Dirt Baby LX - SoCal Explorer Log

[1MParker]

Hello Mud.
Last year I decided that I wanted to trade my trusty '01 GMC Jimmy in for a similar vintage 100 series truck for more adventures of the off road kind.
Dirt Baby 1.0 was a trusty friend and we had many adventures together. Built a house, remodeled another and built countless furniture. I hauled far too much on the weak roof rack and towed more than the rating up a mountain. You will be missed!

Enter Dirt Baby LX

I took ownership of this bone stock LX on December 26 with 177k miles. It is in immaculate condition, it's history says that it spent its life prior to my ownership with one owner in Newport Beach, CA probably crawling the malls and living the easy life.
I have much in store for Dirt Baby LX including in no particular order:

1. Get the AHC to like new condition
2. AT Tires
3. Roof Rack
4. Winch
5. Rear Bumper
6. Nav Delete
7. Sliders

And lastly have lots of fun and adventures.

 

[1MParker]

My first mod was to add Falken Wildpeak AT3W LT275-65-18 tires. I was initially worried that they would be substantially louder than the stock Michelins but to my pleasant surprise I really can't tell the difference. I'm looking forward to greater peace of mind off road with these tires. Off-roading with the Michelins I was always worried about a failure whether that was warranted or not.

 

[1MParker]

My initial baselining activities have included.

1. Replacing the cabin air filter, surprisingly it looked like it had been changed in the last year or so. I think this is indicitave of a truck that has been well cared for - hopefully.
2. An oil change
3. Flushing the AHC system using the method outlined here on Mud.
4. Brake system flush
5. Torquing the Torsion Bars. My front AHC pressure was 10.8 MPa. New front pressure is 6.4 MPa. The rear pressure is up at 7.7 MPa and I will have to deal with this eventually. Checking the fluid change from low to high I only see 6 gradiations so it seems that my globes are toast. Add that to the to do list.
6. Greased the zerks in the drive shafts with lucas heavy duty grease which pleasantly eliminated the clunk.
7. Replaced the lift gate struts as when it was cold out they did a poor job of holding the gate up.

Should I use spacers or new springs to address the rear pressures?

 

[hidesertwheelin]

My initial baselining activities have included.

1. Replacing the cabin air filter, surprisingly it looked like it had been changed in the last year or so. I think this is indicitave of a truck that has been well cared for - hopefully.
2. An oil change
3. Flushing the AHC system using the method outlined here on Mud.
4. Brake system flush
5. Torquing the Torsion Bars. My front AHC pressure was 10.8 MPa. New front pressure is 6.4 MPa. The rear pressure is up at 7.7 MPa and I will have to deal with this eventually. Checking the fluid change from low to high I only see 6 gradiations so it seems that my globes are toast. Add that to the to do list.
6. Greased the zerks in the drive shafts with lucas heavy duty grease which pleasantly eliminated the clunk.
7. Replaced the lift gate struts as when it was cold out they did a poor job of holding the gate up.

Should I use spacers or new springs to address the rear pressures?

Nice looking truck. I have 4 globes in my garage I just took off last summer and am in So Cal. Let me know if you are interested.

 

[trdcorolla]

Congrats! Your baselining and mods are similar to to what I did and want minus the rear bumper. To get my rears in spec, I first got new AHC springs (which didn't really drop the pressure much at all) then added a 30mm spacer which got me in spec (I leave my 3rd row seats in the LX)

 

[95Fantasma80]

another blue cruiser joins the ranks... this is becoming a not so rare color anymore those mall crawling owners had great taste in color as mine came from a nearby socal beach area as 1 owner religiously maintained at same dealer its entire life.

for rear pressures I'd recommend fresh new springs instead of spacers on old worn out springs.. that's just my opinion as that's how it was designed.

Welcome and congrats!!

 

[1MParker]

Thanks everyone for your comments. I went in to change my heater T's today and found that there is white stuff on a bunch of hoses and cable covers under the cosmetic engine cover. Is this coolant from a past leak? I don't see any evidence of a current leak FWIW. Is there anything I should be checking into in more detail?

 

[1MParker]

This weekend I tackled the horrible condition of the sub. The condition of the surround was not a surprise, what was a surprise was that the existing sub was not a dual voice coil as I was expecting.
I hooked up my Skar audio replacement in both parallel and series and found that the series configuration (8 ohm) sounded much better.

Amazon product ASIN B019WYPLIA
In a classic bonehead move I forgot to take a picture of the installed speaker....

It sounds much better now but the poor condition of the front speakers are now apparent.

I also ordered a Gamiviti Expo++ rack and am eagerly waiting the 6 weeks until it arrives.

The back of the enclosure required some grinding of the grid to make room for the deeper than stock speaker.

 

[1MParker]

I've been slacking in updates but many things are in work and many adventures were had in 2019.

Our first real off road trip was to take the Burns Canyon Trail from Joshua Tree to Big Bear with a side trip up sidewinder canyon (by accident). We didn't finish the trail until after dark which highlighted the need for some additional lighting for our off road adventures.

2N02 - Burns Canyon, California | GPS Map, Photos & Reviews

From the high desert floor flush with Joshua trees, Yucca, and crisp blue skies to the green forest of Big Bear, Burns Canyon, also known as Arrastre Creek, is an odyssey waiting for you in Southern California. Rich with history, particularly if you start at the south end and take in...

www.trailsoffroad.com

2N70Y - Sidewinder Canyon - California Offroad Trail

Sidewinder is a fairly quick trail that can be run in 30 minutes but allow for extra time as you make your way through. This trailhead is wide enough to stage a few rigs side by side. Airing down on this trail is a good idea with all the rock faces and rock gardens you come across along the...

www.trailsoffroad.com

From Joshua Tree we circumnavigated the Salton Sea and saw many unique things along the way.

