The Story Of A Cummins Suburban (Lots Of Pics)

[mosesburb]

Kinda neat pictures. I'd like to do more of that kinda stuff.

I highly recommend it.

/thumbsup

Thanks!!

Beautiful territory, would like to do some of that myself. Maybe after I get a new transmission in the gas prices will drop to a point that allows me to take Krusty more than a mile.

As for the 45 on the downhill side, it is to allow the water to spread out as quicly as possible and avoid cutting a deep channel that would eventually undercut the railroad.

That makes sense, but I found it odd that they did it only on the downstream side while making the water figure out its own way into the culvert on the upstream side as there is no "funnel" action on that side. Strange.

Love seeing people have fun like this with there trucks. Especially trucks they built.

Me too!!

Great pics, thanks for sharing the adventure for those of us who are desk bound...

Glad you like them!! I enjoy other people's photos myself.

Nice pics! Did I miss something and was the burb in a accident? The pass front looks all wonky.

Thanks!! The history that I got on the truck was that the original owner was getting older and started "bumping" into things with it. There are minor dents on the truck in a few places, but as I understand it, when he hit whatever he hit with the right front corner the kids took the truck away from him. Whatever it was came in a few inches above the bumper and plowed the outer grille housing back into the fender and scrunched the fender back in the process. I did some minor pulling and pounding on it to get a marker lamp installed, but beyond that I haven't messed with it. As far as dents go, the only dents that have been added since I acquired the vehicle are the ones that came from the hail on that dark and stormy night a few months back.

 

[Engineered Vintage]

"...but hey, maybe it will inspire more people to get their tin in the wind as opposed to having their junk in the driveway..."

What is this driving thing you are implying?

Nice pics!

 

[lectric80]

Never seen it done that way with nothing on the uphill side. Maybe it is a gravity hill and the water flows up the mountain.

 

[mosesburb]

"...but hey, maybe it will inspire more people to get their tin in the wind as opposed to having their junk in the driveway..."

What is this driving thing you are implying?

Nice pics!

The driving is the part that is typically lost first when a "build" is started. At least that's how it worked on mine....

So, anyways, as you approach Jerome, you come upon the piles of overburden removed from the mine when they switched from tunnel/shaft mining to open pit mining. This is a tiny mine in comparison to the massive behemoths in operation today down in Hayden and out in Globe, but it is still amazing to see the amount of material moved:

The buildings at the right corner of the hood belong to a former "suburb" of Jerome. Back in the mining days there were actually a few suburbs of Jerome. This one, like most, grew up around a mine shaft that was dug in search of the copper ore that is so prevalent in this area. Well, the copper mine failed, but only because they hit gold and silver instead of copper. Uh, whoops. So the town of Haynes Arizona was begun. After the mine played out, a few hearty individuals remained and opened the site as "The Ghost Town".

It is basically a giant collection of crap. It really must be experienced to be able to appreciate the broad depth of the collection. There is a massive collection of old, large trucks: (this is only a few of them)

There were quite a few International Harvesters in the collection. I'm not too knowedgable on the combines but there were a few pretty cool examples of Chicago's finest in there. This one was pretty cool and very complete:

There were sheds full of all kinds of stuff. One shed had loads of old chainsaws in it. On the floor, hanging from the rafters, on shelves:

Over in another corner were outboard motors. Here is just a few of them:

One building was set up to look like an old parts house:

Then there is the 10,154 cubic inch engine that powered a generator at another mining town. It was transported here (somehow) and can be started for your enjoyment for only ten bucks:

We wandered around here for awhile and then set a course for Jerome itself. It is only about a mile away at this point and if anyone is interested, I have some pics of that town too.

 

[ashman]

love the boneyard pics! when I used to drive truck back in the day, I loved wandering around any old junk yards I could find in small towns. you never know what you'll find in those places.

 

[hogdoc]

Just read the entire Thread start to finish, what a great project with an awesome outcome. 20 mpg in a lifted sub, increadible. I want to do a Duramax swap in mine some day. Great Picts of Az back country, keep em coming, miss the area.

 

[mosesburb]

love the boneyard pics! when I used to drive truck back in the day, I loved wandering around any old junk yards I could find in small towns. you never know what you'll find in those places.

Yeah, I know what you mean. This isn't really a boneyard as much as it is a collection. The pics seriously do not do this place justice--at all. There is so much neat, wierd old stuff everywhere on site. There were lots of Studebakers and IHCs of course. There were strange examples of vehicles and equipment as well. The place is not huge, but it is packed in very tight.

Just read the entire Thread start to finish, what a great project with an awesome outcome. 20 mpg in a lifted sub, increadible. I want to do a Duramax swap in mine some day. Great Picts of Az back country, keep em coming, miss the area.

Thanks!! Wow, start to finish!?! There should be some kind of prize for that kind of fortitude!! I'm glad you liked it. I have a few more to add, so there will be some more.

