1996 GMC 5-speed

[Barry Donovan]

ABS continued

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kelsey hayes 310 or 410
got some info from an old news release back in 1992

The first system in the ABS family, EBC 10, was introduced during the Tokyo Motor Show last fall. EBC 10 weighs less than 4.5 kilograms and takes up approximately 3,000 cubic centimeters' space under the hood. EBC 10 is available in three- and four-channel versions, designated EBC 310 and EBC 410, and is designed for light-duty truck and van applications. The three-channel system was created for six-valve vertical (front-rear) split braking applications and the four-channel system was created for eight-valve diagonal split applications. EBC 15 and 20, introduced at Mondial de l'Automobile today, are smaller, lighter versions of EBC 10. EBC 15 is about 20 percent smaller than the 10 series, and is designed specifically for passenger car applications. It is available in three- and four-channel versions, EBC 315 and EBC 415. EBC 20 is the lightest in the new series of ABS, weighing in at about half the size of the 10 series. EBC 20, which is designed for small subcompact and mini-cars, is available in a four- channel diagonal split system , called the EBC 420. Other features of the EBC 10, 15 and 20 family of products include:
-- About half the parts of traditional ABS, for easier assembly, ease of maintenance and fewer potential part failures. -- Designed for simple upgrades to traction control. -- Adaptability to handle fluid compression rates for applications ranging from small mini-cars to light-duty trucks and vans. -- Integral electronics that are compact, easy to install and service.

began in 1995, ended in 99-2000s
Not sure if I have 3 or four channel, will go check. At least this narrows it down.
I guess I found why this version is so silent.

they don't give a crap. that is why.

This module has two ground wires; a power ground on the main 2-lead power connector, and a logic ground on the 10-lead connector. If the voltage between these two wires exceeds a few millivolts, it will cause multiple solenoid fault codes.

the quote above is from a company who wants you to submit a repair request, yet it is under development.. no repairs available.

the next time I see some retarded dweeb blaming a ground that never fails...

so help me and my real dweebiness...

I need a circuit board, and I want to protect it my way.

I even have the worlds cheesiest power supply going on 70000 hours.... my way. I know the guts must be that stupid, pointy dangling leads, all kinds of dumbass mass produced errors.

..and for reasons unknown, this one triggers a bunch of garbage codes if you tell the maxiscan its a 1999... the only closest thing I got to retrieving any info at all. It all claims to be clearing codes, and nothing happens.

that is as close as i got to communicating with this unit.

the one thing I have to watch for is hard high pedal and very hot front rotors. I think this one is headed there now.
this means disable, bypass, bleed to old school...and drive.

one more trick I found for this one with the double ground loop light...

slam on the brakes in the dirt, get a tire to lock..most likely left front, that is always first since the dawn of driver side mounted master cylinders..
trick some logic. Funny enough I did that by intuition today, before finding any advice, and the front end got real stable. Kick it in the butt. Stubborn as a donkey.
I hope it hangs on, this is all working, even the air conditioning. Don't want to be hung up on an extinct part.

found a really good pdf file for 1995 chevy tahoe. The confusion for me and gaining manual access to codes on a 16 pin obd2 (letting the dash abs light flash the DTC) was fearing pin H and A being mislabeled...and that could fry an ECM.
this pdf nails it with the modern obd1 ALDL.

useless for me.
I may be chucking a pile of brake line and abs gadgetry into a pile....

real soon.

a good thing that can happen, and will call it a finale..
let the abs disable itself. This was in a state that was worse than not disabled. That being the real disabled is what might be happening now, as the front end feels like real caliper pressure aligning the rotors. Very stable. That is every vehicles biggest sway bar as well. This one has been slopped since I owned it, probably ruined those wimpy tires as a result. Cleaning up electrical via light bulbs to LED, may have found the lost soul of abs that never grounded enough for the darn light to kick on at all.

This one is proven heavy, if not real steel weight, the signals I created binding the rails. Should be a nice rig by next week.

All ready for new smooth tread, just going with it.

[Barry Donovan]

54F

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meanwhile...
awoke to 54F degrees. Heavy due point in the sun. I cannot put into words how damn good that feels.
the next week, I am guessing, is the last chance to finish off framing scabs, let the cooldown begin.
Hand scrubbing the grey oxids off the side last week, densifying is already happening. This is brakes, and the steels I attacked with welding, and small long way rail measurements changed to straight as can be.

the cool stuff it is 8 months long here.

