Did you ever get the lift dialed in?
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- Thread starter
- #62
It's not where I want it, no. Still Dobinsons Flexi coils up front, 2.5VT in the rear. Rear is sprung perfectly for when the truck is loaded and pretty close unloaded, but the 2.5s lift much more than I'd like. Front is not sprung correctly, and the Flexis have sagged quite a bit. Still very unimpressed with those coils, they don't feel that much softer than the VTs when they're loaded and don't extend well on my truck. Dobinsons yellow shocks are terrible, but no suprise there. And at this point they are so thoroughly cooked they do almost nothing. The Timbren bumps do a good job, I need to shorten the extensions to maximize travel but waiting for the next set of tires.
Once the swap is running well I'm planning on a suspension overhaul. Current thought process is to stick with the VT in the rear, go VT in the front. Might be a little stiffer than perfect but should support the load better. Then leaning towards ADS 2.5 three tube bypass shocks on all four corners, valved correctly for my setup.
In the same vein, debating between 37s and 38s. Probably will come down to $.
If you did it again from scratch which way would you go?
- Thread starter
- #64
Probably pretty close to what my plan is right now. Thinking I’ll swap to eye mounts for the shocks so going to bypasses is simpler.
Ideal world, Slinky coils, 2.5 bypasses, hydro bumps. Since Slinky seems pretty much NLA in the US, probably VT front and rear. Unless there’s another coil that’s closer to the Slinky that I’m unaware of.
End goal being a truck that rides extremely well while loaded for camping on whoops and chopped up crappy fire roads but can still flex reasonably well. Not looking for extreme crawly boi flex from this truck, but better than what I have right now.
Ideal world, Slinky coils, 2.5 bypasses, hydro bumps. Since Slinky seems pretty much NLA in the US, probably VT front and rear. Unless there’s another coil that’s closer to the Slinky that I’m unaware of.
End goal being a truck that rides extremely well while loaded for camping on whoops and chopped up crappy fire roads but can still flex reasonably well. Not looking for extreme crawly boi flex from this truck, but better than what I have right now.
Who makes the slinky coils?
- Thread starter
- #66
Autocraft made them, I don't believe anyone makes them anymore.
- Thread starter
- #67
She's out of the garage and back in the driveway:
Still have some kinks to work out before tuning.
Still have some kinks to work out before tuning.
- Thread starter
- #68
Changed intake piping to 4in diameter, random misfires and rough idle are gone. Need to figure out a cleaner way to route my clean air PCV lines, right now it looks pretty stupid and sloppy (both valve covers teed to a line that goes port on my silicone elbow).
Forgot to put my Weathertech back in the drivers seat… need to reprint my pedal mount AGAIN since it’s limiting ability to hit WOT.
Exhaust sounds ridiculous, it was my first time welding an exhaust and I don’t have a chop saw or band saw, so I opted for simplicity. 2.5 off the headers into a Magnaflow 2-1, 3in out. Currently dumping around the axle. Think I’ll add a reasonator and run it all the way out the back once I put a rear bumper on.
On to cleaning up little things and tuning!
Forgot to put my Weathertech back in the drivers seat… need to reprint my pedal mount AGAIN since it’s limiting ability to hit WOT.
Exhaust sounds ridiculous, it was my first time welding an exhaust and I don’t have a chop saw or band saw, so I opted for simplicity. 2.5 off the headers into a Magnaflow 2-1, 3in out. Currently dumping around the axle. Think I’ll add a reasonator and run it all the way out the back once I put a rear bumper on.
On to cleaning up little things and tuning!
- Thread starter
- #69
Have a little over 100 miles on the swap so far, thrilled with how it's going. This thing rips. I hit WOT yesterday and it is a blast (also sounds absurd). Makes my 200 series feel slow.
We took the truck to the lake yesterday in ~100 degree temps and it did well, but IAT peaked around 160. Likely a combo of heat soak and my air filter placement:
Planning a three part solution to this: 1.) change the tube routing so it's farther from the headers, 2.) add louvers and a hood scoop to pull hot air away from the firewall which will help in general, 3.) make a filter box and then attach it to a stainless snorkel (similar to the Radius ones, I just cannot justify $1400 for a length of pipe. Can buy a tooooon of stainless 4" tube for that).
Obviously my wires and hoses still need to be cleaned up a lot, but we're headed in the right direction.
Because the current exhaust dumps around the axle (not permanent) I added a vehicle CO monitor by the dog crate in the rear. Time to finish up the drawer system/crate platform:
Had washed the engine bay before I started driving it, and it's already a mess after only ~50 miles of dirt road driving. Oh well...
AC is also on the do ASAP list. My compressor hits the OEM motor mount when the engine torques over. Debating on just notching it for the clearance? But not sure how much that will affect integrity and whether I'd need to weld in some support.
We took the truck to the lake yesterday in ~100 degree temps and it did well, but IAT peaked around 160. Likely a combo of heat soak and my air filter placement:
Planning a three part solution to this: 1.) change the tube routing so it's farther from the headers, 2.) add louvers and a hood scoop to pull hot air away from the firewall which will help in general, 3.) make a filter box and then attach it to a stainless snorkel (similar to the Radius ones, I just cannot justify $1400 for a length of pipe. Can buy a tooooon of stainless 4" tube for that).
Obviously my wires and hoses still need to be cleaned up a lot, but we're headed in the right direction.
Because the current exhaust dumps around the axle (not permanent) I added a vehicle CO monitor by the dog crate in the rear. Time to finish up the drawer system/crate platform:
Had washed the engine bay before I started driving it, and it's already a mess after only ~50 miles of dirt road driving. Oh well...
AC is also on the do ASAP list. My compressor hits the OEM motor mount when the engine torques over. Debating on just notching it for the clearance? But not sure how much that will affect integrity and whether I'd need to weld in some support.
Great build! I didn't see it listed but what swap kit and t-case adapter did you use?
- Thread starter
- #71
Used the Torfab mounts and adapter! Also used their shift linkage with some minor tweaks. Solid stuff overall. I have a couple minor fitment issues (passenger head extremely close to the firewall, AC compressor hits motor mount) that I believe are related to my truck specifically, not to the kit itself.
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- Thread starter
- #72
So had an idler pulley that was screeching occasionally. Figured it would be a quick lunchtime job, devolved into a snapped bolt, somehow a snapped bolt extractor, a broken drill bit, a pulled water pump and eventually a heli-coil after many angry words.
Pretty sure the bolt wasn't fully seated and had some play. Bent and galled, snapped when I went to remove it.
I like a lot of the things GM did with this motor. Aluminum bolts is not one of them.
Pretty sure the bolt wasn't fully seated and had some play. Bent and galled, snapped when I went to remove it.
I like a lot of the things GM did with this motor. Aluminum bolts is not one of them.