88GMCtruck's 98 Silverado Towpig Build: "Black Fox"

[88gmctruck]

No, at this point both are mine. The seller of the original one was willing to split the rebuild cost with me. I needed all the brackets as the other one came with nothing but the charger.

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Ran to the junkyard yesterday to try and find a driver's seat (no luck) but I did find a really good score.... Factory fog lights. You know, because I need more light.

 

[88gmctruck]

Now what am I up to?

 

[Burning oil]

I'd hate to know, but it must be a lot by now.

 

[snarl95]

Intercooler?

 

[tanman_2006]

Denali front clip because its the cool thing to do.....



















Said no one ever!

 

[Burning oil]

My old 93. I miss her.

 

[88gmctruck]

No front clip, nothing too exciting actually.

Nothing but mere maintenance. Just trolling a little bit.

Ever since I bought the truck the front carpet gets wet when it rains. On both sides. Everything I've read says to seal the screw in the cowl... well it wasn't a HVAC box leak.... It's both sides. So I proceeded the first time to clean the cowl. Second time I sealed all the seams inside the cowl area.... After the summer it was once again back.

Finally, with the help of soapy water and air, I blew up the seam in the cab and found bubbles outside.

These corners, right in front of the hood hinges. This is after pulling some sealant up and cleaning with a wire wheel.

Here is what happens. The cowl (horizontal) meets the firewall (vertical). The center of the seam is not sealed, basically the entire length of the rubber hood seal. It is only sealed on the ends. Over time it appears that the sealant deteriorates enough that water runs down the seam and eventually makes it's way into the cab.

So, I cleaned everything up, pumped a bunch of windshield urethane in the hole to the cab and slathered a new layer on everything. I also sealed the entire seam across the cowl, which probably should have been from the start. To take it a step farther, I used a can of rustoelum flex seal rubber coating over every seam inside the cowl I could get to.

So far so good....

 

[btfarm]

That's a lot of work.

 

[88gmctruck]

That's a lot of work.

Yeah but having a dry interior is worth it.

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Little bit of an update on the truck, new K2XX towing mirrors with color matched caps and smoked signals.

Few photos of them on the truck, ignore how dirty it is, we haven't had much good weather here.

I still haven't finished wiring them up, hopefully will get them done tonight.

 

[Ed HD]

All you had to do was swap the door mounts?

 

[88gmctruck]

Well they sell them for this model truck already but with no heat, the newer ones had heat so I swapped mounts lol.

 

[Ed HD]

Gotcha. I like them, but not enough to spend my own money on my dad's truck, lol. Maybe if he hits the garage door again. Although that hasn't happened since we went from the power extendable style to the 06+ style.

 

[Jorge6.5]

What was your fuel mileage before the super charger and bigger tires?

I ask because I'm looking at buying a similar truck.

Thanks!

 

[88gmctruck]

I was getting 12 unloaded highway with stock tires and 14 with the new ones. After the supercharger I get about 10 highway.

 

[88gmctruck]

Not a ton new on the truck front, got a few mods in the works once again...

Now, this isn't a truck mod, but it does have to ride in the truck. A new to me 2000 Northern Lite Ten-2000 CD camper.

These campers are how all campers should be built. Unlike conventional RVs, it's a 2-piece fiberglass shell. Literally, built like a boat. It has no wall framing, just structural fiberglass, rigid foam and paneling. So, less places to leak, no wall/roof seams, etc etc. No front window is a huge plus (they like to leak) and due to the layout there are less windows as well. The construction, size etc have some huge advantages, it's more aerodynamic, the weight isn't hanging over the truck as much, and it's lighter. Over 1,000 LBS lighter. This is also a basement model, which has in floor tanks and storage underneath. Because of that it sits quite a bit taller than the old one.

And being a 10' model it is almost a full 2'' shorter than my old camper.

Inside it's a center kitchen and dinette, rear fridge and bath. It's pretty roomy for it's size, and has a surprising amount of storage. I enjoy the carpeted headliner as well.

The bathroom in this one is even smaller than the last one. But how much time do you really spend in it?

Spent the weekend tinkering on it, testing out the systems, etc. I also have already swapped all the exterior lights out for LED and ordered some of the interior. I will have some mods from the old camper to bring over to this one, and later this year I can hopefully get some kind of rear porch/bumper built and ditch the devil stairs.

 

[DieselSlug]

Looks real nice inside!

 

[Will L.]

Snazzy!

 

[btfarm]

Really nice Dave

 

[DieselCash]

Nice Camper!

 

[88gmctruck]

Well, it has been around a month since purchasing the new camper, and it's been living on the truck this entire time. Well the old jacks were severely rusted (this must have been out at the coast). Fortunately the hardware for 95% of the camper is stainless, sans the jacks and brackets. Anyway, I took them off to rebuild and it's been a slow project as time permits.

Here is the condition of the old ones...... These are supposed to be 3/16" thick

I was able to save the dually swing out hinges

So, out came the chop saw and welder, new brackets were made but were designed with more area for support.

And everything got a nice coat of enamel.

Luckily a friend of mine upgraded his year old jacks, so I was able to install clean jacks instead of trying to re-finish the rusty ones.

Spent a few hours installing them. Ended up adding additional lag screws on every bracket where the supports were extended, and on the rear I used bolts and a plate on the upper 4 bolts to sandwich the brackets instead of relying on lag bolts into wood alone. Every piece of hardware is stainless now. I also replaced all the plug covers with new.

Up next, the rebuilt Whipple will be showing up soon. Going to put that on the truck and likely sell the used one.