84 Crewcab...AKA..Patches

I tried your set-up Doc....the DRL did not work. The low beams came on with the side marker light as a trigger though.

I really think that the DRL module is the culprit in why I can't get the systems to work right.
 
wait a sec...modual or no

if ignition was wired to a relay that kicked on the DRL
then you add a second relay to wire markers
another relay for high and another for low

its all about the power feeds to the relays at that point no power no on..its the only way to isolate everything
 
But the DRL wiring is integrated right from the headlight switch, to the headlights themselves. If you isolate one system, the other will not work....at least to my less then professional wiring interpretations. ;)
 
Last night while driving home after a movie with my family, the Pyro decided to stop working. I tried hooking and hooking the leads from the Thermocoupler last night, dug under the dash to see if the power and ground were still hooked up...everything looked fine.

So after i came in from the monsoon rains...of course...I dug around on-line and found a PDF file on how to test the early Isspro EV gauge system.

Here is a link for others....

http://www.isspro.com/TROUBLESHOOTIN...leshooting.pdf

Tested everything this morning, and it seemed that the thermocoupler was the culprit. So went down to BD diesel...yup they are 3 minutes from my house...
wink.gif
Bought a new T-coupler, and when I got home I tested the new T-coupler and it gave me the exact same readings as my old one.

So the problem clearly was elsewhere. After a little digging and closer inspection I found one of the crimped spade terminals on the wiring off the amplifier had corrosion. Pulled the old spade terminal, cleaned up the wiring and installed and new connector...works like a charm now!!

And just in case someone is testing their T-coupler using the info in that PDF file. The resistance they say you should be getting off the cold T-coupler should be less then 1ohm. My used T-coupler, and the new one both read 3.0 to 3.5 Ohms.

Also the voltage from the amplifier, to the gauge...white and grey wires, should show .8V...mine was .34V and it works fine.
 
Rear brakes have been squealing and giving me issues since I got back from my winter haul trip. I tried adjusting up the star wheels, but only one side would hold the adjustment. So I decided to get new adjustment hardware kits for both sides.

I decided today I would get this done...friggin rained like crazy, but oh well...if you live on the 'wet" coast and are afraid to get wet, then you will never get anything done on your vehicle. ;)

Here's the kit and the parts I replaced.



When I pulled the LH side I found the inner seal is shot already. It appears that the inner bearing is starting to go. Think on my winter haul trip things got hot enough to cook the inner seal....thank goodness for the arctic weather we were driving in or I could have toasted that hub!

I will be ordering all new inner and outer bearings, and seals, and probably a spindle nut kit to get rid of the nylock nuts and keepers.

Dana%2030%2044%20GM%20Bolt%20Spindle%20Nut%20Kit%20Both%20Sides%20Used.jpg
 
Today I decided to get my lazy a$$ in gear and get a few things done on teh crewcab.

I first swapped out the transmission mounts in poly back to the good old rubber.



Then I installed all new bearings, races, and seals on the rear hubs. I had one bad seal, and an inner bearing that looked a little dicey. I ordered everything in National Brand...since the info i could find on-line stated that these were still made in the USA. ;)



And the brass drifts I purchased a year or so ago again came in handy when installing the new races. Brass drifts, and a 2lb brass hammer should be in everyone's tool box. ;)

 
Also decided I would build some winter front inserts for the grille.

First I made templates out of some thin cardboard. You only need to make one for the upper, and one for the lower and then just flip them for the other side.



I grabbed some of that corrugated plastic sign material from a Home Depot when they were clearing out the seasonal summer plants....Free!



I just drilled a couple holes, and then used some long zip ties to hold them in place.



 
Having some brake squeal and wear issues on the crewcab.

Drivers side is wearing fine, inside and outside pads are making contact fine. But pass side is hanging up and both pads are not engaging properly. I have cleaned caliper track surfaces of all paint and debris. There is a little bit of wear on the caliper brackets where the inner pad rides, but I don't think it's enough to cause any "hang up" issues. Everything looks good, but that one side refuse to work properly.

With the drivers side doing most of the front braking I now have a warped rotor as well...:whyme:

Also the front end is starting to develop a "clunk" or ""bang" when I angle up to get a line on backing into a parking spot. When I turn the wheel to either side, left or right, and start to back up and turn the wheel to adjust my angle...occasionally it will make this noise.

It doesn't have to be a full lock turn to make the noise either. Had it make the noise today when I left work, making a left out of the parking stall....first time it's done it going forward.

Going to have to climb under there tomorrow and see if I can find what's going on.
 
Well it was a beautiful sunny day here today, Probably about 10*C (50*F) in the sun, so I climbed around under the front of the truck with my pry bar and start trying to find the source of the clunk/bang.

