1996 GMC 5-speed

[Barry Donovan]

old truck weld to modern

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I opted to make a list via memory. Pre obd2 chevy truck welding to post obd2.

first thing.. an ode to the modern invertor on the mig welder. My first was 2007.. and it was something to notice way different than the 1980s. I then broke that one, (nuclear subaru), and panicked a sale at tractor supply for the only mig welder they had left..the demo model. That may have been 2010? I bought it with a broken plastic trim on the bottom, full price. Been using it ever since. Even the sound of the frequency is very smooth. All that with 110 volts. That may be the biggest change of all..the modern invertor. It does more than some of the old 220. Not that these trucks do the 220.. you're insane if you try it. Enjoy the butter laying frame hatchet.


onto the trucks..

• 96 and later has no hydrocarbons.. fuel is monitored that tightly. On the old carb trucks, the hydrocarbon after a maine winter is so embedded, it made the welds hotter...this increases risk for frame break.
• 96 and later has egg shapes and curves, there is many years after the late 60s when all we got was squares. Those snapped in every which way. 1988 was a good year for a lot of body workers..the curves came back.
• speaking of fuel..after welding, the tank likes to expand to frequency being very alive to new welds. the carbs used to drop to single digits mpg. The first year vortec ships it back to the tank, I dropped 2 mpg for 1 day. Incredible improvement. (tip: the carb trucks can be good welders if you make a return line system)
• 96 and later is much more malleable for much longer, this allows changes to go right into place...even frame twist and long measures..the cab and bed follow. My own is at 19 years old and responding like a baby. I learned this to be the new steel just for computers. they needed to cut back on interference of other frequencies. Cars also changed that same year.
• poly cab mounts are not an experiment after the 90s, they had psi and testing all in place. Trucks especially. That is something that used to get hockey pucks and spacers after the nitrile garbage failed in the old carb trucks. This helped welding a lot...keeps straight numbers to play with.

things that did not change:

• after 10-12 years, even the half ton needs the toughest LT rated tire there is to keep going.
• The battery tray needs a strong insulator under battery.
• 39k psi rails is still in the equation (if someone could tell me different), although 1988 and later made use of computers in steel equations.
• door pins and bushings..same intervals. Those are a must have in place before big welds.
• tail end chores..most common reason: 1000 kiloton receiver hitch fantasy on the little half tons.
• rear tire hanger. I do not want to say anything more. I get angry.
• blowing bulbs after weld .. point to the opposite corner, farthest away from bulb.. that is where the density change came from. It pounces on 60 hertz sometimes, disrupter. The more bulbs it blows, the bigger the change. The 96 only blew one bulb.. and I am using LED. Those tend to flicker the frequency barging its way thorugh, but not blow entirely. It revealed that the right rear tail end made a very large change for the better. I bet they could make a self recovering LED someday. A helper for this as the poly cab mounts. narrowed right down to opposite corner...

another real big thought came to me upon waking up at 3 in the morning and finding this video:

OEM trying to make a dynamical animal out of half tons with leaf springs... when is it going to end. Even this 4 wheeled cycle has no spring loaded ways to move, it is using geometry of actual swingarms. My 1980s subaru is also 4 swing arms. That is another realistic animal I have liked.

Spring loaded theories have not changed much. Sick game with the trucks.

This has not changed with the so called half ton. They end up being 3/4 ton+ capable after welding to keep them going true and straight and safe.
A way to check heavy half ton: the height of spring ellipse in the back rails after getting back end squared away. I do find the big ones... always have. I did mention, my 96 was bought via one photograph of the side view on craigslist. I was sold. One big half ton. 142 inch wheelbase with less than a quarter inch difference in the cab and bed. Not an offroader. Not a chance.

my first love of trucks was literally called a heavy half ton.. no labels. That was 8 foot bed with zero misalignment to measure. Someone had to tell me later. I spotted by eye and feel of the ride.

this is some of the things I remember.
will add to this as I reel in a couple of decades.

