java230
java230 UltraDork
5/16/19 10:07 a.m.

Took the truck for a longer highway drive. Its back to being great again!

Its been a long time since I did Excel..... But Logs: EBP vs RPM is Grey, EGT (well EGT/100 as it throws the values way huge vs everything else anyway) vs RPM is Orange, and Boost is Blue.

And a snippet of the data if thats more helpful, roll from a stop. Accelerator Position (A), EGT (B), Boost (D), EBP (E) and RPM (F) as well as VGT because its interesting.
 

camaroz1985
camaroz1985 HalfDork
5/20/19 10:56 a.m.

Color coordinating your excel to your vehicle, the ultimate in car-nerdom.  Well done sir.

(I know they are the default colors, but it must be a sign)

java230
java230 UltraDork
5/20/19 1:21 p.m.

In reply to camaroz1985 :

Ha I didnt even catch that!

But I think just having a giant Excel sheet of data from the truck is pretty damn cool!

 

Ran great all weekend.

 

I managed to find a big ass rock tho..... whoops....

java230
java230 UltraDork
5/28/19 11:41 a.m.

Blew another boost coupler off, I think the hose clamp broke?? They are usually on the coupler, this one was MIA.

Stole a couple house clamps off the water tank to make one big one. Ghetto, but it worked! (note: zip ties will not hold boost :D )

Rain, and Dutch Oven pizzas, we peaced out and headed north to get away from the rain....

Quiet little CG off Highway 20. 

Beautiful area!

Now.... Rear tires are chunking, thoughts? Sharp rocks or bad pressure? Only the outside edge on the rears. I was thinking maybe it was wheel spin on sharp stuff?


java230
java230 UltraDork
6/6/19 10:59 a.m.

Another lovely weekend in the desert! It was HOT though, 95. and sunny....


A view from the top. Damn cool rocks.

And I think I need some new blocks.... These dont like heavy trucks and soft surfaces....

Also, Sika 252 DOES NOT bond to ABS well at all. I thought it was going to be ok for my panel, but it let go on two feet, and was loosing grip on the others also. Sadly screws were added to my roof, as I saw this from my second story window about 5 minutes before I was supposed to be driving away. I did use the primer and adhesion promoter they wanted, but was warned by the tech guy it didn't bond that well to ABS. The aluminum mounts I used in the middle are rock solid still. I squirted some 5200 in there and added screws before we left. If that fails I will try 3m panel bond...... But sadly there are 12 screw holes in my roof now.....

AngryCorvair
AngryCorvair MegaDork
6/6/19 11:06 a.m.

sorry i missed your previous question re. tread block chunking.  those look like debris damage to me, so your sharp rocks guess is probably right on.

java230
java230 UltraDork
6/6/19 11:07 a.m.

In reply to AngryCorvair :

That has been my conclusion too. See the rocks in the orange block picture? They are pretty sharp.... And everywhere. Trying to avoid wheel spin, but that gets tricky in tight/steep situations at times.

java230
java230 UltraDork
6/10/19 10:24 a.m.

Threw my back out so even little mundane jobs SUCK. But I got all the screws I added to the roof sealed since its supposed to rain.

And my Maxxfan over the bed quit going both directions, a quick email to their service department said it was most likely the board from my descriptions. Since I am a pack rat.... I still have the old Maxxfan I pulled out in the attic. Swapped guts around and its back to normal! No obvious component failures.

One more little project done. Light switch for the bathroom light. We never use it.... But its just been hanging wires for a couple years. At least I can turn it on and off if I want to now.

Start with a block, set up to route out the back for a wire pocket.

Remove unneeded material.

Screw to ceiling. It also get screwed to the wall panel to support that. Its been needed for a long time....

And its volcano season! Skis going back in

 

 

 

Quiet CG, big mountains, nice weekend.


Poured rain Friday which kept the people at bay. Rolled in late and still found a NICE spot. New awning is so much better. The additional 2' of stick out is AMAZING.

