1994 K3500 extended cab dually

[n8in8or]

I always thought sagging doors was caused by worn out hinge bushings? I know mine have a little wear in them and I was planning to replace them.

I used Rustoleum on an open car trailer and its still holding up fairly well. Its far from perfect, but it still looks ok. I think it was 15 years ago. Is that a spare set of wheels you have on hand? GMT400 Warehouse, Kalamazoo branch.

My situation is a little unique in that the driver's door is the original one from the Tahoe and then I did the patch panels at the bottom. And the GMT400 is weird (at least to me) because the hinges are welded to the cab and the door so they don't have any adjustment, the only thing you can do is tweak them. I'm not sure what they did at the factory, I guess they felt they could make things line up on every truck really well? Or maybe they tweaked every truck to fit? Although it is interesting that I got 2 doors for the Tahoe from the South and those both attached and didn't need any tweaking. The passenger door is original to the truck. It seemed to be aligned ok, but on closer inspection it too sagged even though it had new pins and bushings, so it much just from the ravages of time. A quick lift with the alignment tool had it aligned perfectly.

I have the 6 wheels that came on that truck I drug home last summer (the one with the crazy West Coast mirrors on it). And I also took 2 wheels off this truck so I could sort through them and pick the best 6. Good thing I did that, this one wouldn't have been so nice to drive on....

https://youtube.com/shorts/pDMPRncvBcQ?feature=share

 

[n8in8or]

Got a couple more things done tonight.

I got a new glow plug controller from Napa. I was hoping it would be better quality than the new Standard one I just removed.....nope, looks exactly the same. And it functions the same as well.....a disappointingly short burn time. I’m going to have to do an override to get a longer burn time in the short term and in the long term I need to find or make a better system, I don’t dig this one.

I also painted the inner fenders. This is just a quick degrease and spray bomb job - I just didn’t want crusty inner fenders detracting from the rest of the engine compartment.



I also tinted the turn signals with some tint spray.



And the heater control was flashing at me that it wasn’t happy. I found the mode door wasn’t moving so I replaced that actuator. Now that works, but the heat blend door only moves a little then the controller flashes me so I guess I’ll be replacing that actuator as well. I thought I was doing a good thing keeping the original actuators and just replacing the gear in them.......guess not.

 

[Duvall]

Nothing wrong with the spray bomb!

How difficult is it to get to the actuators? Fingers crossed, mine are still good for now.

I'd like to see how well the running lights and turn signal show through that tint. Is that the Night Shades stuff? Never seen it quite that dark.

 

[DieselAmateur]

Where did the lower bumper valance come from? If it's metal I'd love to get my hands on one for future frame mounted intercooler protection.

 

[n8in8or]

Nothing wrong with the spray bomb!

How difficult is it to get to the actuators? Fingers crossed, mine are still good for now.

I'd like to see how well the running lights and turn signal show through that tint. Is that the Night Shades stuff? Never seen it quite that dark.

The mode actuator was easy to get to. It was by the throttle pedal. The other actuator looks easy to get to with the radio still out. I’ll let you know if it actually is that easy.

It’s Rustoleum brand. I’m not sure how it will look once installed. That was probably darker than I wanted it, but I couldn’t get an even coating when it was lighter. Hopefully I didn’t ruin them. I suppose I can sand some off and then clear coat them.

 

[n8in8or]

Where did the lower bumper valance come from? If it's metal I'd love to get my hands on one for future frame mounted intercooler protection.

It’s all hand-made. I detailed the fab in my intercooler thread starting here if you care to read a bit. It was a fun project.

My Water to Air intercooler install

Before and after. Looks really good.

www.thetruckstop.us

 

[Will L.]

I was told that they are assembled all slightly high, then a person tweaks them down into position on the assembly line.

 

[n8in8or]

It was a successful weekend. Yesterday I mounted and balanced the tires. Today I did the rest of the things I needed to do so it could be driven to the shop for the alignment. After getting the inner fenders installed I finally installed the air cleaner and intake tube so I no longer need to put the stupid red cap on anymore (I tried starting it with it on again yesterday!). That’s an AFE filter under the Outerwears pre-filter.