 

[y5mgisi]

Dude, i just love your posts so much! So inspiring to get out there and go on an adventure!

 

[max 02]

Great pics! That is a place I would love to see, very cool.

 

[mosesburb]

Dude, i just love your posts so much! So inspiring to get out there and go on an adventure!

Thanks man!!

Great pics! That is a place I would love to see, very cool.

Thanks!! Yeah, it is a cool place to see if you're ever in the neighborhood.

So we did finally head down the hill into Jerome. It's not every day that you see 1800rpm with 200* EGT:

So we got into Jerome and started looking for somewhere to eat. It was a Wednesday, but the place was still packed. We ended up heading up to the old UVCC company hospital that has been refurbished into a nice hotel and restaurant.

It is built at about the highest point in town so the views off of the balcony we ate on were magnificent.

That black stuff in the center of the picture down in the valley is in a town called Clarkdale. When the mine transitioned from tunnel/shaft mining to open pit, the mill had to be moved so UVCC created the company town of Clarkdale. The pile of black stuff is the slag pile from the new mill that was built down there. The two buildings that are at the right end of the pile are railroad buildings. There is an old roundhouse down there too. I have some old film pics but no digitals to post of that. It is kind of cool from a history buff standpoint.

So, just out of sight to the right of the picture is another mine. It was located at the bottom of town and was called the Little Daisy Mine. There is a state park in the old Douglas mansion on site, but for some reason it was closed that day. The coolest part of the mansion is the 3-d model that was built as part of litigation that shows all of the tunnels and shafts under the town. It is super cool, but no pics because they were closed.

One thing that was open that I have never seen open before was the old headframe on the Little Daisy Mine.

This is the car that transported men and material down to the tunnels:

If you look between the headframe on the left and the red headframe on the right there is a grey hill in the background. That is the United Verde Copper Company mine--the one that started as tunnel and shaft that became an open pit. I guess a bit of geologic history is in order now. Once upon a time, about a hundred million years ago (give or take a few), the valley that Jerome occupies the side of was formed by sea floor spreading deepunder an ocean. Well, some individual figured that some of the ore that they were mining at the UVCC mine had slid down into the valley when the rift valley was formed. He was right.

This facility has always been fenced off and locked up--until now. The gate was open so we wandered in. I was surprised to find that the shaft had a glass lid on it with high power lights pointing down.

It is a bit un-nerving standing there and looking between your feet and knowing that the next solid thing under your feet after the glass is 1900' down.

Gratuitous truck shot for good measure:

The building in the background is the Little Daisy Hotel. It was built to house the workers in the mine. Over thirty years ago (as long as I have been going to Jerome) this building was sold for scrap. It appears as though someone is renovating the place so maybe some day it will be a hotel again.

 

[kgblazerfive]

I miss Jerome, I even miss AZ sometimes

 

[mosesburb]

Well, after a post trip inspection some time ago I found an issue that required attention. Evidently when I made my lower hose fitting on the motor it was too close to the frame rail. This situaton was made worse when I built my transmission crossmember and raised the rear of the engine up a fuzz (scientific measurement right there). I believe that this, coupled with everything settling in created the condition that left the lower hose resting on the frame rail. It was not a situation that required immediate attention, but it also was not going to provide a very good service life if it was not addressed.

Sounds like fun. Let's go!!

This is what it looked like without the inner fenderwell:

This is what was happening to the hose assembly:

There is no real damage per se, but my concern was that dirt and stones would get trapped between the hose an frame rail and work holes into the hose. If you look close you can see some starting already.

Ok, so that's great, but what to do. There is not much room there with the frame rail, a/c compressor, inner fenderwell and belt right there. I figured pipe is smaller in o.d. than hose, but not flexible. Hmm, this could work. I bought a mandrel u-bend from Lefthander Chassis.

I pulled my water inlet fitting off the motor and ground out my previous hose fitting. There is a stub of .188 wall tubing welded into the flange I made that I put the thinner tubing that forms the hose fitting into. It makes the whole thing way bunches stronger (scientific quantity).

So, I got to trying to figure out an angle for the nipple, a direction to point it, an elevation that will clear everything, but still leave me with the longest hose possible. I got it figured out and welded it up and also welded a hose retention bead on the end of it. I think I ended up with everything I needed, but the lower hose is shorter than I would have liked.

So, with such a short hose, I was a bit nervous about the tubing that makes the hose nipple. Even though it is piloted into the .188 wall tube that is in the 3/8" plate that forms the flange, I was still a bit apprehensive about the possibility of a problem so I figured out a little supoport bracket that sits out toward the hose end.

I blew a coat of paint on it and put it back together. It clears everything very well and seems to be fine so far with the shorter hose. While I had the system down for modification, I decided to do a coolant service. I drained the green coolant that I had in there and went back in with the red Rotella ELC (Extended Life Coolant). I flushed the green out and everything in the cooling system looked brand new still. My only issue with the old coolant was it started smelling funky. Not terrible funky, just funky. I absolutely despise red coolant for some reason, but this is the stuff that the truck dealerships that I deal with use, so if it is good enough for them, I decided to give it a try. We'll see.

