Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

I've been enjoying watching your progress on this truck, but that video was NOT what I expected when I followed the link :lol: Lookin good!

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Haha, perfect. The song popped in my head because I was going for a drive down highway 68 in my big old pickup truck. My daughters showed me that years ago and it stuck. LOL.

Didn't do a lot today. I routed some wires after getting them loomed up. Connected a ground wire that was missed for the light harness. Most of the wiring is still a loose mess but I'll work on it. I've got bigger fish to fry...

Wanted to put some miles on it and I needed some things so I asked the wife if she wanted to ride along. She brought the puppy with because he needs more exposure to the public. So we went for a bit longer drive today and had transmission problems. Thought I fixed the leak but didn't. Fixed it in the store parking lot. And added 2 quarts of tranny fluid. It didn't leak that much, it was just low because I hadn't really filled it all the way, which is one of the things I needed from the store. The leak was solved by Just using some Teflon tape on fitting threads. The bigger problem though is it loses overdrive after it warms up. And then it really hunts for gears between 2nd and 3rd at part throttle. It got me home, 40 mile round trip. Nothing is hot.

I found a website that tells how to diagnose the most common problems with the 4L80e and I think it's an electrical side issue and not mechanical. I could be wrong but the symptoms seem to indicate a sensor problem sending bad info to the ECU or a solenoid acting up. I'm going to get the codes read for it and talk to a couple mechanic friends and see if I can figure it out. Fingers crossed that I don't have to pull the tranny. I think I only paid about $400 but that doesn't mean I want to dump a grand or 2 into it now.

Picture could be titled "because roadkill". Not the first time doing repairs in a store lot. Probably not the last.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Today's progress. It's got a front bumper.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

The bumper makes it look a lot better

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Yeah, the grille will too. I have a new one but waiting to install until after I get the new hood release cable in. Just ordered it so next week.

Also ordered a new OBD2 code reader.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PFJMTY3...R9F18B8T31MT34

Supposed to read transmission codes and other stuff. The wireless cheap one I have now will only do engine codes and is really frustrating to use because it's wifi and doesn't stay connected. I bet I had to reconnect my phone wifi to the code reader a dozen times. Eventually I got it and was able to clear the oxygen sensor codes after replacing them. New code reader gets here next week too so we'll see what I find.

Going to be a hot weekend so probably going to float in the pool more than work on trucks. I don't really have any new pics to share so instead here are pics of what I'm looking for in future projects. If you know where I can find a Chevy van, short, without a bunch of windows in fair condition let me know. Or a boat tail riviera, 71-73. Less than $2500, project cars.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

I love those Rivieras, I'll keep my eyes open for you.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Haven't figured out the problem with the transmission yet. I bought a new OBD2 code reader and took a drive with it hooked up. I monitored the temperature and once it hit 80c it kicked it into safe mode without OD. The temperature kept climbing up to high 90s. I stopped for a few minutes and the temp was still in the 90s but it went back to normal operation. I checked the pan temp and it was much lower than indicated so that is one problem. I'm trying to understand why it went into safe mode and then back without a lower temperature.

It will also swing really bad between 2nd and 3rd at minimal throttle. No idea what's happening there. And the shift into OD is really hard when I do have it.

A used transmission with issues? No way! I can try to fix it myself. The common issue is solenoids, harness, etc. Which you can buy a kit to do. Or with a new valve body, which includes the solenoids and would make sure the TCC valve is also good and only about another $50. Plus the new temperature sensor. And I should add an external tranny cooler.

Or take it to a tranny shop and have it checked out. Since it seems to work pretty well mechanically I'm thinking about just changing the temperature sensor and filter. Eliminate the known problem, do basic maintenance, then see what happens. And check what's in the pan, if anything.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

All of that is out of my wheelhouse. I'd be tempted to talk,to a trans guy and get his recommendations.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Not much progress, had a back spasm last week that I can still feel some pain from. Waiting for parts to be delivered. But I did manage to replace the hood release cable and put the grill in.

Found a tranny filter kit that includes new shift solenoids and got a new temperature sensor. Going to swap that and check what's in the pan, if anything. If it looks ok I'll add some tranny repair in a bottle from Lucas and seafoam. And install the aux cooler. Run it for a while and see if it's better. Move on from there.

Front end Wednesday...

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Smile is almost complete. The truck looks happy!

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Man, I'd forgotten about this one! Congrats on the progress!

