1982 k30, sticking around

[red]

Truck now has 64" leaf springs on both sides. Had to use the torch to cut the old bolt out of the front mounting bracket.







Sits level side to side finally. Front springs are going to be replaced at some point but at least they are not broken. Also the replacement tire came in so will be back to a dually tomorrow.

 

[red]

Funny part about a 40 gallon suburban tank, getting it up into place wasn't the worst part of the conversion. It's the damn fill tube with this particular flatbed. Probably going to notch the board on the driver side outer edge and mount the fill neck there.

Tank is sitting about a 1/4" above the bottom of the truck frame. For today it has just the 2 lower mounts made out of 1/8" strap steel but going to make 2 more and mount those on the top side. It can't go forward because of a bed crossmember. Can't move backwards because of the winch so it's sitting in a pretty snug position already. Used holes that were already drilled through the frame.





Extended the wiring harness for the passenger side fuel tank sending unit so the gauge works. Also changed the fuel plumbing around to where the pump/filter are plumbed in after the tank selector valve. Leaves the option open to plumbing in a second tank again.

 

[red]

Hmm, looking like this truck could be towing much more often in the near future. Question is, buy a gooseneck trailer or modify the military surplus 5th wheel trailer that I have sitting here for use behind this truck. Leaning towards modifying the surplus trailer because of costs and the fact that I can build it exactly how I want. Hard part is getting the 5th wheel hitch high enough to clear the bed while bringing down the height of the trailer.

 

[MrMarty51]

It`ll be interesting, how ever You do it.

 

[red]

It`ll be interesting, how ever You do it.

Yea, the idea that I'm leanin towards is to have the pickup tow a camper trailer (that will actually survive dirt roads so not a typical camper). A 16-20ft long gooseneck deckover trailer is the plan for that. Whether modifying the surplus trailer from a 5th wheel to a gooseneck, or just buying a trailer is undecided. No dovetail would be a straight deck.


Today I replaced the marker lights on the roof with new LED's. 3 of the old bulbs were burned out and these are brighter anyways. Same amber color just didn't take a pic of them.

Also mounted up a pair of air tanks onto the flatbed and plumbed them together. Plan is to have 1 QD on each front side of the flatbed just need a few more air fittings. Using DOT pushlock fittings/hose. Not sure what happened to the pics.




Yes that's a twist cap on electric wiring on this truck. No I didn't put it there, gave up on the wiring harness after cutting out roughly 2 dozen of the damn things hahahaha.

 

[red]

Snapped a pic of the new marker lights. Uses the same style housing. Roof's are LED, bumper are still the original so the LED's are brighter but not blinding haha.

 

[red]

Swung by a friends house today to pick up some 56" leaf springs from a c20 he's parting out and happened to pull up just as they guy who bought the cab was trying to get it loaded onto a trailer. With no equipment, it wasn't going well for them. Put a snatch block at the front of his trailer and routed the winch cable to drag it on while they took care of raising the cab.





The leaf springs will be used to lift the front of the k30. Shackle flip in the rear. Should net about 4" lift and a smoother ride along with great flex when offroad. These springs are rated at 1950 lbs each.





And grabbed another dana 70HD axle. Planning to use it for the trailer project. Couple seconds after the pic had it pulled up/over the roller.

 

[MrMarty51]

You are getting some mighty nice use from the flat bed and winch. LOL

 

[red]

You are getting some mighty nice use from the flat bed and winch. LOL

Hahaha very accurate statement.

There's a few things I've learned over the years and vehicles that I've owned. Need a 1 ton truck, with a flatbed, 4x4, and a bed winch. Apparently I drive places that 2x4's don't like and carry heavy stuff. It's only about 1500 lbs in this pic......




Yea, killed that poor truck within about 6 months hahaha.

When steel prices drop will pick up some material and rebuild the bed. Move the winch all the way to the front of the bed, roller that actually rolls, underside storage, spare tire mounts, pair of gin poles, and gooseneck hitch. Similar to this bed.

 

[red]

Picked up some 3x5 5/16" angle iron the other day for the flatbed build. Before that project, front leaf spring swap, and others can progress I need to get this guy up and running. Late 80's Miller Big 40 diesel. Been cranking too slow to start. Replaced the glow plugs, replaced the battery cables with 2/0, fresh diesel, and tried a few different batteries with no real difference. Dropped the starter off today for rebuild and should have it back tomorrow.

 

[MrMarty51]

NICE WELDER UNIT, and a diesel too boot.
On the 59 W100 dodge, I`d like to someday rig it with an actual roller on the end of the bed.
That bed in the pic. looks mighty nice.

 

[red]

NICE WELDER UNIT, and a diesel too boot.
On the 59 W100 dodge, I`d like to someday rig it with an actual roller on the end of the bed.
That bed in the pic. looks mighty nice.

