2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Am I nuts? Getting the truck ready for a haul.

[Nyoest]

Freeze plugs went in this morning, air bags went in this afternoon. Still need to put the trans back in after finishing the shift kit in the valve body. I'm going to get new heater hoses while I've got it all apart.

Wth are you doing dorking around on the Internet? Your truck NEEDS you!!!!!







Sounds good. Let us know how the first drive goes.

 

[Cosmo]

It was 9:22pm, the dealership closes at 7pm so I got kicked out.

Heater hoses are in, radiator and intercooler are shoved in place, still waiting for the trans to bolt everything in place.

 

[Cosmo]

Trans is in, front end is all bolted up, just need to fill it with fluids and run the battery cables.

 

[Nyoest]

Wellllllllllll????????

Hows she go?

 

[WardJ]

It's the 23rd, so my guess is that he's gone.

 

[Nyoest]

Oh the humanity, to just leave us hanging!!!!!!!

Hope he has a good trip.

 

[Cosmo]

So far so, well, meh.

Trailer brakes don't seem as good as they once were, adjusted them and they're better but definitely not confidence inspiring.

Power wise, it takes a lot more effort to get up to speed than when I hauled with my 08. Once there, it cruises at 60-65 real nice, but stopping and starting are far more laborious.

The 98 is about 1000 pounds lighter than my 08 was, and I'm guessing it makes about half as much power, possibly less. WOT from 0-60 there doesn't seem to be much smoke at all. EGTs are totally reasonable up to about 55, then they start climbing over ~800.

Since the first couple hundred miles were done basically without trailer brakes, and one of my rear drums was adjusted too tight, I warped the drum.

When I hooked up the first time, I wasn't on level ground and I set my ball a couple of inches too high, resulting in slightly odd handling. I fixed that and adjusted the truck brake in a gas station parking lot.

I really wish I had been able to get an exhaust brake on the truck, as relying on the service brakes and weak trailer brakes makes me a little nervous considering we're going to have to cross some real mountains down the road.

 

[Cosmo]

Oh, trans temps climb (in 80 degree weather) to about 180 while accelerating up to freeway speeds, but then drop down to 150 while cruising. That's fluid temp in the pan.

I wish I had just bought the 01 3500 flatbed with the nv5600 and stuck an exhaust brake on it... would have been nicer with the longer wheelbase, heavier weight, duals, and manual trans.

 

[HHhuntitall]

... but certainly not as adventurous!!! Sounds like you're having fun. At least you must have put it together right...

 

[Nyoest]

Cosmo I don't know what kind of brake controller your running but if it is an inertia style try this trick I use on less than par trailers. Jab the brakes initially then ease off most of the pressure. Once you get the stupid trailer braking it all goes better. Most of the trailers I use all work properly but there is one or two that is, ahem, entertaining.

And if someone wants to chime in about a super zoot brake controller feel free. It won't help a bit if the trailer brakes are marginal. And of course no one makes a habit out of pulling a trailer with marginal brakes... ... ... ...

 

[Cosmo]

It's a Tekonsha P3, same as I pulled the trailer out here with. My main concern is perhaps the ground in the factory wiring to the bumper isn't very good. That and when the neighbor borrowed my trailer to run from FL to IN and back he cooked the brakes. I know how he drives while not towing, and now that I think about it, he probably drives the same way when he is towing.

I had someone adjust my brakes and bearings the other day, they're working better but still not great.

 

[Cosmo]

Another 500 miles on it today. Yesterday I put new drums on the back, truck brakes are great and the trailer brakes are working decent.

However, I blew a tire this morning, swapped it out for my new spare, then a couple hours later I stopped for fuel and noticed the spare was low - 35 lbs. I tightened up the core, hopefully that was it, but now I need to buy another spare (or two). Apparently nobody carries in stock a 225/75r15 in load range E. I wonder if I would have better luck trying to find a LT tire instead of ST.

 

[HHhuntitall]

Anywhere near N Texas? I can get several of various brands... . Mastercraft, Carlisle, and Chinky.....

 

[Cosmo]

We're in Ft. Worth right now...

I blew out another tire, then we bought some more. All 4 on the ground are new, 1 new spare, 1 month-old spare not mounted, 1 year and a half dismounted spare, and 1 new incorrect load range D mounted spare. The LR D tire was supposed to be an E, but they picked the wrong one and we got dumped on when it was ready to go so I didn't verify it was right. My mistake. They're going to refund the difference in price, but in the mean time I have a trailer tire I can't really use except in dire emergency.



But then as we were pulling into the outskirts of Dallas, I lost my throttle. The engine was still running, but the throttle didn't have any effect on it. It took me a couple minutes to figure out it was the ball socket on the linkage that popped off - seems worn out. Some zip ties should fix it until I can get a replacement. I limped it the 30 minutes to the hotel in Ft. Worth by slicing the finger off a glove and wedging the ball into the socket through the glove tip. It fell off again as I exited the freeway, but other than that it made it.

 

[JMcCoy]

I dealt with the same problem for around two years until I finally did something about it. The way I dealt with it was to ease off the throttle. If you jump off the throttle it will jump off. You also need to maintain pressure when you hit a bump. Rail road tracks were the biggest problem. I would just brake leading up the them and apply a little throttle going over the bump. I got so used to it, it became second nature.



Did you change to the Chevy wheel cylinders and/or pin up you proportioning valve when you did your rear brakes?



Good luck and stay safe on your journey.

 

[Cosmo]

I rigged some zip ties and the linkage doesn't fall off now.

There isn't a proportioning valve on my truck, and the wheel cyls weren't leaking so I left them alone. :shrug:


We shipped 3 dressers and all of the boxes out of Ft Worth today, had to get some weight out of the trailer... ended up getting drenched while reloading the trailer by the storms that dropped tornadoes on the other side of town.

 

[HHhuntitall]

Cosmo, there's an excellent Cummins Southern Plains dealer on the North side of Fort Worth on I-35, just N of the Papurt St exit... . don't know if you're still in the area. They'll have whatever you need to fix it, if you do. Those ball sockets are pretty common failure... . If you're still around and need a hand, let me know. I've got a decent shop up North a ways. Good luck!!

 

[Cosmo]

I got food poisoning when we left Midland and suffered/puked/etc all the way to Phoenix that night. We're in town here for a few days visiting my sister's family.

My truck is over at Chuck's Speed Shop getting a Pacbrake turbo-mount installed. Apparently a 3 hour job took all day and they've got some issues with it not working properly. I guess it's all wired/plumbed in and it says it's working, but he's not getting much braking force at city street speeds (~45mph). Pacbrake's tech support was AWOL this afternoon so the truck is out of commission until Monday. Bummer.

Anyone know of any issues running a Pacbrake on a 12-valve with a trans-go shift kit?

 

[HHhuntitall]

I had a Jacob's on my '98 until I puked the transmission... It worked great with a lockup switch. I think it made it 130-40k miles with a BD shift kit, which, IIRC, is pretty much the same... .

 

[KRStone]

Pacbrake on mine , works great, have a BD torqloc though on my auto trans. Best braking pwr in OD lockout.