Builds Another LS swap? Really??? (1 Viewer)

[ARJMN]

Once I had the winch, I needed to get down to mounting that cradle. I had quick consult with another buddy from back home in Arkansas @OlafProt , and he steered me to the design I executed. He is a fantastic designer of suspensions and structures and I am impressed with how stout this turned out. The cradle would be supported by 4 cantilevered supports that wrap around the tube. I had no idea how well this would work, and if anyone has any doubts, trust me it is incredible. The tube itself is designed to "attempt" to halt the forward progress of a vehicle in a braking situation should it come untethered while towing, so the forces developed while winching should be of no consequence. It engages the tube 180 degrees around it's circumference and being that the cradle is 1/4" and I happen have a stack 1/4" on hand, I made them the same thickness. After some fine tuning of my CAD template, I ended up with what you see below.

CAD template. If you know you know.

Final iteration laid out. The tip gets trimmed back as needed to fit the undersurface of the cradle.

 

[ARJMN]

I used my standard circular saw fitted with a Diablo Metal Cutting blade to free to supports from rough plate. There are a few purpose built metal cutting circular saws on the market from Milwaukee, Evolution, etc...but if you don't need to use it all the time and want clean cold cuts in metal, go get one of these blades. They are under $30 in most cases and work like a charm. The metal is left with very little heat and an almost burr free edge.

Here it is all tacked up and in place. Yes, the support closest to me in this pic came out too short. I was lacking that much length in the plate I cut these from, but I accepted the flaw and moved on in the interest of getting it done.

Side view. Trust me, I can jump on the fairlead and my 250lbs doesn't flex it.

I will post up a fully complete pic when done. I got it all painted and the winch mounted, but the heat and humidity yesterday ran me off. It was 108 indicated at my house and about 30% humidity. More than enough to punish me into submission in short order.

 

[Somebodyelse5]

 

[ARJMN]

Also on the list to add was a tongue box to store all the trailer bits when not in use. This includes chains, straps, binders, basic tools, wheel covers, winch remote, and misc. bits. I ordered the box shown off Amazon because it fits in the space provided and is big enough for the aforementioned items. It is a thinner than desired gauge of aluminum, and while it is nice and light, it is also cheap. Amazon is becoming what eBay became years ago, the dumping ground for all thing Chinesium. Whether that offends anyone or not, it is true. For now, I have it and will run it until a time that it gives me grief or fails.

Mounting it was easy as I have tons of random hardware on hand so a quick dig through the bolt bin and I had four 5/16" fastener assemblies dropped into four holes drilled through the box and frame rail. I typically don't like drilling holes in frames, and on true heavy haulers it is forbidden, but considering my duty cycle here and that the upper flat of the rail is in compression, I let it slide.

 

[ARJMN]

Last item for discussion at this juncture is how I plan to power the winch. In the past, I would have slapped a battery in the tongue box and run with that, but as I have learned in my six years being an Arizonan...the heat here kills batteries. I might have a different position if I were using this every weekend, but as it is, I cant make the business case for the expense of replacing ANOTHER battery every other year or two. What did I do instead? Well, the winch will be powered by the tow vehicle using a set of 30ft jumper cables and and Anderson Plug. This has several advantages. #1, there is no battery in the trailer to fuss about with. #2, as long as the tow vehicle is running, you have an endless supply of amps(within reason of course). The cables are 2/0 Copper Clad Aluminum. By far I prefer fine stranded solid copper, think welding cables, but these were $80 on sale, and the same 2/0 solid copper setup was $529. Again, there is no business case here to justify it. I sized them to 2/0 based on the 370 amp max current draw of the Badland 9500, but that is a 9500lb single line pull with one wrap on the drum. Simply put, it is a situation I will never find myself in. This will be used to drag a dead rig up onto the deck of the trailer. As long as the wheels are turning, I will never come anywhere close to that. I'll post up how the whole smash works together soon. I hope to be getting back my LS from the machine shop this week and will have to swap rigs in the garage to begin reinstalling it all.

 

[ARJMN]

View attachment 3413427

I have been called many things, but rarely those two things at once. Much appreciated.

 

[ARJMN]

Finally making strong progress again. I picked up the engine from Baker Machine last Tuesday and got busy subbing it up.

Table full of bits waiting to be bolted up.

Ended up using an Eagle crank and the rest of the rotating assembly is all Scat parts.

ARP is a bit Gucci, but I am a big fan of them. Expensive, but really good stuff.

 

[ARJMN]

In addition to cleaning and painting all the bits and brackets, I satisfy my OCD with color coding the fasteners by what is used on them. Red and Blue for red and blue loctite. Silver for aluminum anti-seize, etc...

I gave the intake a hard look and couldn't stand to put it on the clean new engine without an equal treatment. A 24 hour soak in solution, then a scrub and spray, it was as nice as its gunna be.

While assembling the fueling components, I decided to have the injectors cleaned and flow benched for good measure. While the fuel system was not contaminated in the sinking of the rig, but at this point, whats another few dollars for good measure?

 

[ARJMN]

Last thing i got done before running out of steam was to pull the springs out of the suspension. I wanted the whole thing sitting on the bump stops to be sure of exactly how much to notch the oil pan. I'll post up more pics soon. I didn't stop to take many today.

 

[ARJMN]

Got a few pics from the testing of the injectors pre-cleaning. They weren't in bad shape to start with but one of them did hang open for about three seconds before freeing up which could have been less than ideal on first start. They have been sitting since I pulled them out in April, so some effects of that are to be accepted.

This was the Static Test:

This was the Pulse Test. They were all pretty close.

 

[ARJMN]

Today's report finds me a bit defeated. What was planned to be the triumphant return of the LS to the engine bay, turned out to be a frustrating half day in the garage before an In N Out lunch sealed the deal on a lazy afternoon. The cost of the engine rebuild ballooned way over budget due to more affordable parts being on deep back order lending my impatience to accept the ~50% over shoot in order to get it back as soon as I could. I lost my summer heat escape rig due to the extended wait, and I want to get it back running before the prime outdoor sleeping weather descends upon us here in southern Arizona. But alas, haste makes waste. I was not exactly pleased to see a mix of bolts used on the oil pan when I had supplied the machine shop with the fastener kit provided with the Speedway LS pan, and I was doubly irritated when I could not get the exhaust removed due to crusty fasteners at the mating joints. I was then triply disappointed when we finally flew the engine into place and saw that there was no way to even test fit the engine due to the oil pan geometry trying to occupy the same space as the front diff housing. I knew I was likely going to have to modify the new pan, but I did not foresee this details lying in wait. Had I not had three friends standing there to aid my effort, I may have cast a array of colorful language at the mess and retreated for a refreshing beverage to contemplate next steps. As it were, I held my composure and collected myself declaring that lunchtime had arrived. After a Double Double Animal Style, I knew my motivation had worn thin and the day was taking a turn. I have learned too many times that these projects should be fun, and that the moment frustration wells up, it is time to step back and occasionally turn away altogether. Regroup and reassemble. So that is where I will leave this. I took a long nap this afternoon, and will be taking my 1290 SAR up the Mt Lemmon Control Road tomorrow to meet some friends for opening weekend of Oktoberfest on the mountain. We are heading into my favorite time of year which, back east in the land of my raising, we call "Harvest". The nights are cooling, the crops are drying, and the days begin to slide into twilight just a bit quicker with each rotation. I could really use a good solo ride on two wheels with some German-ish food as a mid-divider. I just may spend the whole day out on the bike refilling my G.A.S. Tank. Who knows? For now, I will push the build out of mind in order to come back around to it with a renewed enthusiasm and focus. Thanks @GeoRoss for lending a hand to aspiring jack of all trades today. Soon we must spend some hours on your projects.

Elvis has left the building.

 

[GeoRoss]

Glad I could help, you’ll get there.

 

[splitshot]

I can attest. been there, more times than I will admit.

 

[Saddletramp]

Been a minute…..

 

[ARJMN]

So, as Steve called out above, it has indeed been a minute since I posted(made) progress on getting Lexi Jo back on the road. So let's do that now. I shared above my acceptance of defeat in my previous effort to rehome the engine in the chassis. I had to swallow my pride once again and reach out for some help. I had two buddies that were keen to help me, and to be honest, if not for their drive to see if pushed forward, I might not have gotten it done.