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

The parts came, almost. One of the shift solenoids was missing from the package, the 1-2 shift solenoid. I don't think that one was a problem but I can always replace it if I need to. I didn't want to wait anymore so today I dropped the pan and checked things out. There was some wear materials in it but I don't think it was excessive. Nothing else in it. There was a magnet in the pan but not much more than dark silt on it. Everything looked alright, clean, fluid looks and smells ok. So I replaced the 2-3 shift solenoid and the temp sensor. New filter. I put in some Lucas transmission treatment and seafoam transmission treatment in it. I don't know if using both will be good or bad but they are different products and I figure that they have different ways of doing what they do, so why not?

The transmission fluid cooler I picked up was from a 90 something truck. They work great for the 67-72 truck because the brackets will mount right on the radiator support like it was made for it. That's not the case on a square body. I pretty much had to completely change the brackets to make it fit behind the grill. I got the lines with it and rebent the hard line part to go where I needed. Didn't quite finish it tonight, it's mounted but I need to get the lines hooked up. Then a test drive and cross my fingers. Probably Wednesday.

Bonus pic is a 59 Jeep. A friend (fellow board member) and I drove to the Denver area last weekend to check out a 63 C10 that he was interested in. Turned out to be too rusty and he was pretty down about it. We had planned on spending a day there to get the truck then be tourists and check out the sites. I've been there before but he hasn't. The forney transportation museum was on the list to check out but it was closed for a private event. I wanted to go up pike's peak, but this was race week and we weren't going to be able to do that either. He had to be home on Monday for work so we couldn't stay Sunday for the race. The next thing to do was simply drive up into the mountains. He's never been out west, never seen the Rockies. Off we went, with the trailer hooked up. An empty trailer. There was rain, some construction, some traffic but overall it was going alright. We drove past a place that had a bunch of old iron sitting outside so I took the next exit and went back to get a closer look. Cool stuff along the road but it's posted no trespassing. The guys shop was just up the driveway so I suggested we just go ask if we can check it out. The owner was in the shop and he was open to selling most of what was there. And there was a lot. He had a similar truck to what we had passed on that morning. But the jeep caught both of our attention. After hours of checking out all of his extensive collection we decided to make an offer on the jeep. My friend agreed to a deal and we loaded it up. We weren't going home empty. And his wife loves it so a very successful trip, even though we didn't get what we came for. The jeep is a decent driver, original 4 cylinder overhead valve engine, new tires, even the spare, a little rust but not too bad. Not sure if the winch works but it probably does. The lights didn't work but wiring an old jeep isn't difficult. Did he need another vehicle or project? Nope. Did we have a blast driving out west, finding cool stuff, meeting a great guy and getting something we didn't expect at a fair price? Hell yeah!

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Changed filter, temp sensor, shift solenoid, added aux cooler and tranny repair in a can. No real improvement.

The transmission keeps going into hot transmission mode at normal and lower temperature. Drove about 30 miles and it went into that mode 3 times. Highest temperature was about 187f which is normal. The high fluid temperature shouldn't happen until the fluid is at 295f for 30 minutes. If I shut it off and restart it goes back to normal operation and then hot mode again a few miles later. Other than that it seems to operate pretty normal mechanically.

Online search is indicating that this happens on swaps and is a programming issue or the ECU itself has issues. I'm getting some other trouble codes related to the fuel level sensor, which I don't think is even connected to the ECU. So I think the next step is going to the local shop that does these swaps routinely and have them check out the ECU and programming.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

I called the local shop that does LS swaps and we figured out the transmission problem. The 4L80e has two VSS connections. My harness only has a single VSS connector and I was plugged into the wrong one. Took about 30 seconds to switch it. The test drive went great. It even fixed the high idle problem I had.

During the call he asked about the various connections and the symptoms. One thing I had noticed but he didn't ask about was that my scanner showed a speed even when the truck was in park. That lit a light bulb and he said my VSS connections were reversed. I only had one so I switched it. Problem solved.

I drove around, let it sit and idle, drove some more, never shut it off. It ran for well over an hour, never overheating, transmission never really got warmer than about 165f.

Made my day. Still need to bring it to the shop so they can fix a couple other programming issues. Nothing serious. Going to put some miles on it over the next couple weeks, change the oil in the rear axle, clean up some wiring and work on getting the gages working.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

I'm glad it was something easy. :metal:

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Glad to hear the transmission worked out and that's a cool Jeep.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Road trip or roadkill. Let's find out.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

There and back, 182 miles. I got 18.6 mpg. The gages are working except for oil pressure, which isn't connected to the engine. The sensor is connected to the ECU. Cluster lights not working but I think I can fix that. I disconnected 3 wires from the plug, moved what needed to be moved, hooked the VSS to the plug. I can detail what exactly was done later in case someone else needs to do the same.