 

[1MParker]

The next mod was to install the @TRAIL TAILOR front recovery points. These are very nice and significantly beefier than the stock tie downs. I now feel good about being recovered without damage to my cruiser.

 

[1MParker]

After installing the front recovery points I then got to installing the @TRAIL TAILOR hidden winch mount only to find that it uses the same mounting holes. Doh.

The instructions for this hidden winch mount are very good except for a couple of differences in my case.

When installed with the tow points the supplied bolts are not long enough. I ordered 55 mm long bolts from bolt depot which did the trick.

Metric tap bolts, Zinc plated class 10.9 steel, 14mm x 1.5mm - Bolt Depot

The fairlead included with my winch was quite thin and in order to get it to sit above the LX bumper cover I purchased the Factor 55 1.5" thick fairlead. This fairlead comes just above flush with the bumper cover and blends well.

Hawse Fairleads – Factor 55

factor55.com

Again the bolts supplied with the winch would not work so I ordered 1.5" long replacements from Bolt Depot.

Hex bolts, Stainless steel 316, 7/16"-14 - Bolt Depot

 

[1MParker]

Dirt Baby got a new battery today, the Optima D27F YellowTop. Someday after the AHC dies completely it will be paired with another in that location.

YELLOWTOP® D27F

The YELLOWTOP® D27F is a high-performance AGM battery designed to deliver a strong burst of ignition power for a reliable start-up. Discover YELLOWTOP® today!

www.optimabatteries.com

I also ordered a variable voltage booster to charge the battery correctly. We'll see when it shows up, with the coronavirus thing going on I'm not holding my breath.

MK4 Adjustable Alternator Voltage Booster | HKB Electronics

The Alternator Voltage Booster was the first of its type on the market and is the only unit available that was has been purpose built for alternator voltage boosting.

www.hkbelect.com

 

[1MParker]

Dirt Baby also got upgraded and switched 12v outlets in the back. 10 ga wire feeds the switch and the first outlet which then splits to 14 ga for the rearmost outlet. The switch/outlet box is from @BenCC and fits perfectly. The outlets are from Blue Sea. The 10 ga wire runs along with the stock wire harness that runs along the floorboard adjacent to the door.

Amazon product ASIN B001U4ZZPK

 

[1MParker]

Coronavirus has given me a lot of time to work on the cruiser the last couple of weeks. I mostly finished up my winch install. I started by extending the cables coming from the controller with 2 AWG cable so that the controller could be located next to the air filter box.

I routed the cables through the panel above the headlights and then attached to the winch.

I still need to figure out how to mount the control box. Right now it is just hanging out in this spot. Any suggestions?

With all the electrical in place I wound the rope on complete with the new Factor 55 Flat Splicer.

Flat Splicer

The Flat Splicer is the world’s first splice on folding winch rope shackle mount thimble. Finished in a durable Mil-Spec hard anodized surface, the Flat Splicer can be folded flat against winch fairleads minimizing vehicle frontal protrusion.

factor55.com

I'm very happy with how this all went together. On to the next project!

 

[1MParker]

With the new Optima yellowtop I wanted to make sure that it was charged correctly and so I added an HKB adjustable voltage booster.

MK4 Adjustable Alternator Voltage Booster | HKB Electronics

The Alternator Voltage Booster was the first of its type on the market and is the only unit available that was has been purpose built for alternator voltage boosting.

www.hkbelect.com

It fits inside the fuse box like it was designed to!

Voltage before was about 14.0 to 14.1

Voltage after seems to fluctuate betweem 14.6 and 14.7

These pictures also show the upgraded/changed outlets in the center console that I recently added.
One Blue Sea and one no name that includes a voltmeter. The no name is metal, feels substantial and is quite nice.

Amazon product ASIN B01BV1MTAAAmazon product ASIN B07F84VVB4

 

[1MParker]

At some point during these projects the dreaded CEL came on. I pulled the code and got an 0051.

According to the FSM this is Bank 2 Sensor 1.

Thankfully my friends at Amazon had an OE replacement in stock.
Amazon product ASIN B000C5YCUW
Out with the old and in with the new. I did have to run down to the local pep boys to grab a oxygen sensor wrench.

When I checked the resistance across the heater leads(black) I got an open circuit reading indicating that this was indeed a faulty part. A later test drive indicates no more CEL. Success!

 

[1MParker]

In my continuing efforts to bring this 180k mile truck to functionally new I replaced all of my plugs and coils.
Amazon product ASIN B002Y37M0WAmazon product ASIN B01M97PGOT
1 Box of ignition!

2 Boxes of spark

One of the plugs/ coils (left hand column second from the top) had evidence of blowby that has probably been happening for a long time.

Minty coil

 

[1MParker]

Boxes of toys arrived this week! Thanks to @sleeoffroad and @Luke111 I'll have a wider stance (I couldn't help myself) and be able to see more than 10 feet in front of me.
Can't wait to get these on. The headlights unfortunately are waiting on the Amazon Man to bring some accessories...

 

[CloudCity]

Don't know how I missed this thread before but great upgrades man! Another Blue Vapor Metallic owner here and love the color.

 

[95Fantasma80]

Boxes of toys arrived this week! Thanks to @sleeoffroad and @Luke111 I'll have a wider stance (I couldn't help myself) and be able to see more than 10 feet in front of me.
Can't wait to get these on. The headlights unfortunately are waiting on the Amazon Man to bring some accessories...

View attachment 2284788View attachment 2284789View attachment 2284790

please review those nice LEDs I've been having my eye on them for long time but have yet to pull trigger, how are you going to fit dustcaps?