Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

Congrats! Sprint to the finish time.

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

So the truck is all white, albeit not the greatest paint job. The bed was a rush job and I just sprayed it, metal work unfinished and all. I was reassembling the morning we had closing and drove it out of the driveway as the buyer was pulling in to do their walk through.

New to me Mickey Thompson wheels are on and ordered a set of 315 75R 16's to get me going. (pic is wheels with 305 70R 16's)

One thing I noticed is that the front diff appears to not sit square in relation to the body. I know that the wheels will not ride in the same path front to back but it seems like the diff is not perpendicular to the frame. It is sitting on a bit of a hill which might make a bit of difference. The second pic shows the p side front tire sitting in the fenderwell and it is visible there that it is not centered.

Not sure if that will matter or not, it seemed to drive fine the short distance from the old house to the shop where it sits now.

I will put the new tires and exhaust on and give it a drive again to see how it handles.

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

Truck has it new tires, new exhaust, new inspection and a few hundred miles under its belt. I finally confirmed that I have a 4.10 ratio in the back and 4.56 in the front, so we are getting some 3.73's next week.

I also recently installed a tiny tach brand digital tach since I had no clue what rpms I was running at any given speed. Turns out I was doing about 50 mph at 2050 rpms and climbed uncomfortably higher at 70 mph. 3.73's will help.

Did my first mileage test and figured I was getting 14 mpg which I thought was pretty good considering all the factors against me. 3.73's will help.

Only small stuff to iron out now like a radio and speakers, headliner and trim, and tightening down all of the interior screws to quiet the squeaks.

I have noticed that the truck leans. That is to say, sitting in a parking lot (sloped) it leans downhill. I have yet to try parking the opposite way to confirm my suspicions that it is occurring because there is no front swaybar but it seems to drive fine. The only other cause that I can think of would be a leaf spring that is settling/sagging (they are both new lift springs from ORD).

pic is of the truck with the new tires.

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

Nice truck. You worried about losing some power stepping down to 3:73?

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

Nice truck and I have to say a fast build IMO. I can relate to the schedule with a family and it is tough to get work in on projects. 35s with 3.73s and a 6.2 might make it doggy. But less rpm's should equal better mileage. Unless the engine has some wear and is down on power. Then you'll probably go backwards.

I’m not sure about the loss in power. As best I can tell there is enough torque in the 2000 rpm range to accelerate so the slight drop in hearing shouldn’t make too much of a difference. Time will tell. The drivetrain only has 75k miles so wear shouldn’t be an issue. Time will tell.
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Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

Anyone experience a leaning truck (side to side) when not running a sway bar? I have found that the d side is about an inch lower than the passenger side (when parked on a hill leaning the same way).

I am wondering if it is a lack of a sway bar problem or a sagging spring problem.

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

You could have a weak spring. Have you checked to see if both front and rear are sagging the inch, or just the front?

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

Not sure on the rear. I will have to measure tomorrow. I thought weak spring too, I will have to see if I got a warranty from ORD.

What are you thinking if it is both front and rear? Sway bar? The truck is long enough that I am not sure the sway bar would have any impact that far back.

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

IMO I don't think the sway bar would keep the truck totally level when parked on a slight incline. I could be wrong though. I know on my 72 if the wheels are turned past straight, the truck looks like it leans. Maybe that is due to the Dodge D60 taller mounting height? IDK. Have you tried using a level and checked to see if the slope angle of your truck leans the same as the hill/slope you're parking on?

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

Got the truck back today after having the rear gears changed to 3.73 from 4.10 and have noticed about a 200 rpm decrease at 50 mph. Havent gotten a good chance to really run any distance yet and just refueled to be able to monitor MPG's. The little bit I did drive I found that 2nd gear speed is now my slow speed crawl (putting in traffic) where i used to be able to lug it in third. I did try to drive some long steep hills (that I had not driven in the old configuration) and found that I was just able to keep up with traffic, which I am ok with. So now time to put some miles on and check the economy.

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

SO after a couple hundred miles and a few fill ups I have everything settled and working and am getting about 16 MPG. Not bad for what it is, heck the Cherokee got about the same.

Working on odds and ends now until like tunes. Ordered some dash speakers and a radio adapter kit to run a single DIN radio (the 1.5 DIN from Retro sound is a bit too salty for me). Not sure I have the right adapter as I believe what was sent was intended to adapt a shaftless DIN into a stock shaft radio location (directions talk about cutting the dash).

