mvusse

So the 102" fiberglass ones are fine for trail rides?

Technically, it would leave more torque and hp to go to the wheels, but you're talking differences that are probably so small, the decreased weight from leaving your spare tire at home would have a bigger impact.

I got that antenna at radio Shack. They were discontinuing it, and changed the price in their computer system to $0. So I got on the phone and called every store within driving distance until I found one that has two of them. I drover over, bought them (for $0) and drove home. And this was back when gas was still cheap. They have been sitting in a corner ever since.

Can't wait to see the finished product.

To have my Suburban shipped from Dallas/Ft Worth area to rural NE/E Ohio cost $1300, and that was 8 years ago when gas was $1.60 a gallon, diesel about the same. I was told about 3 weeks, but it arrived within 4 days on a 48 foot open trailer (two other vehicles on it as well) behind a Dodge dually diesel with a sleeper. Two men operation. He drove, she stays at home to man the phone and tell him where to pick up/drop off vehicles. If it is reliable enough to drive, your best bet would be to take the greyhound, or fly or whatever and drive the truck home, unless you have access to a truck with a decent sized engine and a trailer to go get it.

First to check would be track bar and tie rod ends, but could also be control arms or control arm bushings.

I currently have a 4 footer mounted in the stock radio antenna mount, but can't get the SWR down below 3. A 102" fiberglass whip does work great there (SWR of 1.4), but looks like crap because it sticks up like 11 or 12 feet or so in the air. If I can't find a shorter antenna that works in that location I think I'll tie some fishing line to the tip of the tall one and run it to the corner of the rear bumper. Kind of the opposite look Pete's got going.

Sounds like front brakes to me. :D

I believe the are some years where they use a single piece rotor, and some years where they used a 2 part rotor (made in 2 parts, then welded together). I also believe the 2 kinds of rotors require different material brake pads. Not really sure, though. Just vaguely recall reading something along those lines.

Torque converters aren't worth a lot of money anyway. catalytic converters on the other hand are. He was probably mixing up the two. So much for that. Anyway, if you can't even get it to run pouring fuel down the throttle body, I highly suspect timing issues. May be time to tear into it to check the chain. Or at least see if the distributor is pointing in the right direction with the #1 piston at TDC.

Is it TBI? If so, shining a timing light at the throttle body may show the fuel spray to tell if the injector is good (does it have 1 or 2? I don't know much about the 2.5). I know that trick works on my Suburban.

:agree: Awesome design! I just bought my truck a few months ago, and the current project is making it into a dependable daily driver. Since it had been neglected and the front end had been wrecked, that took quite a bit of work. Next on the list (next year) is a lift, bigger tires and other mods for off road, including hopefully a bumper like yours. Thanks for the inspiration.

You have 35psi at the fuel rail, but are the injectors working? Either the fuel is not making it into the cylinders, or the timing is off. Timing is not adjustable, but the plug wires could be hooked up to the wrong plugs...

Will you be done working on that by July 18th?

I know I've seen this picture before on here somewhere.... And I still say go for it!

Well, tried to tune the antenna. Could not get SWR below 3. So I dug through my junk and found this one. SWR is now 1.4, but I don't think it's gonna work. Gotta try some other antennas I think. And a picture of the CB radio installed: and on request, the bicycle rack: and flipped down for tailgate access:

He says the truck is for sale locally as well. Meaning if with 1 day left the high bid is not where he likes it he will pull the auction saying it got sold or something.

It's a height sensing variable proportioning valve. The more weight in the back, the lower the truck will sit, the higher the arm is pushed up and the more brake power is provided to the rear wheels. There's also a safety feature in the front distribution block that will bypass that valve if there's no pressure in the front brake system to provide full brake power to the rear wheels. It's a pretty ingenious design, and a great idea as long as it works correctly. But because of problems with lifts, old age and other causes, a lot of people are taking it out or bypassing it.

Just dropped to $3.89

A wire wheel on an angle grinder works quite well.

I don't know what the limit is, but I do know that's not it yet. It flexes enough to get me through Ohio pot holes. Michigan can't be much worse, as I've seen ours swallow entire cars. :D

Here is a pic with the brackets. Basically 2 strips of 16 gauge galvanized, 1/2" hole through the center, and some small holes around the outside to have your pick of where to put a sheet metal screw (or 2) to hold it all together: And all put together with the antenna mount in there as well: And what it looks like on the truck: Only problem now is, where to put the FM radio antenna? Might just have to put it on the ds fender, just to be different.

Now since the front was already apart, this would be a good time to install the new(er) fender. But first I need to change my CB antenna mount brackets over to it. All it consists of are two strips of 16 gauge galvanized steel, with a 1/2" hole through the center and a few small holes around the outside hoping one of them will work to put a sheet metal screw through to hold it all together and make a good ground connection: Here you can see the two pieces together with the antenna mount going through: and the complete sandwich in place and held there with a screw: Fender installed and antenna screwed on: Close up of antenna: Tow hooks in place: Close up of a tow hook: And a flex shot with opposing wheels up on ramps to show the fender flare (and liner) installed with 9 1/4 by 3/4 bolts, 9 nylon lock nuts and 18 3/16 washers: I also installed the CB radio (no pics yet), and ran to Radio $#!t today for some antenna wire, took out the sagging headliner (was originally planning to mount the radio to the roof somewhere). It receives fine, but I have not tried to transmit yet. I'm waiting for my replacement SWR meter to arrive in the mail so I can tune the antenna first. Will also try to remember to take a picture of the bicycle rack on the truck as well.

Well, I did actually get some of the planned stuff done this weekend. Friday I got tired of waiting for UPS to show up with my tow hooks, so I went outside to at least replace the ps fender. Open the door, step outside and I trip over a box! @%@ UPS snuck the box onto my back porch and left without me even noticing they'd been here... So here's all the parts, them is some beefy brackets: Next to remove the bumper. Some of the durned clip nuts were broken and just twisted with the bolts, so instead I removed the header panel to have better access to the brackets and remove the bumper with the brackets still attached. Then I could hold the nut with a pair of pliers and remove the bolts to seperate the brackets: First we install the L brackets: And sandwich the frame between them and the main brackets with the bumper brackets on top: Did have to modify the air dam a bit for the hook to fit through: And as seen from the side: