Jeverich's 1992 W350

[jeverich]

Here's my build thread for my 1992 W350 SRW.

Bought in September of 2018 - after searching for years. Had to fly to Anchorage to seal the deal, from there, I drove to truck to Homer, AK and put it on the ferry to Kodiak.

142k original miles when purchased, according to the seller, he was the second owner. It had previously been owned by the head of fleet maintenance for the Anchorage Police Department... No way to verify that, but the maintenance and general upkeep of the truck substantiates it as far as I'm concerned.

I got the truck home and started poking - and was immediately dismayed. That crunching that I had felt was the driver side floorboard. Totally rotten. Pretty incredible, it was the only rot on the entire truck! The previous owner had used some sort of a rubberized undercoating on that side of the cab, which trapped moisture and accelerated the corrosion process. Luckily, the rest of the truck/frame was coated with an oil type undercoating - which is superior in every aspect.

I've got quite a bit of experience with welding and fabrication - but this was my first attempt at body panel work. All in all, I'm happy with the results. Not restoration quality; but it's eliminated the rust, and with a three coat marine epoxy paint system, I'm confident it won't return during my ownership of the truck.

 

[jeverich]

Continued:

Fully welded the patch panels, both top and bottom. Then I sanded them, applied primer, and smeared 3M polyurethane seam sealer on all of my welds. Should hold!

Then came the final coat of epoxy paint.

 

[jeverich]

Truck stayed relatively stock for quite some time.

Next was a Borgeson steering shaft, which I thought would solve my wandering and sloppy steering... I was wrong. Turns out nearly every steering component in the front end was shot. Tie rod ends, etc. I put that project on hold for about a year, as I knew I wouldn't have sufficient time and energy to tackle it until just recently.

In the mean time, I installed a 3200 RPM gov. spring, as well as a fuel pin from The Hungry Diesel.

Shortly thereafter, the slide pin o-ring on the injector pump decided to give up the ghost (fairly common following a fuel pin install, due to increased fueling). Rebuilt the injection pump, it came off the truck twice... Don't ask. I'm a pro at it now!

 

[jeverich]

Next, I rebuilt an HX35 off a '97 12 Valve that suffered through a fire. Sourced the rebuild kit through CrazyCarlsTurbos.com. I'd recommend them to anyone needing quality rebuild parts. Overall, a fun project. Coming from the commercial fishing world, turbos are rarely rebuilt, rather - they're merely swapped out for a new unit. I'd never been inside of one before - quite a learning experience. Had to swap the compressor wheel, as the original had lost a couple of fins during the fire.

Hit everything with a high temperature paint, following an extensive degreasing and checking for any cracks or defects.

Assembled and ready to mount.

Worked like a charm! Noticeable difference, however - I still need to do a true leakdown test to confirm there's no boost leaks.

 

[jeverich]

Finally figured out why the heater sucked... Vent duct was totally plugged with leaves. Fixed it via the "deck plate" mod.

Next was gauges, pyrometer and boost. Both from Isspro, using the Autometer pillar pod. Overall, happy with the quality of the pillar pod. It took some finesse to fasten it to the pillar, but so far it's held up. Also, added an Isspro tach using the tach port from the CPS sensor.

EGTs were tolerable, however - I felt that I could do better. Hence, building my own "BHAF" out of some scrap aluminum and 4" exhaust tubing (left over from my Diamondeye 4" exhaust).

Also, ordered a pre-filter / hydrophobic cover from Outerwears.

I've got a Fleetguard "FilterMinder" where the brass pipe fitting is. Hadn't shown up yet when I took the photo.

Lowered EGTs by ~50 degrees, and increased boost by 5 lbs as well. Oh, also took the silencer ring out of the new HX35!

 

[jeverich]

Fabricated a rack for my rooftop tent out of Schedule 40 steel pipe, tubing is nearly impossible to get on the island. Works well!

I knew that it was getting near the time to finally remedy the horrible steering and death wobble in the front end...

 

[jeverich]

Ordered 4" lift springs from Alcan, crossover steering from Offroad Designs, full knuckle rebuild kit from Venture's Truck Parts, as well as a frame box plate / steering gear relocation kit from "Jungle Jim" on RamChargerCentral.

The parts sat for a couple of months while I was waiting for downtime from fishing.

Oh, ordered a set of new rubbers / wheels as well. Settled on General Grabber X3s, in 315/75/16 and American Racing AR712s.

The weather finally decided that I had to stay in from fishing for a week, so I tore everything down and got after it. What a project! The rear spring bushings were a huge pain to remove - ended up using a "heat wrench"...

Kingpins were actually in decent shape, so I decided to leave them in the truck. However, I did install all new seals, bearings, springs and bushings.



Found the culprit regarding that horrible "death wobble" both tie rod ends were totally shot - and the driver u-joint had nearly disintegrated. I know that the u-joint should only be a factor when the locking hub's were engaged... however, I've read that it's been the cause of death wobble for other first gen's as well.

Degreased, primered and painted the driver's side steering gear components. Next project will be to rebuild the passenger side.

Needless to say, the wobble is gone now!

Relocated the steering box, as well as shortened the Borgeson shaft. Also, boxed the frame where the steering box mounts. That was fun.

Pretty amazing the condition of the frame. It looks brand new. I credit Cummins' "external lubrication feature"!

Went with Skyjacker 5000 shocks, front and rear - so far so good. I'm amazed at the ride after new springs. Alcan nailed it entirely - I'd recommend them to anyone.

Followed that up with a fresh application of Fluid Film (swear by that stuff living on an island in the North Pacific Ocean!).

Really, really happy with the end result! Crossover steering was easily one of the best modifications I've made to the truck.

I'm sure I'm missing some small maintenance items in between, but this is pretty much where the rig stands at the moment!

Thanks for reading,

Jake

 

[jeverich]

These are waiting to be installed... Schedule 40 pipe, and 2" x 3" 3/16" mild steel tubing. It got a little trickier to get in and out of the truck wit the increase ride height - even more so for my 5' 2" lady friend...

Had some down time, and drafted these up in my head. Waiting on decent weather to finish the frame mounts.