Holy Grail Truck

[redthies]

Alcoas have gone to a new home, and will ensure that a dually suffering from young and dumb syndrome can be useful once again. A nice kid bought them so he could get rid of the 22" semi truck wheels he foolishly spent $4000 on. For that purpose I should have given them to him. But, with the $1000 I got for them I have ordered 285/75-17 Toyo AT II Xtremes for the Jeep. Smiles all around!

I also have tow mirrors on order via one of our awesome members. It'll be nice to actually be able to see what is going on behind me when I have the camper on.

 

[redthies]

Tow mirrors are now installed. They will remain in the "down" position unless I am in fact towing, have the camper on, or wish to don a flatbill... I also fixed a crossover while the door panel was off and now have 9 out of 9 speakers working. Yay.

 

[chilliwak]

Wicked looking rig Redthies. I am looking forward to seeing more......

 

[Redpim1]

Looking good. I decided to get rid of the duals on mine but still went with Alcoa wheels.

 

[redthies]

Couple of updated pics. The salt / filth season is upon us here in the mountains, and I'm driving the piece of crap F250 I got for free so the Dodge has the camper on full time in order to aid in quick weekend trips down to the ocean. I also had to bust out (pun intended) for some new lights after having smashed both my PIAA fogs in an effort to get past some idjit in a subcompact who wouldn't back up three feet to let me out of a parkade. I'm missing the comfort of the Dodge, but seeing the Furd covered in salt spray has me smiling knowing that the Dodge will not rot away.

 

[Magilla82]

I love your truck... Gonna have to get me a Cummins :wings:

 

[redthies]

http://www.ksl.com/auto/listing/1040605?ad_cid=4

It's a 2500, but the kind of truck you want to find. 10 years with the same owner. Judging by his email, he's 43-44 too. So no flatbill kid... :elkgrin: (Sorry bloodyWEST, I know you roll with a flat hat, but you probably take care of your stuff).

 

[redthies]

I love your truck... Gonna have to get me a Cummins :wings:

Thanks! It still needs a few things done to make it perfect, but it'll get there someday!

 

[bloodyWEST]

stranger, what have you been up to? hows your truck?

 

[Regcabguy]

Lookin' really fine man. And thanks for the down mirror position when not towing or carrying your camper. I watched a lot of Bullwinkle cartoons as a kid,and don't really care for the look when not in use.
Thank goodness for that e brake.
I've got great brakes on this '07,but a Pacbrake instills more confidence.

 

[redthies]

stranger, what have you been up to? hows your truck?

Funny you should ask. I've been getting back into my "winter" routine, but we haven't had much of a winter yet. It's 45* and sunny here all this week.

We have had enough snow for this:

There's a Pisten Bully in there somewhere!

After 12 hours of work with another bigger cat, breaking a couple of 30,000 lb straps, and finally just taking the entire area down to dirt, we managed to get it out. That led to a couple of days R&R at Whidbey Island in Washington. We stayed first at Deception Pass, which is right next to NAS Whidbey Island. We sat on the beach with the camper and dogs with some pilsners and our own private air show. EA18G Growlers, EA6B Intruders, Nighthawks and P3 Orions all going from around 09:00 until well after dark. Kind of interesting sitting around the campfire and seeing afterburners going in the sky above. Hard to hear the campfire songs too, had there been any!

Nighthawk with EA18 off nose.

Beach parking all but deserted.

Camper in campfire light.

We then went further south to Fort Casey and camped on the water for another day and a half.

.

The truck was great, and I realize how much I miss driving it every day. I will order up a rebuild kit for the NV4500 as it is making a bit of a growl, and I suspect a bearing or two are on the way out. Wish I had a shop at home to make this easier, but at least I have the beater to drive while I'm working on it.

 

[redthies]

I spent a 15 hour day driving down out of the godforsaken mountains to the stinkiest part of "The Big Stinky" to drop off my NV4500 at a reputable trans shop. The guys were awesome, and super experienced. They came highly recommended by all the shop managers and head mechanics I know. If they all mention the same shop out of the 100 odd Vancouver area has to offer they must be good right?

I was going to do the rebuild myself, but the potential to screw it up by getting one piece facing the wrong direction or? was too much for my brain right now. They only charged $475 for the labor, and I saved around $50 buying the parts through them so end result was $425. That money will be well worth it for a one year warranty and the ability to point the blame elsewhere in the unlikely event that something lets go in there while the wife is with me on a long trip to somewhere.

All of the innards were in decent shape, but reverse gear had a lot of wear on the bearing face, which was allowing everything to move back and forth an 1/16"-1/8". This probably accounts for the noise. Also the shifter rollpin fell out and was in the bottom of the trans which would explain why I couldn't get 3rd or 4th gear last time I drove it.

Going to re-install it tomorrow night, and then hopefully never think about it again (other than how smooth and quiet it is) for a very long time.

Next on the list is pulling the timing cover to double check KDP is tabbed. The guy I bought it from told me it was, but when I was talking with him the other day he said "I had the timing cover off to do the front main seal, but didn't know about the KDP at that point, so don't think I looked". Sounds like I'm goin' in!

I also put Dynamat type sound insulation on the hood, fixed my headlights (aftermarket housings that bulbs were not installed in properly), and found my 2nd exhaust leak (turbo flange nuts are ALL gone??? ******???). I got M10 stover nuts this time. Those should stay put!

That's the updates. Now I guess I'll go out and shovel snow for another week straight... We've had absolutely no snow from oct until last week, and have had 1'-2' every day for the last 10 or so. My plow broke (boooo!), but I bribed the neighbours plow guy to do both my driveways for the rest of the winter with a big bottle of Jägermeister(yayyy!).

 

[redthies]

Not a ton to see, but pics of the removal etc...

The Beast.

Fresh Southbend. Yay.

Bucket O' Bearings (and synchros).

The semi-updated mainshaft. New one is fully splined.

 

[lstzephyr]

Cool, I like what you have done with this truck. Sometimes I miss working on the snowcats and hanging around in the snow. I don't miss numb hands though!

 

[bloodyWEST]

cool man! nice to see some progress.

i have a 2014 ram 3500 with a g56 on order, my new work truck. and these pictures are getting me excited to drive a manual trans again.