Builds Shipwreck
- Thread starter SuperBuickGuy
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- #2,062
no snap steering, I don't think braces fix snappy comments from teenagers.... beckler river, jan 1 9 am.
Can't make it. Front end won't be done and transfer case repair is next.
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- #2,064
Not a lot has been happening - most of the major problems have been solved so I've been dealing with other, non-car stuff....
but first I complained about how I need to break down the sidewalls a bit... this is 3 psi
needed to add a light to the dash... which I did
and then while I was cleaning up a hole, tore the wire out of the light .... picture when I get its replacement
finally purchased a distributor wrench....
this is for my wife's jeep - which I would have worked on tonight had she not been out doing SAR stuff....
blanking Mr. gasket clamp.... chromed aluminum clamp - no wonder it wasn't holding. First it had too much material so it wouldn't clamp at all... then I ground it down and it wouldn't hold after a bit...
it is clamped now. I've solved my Staun problem (18 psi instead of 8 psi deflation) with the purchase of an ARB deflator (and I have spare needles) and I got a better hose for filling.... this weekend will be a good run
but first I complained about how I need to break down the sidewalls a bit... this is 3 psi
needed to add a light to the dash... which I did
and then while I was cleaning up a hole, tore the wire out of the light .... picture when I get its replacement
finally purchased a distributor wrench....
this is for my wife's jeep - which I would have worked on tonight had she not been out doing SAR stuff....
blanking Mr. gasket clamp.... chromed aluminum clamp - no wonder it wasn't holding. First it had too much material so it wouldn't clamp at all... then I ground it down and it wouldn't hold after a bit...
it is clamped now. I've solved my Staun problem (18 psi instead of 8 psi deflation) with the purchase of an ARB deflator (and I have spare needles) and I got a better hose for filling.... this weekend will be a good run
ARB deflators are nice. You will like it.
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- #2,066
it's already been tested - the aforementioned 3 psi picture...
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- #2,067
Drove it tonight.... the steering issue is fixed. The issue was not cross-bracing. It still has a bit of throttle induced understeer, but since the fix (making the panhard parallel with the axle) would induce greater bump steer.... I'll take the lesser of two evils. I may try to make the panhard longer, but at this point the understeer is only noticeable when accelerating from a stop.... I may just say screw it and get on with my Buick.
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- #2,068
what a glorious day - got cut short because the alternator stopped working, but still.... it was a point and shoot day in the snow (meaning wherever I wanted to go.. no problem)
normally speaking, there's a frost line on the hills - not this time, so there wasn't the slog through the cascade cement...
got a little snow up its nose
then air up
then breakfast at the cafe - an all-you-can-eat.... I like all you can eat
it's also nice to have all the steering issues fixed...
normally speaking, there's a frost line on the hills - not this time, so there wasn't the slog through the cascade cement...
got a little snow up its nose
then air up
then breakfast at the cafe - an all-you-can-eat.... I like all you can eat
it's also nice to have all the steering issues fixed...
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- #2,069
decisions.... so I finally got an answer from Howell - 10 degrees is what they recommend. It'll be awesome when I get another timing light; my craftsman hasn't been that awesome, but it got decidedly worse when I burned the clamp (yeah, plastic clamp).
in talking with Howell's tech (for those of you counting, email before christmas asking the question along with a promise to respond to my email by the 27th - I gave up and called them today). it's another $250 to get a chip burned by them.... for an archaic system. Adding it up, $100 for the swap meet special, $325 for the wire harness, $250 for another chip.... I'm thinking it's beyond time to simply by a(nother) holley efi system. I had an EZ system, sold it because it couldn't handle the cam that was in my Corvette.... now they have a stand-alone system that takes the feedback I (and others) gave them for less then $1000.... I suspect I can sell this system (or what's left) and get my money back - though it came with so many parts that even if I keep it, it will be useful in the future as parts.
But what utterly killed it for Howells is their terrible customer service. I'll circle back to this.
The alternator was bad, more specifically the rectifier. According to the alternator guy I hit the pulley with a hammer and caused all the problems.... only problem is it didn't happen. There are days when I wished I lived the exciting life alleged by others.
