2007 Silverado - Buy Once, Cry Once: 1-tons, 40's & a Custom Camper

[Dougnuts]

Two things, Andrew.

First, I was very excited when you kicked off this build, as all of us here knew it was going to be good. Your own high expectations, supreme craftsmanship, and skillset are recognized by those of us on this forum. Thank you for sharing them with us. Building something at this level is a LOT of work, and sharing it on the forums is even more work, so thank you.

Which leads me to my second item, which is to give the wife and son a big hug. I am going to make the assumption that your wife knows that the huge sacrifice of time and money will pay dividends when it comes to family time in the future, which qualifies her for sainthood in my book.

 

[Glidedon]

Bravo !

 

[YetiX]

Somehow this thread dropped out of my following list, grrrr. On the flip side, it was cool to sit down and read four pages of progress at once! Loving this!

 

[Andrew_S]

^ Thanks for the good words guys. It's kind of fun to look back at this thing from 6 months ago with plywood fenders I screwed into place to where it's at now.

Two things, Andrew.

First, I was very excited when you kicked off this build, as all of us here knew it was going to be good. Your own high expectations, supreme craftsmanship, and skillset are recognized by those of us on this forum. Thank you for sharing them with us. Building something at this level is a LOT of work, and sharing it on the forums is even more work, so thank you.

Which leads me to my second item, which is to give the wife and son a big hug. I am going to make the assumption that your wife knows that the huge sacrifice of time and money will pay dividends when it comes to family time in the future, which qualifies her for sainthood in my book.

Thanks for this. I appreciate the words of encouragement. Glad I didn't disappoint. Hope the camper lives up to this expectation.
When it comes to the wife and appreciation, she's happy now that it's on the road. She will be thrilled once all the work stops and we are out enjoying life with our kids.


Took Saturday off to spend with the fam. Managed to sneak in a few hours on Sunday.

Got the exhaust buttoned up minus the last 2', 3 new hangers welded to the frame and this thing is as sturdy as it could be. Everything worked nicely together, lots of space around the passenger side shock and the muffler clears the driveshaft with lots of room.

Next up I tidied up my front trans cooler lines. They were a bit sloppy and not nicely secured. Now everything has a perfect home with no rubbing or chaffing through, easy to service and no leaks. Also tweaked my bumper mounts slightly to get the bumper better aligned.
Very happy with how this front-end turned out. I can have the entire thing dropped off the truck in 15 mins, very serviceable.

Put it all back together and hit a bush road for a minute to shake down a few things.

I've had a roque abs/service brake system alarm come on since this hit the road. I can only make it a short distance and it starts chiming away at me. It took me a minute to wrap my head around this and how to solve it.
The ECM is tuned with efi live for the new gear ratio and tire size, so why is the abs system pissed off?
Well turns out the ECM doesn't talk to EBCM (brake control module) and it has no idea the tire size changed. So the passive abs system is getting a really fast signal from the VSS because of the gear change and a much slower pulse from the front wheel speed sensors biggest of the larger diameter tire. This discrepancy is causing it to say "cannot compute" and then it kicks out the abs system and affiliated codes.

I was fortunate enough to borrow this fancy scanner that has some pretty nice features.

Here's the codes it was kicking out

Luckily the topkicks and kodiaks of this vintage came with a 9r22.5, approx 38.3" diameter tires. This got me within the +/-10% tolerance the EBCM will accept and just like that my dash lights are all resolved, hallelujah.

 

[Heavyhoe02]

^ Thanks for the good words guys. It's kind of fun to look back at this thing from 6 months ago with plywood fenders I screwed into place to where it's at now.

Thanks for this. I appreciate the words of encouragement. Glad I didn't disappoint. Hope the camper lives up to this expectation.
When it comes to the wife and appreciation, she's happy now that it's on the road. She will be thrilled once all the work stops and we are out enjoying life with our kids.