Rain meant snow up high! 


Snowing when we left in the morning but cleared right up. It was HOT. Skinned up 3k feet.




Nice little trip back down


 

java230
java230 UltraDork
6/17/19 10:47 a.m.

Another fun weekend in the woods! 

 

 

Electric chainsaw is pretty slick so far. Quiet and no stink.

 

Went and climbed some rocks. There is a little child in the pic :D

 

It will fit.....

 

Cameras sure flatten everything out....

 

Made it :D

 

Not sure that's going to wash off...... Lots of branches....

Samebutdifferent
Samebutdifferent New Reader
6/17/19 11:28 a.m.

It's an adventure truck, not a garage queen for concourse events only.  These are the kind of scars which prove the license plates are in fact accurate and earned.

Please carry on...

java230
java230 UltraDork
6/17/19 12:06 p.m.

In reply to Samebutdifferent :

Very true :) I might need to pull the dead tree carcase out from wedged behind the awning tho!

spacecadet
spacecadet HalfDork
6/18/19 10:43 a.m.

I swear... everytime I come back to this thread you've gone somewhere else awesome and crazy with the truck. 

Further and further down the adventure rabbit hole.

So Rad. 

java230
java230 UltraDork
6/18/19 10:49 a.m.

In reply to spacecadet :

Ha yeah we dont spend much time at home these days :D its been a E36 M3 load of fun lately.

 

More little project trying to get wrapped up before the NWOR.

Old water pump, LOUD, from a 20 year old RV, free from my garage during the initial build.

New water pump, sold as "quiet" still a diaphragm pump, I was worried it would be similar loud. It was not free, it IS QUIET! But the water pulses a bit, may look into an accumulator tank eventually, but my god its so much QUIETER! (yes its crooked, no I dont care right now.... I was not making new flex lines.)

Tidied up the wiring that has been flopping since forever? 

Two things crossed off the list. More tonight hopefully, rain permitting.....

java230
java230 UltraDork
6/19/19 1:24 p.m.

Misadventures in upholstery.... Oy. Not my forte.

Cut and pack in a bunch more insulation

definitely the correct stapler?

What am I doing?!

Spray glue?

Getting somewhere.....

Now the hard part..... Cant be tight as the truck moves, looks worse in the pics....More staples.
Those ribs on the back wall didnt help at all with no stretch fabric....

Switch panel and power by the bed came out ok though, no more wires hanging out of the wall.

thatsnowinnebago
thatsnowinnebago UltraDork
6/19/19 9:46 p.m.

Was there no pass-through before?

java230
java230 UltraDork
6/19/19 10:10 p.m.

In reply to thatsnowinnebago :

There was, just duct tape and silver insulation. 

java230
java230 UltraDork
6/20/19 10:31 a.m.

Passthrough trim done!

Attempted to bathe truck. Its marginally cleaner....

java230
java230 UltraDork
8/12/19 11:11 a.m.

Lots of leg powered excursions lately, so we haven't used the truck in forever, but with thunderstorms predicted all weekend that sounds like a perfect reason to take the truck. 

Spent Friday night up in the mountains. It rained so hard it sounded like golf balls being poured on the roof! Yep, glad I took the truck.

It cleared up in the AM and we did a quick hike. Then headed South Ish.

Had a lazy afternoon, climbed a few easy routes and just hung out. Made some skottle pizza's and watched thunderstorms in the distance. Its finally getting cold enough to break out the propane fire pit too.


Also saw one of these! Glad it was a ways away!

java230
java230 UltraDork
8/19/19 10:03 a.m.

Big truck little roads!

As stiff as the M608's are they still deform at street pressure under a heavy ass truck.

Not bad at all.