After about 5 minutes or so I finally located my noise.....turns out the rad support bolt had come loose. Both had backed off at least 1/2". So I drained the cooling system, removed rad and shroud, and then contorted myself to be able to hold a wrench on the top of the bolt, and then tighten up the nut from underneath with a long extension and ratchet.

I had used a couple used stover nuts when I assembled it the first time, but clearly they had lost their "stover" and were just regular nuts. ;) So I tossed on a couple new stover nuts and torqued it all down.

Hope that eliminates that noise. :)
 
Well I decided I would getting the front end to ride a bit smoother with the help of the thread below and user sevnt300 and his findings. Those "smooth ride" parabolic springs I installed during the 4wd conversion really did not smooth anything out in the ride....actually I think it made it stiffer. :(

Well Sevnt300 over in this thread...http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...cs-93/front-suspension-upgrade-301721/page10/ ....Post #138. He has a cummins long box crew as well with these springs was not happy with the ride either. He did a lot of R&D work to finally come up with a ride he was comfortable with.

So first I had to pull apart an old set of rear springs and find two leafs that would be 34" long and allow an even 17" on each side of the center hole. Think it was the 3rd leaf up from the bottom.

One side already had a hole for the spring clamp and was 17", the other required about 3" to be cut off. Then I had to tapper the tip.



I then went down to the shop that sold me the Smooth Ride springs...they are local....and picked up some new wear tips and spring clamps.



The rubbers that came with the new spring clamps would not work with their style, so i used some neoprene sheet I had to cut out some new ones that would.



Then I had to drill three 1/2" holes in each spring. One for the wear tip, and two for the new spring clamps to lock into. I positioned the spring clamps 6" back from the wear tips.



Tossed on some paint and got ready to do the swap.
 
Did the spring prep last week in teh evenings. So decided since I had a couple days off I would tackle the swap today. Took about 5 hours from start to finish.

First was to get the sway bar end links off, and the shocks as well. Then remove the U-bolts. Once all the was off I could start to jack up the truck to give me enough clearance to loosen the retaining bolt in the center of the spring pack and remove the lower spring.



Ready to remove lower spring.



Here is a comparison of the second spring in this smooth ride set-up, and the new one that is going in.



Of the 3 wear tips on the lower springs only one was still in place and secure. The others had broken loose.

 
Transferred the two plates from the original pack to the new spring and installed. Required a couple clamps to compress the spring so I could get the threads started on the center bolt. Then it was just snug everything up and make sure all the plates and springs stayed in alignment.



Then once both side were done I had to lower the truck back down and get everything to line up. Had to go back and forth taking a few inches out of each side to slowly lower it back down. Once the weight was on the springs I installed the spring clamps. Then finished re-installing everything. Only had to cut about 3/4" to 1" off the U-bolts to make up for the difference in spring pack thickness.

All done and ready to go.

 
I measured from the ground to the top of the wheel well arch before I started, and after I was done, lost exactly 1.5" on each side. And I can say the ride is like night and day!! I used to cringe every time I ran over a manhole cover in the road....now it just absorbs the bump and you barely feel it.

I couldn't be happier with the ride so far. Although I've only put a couple miles on it, but so far so good!
 
Well today I decided to see where my "bang/Clunk" was coming from in the front end. I was pretty sure it was the steering box, but had my neighbour crank the wheels back and forth while I watched and listened.

Sure enough the box torqued in one direction, then when direction and torque was applied in the opposite direction I got a bang. And you could see that the steering box had a lot of movement.

Pulled the battery, and IC tube on the DS and lifted up the splash guard. Found one bolt half out and loose. One other was just starting to loosen up. So I removed the two I could remove, cleaned them up and blue loctited them in place. The other two I backed out as for as I could, more blue loctite, and then tightened back up.

Cycled the steering again once everything was back together and all seems well.
 
Well i redid the rear brake hubs a few weeks ago, new bearings and seals, but yesterday on my first day off in about a week I noticed that there was gear oil on the ground by the passenger side rear tire....Doooh!

So today I tore into it to see how bad it was....





All that oil everywhere...that can't be good.

 
Turns out I nicked the inner seal on the threads when installing it. Gouged the seal and popped the spring loose as well.



And with all that oil everywhere the rear shoes were toast!



So off to the parts store for some new Wagner riveted 12x3 shoes, and SKF inner seals....Did not want to use the raybestos bonded units. ;)



 
Lots of cleaning to get that gear oil off everything. But finally got everything clean up and start re-assembly. This time I used some black electrical tape over the threads to smooth things out just in case I get weak and wobbly trying to lift that drum and hub into place. ;)



So it turned into an expensive day. Amazing what a small nick in a seal can end up costing you....a big chunk of change, and half a day. ;)
 
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