[Barry Donovan]

the 100 dollar motor mirror

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I was simply going to replace this until seeing the cheap quality..and no cheap prices anywhere.

this one broke every piece of itself but the whurr of good motors. it did everything but fall off the truck completely. Little plastic gear driven tabs used to move it around. I put the plastic glass in to its backplate with hood scoop 3m double sided tape, and some heat. Impressive spot for it there.



it flopped around giving me a light show I could care less for at night, and fixed it with wire. The mirror glass popped into its rotating socket easy enough, the wire made it a tighter fit..then I strapped it to the only metal piece in there. I used a bic lighter and pointy steel knife to poke through the plastic with heat.

very strong plastic theory they have there. Lets' play maine, paper, scissors.



The front shell of it did have two tiny screws holding it in place at a maine 90mph..but those must have broken after minute 1.
this high speed wire should keep it in place as a high performance aerodynamic nub. Maybe it will whistle, scare roadside moose away.

it may cut a throat artery or amputate an arm..have to wait and see.

I also have a new total on the steel for the bed and underside frame scabs.. over 70 pounds added. Between LT tires and the steel, it is now 150 pounds heavier...a very serious 150 pounds. On the scale, I have learned to not be surprised at a mystery 500 pound gain. Something to do with leverage and footprints psi. That is the serious steel, when scales change exponential beyond what is added. Makes a good truck from a bad one.

[Barry Donovan]

abs mystery solved!

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if you have a half dim ABS light on your manual tranny 96-99 chevy..

the coils once establishing their way inside the sensor cannot accept a closer realignment. They can get a little farther away from the reluctor...but going closer is going to create a millivoltage bleeder. Kelsey Hayes chooses the ABS light in the dash.


I knew it was the transfer VSS. Those are little more money, but not like 1996. that was big drama if to lose the VSS in 1996. Maybe 30 bucks today if you search enough.


So now this concludes my first guess.. the hurst realigned main shaft from front to back. VSS is now closer to the reluctor by microns.

thumbs for the hurst..

this also reveals that plastic base shifter can kill an nv3500 eventually. Wild forks.

in conclusion..it is not worth the error to chase. This kelsey abs has a real obvious function when it is working, not a hard switch like the old ones. Slamming on front brakes almost feels like a high pedal the harder you press, it is analyzing before the skid backing the foot off for you. This means the circuitry is quite modern. 1996 onward really is modern.

If the sensor takes a year to bleed down, it may go off itself, bleed down of the little generator in the sensor. I first learned this with computer power supplies. Given how old the front ones were..it may not go off completely, but keep working anyway.

I also drove around thinking I could find a walk in garage to get tires done... the only two I found are backed up by a week.
headed to the city, maybe even the truck stop.

An odd sight while at one of the garages. This place is rural. A dirt parking lot, I am parked in the middle of it. I come back out to get in the truck, a glimpse looking behind the cab, inline with my truck..in the background across the street in another dirt parking lot. My trucks twin with duelies looking right at me inline with my truck but way in the background.. Gloss black, identical. 96-98 grill/bumper. Just one of those funny things to notice.

[Stewzer55]

I'm surprised how flimsy those mirrors are, OE are usually better than aftermarket when it comes to that. But this is the same GM that made the 94-98 S10 mirrors that were flimsy too.

[Barry Donovan]

I'm surprised how flimsy those mirrors are, OE are usually better than aftermarket when it comes to that. But this is the same GM that made the 94-98 S10 mirrors that were flimsy too.

there must be tough ones. the driver side is very good.

I am at sears right now, sitting in the truck..free guest internet.
I like this place for tire changing..a few dollars more, but can request srtick on weights, and I guess there is a free alignment.
I passed on the alignment.. just waiting.

today as odds have it, the 75mph trek down the highway was the smoothest ride I got yet out of this, and it is still on the old tires with broekn belts.

ode to welding...simply needed to settle in some fresh density. I am still giving those old tires away. No need for the mood swings and wondering all the freakin time. Today is avery southern sunny day here..it must have some ingredients to making them normal.

The LT can go to 30 below and not care. I had to have them.
will get photos.

edit:
313pm. long day at sears. got there around 930 am.
nobody takes appts the same day. got lucky.




balanced as can be, tires are still at 42 for front, 40psi in the back. Going to bump that up. The newer reference for load rating E on the silverado is 55 and 80.

I'll start at 50 and 55 for these. Front cv's has already aligned, hence the travelling smoothness. Braking wobble alleviated may need the rear bumped to 60psi or more. Just like the newer chevy. This 1996 is actually a newer chevy..but who pays attention anyway.