Climbed til it was too damn hot and went and jumped in the river for the rest of the afternoon. Beware of nude beach :D

Stopped for lunch at a lake, its SUPER low, we are literally parked 1/2 mile into the lake. Its good and solid where its dry.... Muddy areas not so much, I avoided those like the plague.


Now onto a serious topic. Coilovers (or other options....). I need to do something to get this thing to ride better on FS roads. If you may or may not remember I have kelderman air ride leveling kit. Its honestly marginally better than the OE coils. I have to run ~80psi in the bags to keep their suggest ride height. I think this is likely very close to the OE spring rate. Its at 6200lbs on the front axle. 

Airing down helps, but honestly its a bitch for say 10 miles of  gravel. 

Running Bilstien 5100's in the front, perhaps a better shock would help? Not really sure, it doesn't seem bouncy, but harsh on any impacts.

Thoughts or suggestions?

java230
java230 UltraDork
9/16/19 10:57 a.m.

Begin ramble...

Spring rates. you need a minimum to hold the weight up. No two ways around that. BUT with the air bags, you have to add pressure to get the height. A spring can be made taller at the same spring rate correct? Where in the air bag the spring rate is increased with air pressure. However in theory the spring rate is as low as it can be to hold the weight at X height?

Zip ties on the shock shafts show I am not using the front suspension. Nearly NOT AT ALL. When I got to the start of gravel, I hopped out, three fingers of movement on the shaft, ~2.5" uptravel.... Thats not much (and not bottoming out on the bags) 

Here is after a pretty decently rough section. A bit more movement, but still not much...

I did try inflating the bags to 9" tall. No difference, a bit worse even perhaps (more spring rate...). And they sit funky on the bases like that, not happy looking.

Frustrated. 

Should I go back to coils? Just try to find taller softer ones?! Anyone have an idea of spring rate needed? 6200lbs on the front axle.


Went and played on the rocks.

And to finish off the weekend..... My oil leak is getting worse.... Thought i smelled oil a little on the way home, and noticed the spots on the back doors were a bit worse this weekend.... Underside is good and oiled down now. No idea where its coming from. Its mostly at the trans/block connection it seems, upper pan (usual leak spot) looks good. could possibly be the lower pan, but it appears to be coming from higher. But perhaps its just running around the lip of the oil pan and hitting there at speed?

Shoved my phone in and took a bunch of pictures.... This one caught my eye once it was on the computer. Looks like possibly the dipstick (or whatever that tube is..)? There is no "gunk" stuck there, high flow spot?

java230
java230 UltraDork
9/16/19 10:17 p.m.

Ok some progress!

Took the truck to the store, hit a couple big hills and got oil to 200 degrees.

Half a roll of paper towels and a can of brake clean later we have this. Clean ish.

Idled in the driveway for 10 mins, now look at the bolt holding the dipstick! Should I replace the whole thing or just try to do the Oring? 

brad131a4
brad131a4 Reader
9/16/19 10:42 p.m.

Oh man that looks like a total teardown and rebuild with all that oil. I'd call up Fox shocks and see what they have. I see a good number of them on the bigger trucks around my neighborhood.

java230
java230 UltraDork
9/17/19 9:22 a.m.

In reply to brad131a4 :

I certainly hope its not a tear down! Uhhh because that's not happening.... 

Yeah I just need to figure out springs I think.... the shocks "should" be ok. They were custom valved for me.

Petrolburner
Petrolburner Dork
9/17/19 5:12 p.m.

Just the O ring, metal should all be fine.  It's not bent is it?

 

For your front suspension, why not make a spacer?  Add the height, then drop the air pressure for a softer spring rate.  Ideally, you'd put in longer springs so you still have all the inches of travel, but let's not give up on the air ride yet.  It could be great still.  You're only airing the bags up to the pressure you're at now for the height right?  

mazdeuce - Seth
mazdeuce - Seth Mod Squad
9/17/19 5:21 p.m.

You can keep posting all the pictures of climbing on that columnar basalt. I love it. 

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