1994 K3500 extended cab dually

[n8in8or]

HIGH TEMP PTFE AKA:TEFLON core hose and the core should be rigid, not soft, the soft crap is CHICOM. Each hose has a max radius built into it and the sellers should have "all" the specs and know if the hose is conductive or not.
The hose is generally external SS braid w/PTFE core and optioned for external braid in various materials...
Fittings are for PTFE ONLY swivel, reusable, forged and hydro formed in radius, once fitting is installed to hose a pressure test will verify if it will hold...takes all the guess work out of using them.

I saw the PTFE hoses, but didn't think it was worth the extra money....... I did note the fittings were different so I made sure to not select the fittings for PTFE when I was selecting fittings.

Are there brands of hoses you gravitate towards or places you shop specifically? I'm committed to solid lines for the ATF lines for this truck now, but I would like to know for future projects.

 

[Husker6.5]

Hmmmm, the KISS method........what would Paul Stanley do????

It's Gene's tongue you have to worry about!

 

[WarWagon]

Note the lack of an o-ring on the factory fitting.

Actually I am seeing something in your picture. Looks like there is a black gasket material of some sort at the top of the threads. Like a thin AC sealing washer.

 

[n8in8or]

Actually I am seeing something in your picture. Looks like there is a black gasket material of some sort at the top of the threads. Like a thin AC sealing washer.

I went back and looked at the pic. I see what you're saying, but I think that's just the way it's looking in the picture. I'll check it out again later to be sure, but I'm sure that's all it is.

 

[FellowTraveler]

I saw the PTFE hoses, but didn't think it was worth the extra money....... I did note the fittings were different so I made sure to not select the fittings for PTFE when I was selecting fittings.

Are there brands of hoses you gravitate towards or places you shop specifically? I'm committed to solid lines for the ATF lines for this truck now, but I would like to know for future projects.

PARKER, AIREQUIP & other brands...vendors I used nostly on the bay have gone under due to the scam-demic, I looking for new sources thinking CROSS looks to be a good bet.

 

[FellowTraveler]

I just removed the fitting from the trans. The o-ring is misshapen. So I guess the o-ring gave up and allowed the fitting to rotate beyond initial installation? Still doesn’t make a ton of sense, but that’s all I can put together with the evidence. View attachment 65632

Good source for "O" rings and note the different types and chemical resistance.

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

 

[n8in8or]

Good source for "O" rings and note the different types and chemical resistance.

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

I use McMaster a lot. And what's great is if I order it before 5-6pm, I can have it the next day since I'm relatively close to them. I love their catalog for both what they sell in it, but also the information it contains.

 

[n8in8or]

I made some progress putting the pieces back together today, but now I’m stopped until I get some more material.

I think I said before that I decided my direction forward was going to be 3/8” OD nickel-copper tubing and steel hydraulic fittings. I ordered a set of 37 degree dies for my Mastercool hydraulic flaring tool and a bunch of fittings from Hydraulics Direct. This was the first time I had ordered from Hydraulics Direct - they had a nice selection, the prices weren’t bad and they shipped out quickly. I’ll definitely use them again.

I had toyed around with the idea of using some hydraulic hoses for the remote trans cooler to make installation easier, but then I decided that if I was thoughtful with my execution, then I could do hard lines to the cooler as well. So in my fitting order I included some bulkhead fittings. I added a bracket to the existing housing for the cooler to anchor the bulkhead fittings. I slapped some paint on it and then today ran the tubes. Hoses were definitely easier to run before, but I do like the way this looks.



After that I ran the lines from the bulkhead fittings to the trans cooler thermostat. That was pretty straight forward. I covered the tubes in Techflex Fireflex sleeving. I had originally planned on just doing small sections, but the more I thought about it as I ran the tubes, the more I liked the idea of nearly 100% coverage - not only would it help to keep exhaust heat out of the trans fluid, but it would also protect the tube from abrasion. I attached the tubes to the body with some double-ended cable ties and sheet metal screws.




And that’s where I stopped…..unfortunately I had only purchased 10 feet of the Fireflex and so with using more of it in the rear I had used it all up. I liked how it fit so well that I have ordered some more, but I won’t have it until Wednesday now. Oh well, better to do it the best way and delay a couple days than regret it later on.

So I then turned my attention to the hood. I have had some of Design Engineering’s Underhood Thermal Acoustic Lining to install and this seemed like a good time to do that. Like the Tahoe, I had some drone that comes into the cab from the front. It seems to come from the intercooler and it’s aimed right at my head when I’m driving. If I lean to the middle of the truck it disappears, but once I’m in normal driving position or leaning against the door window it nails me. It’s worst at 2500 RPM. I had already filled all the hollow cavities in the hood with expanding foam, but it was still there, so next was this stuff. I applied one layer in the sunken triangles at the back of the hood and then I applied a solid layer over that. Hopefully it helps. If it’s still droning (which I expect it will be), then I think I’m going to attempt to make some kind of acoustic cover for the intercooler and intake of the engine.

 

[Will L.]

Those lines on the cooler look nice- to bad it isn’t normally visible.