This is one seriously heavy half ton. Even the E load cannot slack off at all. Huge improvement, truck is worth keeping and driving now. Planning on air conditioning full recharge, professional version. Away it goes.

the ride home was 50 miles or so at the 75mph maine limit, I cruised at 78, let the cars pass at 90. Cruise control, Very smooth, very casual.. could drive this along day. Sunk into my seat more without the old bad tires owning the ride.

85mph is smooth as glass, braking still has a slight wobble. Truck is old and hard. I am feeling rear hub temps on occasion,
I know these can gain a braking wobble from the back after a lot of miles and not enough lube in outer bearings. No sign of trouble yet on this one, the right rear is always warmer on these models. Just add a maine leaning road. I also learned to call it "walking the diff." This needed the tough tires on the old trucks. Most likely the same for this one.

the wobble goes along with the 1000 kiloton receiver hitch on a half ton as well. Lucky this goes this smooth and quiet as it is. Between welding with exact numbers, new little beams etc.. this one is going to be gold...staying careful of course.

Sears is great, they do good work, clean up beads, and other extras. Free rotation after 3000 miles for the life of the tire, in 3000 mile or more intervals.

I also noticed take off speed is slowed dramatically. 80 pounds added in the rotation..it is a good excuse to have a slower acceleration. This is the truck I was expecting, before I drove it. I guess something that went with my past favorites was not talked of much: The LT tire with E load rating must have been on all of them.


this tire had weird instructions, 40psi to seat the bead..then there is a break in period. That is why the air pressure experimenting has not begun yet. This one won't need the whole 500miles.. I might oblige, might not.
I'll go 55 front and 60 rear first tries. I bet that gets it.

[Barry Donovan]

final on the tires

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well this was simple.
puffed em all up to 55 psi, the back will go one more time to 60. It is a whole other truck. The 3 inch free lift kit I thought would happen really did up front. The steering, the ride, the smoothness..

and no hopping on the braking. The power has returned, even more so. I must have decreased footprint to more air in the tread.

This daydream, to build a truck that had a good path...just chores related to time and steel. Evidence an owner that cared in the records. It goes back to the middle 1980s, when I was a teen. I learned most of it when a father and son were putting together a first truck. There was emotions flying, the rewards and losses seemed bigger. Everything is more dramatic when you are learning young.

I never forgot. Every time I head into these rural places.. I remember the survival.

This truck is a win. Ready to fly down the road, as I do not really live here at heart, but running on memory, and the convenience of getting public help at a formal level. Did not expect that from this little town I had my short stay in from 87 to 91. Did not think whatever I learned here would ever be useful. I was lumber jack, a millman at the 3 foot blade, at the bark peeler machine with 1950s tech taking the cedar poles to useful.. a stacker, a shoemaker..and it died, it bankrupted.. it silenced.

Rip to Jim sr. and Jr.
the father and son I refer to both passed on, way too young.
If we were to spark up a conversation about trucks today...

I'd say "You were right. The tires did come last as the simple trophy."

As the years go by, the cult of the truck brands, it does know what overlaps. GM knows they cannot hide the real evolution. It makes it a cult classic. Pun intended. The mistakes for this 96 have been seen before. There is a gap between no label of heavy half ton from the 70s, and HD in the 2000s which more than made up for the difference some of these trucks got. That void lasted way too long.

This one today would be called "1500 HD", in the 70s it would be "heavy half" ton..just add a leaf in the back. Or, just the sight of the manual tranny and a v8.

The ABS for this year did not comply with obd2, but fixed the same way as kelsey hayes did since the 80s. Easy errors to live with, and it did get the modern circuitry of the ABS brain . Very smart ABS.

With these things known, I'd take in the 96-99 anytime. There is no wimpy ones... but there is some stronger than the others.

[Stewzer55]

New tires look very much at home, These years of GM trucks have such a timeless look to them, their designs age well.

[Barry Donovan]

New tires look very much at home, These years of GM trucks have such a timeless look to them, their designs age well.

I still look at every one of them going down the road. Even at their worst...there is something strong going on at the guts. I like them. All them newer ones.. you can stay confident.

One day after the LT tread, there is a slight positive in the camber up front, my weld is really taking action. Now the back can be used full strength.