Took Saturday off to spend with the fam. Managed to sneak in a few hours on Sunday.

Got the exhaust buttoned up minus the last 2', 3 new hangers welded to the frame and this thing is as sturdy as it could be. Everything worked nicely together, lots of space around the passenger side shock and the muffler clears the driveshaft with lots of room.

Next up I tidied up my front trans cooler lines. They were a bit sloppy and not nicely secured. Now everything has a perfect home with no rubbing or chaffing through, easy to service and no leaks. Also tweaked my bumper mounts slightly to get the bumper better aligned.
Very happy with how this front-end turned out. I can have the entire thing dropped off the truck in 15 mins, very serviceable.

Put it all back together and hit a bush road for a minute to shake down a few things.

I've had a roque abs/service brake system alarm come on since this hit the road. I can only make it a short distance and it starts chiming away at me. It took me a minute to wrap my head around this and how to solve it.
The ECM is tuned with efi live for the new gear ratio and tire size, so why is the abs system pissed off?
Well turns out the ECM doesn't talk to EBCM (brake control module) and it has no idea the tire size changed. So the passive abs system is getting a really fast signal from the VSS because of the gear change and a much slower pulse from the front wheel speed sensors biggest of the larger diameter tire. This discrepancy is causing it to say "cannot compute" and then it kicks out the abs system and affiliated codes.

I was fortunate enough to borrow this fancy scanner that has some pretty nice features.

Here's the codes it was kicking out

Luckily the topkicks and kodiaks of this vintage came with a 9r22.5, approx 38.3" diameter tires. This got me within the +/-10% tolerance the EBCM will accept and just like that my dash lights are all resolved, hallelujah.

Man that abs issue would of left 99.99% of people scratching their head trying to figure it out. Strong work!!!!!!!

 

[Andrew_S]

Definitely a head scratcher, way to much time reading forum posts that led to dead ends. Thankfully there is a fairly active GM SAS group and a few super helpful guys on it.
Still picking away at small projects, street legal here requires mud flaps on the rear. Picked up these super thick tandem mud flaps for $52 total. When I was shopping around I was blown away to find specialty mud flaps for $6-700, but who am I to judge.

Cut to fit, can get 2 spares out of these as well.

Mud flaps installed and mocking up my tail pipe.

First time tig welding stainless, definitely nowhere near perfect, but it should hold.

One clamp away from calling this exhaust completely done

Had my first major failure, on my way home last week it blew a transmission line and leaked $200+ in fluid everywhere, entire truck was covered.

Very happy with how this front-end turned out. I can have the entire thing dropped off the truck in 15 mins, very serviceable.

This statement proved to be very timely.... This was a stupid mistake. When I was extending the one trans cooler line I used a piece of rubber hose I had in my box, no info on it or pressure rating. Completely forgot I was planning to swap it out and then never did. Apparently these cooler lines can spike upwards of 100 psi, go figure. Whatever this was off of, it was not meant for this application.

I was able to patch it together and fill it with fluid and drive it home. Drained the fluid today, check the magnet on the plug and filled it back up with some transynd and it appears we may have dodged a bullet and not hurt the trans. Luckily it didn't completely drain the trans, even luckier it happened 1 min from home and not 100 km's deep into the woods.

Took it out for another family picnic/hunting trip. Working through a few squeaks and rattles, but one by one I'm getting them solved.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

That reminds me, I still have a bobby pin on mine I had fashioned into a tranny clip like 100k miles ago... I should probably fix that, ( and a few other things) ..


Also where the heater hoses go through the firewall, are prone to failure on these rigs if you have not replaced them, or carry some spares

 

[Andrew_S]

^ Thanks, that one has been on my radar for a minute now. Picked up these PPE fittings and replacement hose to address it, just waiting on the second hose to arrive.

I've got a short list of modifications I plan to make the next time I drain the coolant, including this L5P oil cooler.