While I thought I was making the best decision to fully sub the engine on the stand, it ended up being 2 steps forward and 1 step back. When I tried to get it swung in myself, I simply could not match the needed path for the engine to seat in place. The issue ended up being the motor mount bolts hanging down and interfering with the chassis bits. I did that to myself but further modifying the Advance Adapters LS Swap Motor Mounts. Previously, the bolts were inserted from below and the nuts threaded on from above. This presented two concerns. 1. You had to hold the nut to keep it from spinning when torque was applied to the bolts from below. This meant it was a two man job. 2. I don't like orienting fasteners such that it can completely fall out if it looses torque. The old way, if the nut ever came loose and fell off, the bolt would fall out the bottom and I would lose the motor mount completely. Since these are rigs that take us way out and must get us back home by Monday, I had to make a change. AS shown in the pic below, I took the motor side of the mount and welded in a horseshoe shaped piece of 3/8" plate that would capture the bolt head and prevent it from rotating eliminating concern #1. That meant I could drop the bolts in from the top and eliminate concern #2. The catch is that the bolts could not be removed once the headers are bolted in place. Easy enough to just remove the headers being careful not to foul the new exhaust gaskets and remove the bolts. Once we did that, three sets of hands had the motor in place and married to the XMSN in under an hour. WIN!!!

Another effort that made it all much easier was the removal of the front bumper. This allowed us to swing the motor much farther back in the bay and align it.

LS Swap 2.0 is one step closer to converting fuel to rumble. From here, it should just be a big weekend of reconnecting everything that is already there. I do fully expect to run into at least a few snags, so I should be mentally prepared.

 

[ARJMN]

I did not want to piece mill the work planned for the weekend due to the need to be very methodical on the details of reassembly, so I looked to items that I could knock out here and there in between meetings and phone calls. One such item was to remove the 3" bump stop extensions I fabricated first time around to eliminate risk of the tie rod meeting the oil pan. Why would I be removing the bump stop extensions now? Well, because I wanted to get back the travel I lost which meant I had to address the oil pan/tie rod issue.

I tackled that issue by installed the Speedway Fabricated Drag pan I ordered over two years ago. I had originally planned to channel the Hummer H3 pan that i used on the swap originally, but my tig welder torch failed and I simply lost motivation to fix it and move on. Fast forward to current days and I saw no better time to modify the pan, but still had the failed TIG welder bits to address.

Now, time for a side note....had I purchased the TIG welder I originally wanted, it could be argued that I would not have faced said failure. I ended up buying and Alpha TIG 201 instead of the Miller Diversion 180 that I was drooling over. Why? Because $799 vs $2799...that's why. What do I have now? A $799 TIG welder I put another $250 into to replace the crappy pedal and torch tip bits, and then had the whole torch assembly short out, blow a hole in itself due to arc flash, and then pretty much fall to pieces as the gas line disintegrated in the Tucson climate. I have over a $1000 sitting on a cart doing jack all for me now. I really would like to replace both my welders with one of Miller's Multimatic setups, but I can't really justify the $4200 entry price.

Ok, so back on track here. The Speedway pan was much shallower than the GM pan. That eliminates the tie rod issue. Next up was the fact that the Speedway pan was also much wider in the sump than the GM pan, and that meant an interference with the front diff. Easy fix, its steel plate, I can cut and weld that with my MIG setup. What to do? Cut the offending geometry out, flip it over, fit it, weld it, paint it, and problem solved.

H3 pan vs Speedway Pan:

Mods complete and ready for paint:

Done and dusted:

Side note, if you are doing one of these, or if I do another, I recommend ordering the Mark's 4WD modified pan. Its expensive, but it is the best solution unless you have the means to weld aluminum. The fitment of a factory pan is best.

 

[ARJMN]

Since the pan was sorted and the travel could be regained, I had to set about removing the extra length off the bump stop extensions. I had previously removed the springs all together from both ends so I could have a full bump condition to assess worst case scenario on suspension to oil pan. After I jacked the front end up and placed some jack stands under the frame rails, I was able to remove the bump stop assembly. When I did, I noticed that one of the rubber bumpers had split and the other was on its way just behind. I guess being 26 years old, I can't complain.

After chucking the extensions up in my chop saw to remove the bulk of the material, I threw them in the mill vice for a clean up pass with my 3" 5 tooth carbide endmill. I do love having my own knee mill. Now to find a place with room to add a lathe...and surface grinder...and auto lift...and on and on.

With a new set of OME 850 springs up front and no springs in the rear, I cringe to think that I have a squatted truck in my garage.

 

[ARJMN]

After more than I a few headaches, hurdles, and setbacks, I am happy to report that ole' Lexi Jo is back on the road and almost 100%.