I also learned it is now ready for the increments of 5 psi added to the back tires. This sets the front level. 5psi at a time, wait a day.. check it from a distance..go at it again. Back end knows the front.
The factory version responds much faster. I got 70000 psi of bricked framing...in just 70 pounds of steel added in the sweet spots. Surviving the initial ride home on my back roads, fast highway, there is even a section of very warm fresh hot new pavement...
got it all in one trip. Not even a flake of paint. The welds will be going deep.

All held up no problems. Even the old decayed shocks stil work. I laughed.. both rear ones appear to be 10-15 years old, steel missing. This morning in the dew, it is like looking at a 10000 dollar truck. Just one day of perking this thing up to tires.

the other tip for these aging trucks and the LT..
those tires still have use for at least 2 steel belted treads within the plies, almost like the old trucks and tractor triailers. The really old stuff had more than 2 belts. Very active. Today uses poly and nylon more..silicons. The steel belts act as the getaway for stray grounds and changes with welds and lights and new gadgets. Most vehicles count on bat negative to get through changes. (think "diffuser" on a ricer.) The old school stuff actually used the earth as part of the equation. The trucks still have a chance with the LT and some steel belts. The 2 belt steel LT version is today, still adds up to ten plies with the nylon and poly. Silicon type binder is a real evolution, that ignores cold and hot..keeps it together.

Weld away, make some changes. Nothing to fear.

Good name for a truck... No Fear.

I could have put this in yet another 5k project thread.
still under 5k.

An honorable finale would be a .25 mile time. It is comical to be this fast...bone stock, simple errors fixed to maintain factory settings. Ended up stronger.
I have not added any goodies. Even the hurst is there to fix a very serious problem, not about being a race vehicle. I have not even added the 100cpi cat. That is a very popular swap here local, allow cat to breathe with a better model than californias..
I am whispering like a new escalade instead. Even the o2 sensor is not the same as 1996, it is literally an upgrade to swap one out today for this truck...without even asking to do so...evolution is the upgrade on the same parts.

[Barry Donovan]

LT tire pressure and others

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I have not had my own truck with LT tires. This is simple stuff to long term pickup owners, but I am on my own with some very old memories. Self learning...and my 6300 pound baby has p rated tires in the rpo code for reasons only a saboteur would know. Hey that's french. I had to ignore factory weirdness.

via trial and error on brand new 10 ply LT tires:
55 front
65 back
This is how to make a sports car out of a truck. This will also reveal how sloppy your front sway bar is. I need some poly bushings..but still doing good, all of them are there, just old. It is actually a cheap upgrade.

I found new oxides on the springs after all this welding and squaring and puffing up. The right spring has fresh active oxide on the rear inbetween the leafs coming out around somebodies old paint job. The left spring has active fresh oxides on the front. I did indeed move the truck over by a small amount ..the springs revealed it. With the back puffed to 65psi , the engine lets out quite a growl on harder take offs, and I can indeed hear the tread, even on the all season version of the LT tires. Definitely a truck now. Must be the heavier signal, takes a bigger gulp of still air. This is the first famous vortec sounds ever made... 1996. Bone stock is still a pleasure. This one is may of 1996 date stamp, in the first batch the world to ever see..add that supercharger nv3500 sound and enjoy.

Beyond fun, this helps the drivetrain in 2wd or 4wd. The front cv will get stuck in a position if the back is not toughened up. Of course all tires need to be LT for this to work. The front needs tough stuff too.
This also stops brake hopping or diff walking, (lots of nicknames for that) keeps it minimum. Some trucks may need a 70psi or beyond for the back. This 1996 is the last of the little tail ends. The frames change as years get newer.
On the newer "1500 HD", this is an extreme offset of 55psi front and 80 psi rear on LT tires. My first hint to do something was a quick education by a sears worker at their garage.( thanks for that.)

the p rated?
I give up. there is no hope for them.
I left off at 28 front and 30 psi back.

this p rated stuff ended up a near death experience. No more fun and games about the miswritten rpo code.

The last reward for this is simply appearance. Wow. This could be mistaken for 8-12 years of different tougher models. Past and newer. I knew I got it right then. The back end is looking very stout. The whole truck is straight and fat. Big as factory goes...

the last mystery may deserve a thanks instead of calling someone stupid. The z71 logo is to make you doubt the model designation...it is not the base 4x4 or a z71.. it is a "?"
today, it is obvious it would be "1500 HD", in 1996 that model was not around.
I have decided that was clever.. the previous owner must have lived this routine time and again. Call it whatever the heck you want.