Got a couple hours in yesterday, noticed my PS pump was slightly out of alignment so I spaced it out 1/8" with some washers and sucked the compressor in a 1/16". Belt alignment is spot on now.

Final resting place for the tail pipe, this is tight. I've check at full droop and the shackle doesn't hit, I may need to change out the shackle for a 1" longer one under full compression though, time will tell on that one.

I also got the F350 parking brake cables installed, took some custom mounting solutions, but they are secure and out of the way of everything else.

To my surprise, the stock super duty cables were the perfect length and didn't require any additional modification, sometimes you get lucky. I just need to sort out one intermediate cable and these will be functional.

 

[Andrew_S]

This weekend it's finally time to completely button up the front end of this thing.

Started by blowing it all back apart.

Setting my bumps so they max out 1/4" before the shocks

Made up this little bracket that will sandwich the limit strap while also acting as a mount for the sway bar link.

Mocked up one last time before paint.

Started working on my switch panels

Now I can start actually wiring all of these systems.

 

[Andrew_S]

Another day and some more progress,

Decided I didn't like the upper limit strap mount, so I cut the one off and used these adjustable TMR mounts.

Next up was routing the brake and abs lines, made a couple of tabs and found a really clean route. At full droop - Full lock to passenger.

Full lock driver,

Full compression, they tuck perfectly behind the coil-overs. Extended the ABS lines to get the plugs up into the engine bay and out of the elements.

Next up, this is like Groundhog Day. Beside myself, but the drivers inner axle seal was leaking....

Ready to pull the carrier tomorrow and install new seals for a third time...

I opted to buy the most legit tool I could find to drive the seals. Torque King sells this unit. Before I commit, I'm going to talk with RCV and make sure these axles are designed for 2 piece seals.

Waiting on one more piece and then hopefully tackling this while the axles is out as well.

 

[Andrew_S]

Today didn't start off in my favour, while attempting to remove the long side shaft the entire outer axle bell came off. It just jumped the clip, no damage done, but this made getting the remaining piece out a little more challenging.

I first tried with a strap wrapped around the stub and a mini sludge acting as a suito slide hammer, which didn't do it. Next, I removed the cross pin and drove it out from the short side. Unfortunately, it doesn't just come out easily with 4.88's.

Wrapped everything up and took a couple thou off the one tooth, for those that don't know this common practice.

Success and success, axle popped right out with a couple swift blows from behind.

Definitely 100% done with this 2 piece seal design, it's not serviceable at all. If I need to do anything where the axles need to come out, this design destroys nearly $500 in seals and is in no way reasonable to do on the trail. Going back to 1 piece seals after this saga.

Cleaned everything up, inspected and reassembled.

Next up was tackling some cooling items, first up was the heater core hose fittings.

After about an hour of messing around, I finally managed to get both of these quick disconnect fittings disconnected...
Side by side with the new units.

Installed, one day I'll replace this firewall insulation.

Next up was the stock filter head delete. These are prone to failure, ultimately leaking and/or letting air into the system.

These old lines were pretty checked. Happy to be pulling these.

Eventually, I plan to run the fass directly into the CP3 and eliminate a bunch of the lines running through the valley. For now, this will do, just need a few hose clamps.

Making space, might have this newfound engine bay space allotted for a future project.

Next up was the oil cooler upgrade. These newer L5P units have a ton more cooling capacity. The stock cooler had an oil leak and the pipe that runs from the water pump also had a drip starting, so this is a timely upgrade.

Finished up the day by painting some items for final assembly.

 

[NevadaLover]

Next up was tackling some cooling items, first up was the heater core hose fittings.

After about an hour of messing around, I finally managed to get both of these quick disconnect fittings disconnected...
Side by side with the new units.

Ahh... the famous Dorman 800-409hp!

They are a must have for any 1999-2007.5 GM truck/SUV.....
If I had a nickel for every unit I have bought and installed!

