I neglected to cover some updates made to the truck prior to the summer season. First off the dead Smittybuilt air compressor was chucked in favor of an ARB twin air compressor.
The camper got an upgrade of 2ga cable feeding it from the aux battery. The fridge was struggling in the heat with a smaller feed. Hydraulic crimper for the win, killer tool.
On a weekend thrash session at Larry's we fixed the cracks in the frame at the steering box, fresh softride front springs, rear shock mount braces and yet another front fender.
These cracks occurred with the ORD steering box brace installed from the beginning when we put the 5.3 in. It's just a matter of time if you actually wheel your junk to have this happen. The weld on brace was installed by our buddy Bill.
The trip to AZ found another issue with the fenders. This time the rear bracket on the fender broke spot welds again and broke the captured nut on the cowl for the fender mount too.
With another used GM fender acquired we used the same technique Larry used on his K10 to combat the same issue of broken spot welds.
The Superlift softride 4" springs replaced the almost 20 year old Rough Country springs. ORD kevlar/poly bushings were used with greaseable bolts on all three pivot points and ORD HD shackles went in. The frame mounted shackle bushings proved to be a pain to remove.
The rear shock support brackets from ORD went in with fresh Bilstien shocks.
A fresh steering gear went on after the paint dried on the frame repair. The ride quality increased exponentially. Between the better springs and steering the truck was way more pleasing to drive at highway speed and I later found on faster dirt stuff was much more stable than before.
Desert trip came quickly after the upgrades. Utah bound with the boys.
The rest of the crew in Hanksville.
Night one up in the Henry Mountains.
There was a reason we were up in the mountains on the Desert trip. I set the route and had a surprise for everyone. The run over the pass would provide a very unique overlook of Canyonlands to the east and on the horizon, the LaSalle mountains.
Coming down the other side of the pass we went from overlooking one national park to another. Looking over Capitol Reef NP here.
On our way down the mountain I noticed my exhaust getting louder and louder. I was pretty sure I blew out another exhaust donut.
The closest part store is all the way back in Green River or Moab. The 8.1 is way down on power with the exhaust leak a scant few inches in front of the o2 sensor on that side. We had to adapt. I had a roll of aluminum tape under the front seat from the insulation I installed on the floor. The foil got wrapped around the donut to add some needed thickness. It worked.
We camped on the moon.
Continued....