 

[hogdoc]

More very nice work. Thanks for some Az history, I hated the summers I lived there but fall through spring is AWSOME, the desert and back country I saw ALMOST made it worth sitting on the 10/17 at 5:00pm on a black Harley at 121* for an hour and a half to go from Tempe to Thunderbird.......ALMOST!

 

[lectric80]

I like it, but my concern would be when the engine shifts. During hard pulls which way does the engine move? If it moves much to that side I would expect damage to the pipe pretty quickly, and possibly premature failure. It just doesn't look like you have much room between the pipe and the frame rail, and we all know how stout our frames are on these trucks.

 

[mosesburb]

More very nice work. Thanks for some Az history, I hated the summers I lived there but fall through spring is AWSOME, the desert and back country I saw ALMOST made it worth sitting on the 10/17 at 5:00pm on a black Harley at 121* for an hour and a half to go from Tempe to Thunderbird.......ALMOST!

Thanks!!
Yeah, it gets a bit warm here in the summer, but I will take the heat of the summer over my memories of waiting for the school bus in -20 ambient with a 30mph breeze blowing right through every layer of clothing that I had on--any day. I admit though, on days over 112*, I will usually drive something with a/c.

I like it, but my concern would be when the engine shifts. During hard pulls which way does the engine move? If it moves much to that side I would expect damage to the pipe pretty quickly, and possibly premature failure. It just doesn't look like you have much room between the pipe and the frame rail, and we all know how stout our frames are on these trucks.

Yeah, you're right, I don't have much room--at all. This is yet another benefit of setting the motor as low as I did. I don't think the pic does the clearance justice--or maybe just in comparison to the old hose assembly there is a ton more room. The engine torques the same direction as gassers so it tries to rise on the driver side and tries to compress the right-hand mount. The frames on these are flexible, but this is literally a couple inches away from the 2 x 4 x .250 wall crossmember that the mounts attach to, so I am not too concerned about excessive movement leading to contact. I think if contact is made I will have a bigger problem than a dented water inlet tube. We'll see. This is not the first one, nor the second, nor third, so hopefully the fourth time is the charm (a couple tries never even saw coolant).

 

[mosesburb]

Well, I was hoping to have some more boring trail photos to share from this past weekend, but my house decided to get all posessive and keep me home and also make me spend a bunch of money on it (nothing cool to show for it either).

Anyways, I was clearing out my camera and found a few pics that I hadn't posted. When I had the inner fenderwell out I tried to address a pain in my ass that was the drain on the evaporator case. This thing drains the water from the evaporator and lets it run anywhere and everywhere. On a humid day I can have water flowing off of five different parts. Well, I took a measurement of the od of the nipple and picked up a piece of hose with that id. The problem with that is the one side of the nipple is so close to the seam in the case that a hose can not be put on it. I can put the POS thing that came from the factory, but I don't like that thing either. Hmm, what to do. Well, I got the wild hair to measure the id of the nipple and figured out that it is a fuzz smaller than the diameter of a 3/4" pipe tap. Hmm, this could work. I grabbed my tap and cut some weak, but decent threads in the id of the nipple.

They were deep enought that I could thread a 3/4 to 1/2 bushing into it and tighten it up real well. I put some of that weapons grade International Truck RTV on it and then threaded a 1/2NPT to 3/8" barbed fitting into it (the hole inside the id of the giant nipple is only 3/8").

From that I ran a 3/8" hose down along the top of the frame and dropped it down right behind the body mount under the passenger foot well area.

I no longer have condensate pouring off of everything when the a/c is being run. Yay!!

 

[folkenheath]

Nice attention to detail.

 

[ashman]

I've been reading this thread for the road trip pics, but finally got around to going back and reading the build sections.
LOVE the attention to detail, and the writing style is good too. can't believe I just spent 1 1/2 hours reading this. :P~
good work man! /thumbsup

 

[mosesburb]

Nice attention to detail.

Thanks!!

I've been reading this thread for the road trip pics, but finally got around to going back and reading the build sections.
LOVE the attention to detail, and the writing style is good too. can't believe I just spent 1 1/2 hours reading this. :P~
good work man! /thumbsup

That's funny. Yeah, it started out as a documentation of my build, but it kind of morphed into a repository for my travel photos. I guess so long as I include a gratuitous truck shot occasionally, it is acceptable. I'm glad you enjoyed the thread. I'm not sure I could read through it in an hour and a half and I wrote it (well, most of it anyways).
Thanks!!

 

[lectric80]

I guess the picture didn't show it, it looks like it is sitting right above the frame rail. Glad to hear that you have more clearance, and glad to see progress still coming along!