A fact I associate with my dads rigs as old square front end conventionals..
once at 83 mph and cruise is set..it still takes a mile to feel the aero drag and the flutter on the wipers to set in. I had always assumed its engine bay filling up, finally pushing back up and over the hood.
Not a redlight to redlight kinda guy.. I know not many go far with their ricer spurts of "extreme" power. Thought I'd share.

it can stay there until it runs out of fuel, very sturdy. The lean on the highways needs the tougher sway bar setup...else you'll feel the lean up front. With that done..it is perfection for this truck model. Awesome touring vehicle. It does a lot of things...the regular xcab truck.



I looked over the sway bar connection, half of it is missing..the tube that keeps the pressure is gone, both sides. Might be someones bad install after disconnecting for some work. In a way the sway bar was not even working.

Found the energy suspension version on ebay, like my cab mounts.. and grabbed a whole set. New bolts, nuts, etc.
I knew there was something not right, that lean over was like a set distance flop, not a gentle lean over to spring loaded.. no spring loaded feeling at all.
anyway, this should get the last life and death danger.

it is an ode to the strong tires and cross sills I guess. I was doing 83 on the highway switching lanes to feel that lean over feeling.The left and right lanes in maine have a rather dramatic few degrees to help with snow and rain.

I ponder if the last chore with this steel and regaining squares...ends with the first error that triggered the decade+ long domino.

The other thing to remember is the way spider gears work the diff. The p-rated was so soft, the front CV joints gained a weird rotation in the cups, pretending stuck. The tires could not force a smooth move...the tires moved instead.

The rear diff must have been favoring one side or the other as well. Either way, my welds are winning, if it means a few quirky moves to get the stuff moving smooth. The tires were a must do on more than one way to conquer. These poly chores are most welcome, on my to do list. I see in the photo 3 notches on the bolts. This indicates the job for the sway is not important. I am confident nothing serious was in today's weird event. Could not replicate it.

Maybe a leaf spring shift...back to straighter. The fresh oxides at the leafs...don't know when they made their move. Today could have been the day. This did happen within 2 miles of the 5 psi bump in the tires...on the highway.

[Barry Donovan]

highway to the end - summary already

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6 months since february. I am looking over daily.. cannot believe the chores went this fast and easy. Might play with a dent on the bed.. button up right rear cab corner. Little details.

Found 1/2 inch slop in the sway bar, right side. Still connected. Tough old bolt, stretched 1/2 inch...never broke. That old bolt with bushings has to be cutout. I can see why they left that chore. Steel and cutting and welding and owning is real scary. The speed sensor got a rub driver side, but A-ok.. tucked wire out of the way further. The only serious chore left is tighten sway..waiting on the mail. I'll remember that about the sway bar. 1/2 inch slop up front is a 3 inch lean by the time it gets to the back end.. at the wrong time. Should be good for 183mph after it is fixed.

This is complete at the drivetrain level already. Found some oil drops.. and followed it back to the billet filter. Took another half turn. I chased that new billet filter and retightenings more than once in my subaru. I know to keep an eye on it. This last tighten seems to be the winner. Filter installed. I do not recall seeing dry as a bone for any of these trucks. I looked up at the underside of hundreds, working at a quick lube in the early 90s.

That billet filter for these double balanced engines with cooler... very important. Easy to lose half the psi to a cheap filter. The bypass would rather open than let the filter work. The shame is losing half the volume at the same time. An error by GM? No way. Not possible. Nothing works but the stainless mesh if to go non-bypass, or one can go a full relief like on a k&n. Why have a filter if it bypasses right away? Silliness. The billet gets it done, and owns old carbons through the stainless mesh. This one 305 is coming around to spotless internally. Always wanted to nurture the later one. I always had old 305 racking up to 200k instead. This one seems like it could go to 1million.

This one is spectacular. Verifying the engine loved mobil 1. I know it is not the good old small block. this is the first of the new generations. Going on 20 years old now. The engine is somewhere near 60k.. even the previous owner guessed. It is easy to see and listen and feel out anyway. 50 years of chevy, I have even had 6 or more myself. Taken more than one to the every end. This is where the previous owner aided in a very good sale. The drivetrain is right on the money. All those shafts and bearings and seals..and no noises or leaks what so ever.
My job was welds, refurbish, make it lively as new or better.
Job done.