That gin pole bed is the design that I'm planning to base the new bed off of.

Bad luck with the diesel welder today. Got the starter rebuilt but still won't fire up, even with some ether. So tried a little trick to get the starter spinning about double the speed (set up a pair of batteries as 24v) and no luck. Engine's smokin just doesn't have the compression anymore. A bit cost prohibitive to rebuild the engine right now so thinking of adding a second alternator to the pickup as a dedicated 'weldernator'.

After the welder stuff fired up the wrecker for the first time this year and moved it over to do some organizing. Used the pickup to move that extra dana 70hd axle.




Then went to go pick up the welder/skid and move them towards the back. Heard the winch load up more than usual as the front edge of the skid was trying to get over the pipe and heard a metallic "snap" followed by the winch tilting rearwards. Looks like a bolt at the front of the skid got caught on the pipe and dented it. The snap sound was some of the bolts holding the winch mount to the bed sub frame letting go.





That's a design flaw that is getting fixed with the new flatbed, winch mounted directly to the bed.

 

[red]

Got ahold of a welder again so made some progress on the new bed finally. Going to use the sub frame from the current bed and am trying to get as much assembled before swapping this over. Started out by making frame of the bed. 5x3 angle iron that's 5/16" thick, total width is 7'6" by 8ft long. The middle crossmember is offset 4" towards the rear to provide better clearance for the gooseneck hitch since it will be mounted directly to the subframe.




Also pulled the bed winch/mount off the current bed and cut it down to fit the new bed





Considering adding storage between the angle irons for tie downs/jumper cables/air hose/winch equipment.

 

[MrMarty51]

You are getting a mighty good start there Red.

 

[WarWagon]

@red Can't you just re-ring the diesel welder for a 'overhaul' rather than a full on rebuild? Maybe do head work if the valves are leaking.

What is it's compression #'s?

Maybe the timing slipped retarded or pump is stuck full retard?

 

[red]

@red Can't you just re-ring the diesel welder for a 'overhaul' rather than a full on rebuild? Maybe do head work if the valves are leaking.

What is it's compression #'s?

Maybe the timing slipped retarded or pump is stuck full retard?

Timing is fine, getting fuel in the cylinders and glow plugs have been replaced. Old Continental TMD20 engine. Parts to rebuild it without doing any head work is over 1k plus all maintenance stuff. Haven't been able to do a compression test since can't find an adapter for either it's glowplug or injector threads (glowplugs had to be shipped from Germany actually). Replaced battery leads with 4/0, pair of fresh batts in parallel, rebuilt starter, no luck. Last ditch effort wired the batts in series to get the starter cranking overly fast and some ether directly at the intake valves, no luck.

Upsides are that the generator/welder is putting out voltage while cranking, has a SAE4 bellhousing, and there are hydraulic motors available for a few hundred bucks that have enough torque/rpm to match the engine performance. So can either swap the engine for a different model from other common equipment, or run it off of a hydraulic system that's moving at least 18gpm through 5/8" hoses which the m816 currently does (way over that actually) and the pickup will after the engine/trans swap. 110ft/lbs and 1800rpm matches the stock engine.

 

[Will L.]

At least good options for future swap if needed.

Do you have an old glowplug, or did you chuck em? I lost my complete compression tester set to sticky fingers. Needed one for a 6.5, and had a gauge and valve assembly from days back. So I got an old glowplug, cut of heating element and electrical connector. Then drilled the center out. Welded on a fitting to the back side and good to go.

As for exact rings, I’ve done a bunch of old engines that parts weren’t available for. Just matchem up like you would a seal. If it were a fast reving, high performance thing is nmight make a difference. But engines that run at constant speed modt of the time tend to have a lot of room for error.

Same for valves.

Head gasket material is available in sheet form.

 

[WarWagon]

Did it even hit or knock on either? Video of it spinning over?

Suggestions: Varnish instead of fuel in the IP, Injectors all stuck open pissing fuel along with, burnt or debris in valves, cracked and burnt through pistons, blown head gasket, bent rods from rain water getting in the exhaust. Maybe fed gasoline till the rings washed out. Could the pushrods or valves be sticking with bent pushrods?

Again just suggesting "fix only what broke" and as cheaply as possible. None of the "while we are there" that leads to a rebuild. Forget a full rebuild. Just getting it to frugally burn fuel and run for a few years: Gaskets (gasket in a tube where you can get away with it), rings, and NOTHING ELSE. As long as they aren't cracked the pistons could look like craters on the moon. I have seen these run with just that type of piston damage. It ran over a year then we moved on before it quit - if it ever did. (If that unit came from Colorado it may be the same one.)

Repower may be the cheapest, but, running off the hydraulic pump of the M18 or pickup engine is going to chug fuel like crazy. The TMD20 itself, as is, is worth enough to help fund the repower.