I am inquiring about getting this truck on a scale at the local truck stop, I am guessing 6500 pounds empty.
the LT rated is another 60+ pounds to rid of the p-rated tires. 53 pounds in structure weight creates an exponential stillness, that could be up to 500. the rockers sticking out there was about 10 pounds dead weight stock before install, square tubing and stainless.. that is another number hanging out there exponential. Tricky stuff...densifying a long measure of steel.

I could see it in the craigslist ad photo that inspired me in the first place...
even more now than then.
They do not tell us everything do they. I could guess the ABS being a circus with no real function from day one... is justiced by being up to 1000 pounds heavier. This truck does not care if it has abs.
My first evidence was 70 mph on a layer of ice slush that sends cars flying. This one tanked for the 35 miles to the exit....nothing added for weight, all factory. The other obvious is seeing the P rated tires sqaut begging for mercy while being young and thick tread.

I have declared it a real truck. Glad I grabbed at it. Thinking of other extras. ABS and a modern upgrade would be an awesome thing.
I have found some gentle coil overs for the torsion up front, not sure if I want to go that route or not. Looking around...





50F day in march. The truck left this behind, pavement was warming fast. I pulled back in and saw this still standing... in the sun.
I knew what I had then. To be at 6 months, I was expecting a year or more to finish this. I have decided to go nothing but trucks of my choice for the rest of my time in maine.

this GMC sold itself to me. Records of upkeep are just a bonus.

off in a 2016 peterbilt for the day. That truck too looks like a small efficient modern machine...but oh. it is 550hp under the hood and can haul 50 tons. Trucks took a long time to be gentle appearing and comfortable, while being the biggest there ever was...
the pickups started to be smarter to me, in 1996. Rigs took a little longer.

[Barry Donovan]

off to the north

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the secret inspiration for how far trucks get maintained is taking the houlton maine exit and heading even further beyond the end of the world.

it seems 1 in 3 vehicles is a pickup truck. ..and I did notice gm is a favorite.

today I helped dad with some trucking, and moved the fifth wheel towards cab for a better ride...

instant analogy for fixing old cross sills in a gmc pickup: moving the fifth wheel for a better ride.

tomorrow is some tail welding if all goes well.. will share some photos. I hope to not be sarcastic..but am maximizing abumper into reciever hitch territory. will tell all when it is done.



here is a crude drawing showing how I more than doubled the half ton ability. I would never exceed the weight load, but did find 400 pound and 4000 on the bumper.
As factory and now 19 years old.. even if new. Not a chance in hell I would have ever tried that in a million years. After my welding is done... no problem. I won't go beyond those numbers. 400 pound tongue limit, 4000 tug limit.

my goal is for towing a relatives boat ,most likely with an inboard v8, approx 20 footer. should be close to the 4k.. maybe 5k pounds. Keep the tongue light to avoid hurting the wimpy half ton springs.

if you really hit a sweet spot the first day after welding and fixing... an airless environment will attack you when you stick your head underneath to check. This simply means it is densifying.

Do not splash cold water on the frame weld. Slow cool down on a hot sunny day is the greatest thing you could do. Sends a much longer wavelength for the work you just did.

Do not work the rails as if all is back to normal..for at least a month.

I expected 39k psi rails (gm factory) to take several days or weeks before it started to do the airless squeezer, but no.. started on day one. Been doing it random for a couple of weeks, sun slows it way down. At night it picks up again.
Now at 2-3 weeks the airless is reaching a peak. Cannot get under it at dusk or dark out...big cool down of density change taking shape. Frame setup is won..

other chores can come into play now, like the tail end I am attacking tomorrow.

when all said and done, give it a good month. I have an autumn that drops 32F spells after a long summer... this will dial in very fast. This is why welds have to have a far reach invisible via long cooldown, not just a local wild stab in the areas being worked...splashed with quench (biggest hoax ever: instant "Quench"

I learned this the hard way, first hand.

after this long month of taking it easy is done, add light paint, just to reveal future exfoliation. I like cat engine yellow.

if there were sayings for these chores, the chevy rails.. I know none.

two days after the first cool night, it'll be alright. That one is good.

[Barry Donovan]

tail end frame complete

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This was a real pleasure to weld. I remember this design from decades ago. Usually pulverized by 3 to 5 years old locally. Tire hanger area.. and tail ends of the frame.