The major headache after getting the motor reassembled and back in the chassis was that the machine erroneously installed a Gen 3 timing cover where my LS is a Gen 4. The difference is that the Gen 3 LS has the cam position sensor in the rear of the valley and the Gen 4 carries it in the front timing cover. The real consequence was that without a cam position sensor, the ECM had no clue where the engine was in its cycle and would not command spark. In short, a no-start condition.

You may ask why we had to replace the timing cover in the first place. If so, here is the explanation. My Philosophy of Use on this rig (or POU if you please) is that I want it to be as simple and reliable as possible. Now, I know that I deviated from that by going with an electronic throttle body and CC, but I have eliminated almost all other known sources of failure on the LS. I have deleted the PCV, DOD, and now the VVT. While the VVT is nice to get the best of both high and low rpm power, if I am honest, it has all the grunt I will ever be able to use in a non-VVT format. Moving forward, I now have a straight up V8 with no extra complications beyond what is needed to make it run. I'll know wheel HP when I am done with break in and get it dyno tuned. Until then I will have a check engine light for an unresponsive cam phaser...

VVT vs Non-VVT timing covers

See a cam sensor? Nay, you don't.

 

[OffRoadScott]

After more than I a few headaches, hurdles, and setbacks, I am happy to report that ole' Lexi Jo is back on the road and almost 100%.

The major headache after getting the motor reassembled and back in the chassis was that the machine erroneously installed a Gen 3 timing cover where my LS is a Gen 4. The difference is that the Gen 3 LS has the cam position sensor in the rear of the valley and the Gen 4 carries it in the front timing cover. The real consequence was that without a cam position sensor, the ECM had no clue where the engine was in its cycle and would not command spark. In short, a no-start condition.

You may ask why we had to replace the timing cover in the first place. If so, here is the explanation. My Philosophy of Use on this rig (or POU if you please) is that I want it to be as simple and reliable as possible. Now, I know that I deviated from that by going with an electronic throttle body and CC, but I have eliminated almost all other known sources of failure on the LS. I have deleted the PCV, DOD, and now the VVT. While the VVT is nice to get the best of both high and low rpm power, if I am honest, it has all the grunt I will ever be able to use in a non-VVT format. Moving forward, I now have a straight up V8 with no extra complications beyond what is needed to make it run. I'll know wheel HP when I am done with break in and get it dyno tuned. Until then I will have a check engine light for an unresponsive cam phaser...

VVT vs Non-VVT timing covers
View attachment 3517620

See a cam sensor? Nay, you don't.
View attachment 3517622

Glad to hear that your 80 is back up and running.

 

[ARJMN]

New shoes!

When I got my LX, I put a set of 295/75-16 BFG KO2s on there, and I gotta say they were a fantastic set of tires. I put about 25,000 very hard miles on those meats. While 25k may not seem like much, consider there was a 6.0L LS and a grinning idiot upstream of them. I beat those tires on the road, the trail, in the rocks, in the snow, all over. I have purchased three sets of KO2s and probably would have gotten a fourth, but I wanted to change it up a bit. My daily driver/tow rig is a 2012 Ram 2500 with a turned up Cummins 6.7. A few days after i bought it, slapped a set of Cooper ATP ATs in 285/70-17, and I have been really blown away by them. I have over 60,000 miles on them and they are still going. I might get another 10k out of them with luck, but more likely they will time out first. I really don't like running tires past the 5 year mark. Some disagree, but in my book new rubber is cheap compared to the risk of a tire failure on a trip or on the trail. All that leads me to say that the time came to replace the tires on Lexi Jo. As you could guess, I chose to go with Cooper this time around. I am trying to stop beating on Lexi Jo so much when on the trails and use her more as a driver and trip rig. That is part of why I swapped out the J springs to standard height OMEs. That dropped the body about 1.5" and the 285s are almost and inch shorter overall which puts the entry to the cab about 2" lower than before. The slightly smaller diameter helps with road manners a tick too, or so it can be argued.

I may be old school, but I still like letters out.

The Coopers have a deeper tread depth than almost any of the competitors.

Dropped down one size from 295 to 285. This was a two fold decision. #1 I like an 11" wide tire and this is ~10mm closer to that. #2 NOBODY stocks 295/75-16, but 285/75-16s are far more common. I replaced all 5 in order to have a matching spare as well.

Did I mention that the Coopers are made in the USA as well?!?