 

[n8in8or]

Those lines on the cooler look nice- to bad it isn’t normally visible.

Thanks. I was happy with how they turned out. I ended up making the longer one twice because the first attempt didn’t turn out as nice. That’s kind of a common theme with this truck - I think there are some neat details that most people won’t see…..just my special friends on TTS. Well maybe not “special friends”, that doesn’t sound quite right…..

 

[Husker6.5]

I think there are some neat details that most people won’t see…..just my special friends on TTS. Well maybe not “special friends”, that doesn’t sound quite right…..

Well, for some on here, that might work!

 

[n8in8or]

Since I was waiting for transmission line materials I decided to start working on the intercooler reservoir I’ve been wanting to do for a while. I bought a 5 gallon polyethylene water tank for an RV for the reservoir. I bought it with the intention of installing it in the driver side bedside like I did with the batteries on the passenger side. I got things apart and started trying to fit it and it just wasn’t fitting well - the fuel filler tube and the emergency brake cables were just enough of an intrusion that it was going to be more trouble than it was worth to make it fit. So instead I opted to mount it under the middle of the bed. It’s closer to the exhaust than I wanted, but hopefully that’s not a problem. To deal with the exhaust heat I put Tunnel Shield on the bottom and sides of the tank.



I put foam tape on the bottom of the bed and then made some supports out of aluminum channel which also got foam tape. I installed some rivet nuts in the bed supports for threaded rods to be threaded into. Once that was figured out I made a bracket for the pump to attach to, keeping it really close to the reservoir for easier priming and more efficient operation. I used plastic fittings from McMaster-Carr to make the connections at the tank. A few pieces of 3/4” rubber hose and my connections were complete.



For the long lengths of 3/4” hose I covered them with Techflex Flexo Heavy Wall to protect them from abrasion. I really like how it looks and feels - it should provide some nice protection.



All connections are finished and it’s filled with antifreeze and Water Wetter. Now I have an intercooler system with 6 gallon capacity instead of the 1 gallon capacity it had before. It should work really well now.



Finally received more sheathing for the tubing so I could finish the transmission lines. This time I decided to try some silicone/fiberglass sleeving from Amazon to try instead of the Techflex stuff. This stuff is fine, but it doesn’t fit around the tubing as well…it’s a bit looser. Here’s the steel Earl’s fitting I got for the trans to replace the aluminum ICT one.



And the lines are done. I put some ATF in it and fired it up to finish filling……then I heard a weird noise at the front and saw the fluid - I had a leak at the bottom fitting in the radiator. I shut it down and started looking it over. I frickin’ cross-threaded the flare-to-AN fitting! It seemed like it was going on tougher than the other line, but I thought it was just crushing the copper-nickel flare. Nope. Luckily the nut on the line isn’t damaged so I don’t have to re-do that. So tomorrow I’ll see if the hydraulic shop in town has a fitting and if not I’ll have to order one from Summit and hopefully get it Tuesday.

 

[Will L.]

Nice, cool, good, DANG IT!

 

[n8in8or]

Nice, cool, good, DANG IT!

Yeah. These hydraulic fittings only engage a couple threads before the flare touches the adapter fitting. Between that and the awkward reach to get to that bottom fitting while also trying to help the line reach the fitting, I relied too much on the fitting to draw the tube up to the adapter and couldn't see that the line was out of alignment in the vertical plane.

 

[n8in8or]

The hydraulics shop didn’t have the fitting in stock so I ordered it from Summit. It showed up today and 5 minutes later I was back in business. It didn’t lose as much fluid as I expected. I put 9 quarts in and it’s pretty over-full, but I haven’t gotten it warm enough yet for the thermostat on the auxiliary cooling circuit to open so that should take up some fluid. I just went around the block quickly before dinner and so far the trans seems ok. Tomorrow I’ll use it to run some errands during lunch to check it out some more and hopefully get it warm enough for the thermostat to open.

 

[BIGR]

The hydraulics shop didn’t have the fitting in stock so I ordered it from Summit. It showed up today and 5 minutes later I was back in business. It didn’t lose as much fluid as I expected. I put 9 quarts in and it’s pretty over-full, but I haven’t gotten it warm enough yet for the thermostat on the auxiliary cooling circuit to open so that should take up some fluid. I just went around the block quickly before dinner and so far the trans seems ok. Tomorrow I’ll use it to run some errands during lunch to check it out some more and hopefully get it warm enough for the thermostat to open.

View attachment 65996View attachment 65995

Run those errands and blow the soot out of it, that will get the temps up....

Great work on the whole project for sure. Time to start on the next one....

 

[Husker6.5]

Run those errands and blow the soot out of it, that will get the temps up....

Great work on the whole project for sure. Time to start on the next one....

Like a skid steer?

 

[MrMarty51]

Slowly backs out of room.

 

[Duvall]

Great looking truck Nate!

The cap, its growing on me.

 

[Husker6.5]

@n8in8or's silence on my comment is deafening. I'm sure Nate's just ignoring it. Don't really blame him. He knows it's all in good fun.