88GMCtruck's 99 6.5L Towpig slow build.

[88gmctruck]

Well, first off, last night was "interesting" to say the least. Went to the bar Sunday night for my routine dart practice. Well, I went and picked up Devin, and went to the bar. Went and parked in the upper parking lot, which is directly above and behind the bar, up a quite stupidly steep hill. Well, upon backing up I was watching my tire and waiting for the bump of the wheelstop, however never felt it and hit the brakes. Just as I did, the truck sort of fell down, instantly I realize the snow was packed and I had backed OVER the wheelstop..... which meant that I was literally right on the edge of the hill..... in the snow. I had no room to get a run at the wheelstop, had no traction to move forward in 4wd....... So, Devin got a ride to his place, grabbed his truck and gave me a tug out and over the wheelstop.

Had I not been paying more attention, the truck would have went over the edge of the parking lot, and chances are down the hill into the bar. Would have made for quite a bad night.

You can see how close the wheels were to going over the edge.....

Now, on to the good stuff. Made a trip to the junkyard this afternoon. The yard around here is so, so stupid cheap I'm going to go broke buying parts....

Mirror Pigtails : Free

S-10 Blazer Leather steeringwheel with audio controls, and clockspring, in perfect shape: $64

S-10 Blazer long OH console with homelink and mileage computer, also in perfect shape (even has the homelink sticker!): $35

 

[Brooklyn Tow]

That was a close one!

Glad you didn't break any bottles!

 

[trouttrooper]

what junkyard are you talking about???

 

[88gmctruck]

Forest Hill Auto Wrecking in Lewiston.

 

[trouttrooper]

ah. I thought there might have been one up here that I didn't know about that was worth going to.

 

[88gmctruck]

Got another few things for the towpig...... so it can actually tow!

Drawtite hitch, 2 5/16" ball, and all stainless hitch lock

IDK why, but I decided to go big or go home on the hitch. I feel the extra safety factor is nice. I know this is over 3x my trailer's weight, but it didn't cost much more than a 5 or 6k hitch.

3"x30' 27k recovery strap. Every vehicle that goes anywhere off pavement or in the snow needs one of these. JMHO

I haven't been able to do anything this week to the truck, we've had a ton of snow. So instead I went out in the 88 a bit.

By the end of the night it slowed down quite well. When I woke up in the morning, here what we ended up with. We already had a decent 10-12" on the ground before it started snowing, and after the night the ground at my place measured 29.5". The vehicles have all been moved at some point, the red truck obviously last and the 99 earlier in the day before.

More actual mods to come this weekend. Will be wiring the mirrors in and finally getting the trailer hooked up for a test tow!

 

[ak diesel driver]

I assume the 2 1/16 is a typo

 

[88gmctruck]

Nope, my trailer has this elusive 2 1/16" ball that only was used in the 70s..... j/k. I fixed it.

 

[ak diesel driver]

lol

 

[3500GMC]

You just about created your own personal drive thru at your local bar.

 

[88gmctruck]

Alrighty, with the cooperation of the weather and the help of Devin, I got the door hinge pins FINALLY done. We got all of them replaced and lubricated, then adjusted the latches and strikers of each door. The driver's door I think had been caught by the wind at some point, so we used a floor jack to "adjust" it back upwards. I even adjusted the driver's fender to line up a little better......

Then, I spent a bit of time wiring the mirrors up. This truck was really easy compared to the 88, aside from having to make a harness for it entirely, there was already parking lights and grounds in the door itself, so I only had to run 2 wires out of each door (mirror heat 12V and signal 12V).

Few dusk shots of the cablights, mirror lights, and rear clearance light.

Man, this thing has sure came a hell of a long ways from when I first brought it home.....

 

[mangus580]

Why is there a parking light wire already in the door?

Looks great btw!! I am seriously considering getting a set for my burbs now!

 

[88gmctruck]

The lock and window switches have backlighting, that for no reason isn't dimmed with the dash, it's just on all the time with the parking lights.

 

[mangus580]

I guess I never realized they didnt dim.

so did you put the diodes right in the door to manage the signal/parking light?

 

[88gmctruck]

When i originally wired them I put the diodes on the mirror side of the connector, so they would work not matter what they get plugged into.

 

[chevyCowboy]

im new to the LED thing but why are the diodes needed?

 

[mangus580]

im new to the LED thing but why are the diodes needed?

If you look at his original thread on the mirrors - the diodes are used to allow the LED's to be lit with the parking lights, and then blink with the respective signal. Much like the side markers on the front of the truck.


I do wonder why not just feed the LEDs on the mirror from said side marker circuit?

 

[3500GMC]

We need more enthusiasts like you sir. Props all around.

I guess now I'll be polishing my PYO's I shouldn't have seen that. :mad2:

 

[bk95td]

I've been picking david's brain about just that. The LED's are polarity sensative. They won't light from either way like a regular light bulb does. I chopped a harness in my 95 LD just to prove it to myself. The diodes are needed no matter what to use the dual function as the front corner marker lights do.
I never thought to use the gray door switch illumination wire for the parking/marker light function.

The wiring color code on the mirrors function is:
The 2 black wires are heated glass function
Green/white is"+" down "-"up
White/yellow is "+" up "-" down
Blue/white is"+"R "-" left
White/silver is "-"R "+" left

 

[88gmctruck]

Door illumination wire is brown in 95+ trucks, FYI.

Thanks for posting about the diodes, Barry. Did you ever figure out the mirror functions, I can go pop the cover off and give you a pinout if you'd like.