Useless Information

[swathdiver]

sorry to high jack your thread.

Doesn't bug me in the least, have at it, good discussion!

 

[swathdiver]

It's been an eventful time since my last on here. Plagued with physical problems and 2 pregnant dogs and all kinds of stuff going on.

At one point we had 21 dogs in the house! First dog had a litter of 11 of which 9 survived and all were adopted out. Second dog had 9 and all survived delivery and are about 2-3 weeks old right now, eyes still closed. Needless to say we've run out of candles and air filters! LOL

The 14-Bolt, 9.5" Axle project is nearly complete. We are into the break-in period now.

I purchased a used complete IFS with 3.73 gears and my helper installed it with new mounts and GM CV Axles of the latest design intended to keep more dust out of the rear of the knuckle/hub. He also replaced proactively the other Timken hub with a GM OE unit and new bolts. In the interest of time and because none of them were bad, we kept the universal joints. So far it's working flawlessly even in 4LO and even the original actuator it came with.

We put new parking brake shoes and axle shafts onto and into the 14-bolt rear axle and new anchor blocks for the parking brake cables and new rear brakes. Speaking of which they lasted 84.899 miles with about an 1/8 inch of material left. I could have left the rotors but changed them for new. The axle has run flawlessly with no noise so far.

Sometime after the next refueling we'll pull the cover and inspect the inside and refill it with fresh fluid and drain and fill the front and inspect the magnet.

I'm delighted beyond words that this long project is over. Now I can get the garage cleaned up and better organized and get to the long list of wood-working projects that have been put on hold for years because of these axles and parts taking up my work space. Thank you to my helper and most of all to the Lord!

I had wanted to document this with photos but could never remember to, sorry fellas. This is all I have:

 

[PG01]

Good go see and hear youre doing better and things came together for you james!

 

[swathdiver]

Back in August I wrote on another thread that the battery died and how the RR Wheel Speed Sensor and RR TPMS sensors both died seemingly as a result of trying to jumpstart the truck.

My daughter and I replaced the sensor but we could not get it connected. My helper came over and connected it but the code was still there. A visual inspection of the wiring and connector at the ABS Module were done and all seemed well. I bought a new ABS Module, installed it and successfully programmed it with my MDI and laptop. It still threw a code on a test drive! Right before we removed the old axle, we hooked up a new ABS Wheel Speed Sensor and voila!, no more code.

So remember folks, even new parts can be bad, or get broken by folks with two thumbs!

The TPM system is throwing codes for the front sensors but not the RR. The RR shows up as dashes in the DIC but stays at 27 psi in the Tech-2 while you can see the other three tires heat up and cool down on a drive. The Tech-2 says the other three sensors are reading low while the RR sensor is reading normal. Crazy stuff going on in there. Before replacing the RCDLR, I'm going to replace at least one and maybe all of the TPM sensors as they are now about 9 years old and have been on the car for around 7 years. The previous sensors never made it to seven years. Almost but not. Thinking of what the most economical way of doing that will be, that and the least aggravation and physical pain! Tires are three years old and at half life tread wise, about a year left to them dry rot wise in this Florida sun.

 

[89Suburban]

Back in August I wrote on another thread that the battery died and how the RR Wheel Speed Sensor and RR TPMS sensors both died seemingly as a result of trying to jumpstart the truck.

My daughter and I replaced the sensor but we could not get it connected. My helper came over and connected it but the code was still there. A visual inspection of the wiring and connector at the ABS Module were done and all seemed well. I bought a new ABS Module, installed it and successfully programmed it with my MDI and laptop. It still threw a code on a test drive! Right before we removed the old axle, we hooked up a new ABS Wheel Speed Sensor and voila!, no more code.

So remember folks, even new parts can be bad, or get broken by folks with two thumbs!

The TPM system is throwing codes for the front sensors but not the RR. The RR shows up as dashes in the DIC but stays at 27 psi in the Tech-2 while you can see the other three tires heat up and cool down on a drive. The Tech-2 says the other three sensors are reading low while the RR sensor is reading normal. Crazy stuff going on in there. Before replacing the RCDLR, I'm going to replace at least one and maybe all of the TPM sensors as they are now about 9 years old and have been on the car for around 7 years. The previous sensors never made it to seven years. Almost but not. Thinking of what the most economical way of doing that will be, that and the least aggravation and physical pain! Tires are three years old and at half life tread wise, about a year left to them dry rot wise in this Florida sun.