Chilly this morning. just hit 49F. Seems every year I stay in this region, it is not like the one before.
Glad the welds are in. Those LT tires would not go in right away either if to wait until winter. Not even the poly mounts would have gained full content until next spring sometime.
Just in time.. yet another vehicle.

My sister had a big yukon, her and her husband was on a big GM spree for some time when the kids were little. I had never been in the jumbo version..
I liked it. We went through boston, a lot of tight places, tighter than maine for sure. I knew to get one pickup and keep it focused as a highway theme.
That was 10 years ago.

This one is even smoother than the yukon jumbo liner version... it is kinda funny to think the 12 foot wheelbase of this pickup is short enough to make a harder one after experiencing the big bouncy yukon. It was as if to be so big, the flutter of cab mounts was little earthquakes.

Her yukon added to this trucks chore list before I got one.

The truck is now smooth as glass, I stop at 85..with cruise on.
This is just like many years of trucks to remember. Walking a diff to a better setting every drive. Two rails are right on the money. No offroad for this one, unless I have to.
Fantastic recovery. No cheating any measures.

The lean over weird shift in the left lane the other day.. thinking nothing of it. I had to go way back in time to remember that one. Leaf spring related. It requires a gargantuate change to make a set realign. That is me and frame rails. I am more than guessing it aligned like an old dump truck does, that is why there is only one peg in the stack of leafs. A secret for people that never actually work their truck.

Build it and they will come.

that is about frame rails and leaf springs.
Build the rails, the leafs will follow. The biggest shift I ever felt was my dads 81 cabover international, while loaded.

Ready to go already. This revival went much faster than I thought it would.

The last frustration is indeed myself. This is my 23rd vehicle. I have never brought anything to a mechanic. I joke of having clean clothes on once, (once) and stopping in to get a bellhousing tightened on my 84 monte carlo SS. Specifically the summer of 1996. The only time I have ever gone to a mechanic.
The frustration is how much I leave behind. How many people, claiming to have skills.. I walk away from. How many people I pass smooth as glass at 350,000 miles, in a pile of steel 19 years old in the passing lane...in a place that kills everything from one year to the next.

Time goes by and it occurs to me. I do not see something for the first time, less and less. Memory is harder to reel in. I need to sleep sometimes and awaken to the decades prior. I think of every project as my last. Life and death grocery getter, highway champion, offroad winner.. and all weathers to national records. At 42, I am not like a lot of other 42. I do know to relax more. I do know to speak less.

I did deserve to shake Chuck Yeagers hand. My godspeed always came home. If you must step up. Stay real. Errors out loud. You'll go a lot further.

I did say a long time ago. A pickup is my last project. It does not get any tougher, reward for work lasts the longest. I do know there is two steel belts closer to the pavement on those LT tires. Very satisfying. Like welding while sitting down on a dirt driveway. It goes with my silent ill. I am a wandering veteran, finally enrolled with confidence at the veterans administration. Lacking the crazy that typically goes with it. When the medical truth of my path comes through.. it is going to be a sad day. I do not know as I will be building much anymore. Makes this truck seem a little more special...and I hate when that happens.

As I add anything special, will share. Found a unique set of tail lamps that would go with my piercing eye cracking reverse bulbs, and an ability to reduce it to 1 bulb for parking blinkers brake, like a 1979. I go for these things as they show up.

[Barry Donovan]

tank cover frame

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I never got a photo of this, wanted to finish off the upper left corner, grabbed my camera. I knew to leave that one corner unwelded, where the bolt is upper left, until bed bolted down. It went without a cross sill up front...must be 10 years or more. I knew to get an exact shaping for the hole before locking the last edge.The level of decay and 90% of sill missing. Never seen a version of bed like this. The floor is perfect..maybe the rhino lining broke the wimpy grade of steel GM chose. An example of poly breaking steel.
anyway, I left one corner unwelded, all else is my usual 10ton bead. Welded the hell out of everything else.

Put a bolt in today to finish it, and added another hole for the lid. Just one. With this hole and frame, and the way I did it..it is again stronger than factory if it was a solid oem bed. The main crossmember for the two rails is underneath the bottom flat bar (the one closest in photo). The top flat bar is welded to the bed and edge of the new 2x3 cross sill. Worked out great.