Speedometer was within a couple mph of gps. Pretty happy with it. The only issue I had was shift points are kinda goofy. When I slow down in town to like 20 it down shifts all the way to 1st so when I get back on the throttle it's revving and shifting into 2nd right away. And it doesn't want to shift into OD until at least 60. That's about it. Ran and drove great. Ready for the next road trip.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

About a week after the previous post I took it on another trip to get more fencing materials, around 350 miles round trip. No real issues at all, got almost 16 mpg. The cluster lights were working, just couldn't see them in daylight. And I was able to get the oil pressure sender plug to connect to the original oil pressure wire under the hood and now have a working oil pressure gage. The transmission shifting seems to be changing as I drive it. I still need to get it into the local shop for some ECU adjustments but I'm waiting until after I swap the transmission internal wire harness and the other shift solenoid because a couple of the codes I'm getting are related to that.

Here's the pinout changes for the 90-91 cluster. I wish I had found this list before my swap. I downloaded the wiring service manual and verified positions on my harness. It all worked out fine but then I found the list on a FB group page for LS swapped squarebodies, which is where I got my swap guide BTW and they have several other useful docs like for getting the cruise control to work, etc...

1 - High Beam Indicator - Light Green/No Stripe
2 - Ground - Black
3 - Oil Pressure Gauge From Sender - Light Brown/No Stripe
4 - 12 Volt + Keyed From Ignition - Pink/Black Stripe
5 - Low Voltage Warning Lamp - Dark Brown/No Stripe
6 - Not Used
7 - Not Used
8 - Coolant Temperature Gauge From Sender - Dk Green/No Stripe
9 - 12 Volt + Controlled By Headlight Switch - Light Gray/No Stripe
10 - Left Turn Signal Indicator - Light Blue/No Stripe
11 - Right Turn Signal Indicator - Dark Blue/No Stripe
12 - 4x4 Indicator Lamp - Separate wire from 18 Pin Connector
13 - Seat Belt Warning Lamp - Yellow/No Stripe
14 - Fuel Gauge From Sender - Pink/No Stripe
15 - Park Brake/Unequal Pressure Warning Lamp - Light Brown/White Stripe
16 - SES (Service Engine Soon) Lamp - Dark Brown (mine was black)/White Stripe
17 - 12 Volt + Keyed From Ignition Switch - Pink/Black Stripe
18 - Speedometer From Sender - Light Blue/Black Stripe

I plan on connecting my check engine light up to the cluster also.

Been thinking about the seat options and I want seats with integrated seat belts, which really limits the options. But that floor is such a pain to work with for seats out of anything else. I have a set of 2003 suburban buckets I planned to use but that dang floor, ugh. :waah:

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

It sounds like you had a really fun and successful trip out west! Someday I want to do the same thing. Maybe drag back a project for a kiddo. That's great to hear you got the trans issue resolved and you're putting miles on the truck! Are you coming down for the gas and oil show in Des Moines this year?

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Nope, not enough spare cash to buy stuff and I don't really have time. Buy something for me!

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

I did a thing.

Need to fabricate something to hold it down, redo the light wiring, make sure things work. It's been several years since I bought it and still haven't used it yet. The stepson might try it out next month if I don't before then.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Ever since I bought the truck I pictured it with a big ass camper in it. Being the cheap bastard I am I found one for like $900 a few years ago. Before the truck was ready to haul it. Been working on things, testing stuff, fabricating tie downs, etc. And finally got it together enough for a test drive tonight. I'm pretty proud of the tie down mounts I built. They bolt to the bottom of the frame with a plate that goes above to sandwich the frame rail. Then I put a piece on that fits between the bedside and gas tank with a C channel that fits the cross sill under the bed floor. Once it's connected to the camper tie down it's locked in place. Simple, strong and looks decent.

For the rear tie downs I'm going to make some tabs to bolt onto the bumper ends. Nothing fancy. It needs better turnbuckles and chains though. The light duty crap that's on it now isn't inducing much confidence.

