seen in my live right on the verde!
Yeah, I don't mind 12pt when there is a reason for them or adequate room. My NV4500 has a bunch on it and they were no problem at all, but on something like a starter where you may be in a parking lot or on a trail taking care of it, I figured six point fasteners would be more better.
Yeah, I bet. Twelve point fasteners prefer sharp points on the sockets. If the socket is getting worn, it becomes a crap shoot then.