This one is at 19 years and 350k miles. Simply a pleasure to give a deserving weld job. I got some old tricks in place, very strong.
Will get photos after painting, my camera plays tricks with welds. Brighten it up some first.
less than perfect appearing for some of it...but geometry should give an epiphany for anyone that looks at it.
all factory..with simple extras.

about six hours in all.
tire crossmember area,
tail end right side..and gave an angle iron lockout there as well, right rear tail end, just ahead of bumper mount. (prevent future enthusiasm with receiver hitch - cannot install one)

This will do the 400 pound tongue and 4000 tug limit all day long via the bumper...and that is the factory limit.

in all, the hefty cross sills, tail end, and crossmember for tire..
about 24 hours.
weld still did not go to 4 pounds yet.

I forgot too...
7 new bolts, anything with a rivet as the anchor is now welded connection. Still easy to rip apart and replace stuff. Bumper is right next to some welds, but all removable, not tacked in with wild hit or miss welding.

Close game of operation. The tail ends have driven a lot of people nuts. I thought it out for some time for my plan. There are some spots one can go too strong and destroy things. Tricky spots can add a lot of strength. Starting with cross sills has worked out the best.

it is most likely a 5-7000 pound tow ability... and would try it out myself. 400 pound tongue is a real number, would respect it.

edit:
10pm...
big squeeze of the weld odors. 100 feet away is like the truck is in my living room. I even went outside, as there is abit of electric with it. I used to do that for my subaru as well. the trucks version.. wow. Seems very large. The largest change I have ever put on any vehicle. I am guessing its the right rear in front of bumper. That was nearly broken. Begged for weld... and I sure gave it some.

[Barry Donovan]

tail end underside photos

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got first layer of cat engine yellow in. Random checks for exfoliation will be the guide for any future work.
This was headed for advanced problems, and that is junk yard worthy.
The oddity for this truck in this weak design... the 19 years and 350k. Unreal. Did not know this could go that far. I am assuming the torsion suspension reaching way back to the middle of under the cab area allowed for just enough stillness...increase strength.

This really long wheel base on the old front coil springs design would have snapped this back end like a twig at least a decade ago.
the other strengthener is this 1996 cab design as an extra cab with no little extra doors to open. One big box cab of a beam keeper. All else is very old school..goes way back to the 70s in a similar fashion.

pathetic stuff. Some called these quarter tons.

I call this one just in time.

this is the shock mount area. Exfoliation looks like it will fall off...but no. Very stubborn. That is a good sign of an old one time mishap.
I simply welded after not getting anymore out of it.


random photos of the beaten tire hanger..and the receiver mishap is the right rear.
every weld is twice over factory psi... being pretty is never in my equation underneath. One can go too strong. Factory rails are 39k psi. A cheap 110v mig welder is 70000 minimum. Being irregular is like different size teeth biting in. Longest lasting is the ugly one.



this is the angle iron lockout, right rear spring hanger ,to tell anyone this gets no receiver hitch ever again. Should never have had one in the first place.

my big wimpy truck is safe to continue. As the paint chores may be yearly intervals, it only adds to the strength and good for inspecting needs. As paint goes missing, it reveals an area that changed. These rails play with layers and there is a resilient tough springy core in the middle of all the layers, very thin.

the lower half of the usa may have never seen that stuff. Makes a truck a real wimp here.

not to sound discouraging..

there is some strong facts.
The 110v welder takes a high setting for anything underneath. The thinned out tire hanger included. Very impressive spring like center layer.
The weight of this truck, before even fixing anything, required LT rated tires. That is also a good sign of some hefty rails at the front of the bed on up to the front bumper.

The back ends are made to be dynamical, there is so many choices an owner, customer can do it is simply expendable. that is the reason I am continuing.. without much effort.

it really is a good truck. Same ethics of C-rail truck for decades. Not a heavy duty work truck for loads...that needs 3/4 ton specs minimum, the real strong back end.

[Barry Donovan]

140 pounds

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that is what it took to stiffen this old truck up. It gained 140 pounds in the right places.

60+ of it is steel related to structure.

I found the LT tires weigh 47 pounds a piece. I'll be lucky to see 25 pounds a piece from the junk tires that are on it now. They are that bad.

Today I was gentle shaking the truck back and forth, as all those welds are related, and need a spring relief or snap. I get a look at the back end while rocking it.. find creakers and cracker noises. Those poly mounts under the cab are real nice for what I am doing.

Lo and behold, I caught a glimpse of the tires while rocking it. I found the tires allow the truck to rock back and forth like a tree in the wind. The suspension was not even moving.

Almost embarrassing, like a clown act. Looking forward to the tire swap.

They arrived and thought I'd be feeling out stiff steel like sidewalls, like a tractor trailer. But no. they feel like any other tire. The writing is there...
3415 pounds at 80 psi.

