Black Friday mountain day trip

[Larry]

Made a quick snow run to a nearby mountain top on Black Friday.

A couple feet of well packed snow from snow cats and snow mobiles cruising over.

A beautiful day too! It was around 65 degrees. Very dry on the west side of the mountain.

My buddy's Ram Charger almost going off the edge of the trail and becoming a tree ornament. The trail is much steeper than it really looks on camera.

YouTube- 11-27-09 Bill

Then winching back on to the road.

YouTube- 11-27-09 Bill 2

I was able to power and saw my way up the trail about ¼ mile further than my buddy and his sister before we decided to turn back before we broke something.

YouTube- Greenhorn Mountain 11-27-09

Trip plotted in Spot Adventures

http://www.spotadventures.com/trip/view/?trip_id=182584

 

[Richie]

Looks like a hell of a time.:smiley_drive:

 

[maximumrob]

Nuthin' will ever even come close to the sound of a big block in a Chevy truck workin' under a load. Yeehaa! Post up when you're ready to sell that beast. Saw your pic in one of the truck mags recently, by the way.

 

[Larry]

Nuthin' will ever even come close to the sound of a big block in a Chevy truck workin' under a load. Yeehaa! Post up when you're ready to sell that beast. Saw your pic in one of the truck mags recently, by the way.

Thanks!

Actually, the 8.1L isn’t running at its full potential the moment as I am running it on a speed density Marine type MEFI-4 engine controller and I don’t have the fuel and spark curves calibrated quite right. You can hear it running out of steam under high MAP loads. I have been running it like this for a year and I give up on getting it calibrated right so I am ditching the MEFI-4 system all together and converting it over to an automotive style mass air flow sequential EFI system via a P59 ECM from a Silverado. The harness is on order from Howell Engine Development and should be here next weekend. This was the last trip on MEFI-4 in order to compare it to the new system once it is installed.

I already started mounting the new P59 controller last week. I can’t wait to get it done as it should run much better. The tuner is turning off the drive by wire (already have a cable operated throttle body from a 7.4L), EGR, Torque Management and adding a hot tune. This calibration should be good for 60 HP over stock which a stock 8.1L is conservatively rated at 340 HP. That said, I am hoping for 400 + HP with close to 550 lb ft of torque when it is all done.

Once the engine controls are squared away it is time for the NV4500 swap. This thing badly needs overdrive.

Here are pics of the new and old ECM locations.

 

[elmo_4_vt]

Nice looking truck... Can you give some details of your rear winch setup? I'm trying to find something small that will fit in the space I have but am having some trouble finding something other than a 5000lb UTV winch that will work. Also, how do you have the bracing? Just a horizontal plate braced to the bumper, or something to the frame?

Thanks for any help/pictures you can give.

Don

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[ujoint]

There must have been a super Wall Mart at the top of the hill!!!!!


j/k!!!!!!

 

[Rot Box]

:drool: Thanks for sharing. It so fun to watch the full size trucks tear it up!

 

[Larry]

Nice looking truck... Can you give some details of your rear winch setup? I'm trying to find something small that will fit in the space I have but am having some trouble finding something other than a 5000lb UTV winch that will work. Also, how do you have the bracing? Just a horizontal plate braced to the bumper, or something to the frame?

Thanks for any help/pictures you can give.

Don

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Not much to say about the rear bumper really. It started off as a home grown winch bumper for the front of a 70’s Dodge truck then it went on to a ’74 Jeep J20 for a few years then onto the front of an ’88 Suburban for a while. When my buddy sold the burb he gave it to me where we flipped it upside down and made a few modifications to accept a receive hitch then bolted it on the rear of my truck.

The winch is just a cheap 10,000 lb Smittybilt XRC series winch, which is made by T-Maxx. The nice thing about the XRC winches is the fact they are a relatively small package. For $379 it works just fine.

 

[zukrider]

what kind of mileage are you getting with the current mefi setup? what is expected with maf setup?

i like that truck alot

 

[Larry]

Actually, I could never get the MEFI-4 tuned properly so it just got removed and replaced with a GM production vehicle P59 PCM and wiring harness with some custom tuning done. The way the MEFI-4 was calibrated it was probably about 8 MPG with less power. The way the IAC motor was commanded with MEFI the truck would just buck and jerk when idling around in gear or during shifting. That got annoying real quick. I ran the truck almost 5,000 miles that way and was pissed the entire time.

This past Sunday we took it on its first out of town trip with the new P59 PCM to play in the snow up in the mountains and it turned in around 10 MPG. With 4:56 gears and currently only a direct drive transmission it turns a lot of RPM's on the highway. Funny though, I have a stock 2001 Silverado HD 4x4 with a manual trans and 8.1L that also gets about 10 MPG (loaded, unloaded, idling or sitting in the garage with the engine off). Big blocks like gas but they are a cheap alternative to diesel torque.

Only got one usable video from our trip this past weekend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OzWg_ErtaM

I am extremely happy with the P59 PCM and tuning Howell Engine Development loaded into it. The truck startes perfect, runs great, better MPG, and the power now is incredible. It hasn't been on a dyno but the tuners predictions are 425 HP and 500 to 550 lb ft of torque just by turning off GM's "Torque Management" and adding a 87 octane hot tune. It feels like it may even have those kind of numbers too. In fact, it can be down right scary at times with the short wheel base and detroit locker if you punch it in first gear as the truck pitches sideways. Something is going to break with that much power, traction and weight I can see it coming. I see a bigger rear driveshaft in my future, as that is about the only weak link in the rear driveline.

The RH inner fender just got a lot busier with the new PCM though. Picture was before the DLC connector cover and fuse box cover were installed.

 

[Larry]

Do you use an isolator with your duel battery setup? I was running an isolator with mine and it was giving me problems so I ditched it and ran the batteries inline, it was a cure for a while but I am getting problems again. I hate electrical.

Yep, that is the isolator on the passenger's fender near the battery. It has worked flawlessly for the past 6 years.