Good to hear from you

 

[Fless]

It's been an eventful time since my last on here. Plagued with physical problems and 2 pregnant dogs and all kinds of stuff going on.

At one point we had 21 dogs in the house! First dog had a litter of 11 of which 9 survived and all were adopted out. Second dog had 9 and all survived delivery and are about 2-3 weeks old right now, eyes still closed. Needless to say we've run out of candles and air filters! LOL

The 14-Bolt, 9.5" Axle project is nearly complete. We are into the break-in period now.

I purchased a used complete IFS with 3.73 gears and my helper installed it with new mounts and GM CV Axles of the latest design intended to keep more dust out of the rear of the knuckle/hub. He also replaced proactively the other Timken hub with a GM OE unit and new bolts. In the interest of time and because none of them were bad, we kept the universal joints. So far it's working flawlessly even in 4LO and even the original actuator it came with.

We put new parking brake shoes and axle shafts onto and into the 14-bolt rear axle and new anchor blocks for the parking brake cables and new rear brakes. Speaking of which they lasted 84.899 miles with about an 1/8 inch of material left. I could have left the rotors but changed them for new. The axle has run flawlessly with no noise so far.

Sometime after the next refueling we'll pull the cover and inspect the inside and refill it with fresh fluid and drain and fill the front and inspect the magnet.

I'm delighted beyond words that this long project is over. Now I can get the garage cleaned up and better organized and get to the long list of wood-working projects that have been put on hold for years because of these axles and parts taking up my work space. Thank you to my helper and most of all to the Lord!

I had wanted to document this with photos but could never remember to, sorry fellas. This is all I have:

View attachment 443319View attachment 443320View attachment 443321View attachment 443322

Love the prototypical "pumpkin!"

 

[Tonyrodz]

The long term projects are the ones that are the most satisfying when finally completed.
What kind of puppies are they? Pics or they were never there lol.

 

[Big Mama]

Praying for some healing James.

 

[swathdiver]

The long term projects are the ones that are the most satisfying when finally completed.
What kind of puppies are they? Pics or they were never there lol.

These two are sisters and the two mommies. The one on the left (Rusty) has had her litter adopted out and the one on the right (Rosie) just has hers about 10 days ago, I lost count. Dad is a full breed English Lab with papers. I'll have to get a photo of him and the pups from the girls. They don't send me photos anymore, just upload them to social media for everyone else to see! LOL

All of the pups from both litters are either brown or black.

Well, my daughter is trying to email me pictures from her phone, these are the only 3 to come in so far:



So we have Levi (Dad) with Moose, then the fella in red is Rooster and in blue is Buck. Rooster stole my heart and if we didn't already have 5 dogs I would have kept him. Buck and Moose were more playful but good boys too. I never wanted to do this because I want to keep them all! We didn't want to have the girls fixed until they were mature, after their 1st or second periods. Well, Levi got to them when we weren't looking!

We don't keep girl dogs anymore because of their general temperament compared with the boys, suits us better. However, Rusty and Rosie and their whole litter of 7 was abandoned out in the woods and my girls took them all in at 2 weeks old. About a year before that, they found an abandoned litter in a box at Plant Bamboo and raised those pups, keeping one and adopting all the others out.

 

[swathdiver]

The pups on the left were Rusty's litter. On the right you can see Rosie with her pups nursing and Rusty hopped into the whelping box to give her sister some relief! Those are Rosies pups suckling from Rusty! LOL

 

[Tonyrodz]

View attachment 443461View attachment 443462

The pups on the left were Rusty's litter. On the right you can see Rosie with her pups nursing and Rusty hopped into the whelping box to give her sister some relief! Those are Rosies pups suckling from Rusty! LOL

@07Burb would love those faces.

 

[Big Mama]

There’s a special place in he…. for people that abandon animals in boxes or whatever. Any shelter is glad to take puppies Your girls have good values.