This tire being dual capable has a 120/123 rating, and inflate to match the load. 10ply. Safe to assume this one is starting off at 60psi...

My fat gmc. Its actually going to use its suspension after installing these.


a thumb print on the white lettering when it was fresh painted, is its only error thus far on one of them. That OWL does cost extra. It is in the rpo code for this truck. I want to stay factory, especially if they themselves added the silly sporty extras.



to verify the writing... measure by weight. yep. these are 47 pounds a piece, as stated.

Again just in time, a ride this evening, about 30 hours after the cat engine paint underneath, and another bolt I found that I placed for the very rear cross sill into the tail end of frame. Never had those installed. Added one on the passenger side the other day after welding. This makes ten bolts for the bed.

I cannot get past 50mph without a violent oblong from the right front. I hope it makes it to the city one more time. This tire is so bad, you can visibly see a swell halfway around it..tread near gone. An interesting signal has unfolded into the rear.. the front left out of round, rocks the rear left...and sometimes the whole thing from the back. In a way I am glad that pile of crap tire is there. It has revealed every hardening step along the way.

Those games can go away now. I have called this build the "highway superstar" theme... that needs smooth on cruise control.
These back roads at 55mph and 1500 rpm. It is a locomotive lovers dream. My real joy is near 2200 rpm at 75+. 24mpg sailing along.

[Stewzer55]

Significantly stronger tires, I don't understand why so many pickup owners put car tires on their heavier vehicles.

[Barry Donovan]

Significantly stronger tires, I don't understand why so many pickup owners put car tires on their heavier vehicles.

it is a mistake fading away. The 15 inch wheel days are an outright tragedy, that even made national news. 16 inch is a little better, but still had millions of troubles.Today gm uses 18 inch or 17 inch or bigger...and LT is sometimes the only thing written for the trucks. That is great evolution. This got rid of the ricer overlap.

a p-rated really should not be in the rpo codes of any half ton fullsize or bigger. My truck even shipped with a bigger spline count for the transfer, the engineers new the manual with v8 layed it on hard. Yet... the p-rated tire is right there in the codes. Been a decades long mistake. I know of no truck that gets away with it, unless a dedicated yard truck at a lumber mill looking to give a cozy ride for the supervisor.

with the tails of these welded, I remembered a new loop is created. The old carb engines could spin a rod bending the cheap 70s block. This used to be a time to blow bulbs as well. Old 60hz ,meeting new. Almost an atomic storm, given the ionization. This one is a big baby, hardening right in. I took out just one LED this time.. a common spot is the floor light when you open the doors. Driver side is flickering. The led I chose likes to give a half wave to its half wave..but not blow completely.

This is a very good truck. Welders daydream.

[Barry Donovan]

battery tray

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another old memory:

even when battery tray is perfect, battery clamped down factory... the metal frequency of the tray beats the battery to death.
Added some very tough chemical resistant horse trailer mat, tightened it back down. This simple chore also added life span to the battery.


I wont say the finale I've witnessed...it was actually scary. No protective lining under the battery. Did not think it was possible until it happened.
battery fused to the tray with postive and negative flaming all over. It was actually incredible. never saw anything like it.
that truck that did that was a short bed with a 327 and a 4 speed. It took off so fast, you'd swear the front wheels just leaped off the ground..twisting and aching those weirdo wimpy tail end c-channels.

the tougher the truck, or the faster it takes off, speeds up the problem. This one has several ingredients to pounce on its own metals.

I'll just give this its own post.
All good.

I looked at my forecast.. seems like a dream. It does not get any better than this. A hint of autumn aroma goes with these last days of sun just right...
the only reason I stayed here, lasts about 5 days a year.


if you are thinking of being a tourist..these coming days has maine a great choice.

[Deaf Bob]

Significantly stronger tires, I don't understand why so many pickup owners put car tires on their heavier vehicles.

Better ride... I had good heavy tires on my dualie flatbed.. Tire store I refuse to deal with put lighter tires on, against my wishes, when they delaminated from weight, the store blamed my rims or "old truck" refused warrantee.. Changed them out one by one.. To the proper heavy rated ones.. And they also went down a size.. .. A change in ownership screwed the pooch..

[Barry Donovan]

Better ride... I had good heavy tires on my dualie flatbed.. Tire store I refuse to deal with put lighter tires on, against my wishes, when they delaminated from weight, the store blamed my rims or "old truck" refused warrantee.. Changed them out one by one.. To the proper heavy rated ones.. And they also went down a size.. .. A change in ownership screwed the pooch..

delaminate must have been the steel cords. old design...or recap. That is another sillyass attempt at killing people.
I noticed something different in these new ones. They do not announce the weave.. just "10 ply".

if smarter today is breaking the tire evenly in every direction, I guess the p-rated did their job with 3 times less strength than was needed.