Which circles back to. if the rectifier was bad, that could be one of the reasons I kept killing Modules. Anyone want to guess what's I'm not doing with the 'fixed' version of this alternator?
Or say screw it and put the diesel and automatic transmission in here....
in talking with Howell's tech (for those of you counting, email before christmas asking the question along with a promise to respond to my email by the 27th - I gave up and called them today). it's another $250 to get a chip burned by them.... for an archaic system. Adding it up, $100 for the swap meet special, $325 for the wire harness, $250 for another chip.... I'm thinking it's beyond time to simply by a(nother) holley efi system. I had an EZ system, sold it because it couldn't handle the cam that was in my Corvette.... now they have a stand-alone system that takes the feedback I (and others) gave them for less then $1000.... I suspect I can sell this system (or what's left) and get my money back - though it came with so many parts that even if I keep it, it will be useful in the future as parts.
But what utterly killed it for Howells is their terrible customer service. I'll circle back to this.
The alternator was bad, more specifically the rectifier. According to the alternator guy I hit the pulley with a hammer and caused all the problems.... only problem is it didn't happen. There are days when I wished I lived the exciting life alleged by others.
Which circles back to. if the rectifier was bad, that could be one of the reasons I kept killing Modules. Anyone want to guess what's I'm not doing with the 'fixed' version of this alternator?
Or say screw it and put the diesel and automatic transmission in here....
I vote turbocharged diesel.
- Thread starter
- #2,071
So I went to pick it up yesterday and the builder claimed that a dent on the pulley cause the regulator to fail. Only a couple problems with that. 1st, there were wear marks where the belt had worn off the paint on the dent.... oh, and the paint was still intact at the impact point. I honestly don't get it - schmidt happens and regulators fail, no big deal. But now it is a big deal because this guy is making excuses that aren't supported by the evidence.... where I'd continue buying from him if he was honest; now I can't buy from or recommend him to others. Not just that, the guy who recommended him is reconsidering using him... all for a failed regulator that was most likely not his fault.
A lot of people read this across the 'net, never comment and it's to them I say this - if you think honesty is expensive, wait until you see what it costs to be thought dishonest. I really want to confront this guy and straighten him back out - but I won't. In the end I don't care - my day is filled with people just like him, and he's just landscape that isn't paying me to straighten him out.
Oh, and it runs a lot better getting full charge but I'm still probably going to upgrade the EFI. As for the diesel, I should have another diesel suburban next week.
A lot of people read this across the 'net, never comment and it's to them I say this - if you think honesty is expensive, wait until you see what it costs to be thought dishonest. I really want to confront this guy and straighten him back out - but I won't. In the end I don't care - my day is filled with people just like him, and he's just landscape that isn't paying me to straighten him out.
Oh, and it runs a lot better getting full charge but I'm still probably going to upgrade the EFI. As for the diesel, I should have another diesel suburban next week.
Care to mention what your roll axis and anti squat are? What are you expecting them to change to? I’m looking for some info on what the ‘numbers’ translate to in real world experiences for my current project...3/4 link land cruiser axles in a mini truck with a 6.0L.
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- #2,073
I know if I try to relate it from memory; that will fail - post #211, 213 and on Shipwreck
I didn't change a lot from it - I braced the steering box better, and used a lower rate front (125/250) spring and a 2003 Ford van spring for the back (here's that memory bit) I think it was a 547# dual rate spring.... Ride height is almost exactly where I wanted it to be.
something I didn't know when I set that up (I guessed 4500 lbs) is it weighs just over 5000 lbs wet.
I didn't change a lot from it - I braced the steering box better, and used a lower rate front (125/250) spring and a 2003 Ford van spring for the back (here's that memory bit) I think it was a 547# dual rate spring.... Ride height is almost exactly where I wanted it to be.
something I didn't know when I set that up (I guessed 4500 lbs) is it weighs just over 5000 lbs wet.
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- #2,074
wheeling tomorrow, but during the run. someone suggested hydraulic assist when I built this - and my response was basically, I'll do it if I need it. Even with the braces, the frame is twisting - even if I support the box more I know the weak link will be the box itself.... so before I have to buy another Scout 2 box - I think it's time to revisit this.... that's it for now, wheeling tomorrow
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- #2,075
Photos....