Andrew, you are a Rockstar here and I for one applaud your enthusiasm and energy to continue the upgrades to your vehicles and the time to post your upgrades here!

Thank You sir!

 

[ITTOG]

Ahh... the famous Dorman 800-409hp!

They are a must have for any 1999-2007.5 GM truck/SUV.....
If I had a nickel for every unit I have bought and installed!

Andrew, you are a Rockstar here and I for one applaud your enthusiasm and energy to continue the upgrades to your vehicles and the time to post your upgrades here!

Thank You sir!

Yes, definitely. I grew up rebuilding engines and then frame up restorations. After college I didn't have the time so I am getting my fix through his builds. he has me wanting to put a four link on my back axle on my F150.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

They make a special tool, for that clip...that pretty much clamps around and then you pull it toward you. I found even with the special tool, the fitting would break anyway. The aluminum fittings look great, I may have to do the same.

Your killing it, but mainly thanks for posting. We all know how much extra time it can make things take.

 

[Andrew_S]

Ahh... the famous Dorman 800-409hp!

They are a must have for any 1999-2007.5 GM truck/SUV.....
If I had a nickel for every unit I have bought and installed!

Andrew, you are a Rockstar here and I for one applaud your enthusiasm and energy to continue the upgrades to your vehicles and the time to post your upgrades here!

Thank You sir!

Thanks for this, but don't let the looming deadline be misinterpreted as enthusiasm. Due date for kiddo #2 is 1 week from today, I'm just simply running out of time!

Yes, definitely. I grew up rebuilding engines and then frame up restorations. After college I didn't have the time so I am getting my fix through his builds. he has me wanting to put a four link on my back axle on my F150.

Do it! a 4 link would be a fun little project on your set up.

They make a special tool, for that clip...that pretty much clamps around and then you pull it toward you. I found even with the special tool, the fitting would break anyway. The aluminum fittings look great, I may have to do the same.

Your killing it, but mainly thanks for posting. We all know how much extra time it can make things take.

I have the special tool but lacked the mechanical ability to move those nearly 20 year old fittings from their resting place... These units are billet stainless from PPE, nice pieces for a very reasonable price. Thanks for the good words, this is a bit of a rinse and repeat ritual now (work/post/gratification of completing projects), almost there. The check list on the freezer is getting infinitely smaller everyday.

Yesterday I got the new oil cooler installed. This job is a breeze without all of the IFS stuff in the way. I don't even think I would have bothered if it was in it's stock form.

Immediately leaking... Sometimes the simplest jobs can be so...

Got to make good use of my newly installed lower rad hose drain plug atleast?

Finished the evening painting the hubs. These stick out from the rims and were starting to rust already. Small thing that bugged me.

I was having a bit of an issue with wheel balancing or lack thereof. After calling around it appeared my only options were static balancing or tire beads. The tire beads were less than ideal because airing up/down regularly introduces a decent amount of moisture into the tire and eventually the beads will start to clump and freeze together. I've read a lot of mixed reviews about beads, it seems like 80% of people remove them because of the trade offs. Static balancing wasn't a great option either because no one would guarantee it and I can't even fit weights on the inner side of the rim because the caliper is so tight.
After doing a fair bit of research I've decided to give these units a chance.

They are made by a company called centramatic and are quite affordable, not much more than the cost of standard balancing. They are basically just tire beads but they nest between the caliper and rim and don't impact the tire at all. Also, infinitely reuseable, unlike tire beads.
Fingers crossed these live up to the hype as this thing had a fairly good hop between 80-90km/hr previously.

Attempt #2 on my coolant pipe. New gasket and a dab of RTV this time.

New one piece wheel seals, compared to the 2 piece. This is 100% the direction to go for any rig that will get worked on regularly. The 2 piece design is nice for a truck that will hit the road and not get touched for 300k miles, but not this unit.

Time to get busy and get all of this junk back on the truck before this baby comes out!