The camper has a couple things to fix but overall it is pretty good. All the gas stuff works except the water heater which was disconnected on the water side. It's not original, been replaced at least once. The tank probably leaks. The water pump works. I think the water tank is good but haven't filled it yet. There's a leak on the toilet valve, $20 part that is on its way. I replaced the light bulbs with LEDs, so a car battery will keep it lit for plenty of time. The rest of the electrical is all working, including the air conditioning. The fridge works on electric and gas. The wife is getting excited to try it out I think. She's making a list of crap to fill it up lol.

The test drive went well. It handled the weight easily. Rode like a dream. I ordered stuff to get the tail lights hooked up and a Y adapter in case I want to tow something also.

On the down side I found a leak on the master cylinder. It's a hydro boost so I'll have to figure out how to fix that. So much to do yet. No matter how much I get done the list doesn't seem to shrink.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Very nice work on the tie down bracketry! I saw the biggest in bed truck camper I've ever seen the other day. It was so long it had a tag axle under it. :lol:

I didn't end up buying anything at the gas and oil show. I looked around on Wednesday and went back at 1 on Friday and everything was packed up and they were all gone. I was really surprised at a lot of the prices. Holy cow. :lol:

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

I just watched a YouTube video today of the 5 biggest truck campers in the USA. Over 19' including the over cab part. Some had 3 slide outs. I was surprised how much stuff was packed in them. Ranging from $35-65,000 and 3000-5000 lbs dry weight. What the heck kind of truck can handle that? We think of ours as a hardwall tent with a kitchenette. The tiny bathroom is almost useless except as storage or emergency use. The rest is great though.

Went shopping and got some better tie down chain and turnbuckles. A couple D rings on the bumper was a perfect fit. The bumper looks marginal but it's actually made from stout C channel. Plenty strong. I fixed a cabinet catch and replaced a window crank. Got some other things I'll get to later.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Those bumper tie downs should be fine. That in bed camper I had for my Longhorn was so heavy I'm not sure it would have slid out unless you backed down a boat ramp and tried several times to jolt it out. :lol: The worst thing I hated about mine was there was no good place to put jacks because it was meant to be left in the truck. Getting it off the truck was sketch to say the least. Haha

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

The interior looks good. Nice and cozy, I had one about the same size and I liked it a lot.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Resealing the hydroboost isn't a big deal. I didn't pull any of the pistons or internal stuff. I think it was the figure 8 seal that typically goes bad. I used this kit.

https://piratejack.net/2771004x-hydro-boost-repair-kit/

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

I want to add another jack to mine. Based on the weight alone it's not required but damn it feels like it wouldn't take much of a nudge to knock it over. Plus I leave it elevated on the jacks to prevent rodent infestation. It worked so far. But all the weight on one side on a single jack made it deform a bit.

So if anyone around southern MN within a couple hundred miles has some camper jacks they want to get rid of let me know.
Everything you need, nothing you don't. Well for a night or two. Haha
Thanks for the info. I figured it couldn't be too bad. The brakes work fine. Just leaking down the firewall.

The wife and I went shopping today. She's not a pinky up kind of gal although she can look it if she wants. We hit up every thrift store in Mankato. Picked up more stuff for the camper, I found a Milwaukee hammer drill for $25, a brand new cordless weed whip with battery (same as my other B&D stuff) for $5. Plus a bunch of other junk. She loves days like this and I'm happy to provide it. I should probably get the dashboard back together and put the door panels on soon. Spiff this baby up a smidge.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Neat camper! You better hurry up, doesn't it start snowin' up there in like 10 days? ;)

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

It's got a heater. ;)

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Out with the old, in with the less old. I had these air shocks from my Jimmy. I only used them on that for a couple years to help lift the rear a bit to level it out. I had to change upper bushings to fit the larger stud mount. I just used the metal bushings from the old shocks and drilled the rubber so it would fit in the less old shocks.

Gotta hook up the air lines and try it out. The camper is in the kids truck this week so I have a couple inches of extra clearance for working underneath. Lol I drove it to town to run an errand and took it over the scale. It was 5580 lbs with me in it and about 30-40 lbs of tools and almost full tank. A few days before I weighed it with the camper on and everything else about the same and the camper adds about 2300 lbs.

Working underneath I noticed that the top helper springs were either cut or broken and probably would help with the leaning I had in a cross wind. Which is why I am using the air shocks. I might replace the helper springs but I'm undecided. Two reasons, first is that air bags would be a good upgrade for supporting heavy loads and 2nd, I was planning on lowering the truck a bit. Not a lot. I already have a shackle flip for the rear. And doing that might be a problem with the helper leafs.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Also working on putting the interior back together. Just cleaning up and reusing the original stuff right now. The passenger side door panel looks good, has a crack on top but not really noticable. The driver side panel is rough and will need replaced eventually.