Airing down to go play
two things.... the honda wanted to air down and almost became our first pull of the day... the other, yes, that's a goat and dog playing in the background...
the arch signifies that here be many pulls
nice truck, too bad today it was only 2 wd
to our left is the last pull of the day (in about 4 hours from this time)
and where we left the 2wd truck
there is rumor that my hole created a few other fun moments for others
trying out my new, soft shackles (love them)
and out
that glove becomes important later - used to keep the synthetic line from spinning on the drum
John demonstrates what happens when you zig (go right) instead of zag.... fortunately about 50 feet further he zagged instead of zigged and got stuck again so the universe was okay (balanced stucks)
et voila
remember the Toyota?
there were a whole bunch of pulls here
and the WaZuk club - most of them are really nice, but that Steve guy.... dunno about him
airing up to go home
when we going again?
Airing down to go play
two things.... the honda wanted to air down and almost became our first pull of the day... the other, yes, that's a goat and dog playing in the background...
the arch signifies that here be many pulls
nice truck, too bad today it was only 2 wd
to our left is the last pull of the day (in about 4 hours from this time)
and where we left the 2wd truck
there is rumor that my hole created a few other fun moments for others
trying out my new, soft shackles (love them)
and out
that glove becomes important later - used to keep the synthetic line from spinning on the drum
John demonstrates what happens when you zig (go right) instead of zag.... fortunately about 50 feet further he zagged instead of zigged and got stuck again so the universe was okay (balanced stucks)
et voila
remember the Toyota?
there were a whole bunch of pulls here
and the WaZuk club - most of them are really nice, but that Steve guy.... dunno about him
airing up to go home
when we going again?
- Thread starter
- #2,076
I cleaned it, and now the alternator doesn't work again.... that said, I'm not 100% sure this alternator was good in the beginning...
(random picture)
so in other news, I added some dash lights
I'll put the other alternator on tomorrow.... ran out of time tonight after doing some car-move-around-stuff
(random picture)
so in other news, I added some dash lights
I'll put the other alternator on tomorrow.... ran out of time tonight after doing some car-move-around-stuff
- Thread starter
- #2,077
For those 2 still watching - the fix is run the charge wire back to the batteries. Somewhere between the alternator and the battery is corrosion that's making the alternator work too hard..... and it's a common problem with rear-mounted batteries, no biggie
2fpower
SILVER Star
So, being one of the two watching, I have a question. I can't find the dash light you installed. Where the heck is waldo?
Just found it. Darth Vader style.
Just found it. Darth Vader style.
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- #2,079
it's an airplane dash light - that way when I launch, I'll be able to see my dash.
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- #2,080
Irritation time. I hate it when I know about something, then rationalize that knowledge away. What happened today? So I'm ordering the bits to redo the electrical system because of the blown alternator - and something simply isn't making sense. I've run countless battery-in-the-trunk set ups without a problem. Never need to do the monitor wire to the battery.... then I start blowing alternators.... and the common knowledge is there must be too much resistance in the line so the alternator works full time at full load until something goes.... in this case, the resistor in the case.
when I put the painless system in, I thought "I hope they put a resistor wire in the switch-to-alternator wire." I was going to put the typical 80 ohm, 5 watt (instead of a light bulb) inline but I then thought "well, they don't say it needs it only to protect it from backfeed from the coil".... yeah, stupid me. there is no resistor in the wire - thus the system overcharges, I'd really be lit if it had destroyed my two Optima Yellowtop batteries.... as it is. I'm still pissed. Moral of the story... even the pros who've done this a billion times miss something. *cussing*
when I put the painless system in, I thought "I hope they put a resistor wire in the switch-to-alternator wire." I was going to put the typical 80 ohm, 5 watt (instead of a light bulb) inline but I then thought "well, they don't say it needs it only to protect it from backfeed from the coil".... yeah, stupid me. there is no resistor in the wire - thus the system overcharges, I'd really be lit if it had destroyed my two Optima Yellowtop batteries.... as it is. I'm still pissed. Moral of the story... even the pros who've done this a billion times miss something. *cussing*