 

[swathdiver]

Took the truck out to continue breaking in the 3.73 gears. Didn't follow any set schedule or protocol. Drove out to I-95 and headed south into Stuart. There's some steep bridges over the St. Lucie River that always has at least my converter unlock when going over unladen. If there are people in the car it will downshift to 5th. This time there was no change, locked up in 6th all across it.

Got off at the next exit after the bridge and pulled into a gas station. Took out the new IR temperature gauge and put the laser on the pumpkin through the LR wheel well. 89-90 degrees. So too were all four brake rotors and the ambient temp was in the 60s.

Drove back at 5-10 mph faster depending on traffic to my street and headed west out into the country. Stopped and checked the temps again and they were the same. Pulled out onto my favorite dirt road and put the truck in 4Lo and rung up 24 mph on the cruise control and drove over the washboard road for 4-5 miles and then turned onto the pavement and pulled into the county fairgrounds to see my daughter. We chatted awhile then made my way to I-95 again and headed south for home ringing up 81 mph for the first time for a few minutes before exiting the highway. 76 miles.

95% of my driving is with the cruise control on. If I am going to increase speed from city speeds to highway speeds I'll bump it up 2 mph at a time, give a pause and repeat to keep the truck from downshifting and disturbing/startling my passengers. Tonight I paid attention to doing on an onramp and the truck never picked a lower gear, nice.

I listen for gear noise and don't hear any. Sometimes I hear some whine or some kind of noise while decelerating off-road in 4Lo and that's it. What is noticeable is that the motor is slightly more noticeable than before for obvious reasons, it's turning a little faster.

I'd like to do some mpg testing but the current tank of fuel is from Shell and is at 11% alcohol content. I want to run the first tests with Chevron @ 0% or close to it.

 

[swathdiver]

Just completed a 58 mile run. Most of the time spent between 40 and 55 mph with a short foray up to 75 mph on the highway. Quiet as a mouse, I hear the motor more, she's making good power in this 50 degree weather we're blessed with. Only once did I get on it and only half-heartedly because she moved out so quick and got up to speed pretty fast. I was far enough ahead of the oncoming car that more power wasn't necessary. Gas mileage is pretty good, hard to quantify numbers yet.

Well, that's 356 miles so far and the track is 117 miles away and it's supposed to be in the 40s on Wednesday for test-n-tune. Should I run it or wait?

 

[mountie]

Just completed a 58 mile run. Most of the time spent between 40 and 55 mph with a short foray up to 75 mph on the highway. Quiet as a mouse, I hear the motor more, she's making good power in this 50 degree weather we're blessed with. Only once did I get on it and only half-heartedly because she moved out so quick and got up to speed pretty fast. I was far enough ahead of the oncoming car that more power wasn't necessary. Gas mileage is pretty good, hard to quantify numbers yet.

Well, that's 356 miles so far and the track is 117 miles away and it's supposed to be in the 40s on Wednesday for test-n-tune. Should I run it or wait?

I'd wait for better track conditions, since you are looking for accurate data.

 

[swathdiver]

I'd wait for better track conditions, since you are looking for accurate data.

What do you mean by better track conditions? Warmer weather?

 

[mountie]

What do you mean by better track conditions? Warmer weather?

A long way to travel in that weather condition & surface condition..... But maybe your test won't be that much of a factor considering what you will be driving on the track?

 

[swathdiver]

A long way to travel in that weather condition & surface condition..... But maybe your test won't be that much of a factor considering what you will be driving on the track?

We ran the trucks in February when it was in the 50s. They both hooked and didn't spin. If I'm lucky she might break into the 15s with my fat butt in it! The pickup runs 14s.

We don't do burnouts and just launch from idle. Not everyone runs 3 second 1000 foot runs! LOL

 

[mountie]

We ran the trucks in February when it was in the 50s. They both hooked and didn't spin. If I'm lucky she might break into the 15s with my fat butt in it! The pickup runs 14s.

We don't do burnouts and just launch from idle. Not everyone runs 3 second 1000 foot runs! LOL

 

[swathdiver]

You lucky dog! Would have loved to be a professional in those sports but was a knucklehead in my youth and was a spectator and street car racer as a hobby for a time.

Do you think it's too soon to put full power through the new gears and rebuilt axle?