The dashboard is the next challenge. I can't remember where pieces go or if I even have everything.

I pumped up the air shocks and it lifted the rear about 3/8". I'm guessing it will be a stiffer ride empty. Going to try it out tomorrow.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Wow, been longer than I thought since the last update. Not a lot changed. Had the camper back in it but didn't use it. Too much other stuff going on. I looked into getting airbags and I'm not sure that's the way to go or if I should just replace the leaf springs. I think one side is a little softer than the other because it started to lean a bit. I don't see any cracked leafs but that's not the only reason they sag. Got all winter to think about it.

I did look into tow mirrors and found that GM had used extendable mirrors on some trucks. I think it's on dually camper special trucks but I'm not sure. If anyone knows, speak up. And I think I found a set of those OEM mirrors on a parts truck south of me. But during my search I came across posts on the forum here about after market extendable mirrors. I don't think they still make them but one of the posts had a set and he was going to sell them. It was posted a year ago but I messaged him anyway and he still had them.

The ones he had were for the 88 and up trucks where the door mirrors are mounted where the wing window is and the tube had a tighter angle bend than the square body trucks. I figured I could straighten them out to the 90* angle I needed so I bought them. The tube is the same diameter. Got them mounted today and they look good and should work great when the camper is loaded.

I think my only plans for working on it this winter is getting new wheels and tires (I don't trust the old 16.5" tires and want to switch to 16"), figuring out what to do about the rear suspension and maybe do more rust repair, dash assembly, replace the transmission inner wire harness and bring it to the shop for some further ECU tuning.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

you have some great projects man

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

I need to find myself a set of those as well.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Barely touched this truck through the winter. I started it a couple times and drove it on the driveway. It always started right up which is nice. Not a lot of big plans for it this summer. I need to replace the old tires. I really didn't trust them with the camper loaded up. They were not high load rated plus the age and weather checking. They are 16.5" also. Didn't want to stick with those. If there was a stock looking steel wheel in 17" I would have got them but I couldn't find what I wanted. Got a great deal on eBay for some OEM GM 16" wheels though. $57 shipped for powder coated wheels? Hell yeah!! They are blems which is why they are so cheap. They were delivered today and I'm happy with them. The blemishes are like areas where the coating isn't as thick as it should be, or Knicks, scratches, etc. Nothing terrible as far as I can see. After a couple years even great wheels would look like these.

Shopping for tires is fun isn't it? I want load range E or 10 ply and that seems to limit options. I want to keep to the stock size because I'm pretty happy with the gearing and the look. And the speedometer is really close too. Found a decent deal on new ones but spent several hours searching for used. Not finding any great deals there. So I'll put my tire order in here today.

The only other plans for this year is getting the rear helper springs replaced. Maybe all of the rear springs. Getting the dash reassembled. Body mounts replaced and the one rusty cab mount replaced. I have some new seats that I think will be more comfortable and have an arm rest. Going to add cup holders if it doesn't have them already. I'd like to get the holes filled from the snaps on the roof for the visor that it once had. And maybe replace the rear bumper with a nicer step bumper.

And maybe get some camping in!!

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

New tires got here yesterday. Mounted and balanced and installed today. The old truck is looking pretty nice!

Also found a part number for the helper springs I need on my plow truck. For some reason they are listed online as a 89-91 spring so it didn't come up on my searches for the 79. Weird. Dormans catalog has it listed for all square bodies though. Found some on ebay for about $40 each, free shipping!

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

Finally got a cloth sample for recovering some seats! Relocate leather had what I was looking for in stock. Going to make sure it will match with the vinyl I liked at my upholstery ladies shop and get some ordered. Can't wait for better seats! I haven't replaced the overload springs yet, been busy with the cobra and the C10. The engine and transmission swap in the C10 is almost done though so I might find time soon to turn a wrench on this one.

The second pic is a seat I'm looking to emulate. Really love the look and will be perfect for the interior of this truck.

Re: HG's Bigass Farm Truck
 

I received the houndstooth fabric and I think the upholsterer ordered the rawhide style of vinyl for the seats. I need to mount one though and make sure I can get the brackets on it.

Today I finally got the overload springs installed. IDK if I'll use the camper this year or not. I should load it just to try it again and see how it rides now. A pic of what was left of the original springs. No idea why they were cut. It's not a lowered truck where they would be in the way.