30 below and a fuel pump fail? bring it on assholes.
Hardly being rude, in this locale, that is life and death. I was very lucky to be in my parking spot, it simply failed to start, next day.

another incredible use for the lid, which may be the decay for these trucks and a cold floor bottom.. Vent the gasses. This one, like all trucks, smells like a garbage dump. No roadkill for this one.. there was a bad epoxy chain smell. Reminded me of my subaru rockers. The cross sills must have used the same cheat to pretend to be bigger metal.

Tip: Go for the real metal. It lasts longer.

Still a slight wobble brakes on, hardly bothersome..easy to narrow down to tight cv joints. The dealer said he replaced one, greased it up good. Very glad that guy was genuine. Makes truck sales and the world go round. Sway bar not tightened yet...that should help. I am also not at the 500 miles yet for tires either. Other than that, very responsive steering and throttle, very smooth. 85 is nothing at all. Must watch speedometer now. No speed indicators with wobbles or shakes anymore. Speedometer only.. and maybe the wind past 90. The sound this makes earning the gears is most welcome. A vortec truck with tougher tires coming down the road. Long time favorite. Ready for a long day.



dent puller magnet..this one is 65psi.

the other thing to get after, while panel is being malleable like dough.. those dents that I created can be plucked. I even used my camera suction cup...but it is not quite enough. A little more strength on the pull, and maybe caress a seam. This will very good again. the bed panels had no errors, in fact gave it some wax to gain some compliments. perfectly errorless. Shining that code 41u gloss black. I feel bad about the dents. Very young panels.

the truck all lined up, stout. It is almost easy to ignore the little things.

Another interesting thing went into place today.. shifting through the gears. 4th is silent with no whine. The whole truck did indeed move a long measure after all. Being this tranny and those that do not know them.. I found a lot of complain of the supercharger noise. 1993 and later. The 4th gear silent is like the brand nv3500. This is good news. 1 thru 3 are the noisiest next to the extra bearing, and the main one up front. 5th being overdrive challenges the whole shaft..and that is my favorite noise. It is the most subtle yet you know it is big. My only second guessing the tranny was my fourth had a slight whine.

"The 1 to 1 should be quiet" . Glad to have that in there. I was confident anyway due to temps of runtime. Very calm large workable.. little package. Not that any pickup manual is large... but you get what I am saying.

[DanStokes]

Barry - Drive the truck down here and I'll set some Rivnuts to take screws to hold that fuel tank cover on - like GM should have done. Steel Rivnuts and SS screws and it'll live forever and you can remove it whenever you want to. I just popped a couple in today for the intercooler mount on Mutt and I remain convinced that they're the greatest thing since sliced beer (wait - is that right?). Anyhow, pretty cool invention.

Dan

[Barry Donovan]

Barry - Drive the truck down here and I'll set some Rivnuts to take screws to hold that fuel tank cover on - like GM should have done. Steel Rivnuts and SS screws and it'll live forever and you can remove it whenever you want to. I just popped a couple in today for the intercooler mount on Mutt and I remain convinced that they're the greatest thing since sliced beer (wait - is that right?). Anyhow, pretty cool invention.

Dan

I remember you spoke of those. That is an idea.
I also found a bumper in LMC that has fog lamps..the first thing to get kicked out of the bumper... fog lamps.
I could probably keep a pile of those types of screws on standby.

I actually want to make the right rear inner cab corner with a panel that comes out. It vents like my old subaru..quite peculiar. The ways of maine rock or something.

I am going with the u-nut instead(cheap, and removable).

[DanStokes]

U-nuts are good too. The only thing with them is that they hold the panel off the base a bit - the Rivnuts hardly at all (maybe a tad). But the U-nuts will, for sure, work.

Dan

[tardis454]

The other thing to get after, while panel is being malleable like dough.. those dents that I created can be plucked. I even used my camera suction cup...but it is not quite enough. A little more strength on the pull, and maybe caress a seam.

I shared this video here once before, and I showed my friend Matt the video too.
Matt bought 2 footballs and popped a huge dent out of the right door on his '05 2500HD.
You can barely tell where the dent was. He was very pleased with the results.