I have broken side cords, stretched tread...perfectly murdered the p-rated.
I am taking my scale with me when they remove it. I bet they weigh 15 pounds.

[Deaf Bob]

No recaps for me!
Oregon law, no recaps up front.. I push my flatbed up to 18,000 lus occasionally.. Go 14-15,000 often..PUC require 20,000#+ to stop on the scales..
Cops can stop you and make you go over the scales if you look like you are having problems..
Cheap tires are not worth my time..
Crawling under a fully loaded flatbed is not my idea of fun!

[Barry Donovan]

No recaps for me!
Oregon law, no recaps up front.. I push my flatbed up to 18,000 lus occasionally.. Go 14-15,000 often..PUC require 20,000#+ to stop on the scales..
Cops can stop you and make you go over the scales if you look like you are having problems..
Cheap tires are not worth my time..
Crawling under a fully loaded flatbed is not my idea of fun!

Ya know, I have never seen a pickup do more than haul a car without strain.
the biggest thing to run from is those camper trailers towering above them.

With trucking since leaf springs in the past...seeing the 48 feet arch in a flat bed squat to 80-90k pounds total weight to level...
makes no sense for the pickup trucks to be playing games.
tricky stuff, the spring value in rails, suspension. Cannot just do what we want.

I learned this offroad type pickup I have now is based on a springy center layer in the beams, and it does work good if you can stay factory where it matters.
Else, it comes a time to just turn it into a 2 ton capable half ton... lock the old truck down with steel.

Still life left in this one, I like the 1/2 ton for being dynamical. Does better than my subaru in a lot of ways. ..and it is indeed fun.
I can only guess thta springy value allowed for the p-rated tires in the rpo code. at 19 years, it must be a different density than where it began. Good time for welding a double over...
get some real tires.

[Deaf Bob]

C-30. 1977 Chevy, factory aftermarket 8X12 flatbed..
No pickups for me.. Have a 77C-10 4X4 with C-30's 4X4 springs on it, still a half ton..
Son has F350 crew dualie.. Amazing rig..
Will never waste time with 3/4t pickups for hauling/towing.. Do too much,
Last week we went an hour away pulling a derby car. 75 MPH on the freeway (65 limit) no sweat nor wallow.. As if empty!

[Barry Donovan]

C-30. 1977 Chevy, factory aftermarket 8X12 flatbed..
No pickups for me.. Have a 77C-10 4X4 with C-30's 4X4 springs on it, still a half ton..
Son has F350 crew dualie.. Amazing rig..
Will never waste time with 3/4t pickups for hauling/towing.. Do too much,
Last week we went an hour away pulling a derby car. 75 MPH on the freeway (65 limit) no sweat nor wallow.. As if empty!

that is the way to be. My little half ton, as of just today is in christine mode.
this is where things used to get scary in the old days.
been maybe 3 days for the tail end welds. The right rear was damn near broken..it even gave the mig welder machine a hertz feedback as continuity re-established after who knows how many years. This simply means 12v ground is all one system on the rails, no strays. This also means mig welds continue to weld themselves for years afterwards. It is a c-rail mystery.

frame density is changing bed panels. A good panel would just get fatter at the wheel well. I had a dent that pulled out in the bed, right at the wheel well.. from when I installed cross sills, I tipped the bed up without any help and tipped it over onto the lawn.. gave it a dent. worst spot possible. The shame is how young the panels are... pro installed. I pushed it out myself, thought I won the panel into very decent...until today.

today, autumn odor is in the air, this place slams it that fast... that dent went in by itself. Damn. This can only mean the left rail is shrinking. Was expecting something.. but not a dent remake.

next is noticing how powerful the engine plants power to the ground, even bad tires have much less wobble. Truck went brick. I live for these nerd things. Steel does a body good...or will tell it like it is even if its bad. This one only took 3 days. Still a lively springy old truck. The last step in knowing the back end is done with molecular gains.. the fuel gauge will stop showing expansion, finally consume its real mileage.

This one took no light bulbs but one interior down low, left side floor. Other than that.. big gentle baby. My best ever at this age. Very impressed.

ready for tires, may go get that done tomorrow.

this day also marks the end of any serious welding. Dangling rockers or cab corners can be made pretty.. but no going deeper than that after today. The date changes every year, it is funny to see sept1, like the ancient inventors of labor day. Maybe a classic winter is coming too..