Daddyjeep Hauler - 85 K30 crew cab short bed

[daddyjeep]

Big things with the truck lately....not really. I did get a boot for my 4wd shifter installed. I was blown away with the difference. I knew I was getting some noise through there, but I didn't think it was that much. With the sound deadening and insulation on the floors and now closing up that hole in the floor I can barely hear my exhaust. Maybe I should have got louder mufflers...maybe I will. I've just been using the truck to drag around my Smoker. I did get pulled over in it the other night because my taillights were out. I needed to wire in a new trailer plug so It wasn't a big deal. The lights weren't working because someone didn't tighten a ground screw very well. Oh yea, I got my hydroboost rebuild kit from PirateJack the other day and a new master cylinder. Next week I will tear into that...stay tuned.

[MTCK]

I recall the shifter boot making a huge difference on my old K10. You could barely hear the rocks rolling around in the SM465 once I got rid of the ripped version. Glad you have been on the road.

[Hewfil1]

Man, photobucket really screwed the pooch. I came back on for the first time in months hoping to see all my favorite threads, but was met with pictures that don't even show.

[daddyjeep]

It does really suck what they did. If you click on the icon it will show you the pic in pb, but that is just a pain. I'm glad my thread is one of your favorites though.

[daddyjeep]

[daddyjeep]

ok...that worked. it's a little big, but it worked from google photos.

[whitels1]

Awesome art!

[daddyjeep]

Not a whole lot new on the truck. I did find out that my electric fuel pump can't keep up when I am into the secondaries for a little bit. I was pulling a long grade on my new longest trip of about 80 miles and it was cutting out on me. If I backed out of the gas just a little it would smooth out. Once I got back in it it would be ok for a few seconds and start cutting out again. Not a big deal. This winter I am pulling the drive train anyway and can get a mechanical pump back in there. The reason for the trip was to pick up my new old compressor for the shop. I found an old Westinghouse Airbrake compressor. I just couldn't bring myself to buy a box store piece of crap that will fail in a few years. This old Westinghouse is fully rebuildable if I ever need to rebuild it. It has an 80 gallon tank and is extremely quiet. Not a bad buy for $125. Lets see if I can get a pic to load.

[LT7A]

Originally Posted by daddyjeep

Not a whole lot new on the truck. I did find out that my electric fuel pump can't keep up when I am into the secondaries for a little bit. I was pulling a long grade on my new longest trip of about 80 miles and it was cutting out on me. If I backed out of the gas just a little it would smooth out. Once I got back in it it would be ok for a few seconds and start cutting out again.

Don't take this wrong, but this description is exactly what I get when the fuel filter is loaded up. I have no doubt of your mechanical ability being beyond mine but I've spent big money fixing the complicated problem before and then found out later that the little fix mighta done it.

[daddyjeep]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Don't take this wrong, but this description is exactly what I get when the fuel filter is loaded up. I have no doubt of your mechanical ability being beyond mine but I've spent big money fixing the complicated problem before and then found out later that the little fix mighta done it.

I always appreciate advise. I doubt it is the fuel filter though since I have only run 20 or so gallons through it. Tank was thoroughly cleaned inside and all the lines and filter are new. This winter when I pull the motor I am going to fix the push rod so I can go back to a mechanical pump anyway. I have no plans to address the problem in another way. It is only a minor inconvenience when pulling a long grade.

[daddyjeep]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Don't take this wrong, but this description is exactly what I get when the fuel filter is loaded up. I have no doubt of your mechanical ability being beyond mine but I've spent big money fixing the complicated problem before and then found out later that the little fix mighta done it.

Well.... you were right. The issue continued to get worse so I pulled the filter and dumped it out and it had tons of black sand like stuff. There was one short piece of hose that I didn't replace that is breaking down and plugging my filter. All better now.

Not a whole lot new. My headlight switch just failed on me. I got a new one and the plug crumbled while I was changing it so I got a new one of those too. I just need to get that wired in now. I will add a couple pics if that process since there are a few things I need to figure out, I might as well share what I learned.

I picked up some new (Used) tires too. I was getting tires on my Cobalt and there was a stack of tires sitting at the shop. I asked if they were for sale and picked up all 4 for $80. They are bigger than I was going to run, but I couldn't leave them there for that price.



315-75 16, so they are basically 35-12.50's

[MTCK]

Hmmmm no pic. Sounds like a good score on the compressor.

[daddyjeep]

Originally Posted by MTCK

Hmmmm no pic. Sounds like a good score on the compressor.

I can see the pic on my computer, but not on my phone. Bummer.

[Dieselwrencher]

I can't see the pic on my computer, but nice score on it either way!