Anyone install a single DIN radio in a 1.5 DIN space? What adapter kit did you use?

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

Last post was 18 months ago! Sheesh.

Was driving the truck for the better part of the last 16 months until the trans, transfercase, and engine decided they didn't want to live with one another anymore. Had to get towed home and it has sat since. I considered doing an nv4500 swap but they are out of my price range. I found an NV4500 and NP 205 for $2500 all painted up but still needed new seals and gaskets. I have decided to stick with the SM 465 and NP205, should be getting them this weekend.

Pics are of what was left of the trans and transfercase.

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

ouch! What do you think caused that? bad ujoint? pinion angles?

A week or so leading up to the failure I heard a noise in the bell housing. I assumed it was the throw out bearing and was just going to run it until it failed then replace. I think it ended up being a bearing but have not confirmed that yet.

I do not think u joints or shaft angles were an issue, there was never any binding or noise to suggest as much anyway.
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Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

For finding a NV4500 try car-part.com. One thing you have going is that you have the round pattern NP205 and hydro clutch pedal assembly.

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

Love it when you find the parts you need via an online for sale forum, communicate with the guy all week and the day before you are supposed to go make the deal he says his wife convinced him to keep the parts because "they are so hard to find". They are not hard to find, you just happened to be the closest to me! Oh, and a day later the ad goes back up trying to all the parts he has in one go.:cuss:

On the plus side I found a Taiwanese bed side reasonably priced so scooped that up.

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

And a few days later he calls back and says “if you still want the stuff it’s yours”
And so I started the rebuild process. We will see how it goes.

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

Good work on that beast. I'm impressed with your ability to not get sidetracked on too many quote while I'm in here unquote detours. What a terrible thing to have happened with the drivetrain. I try not to look at so many damaged cast iron parts all in one sitting. Glad to hear that you were able to acquire the new stuff.

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

So got the trans rebuilt and painted, decided to let the transfer case go for now. New clutch, got everything into place and bolted up. had to put a new slave cylinder on it and now have to get a new clutch master cylinder.

Started the engine again and flat shifted through the gears, no strange noises until i get to fourth gear and hear some "whirring". Not sure if I did something wrong or if it would always make that noise and cannot hear it because of road and engine noise. Who gets to hear their transmissions spinning without moving anywhere anyhow?

Also, I have been on the hunt for an walking foot sewing machine for awhile, I want to reupholster my own seat and start doing it for other people too.

Exciting times!

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

new machine

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

nice... I would like to dabble in that myself.

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

Ok, so it has been over a year since the trans scattered itself on the road. Rebuilt trans and case are back in, spacer under carrier bearing to set driveshaft angles is installed (took 3 months for that to be made). Bled the clutch and moved the truck down the driveway Tuesday!

Picked up a burl gauge bezel and blue dash pad that was nicer than any other I had, started on a rear sport bumper install (have to get the two inner frame brackets this weekend).

Time to evict the mice and clean out the bed.

Pics to follow!

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

So everything went back together and struggled bleeding the clutch. Replaced the master and slave cylinders and will try again. So far I have used the following methods to bleed:

1. manually pushing the slave cylinder rod in and adding fluid as the level drops
2. "gravity bleeding" (leaving the bleeder open and allowing the fluid to run out
3. pump and bleed like a typical brake system

Also, once the new master was installed I "bench bled" the cylinder and got some air bubbles out of the system.

Replaced the hose as well.

We will try again this weekend and see what can be done.

Any tips before we take another crack at it? TIA

Re: 1990 GMC crew cab build
 

So I replaced the clutch slave and master a few times and its still not right but getting closer. Just keep bleeding. just keep bleeding.

I have been tinkering with upholstery lately and my brother in law gave me a bench seat out of an 03 Dodge. I sat on it in the garage for awhile then had a hair brained idea.

Surprisingly enough it fits in the crew VERY well. The mounting points were only a few inches off of original mounting holes and all but the middle two mounts contact the floor at an angle that does not require cutting and welding.

I have seen plenty of people modify the newer (2000+) GM seats and pancake the floor pans or chop up the seat track. This one dropped right in.

It will need a tilt column but otherwise is fits incredibly well.