 

[red]

At least good options for future swap if needed.

Do you have an old glowplug, or did you chuck em? I lost my complete compression tester set to sticky fingers. Needed one for a 6.5, and had a gauge and valve assembly from days back. So I got an old glowplug, cut of heating element and electrical connector. Then drilled the center out. Welded on a fitting to the back side and good to go.

As for exact rings, I’ve done a bunch of old engines that parts weren’t available for. Just matchem up like you would a seal. If it were a fast reving, high performance thing is nmight make a difference. But engines that run at constant speed modt of the time tend to have a lot of room for error.

Same for valves.

Head gasket material is available in sheet form.

Chucked the old plugs but do have 1 extra new one (cheaper to order a set of 4 than just the 3 due to customs).

The parts are still available, just not readily available and cheap.

Did it even hit or knock on either? Video of it spinning over?

Suggestions: Varnish instead of fuel in the IP, Injectors all stuck open pissing fuel along with, burnt or debris in valves, cracked and burnt through pistons, blown head gasket, bent rods from rain water getting in the exhaust. Maybe fed gasoline till the rings washed out. Could the pushrods or valves be sticking with bent pushrods?

Again just suggesting "fix only what broke" and as cheaply as possible. None of the "while we are there" that leads to a rebuild. Forget a full rebuild. Just getting it to frugally burn fuel and run for a few years: Gaskets (gasket in a tube where you can get away with it), rings, and NOTHING ELSE. As long as they aren't cracked the pistons could look like craters on the moon. I have seen these run with just that type of piston damage. It ran over a year then we moved on before it quit - if it ever did. (If that unit came from Colorado it may be the same one.)

Repower may be the cheapest, but, running off the hydraulic pump of the M18 or pickup engine is going to chug fuel like crazy. The TMD20 itself, as is, is worth enough to help fund the repower.

Welder smokes some white at normal cranking speed and would smoke considerably more when the starter was oversped using 24v. Using the ether at normal just made extra smoke and at 24 volts would almost get it to run off the ether, but not quite.

Cheap reliability for the welder is what matters there. Rebuild components I'm talking about are pistons, rings, bearings, head gasket.

As far as why it's that way, fuel in it smelled alot like old gasoline. No visible coolant in the radiator either.

Either replacing its engine or running it off of PTO systems is going to be cheaper. Seen a few similar sized diesel engines pop up for $750 or less locally in running condition. Fuel efficiency of the NHC250 in the wrecker at idle is about 2-3 gallons per hour which is where it runs to operate the crane or either winch. Wrecker also has 1 more available PTO output that's not being used (4 PTO outputs. 2 trans and 2 tcase). Either way the flatbed is current priority.



Today was mostly cutting stuff. Have 2 storage boxes that will be bolted to the underside of the bed in front of the axle. A 36x22x14" box and a 36x18x18 box. The first box will extend to the outside edge of the bed (maybe even past a little), while the 18x18 box is the same vertical height as the bottom of the cab. Seem pretty solid which is good since they are likely to get hit when offroad haha. These boxes will be for the bottle jack, fluids, probably some basic tools, and general stuff.

The second pair of boxes are going to be built into the body of the bed, over the duallies and will open downwards. Picture a hinge attached to the bed subframe and the outside edge drops down about 5-6 inches. These are 16" wide, and the angle iron for the bed is 5" tall so the box is 16x24x5". Have a bunch of ammo cans sitting here that are just about a perfect fit. Plan is jumper cables on 1 side and air hose/components on the other side.









Cut out the 3/8" plate to make the new mounts for the front of the bed. These are 24x6" and will run flush with the top edge of the bed winch mount all the way down to the bottom edge of the truck chassis. Tying the chassis, sub frame, and winch mount all together. Also planning to add another reinforcement running from the winch mount to the second bed crossmember.

 

[red]

Flatbed work is still on hold. As it's being built I'm trying to address all the mods and problems, such as filling the fuel tank. Need to lower the suburban fuel tank down a few inches so the filler neck will have a usable angle but can't lower the tank until the truck is lifted, the rear axle will run into the tank otherwise.

So while that is being delayed went ahead and ordered up the big electric stuff. 2 1,000 amp buss bars, dual post stud, and a pair of insulated pass through studs. The pass through studs are for the second fuse block. The ground stud isn't necessary but figure since the fuse block has it's own ground setup might as well use it and should reduce the likelyhood of ground issues in the future. Dual post stud will be mounted to the frame under the bed and provides a junction point for the bed winch, rear winch, and a big electric hookup for a trailer. The buss bars just get all the chaos off of the battery terminals to make things cleaner and provide a good place to tie in for high amperage loads.





And, finally got my prybar back from the wrecker hahaha. Reconnected it's PTO stuff that the prybar has been holding up for the past few months.