[daddyjeep]

I actually did a little on the truck for the first time in a while. I started by trying to bypass my tank selector switch, but I should have researched a bit first and now have more of mess. It looks like the gauge is getting its signal from the selector valve under the truck, not from the switch. I pulled the switch and cut the wires before I figured this out. I am now thinking that I will just run new wires from the gauge harness back to the tank and bypass the whole switch stuff. Of course in the process I broke the needle off of the speedometer.

[daddyjeep]

I finally finished up may gas gauge issue. I completely removed the harness for the tank selector switch and tied the gauge wire into the wire coming off of the sending unit. While I was at it I got all of my instrument panel lights working. I had the bend the tabs on the light plugs to make better contact on the printed circuit. I also replaced my speedometer since I broke the needle off of the original.

Since I was actually working on the truck I though I might as well rebuild the hydroboost. That seemed pretty straight forward. I already had the rebuild kit and a new master cylinder. Remove the brake lines and the two bolts on the master cylinder, easy enough. Remove the hydraulic lines from the hydroboost, piece of cake. Remove the 4 nuts holding the hydroboost to the fire wall in the engine bay, no big deal. Remove the last two nuts holding the hydroboost to the firewall from inside the cab, Holy hell, what where the idiot designers at GM thinking!!! After removing the AC duct I was at least able to see one of the nuts and the rod connected to the brake pedal. Unbolt the bracket on the pedal arm, remove the spring clip, and pull the rod off of the pin. Using a couple extensions and a swivel I was able to remove the visible nut. The other nut could not be seen or even felt. There are a bunch of electrical things in the way. I felt around and found a couple nuts that hold the brackets from the electrical stuff in place. It was easier at this point to remove the radio for better access. I was able to remove the electrical components and finally find a path to the last nut. A couple more extensions and the hydroboost was finally liberated from the truck. I found a few write ups for rebuilding the hydroboost so I won't go into great detail there. I didn't do a full rebuild, just replaced the the seal on the main shaft and the figure 8 seal between the halves. I mounted it back to the fire wall with the 5 nuts...yep, I left the one out in case I ever have to get this thing out again. I got the master cylinder bench blead and called it a night.



Wonderful progress pic.



Somewhere behind all of that stuff there is another nut.

[daddyjeep]

OK.... gotta figure out this google drive picture thing. Using the same method of attaching images, they are of an appropriate size on some of the other forums I use. Anyone know how to make them work here?

[MTCK]

Good progress! I recall exactly what you recounted on the hydroboost and I didn’t even have AC.

[daddyjeep]

I managed to make my pics a bit smaller. Unfortunately I had to download them from drive, scale them, and upload them again. All of my pics originate from my phone. When I get back to the house (where I have wifi) from the shop I upload them to drive and do most of my forum posting on my lunch break at work on my work computer. Still not happy with photobucket.

I did finish up installing the master cylinder last night and got everything bled. I did not go for a drive yet, but everything felt good in the shop with no leaks.

I spent a little time on yet another project after that. I started cutting up the steel that I am going to use to stretch my trailer. I am complicating that project a bit and using parts from my pop up camper to build a full hard sided camper on the front half of the trailer. The Jeep will still fit on the back and I will have about 11' of hard sided camper in the front. The beds from the pop up will work in a similar fashion as they did originally. They may fold instead of slide. I will work out that detail as I go. I will start a build thread on that and add a link to my signature.

[NastyBuzzard]

What did you use to scale the photos? My method is about the same as yours.

[daddyjeep]

Originally Posted by NastyBuzzard

What did you use to scale the photos? My method is about the same as yours.

I used Photoshop, but I suppose any basic photo editor would work just fine.

[MTCK]

Looks good! Remember that guy who said “I wish I got smaller tires?” Me either.

[daddyjeep]

Not a whole lot new here yet. I finally got my headlights working again. It turned out that the dimmer switch was the problem.

The timing chain tensioner failed in my Cobalt this week so I have been driving the truck to work. Luckily I parked the Cobalt in time and did not destroy the engine. Since I have been running the truck enough I finally figured out the mileage.... a whopping 8.36 mpg. I need to get the Cobalt back together this weekend. $100 a week to get to work isn't going to cut it for long. To continue my good luck I blew the motor in the lawn tractor last night too. It was a 15 year old box store John Deere so it outlasted it's life expectancy anyway.

There is at least a little bit of good news.... I picked up a 9k two post lift.

[daddyjeep]

Well, my luck continues... the right front brake is hanging up now on the truck. Will be tearing into that after work tonight.

Got the Cobalt back on the road and everything worked great.... for a while. I started getting timing chain noise again after about 15 miles. ugh.

[Dieselwrencher]

That's no bueno on the Cobalt. Hopefully the truck caliper is just from setting and no big deal.