I installed these sweet tow mirrors from Boost Auto Parts. I don’t have them wired yet, I just needed to get them installed so I could drive. They have tinted turn signals on the front and built-in, rear-facing spot lights. I’m going to wire the spot lights to the cargo lamp switch because I think they’d be a bit too intense to come on any time it was put in reverse.



Then I greased the front end and installed the wheels. I got some center caps off eBay that I really like. It needs a bath really bad, but I think it looks pretty tough regardless (and yes, I like it even with the cap ).



I need to do some tinkering on it still before it’s a “driver”, but at least now it’s drivable. The dash indicators came in handy because when I started it up after fueling up I saw the radiator fan came on with the coolant temp only reading 170 in the passenger head (though I would have heard it without the light). And the trans fan also came on by the end of the drive to the shop. My EGTs are also running high so I need to look into that. Our first camping trip is booked for June 28, so I have a little time still to get the rest sorted out before towing.

 

[FellowTraveler]

That is nice indeed...

 

[n8in8or]

That is nice indeed...

Thanks!

 

[spdgofast]

Nate, I just read though this whole thread and I have to congratulate you on a job spectacularly done! I just spoke to a friend of mine and we both tend to take most of our projects a little to the over kill side of things and I told him you make us look like HACKS! If you ever run out of shit to do (which I doubt will happen) I would like to send you my Suburban to work your magic on! Once again, job well done and I hope you get to enjoy it camping this summer, you deserve a break!

 

[Duvall]

She would be shining like a diamond with some soap and water. Looks great otherwise!

Those tires make 16" wheels look tiny. I have the same tires on my Jeep. They get a little noisy as they wear.

That cap...

 

[n8in8or]

Nate, I just read though this whole thread and I have to congratulate you on a job spectacularly done! I just spoke to a friend of mine and we both tend to take most of our projects a little to the over kill side of things and I told him you make us look like HACKS! If you ever run out of shit to do (which I doubt will happen) I would like to send you my Suburban to work your magic on! Once again, job well done and I hope you get to enjoy it camping this summer, you deserve a break!

Thank you so much! I remember when you were participating in my Next Level Fueling thread and you started working on that bypass regulator system...... you made a sweet looking bracket for mounting the regulator on the intake. At that moment I told myself I had to do better. Your work inspired me. I hardly think you're a hack.

The camping will be nice for sure, but there's no rest for the wicked. I have a couple small projects to knock out, then back to finish this thing up......…..then I need to get my red truck together by October, so I have lots of work ahead of me this summer still.

 

[n8in8or]

She would be shining like a diamond with some soap and water. Looks great otherwise!

Those tires make 16" wheels look tiny. I have the same tires on my Jeep. They get a little noisy as they wear.

That cap...

Yep, definitely needs some cleaning. I don't know if it will be shining like a diamond, as the paint has some issues overall, but I think it will be acceptable for the time being.

These are the same tires I had on my Ford (same size, too). I didn't remember them making noise on the Ford, but I did notice the other day while driving that they were making a little road noise. The Ford was probably just too noisy overall for me to hear the tires. I think this truck is going to prove to be a suitable replacement for the Ford - more comfort, more power, looks just as tough and has a cap to keep things sheltered in the bed

 

[n8in8or]

I haven't done anything else to the truck this week as I've been busy on something else, but I'm pretty sure I've figured out the high EGT issue I had on the first drive. It was mid-80s when I drove it that first day to the alignment shop. It was 10 miles of stop-n-go traffic. I haven't installed the housing for the intake yet, so it was sucking hot air from the engine compartment and everything was a bit heat-soaked. When I drove it home the next day, it was upper 60s and traffic moved much better. My EGTs were more what I expected to see. Once I get the intake finished so it's only sucking outside air, I should be fine. And then when I get the intercooler's radiator installed I'll be even better.

 

[MrMarty51]

I like the looks of that truck, with the cap on it.

 

[n8in8or]

I’ve been working on some other projects for the past week and a half, so not much new to report. Tonight was mostly some cleanup so I can get back to work, but I did take a sec to install this exhaust tip I got off Amazon. Just something cheap to get me going. The exhaust did make more noise inside than I wanted so I’m hoping this tip getting it outside of the fender tones it down a little.

 

[Duvall]

Did I hear garage cleaning?

I like that tip!

 

[Will L.]

You can wrap the exhaust to help it some also.

 

[MrMarty51]

That tip will help.