1996 GMC 5-speed

[Barry Donovan]

yet another chem chain

---

i noticed a strong odor of pvc glue, even though 10 degrees wind howling. one whiff came out at me instant knockout while standing.
I had to find something to grab for the split seconds it owned my entire existence.
I shrugged off, figured it was a perfect shot as I opened the new to me tool box to empty out the contents

it has been several days and every time I open the lid... knockout dizzy puff coming my way, grab something before I fall down.


Today at 33F I dumped an entire large bottle of lysol in the box, hoping that will do something.
it also states pvc glue is heavy and will ride low.
the box has drain holes and the crazy crap is not only not leaving, it is reaching out to kill me.

any ideas?
as dumb as the military,
life outside with our household cleaners and reactions...
I assume to be on my own again.

does brakleen stomp a monster like this or am I going to create a nuclear cloud only seen from sateliites?
dumber than chlorine bleach in a plywood laundry room...

edit:
that got it.
I just dumped a gallon of water in there as well. it is using the drains.
I am now assuming pvc glue below freezing wants a bit of water.
now my truck smells nice, like lysol.

[Barry Donovan]

just another snow storm

---

aout six inches more to get off the driveway.

plow guy asked where my subaru went, as I stood next to the gmc.
Just starting it had every neighbor looking at it, we all have to move our cars for the plowman.
it was and is entertaining. Only if a mechanic gets it...
I'll miss it some day.
for now I am looking at diesel projects and 3/4+ ton framing.
this half ton is a hot rod right out of the box... except for the framing.

I said..

I'd rather have 5000 pounds in one spot, than 6000 pounds of subaru parts all over the place.

It occurred to me what I had said...
Have you ever laughed at yourself?

our March leap into...
more winter

[Barry Donovan]

37k miles

---

local facebook.
$3800 with plow.
nv4500 on the SBC housing by factory



ultimate donor truck to build an ultimate half ton.
keep the whole drivetrain, ecm, switches



make money back on the plow setup


if you note in this photo.. gm sent this one ton with a dangling suspension hanger on a dump body.
single cab makes it much worse...and its 4x4.
Would not trust the hips in this one anymore.

ultimate donor..

[SuperBuickGuy]

like that one. I agree, the tin worms would starve.

[Barry Donovan]

like that one. I agree, the tin worms would starve.

real shame to see these sitting around.

meanwhile, i am hitting bump stops with 900 pound helpers in my hal;f ton.
the tool box was the final signal keeper I was looking for.
nothing but springs for suspension.

it is ready to just go 3/4 on the skinny steel.
my way.

I'll keep looking.
I stopped just now at a 2500HD I saw banged up some months ago.. now has rebuilt title, ready to go.
turned out to be very nice looking. Has the big frame and a plate I look for at the hips...
early 2000s model.

I may go back and inquire.
As long as it has iron engine...

[Barry Donovan]

plowed log road

---

everywhere I've been. It is times like this I miss when I had long term city or a noisy air base.
just the main road is quiet enough.. and yet an offshoot for a ocuple of miles... being the only one there
The air is most incredible.
no rock salt, no pollution.



more than 500 pounds in the back... on 900 pound helpers.




A half ton without the saggy butt. Saggy butt and this time of year is in almost all the trucks, even if empty.
always assumed physics of a long winter taking its toll, like keeping your back straight after many hours of hard work in the cold..
not easy to do.

I am proud of this one

Silence is a virtue.

meanwhile in a far away place.. the indian on a hill is crying.

0 to 60 in 3 seconds

[Barry Donovan]

tight J hooks

---

my invention to hold down the tool box has failed me.



found these on ebay, they are tight to get under bed edge...
The open J hooks walk.

they are J walkers.

will see if this holds down the 500 pounds in toolbox clamped to a bed.
Seriously. A most annoying chore...
this is what I get for laughing at my friend having a mental outburst over his toolbox that could not sit still.

[Barry Donovan]

my ugly hangers

---

since owning this I have become a maytag repairman.

My work upon purchase was to get after some steel.
did that in one weekend of its first summer 4 years ago.

I poked a scary hole at the front suspension hanger this winter for rear springs and guessed it was a spot seeming setup for a drill hole..
I had found another one in the back after shock mount.. my only plate added to the rails and its a piece of 2 inch flat stock.


Anyway I saw this photo and now am sure that is what i found.
to replace the welded gm hanger, this is what they give you.
I don't need anything, as I'd even weld an old one if that century ever comes...but it is interesting to see

the other item I checked on was the rear hangers.. the ugliest steel in my truck and it sends blue sparks like a mig welder if you take a grinder to them.
Very hard... whatever the heck that became after 23 northern winters



I was perturbed at the middle section I banged out with a hammer.. where it is thinner gauge and a triangle and square cutout of it already int his new one...
Again. I am not replacing until I see it is going weak.
I'd only give it a new one to look pretty. I'd have to wonder what the temper is and how many heat cycles and starts and stops of the 12volt cathode anode games before it became as hard as the old one.

I like my ugly hangers like a dented bumper.


here is a 2wd version...the middle is actually cutout from day one.


a hint of spring is 30F in the sun today
my truck bed is a trickle of snow melt heading towards the winter long arctic blue layer soon...

will show the steel chore at the hips when I am done with it.
for now, just headed into its 24th northern inspection... most likely be lifted on the crazy lift that leaves the whole back half of the truck and bed dangling 7 feet with nothing supporting it.
Don't even need to think about a fail.


found this pair for $52 delivered (discounts). will keep them as standby as I want to rip into that whole area to make a real hitch out of a factory bumper (I hate receivers). I mapped out a way to have a receiver height without all that sillyass steel dangling off a half ton frame. I am making use of what used to be the tire crossmember as part of it.

[Barry Donovan]

the size of things

---

when under the truck, I am one to grab a rail bounce the whole thing around looking at a shock mount or whatever moves.
undoing some bolts in foot pounds unknown to man needs an ebrake, 4x4 engaged and a parking brake set...
As if my little toy.



I needed the piece in my hand to see the value of the size.
looking tiny in relation to the rest of the truck.. I am more enthused to replace them.
my old ones sure are old.


this one came with 10.9 bolts.. will be going to 70 foot pounds, and an extra plate if I can...
I believe suspension and brakes in pairs, so got two of them.

Now waiting for some real warmth..
today was 41F , seeing a little rain and lots of fog.
its like breathing frost.. ground is frigid. The humidity did not go above 50% in the rain.


That kind of cold spell is terrible for man or machine.

come on spring. I am waiting.

on the subject of illusion of what size brings.

there is a few sentences by the host (asian guy) on riding in the evo.
Right on.

I first got my truck. it was a february.
still wiggling all around to the flexing frame like a tractor trailer.. broken cross sills, a shock mount, p-rated tires...
I proceeded to get on my northbound rural highway and hold it to max power the first warm spring day in may.
I let off to the windshield wipers floating in the wind and the tach at just 4200 rpm

135 + mph.

5000 pounds was so casual on the puffy under rated tread, I did not even have both hands on the wheel.


the size of things.

[Barry Donovan]

yet another beauty

---

I have lost count how many times I have seen this.



the single cabs are the wimpiest.
there is an xcab a couple of miles from me, broke in more ways than I did not count.
I am meaning to get pictures of that one.
even the suspension hangers sent the springs through the bed..and it is broken down the middle, and several places inbetween.

the cause? electric plow.
too many amps on the harbor freight worthy 110v weldable steel.

I can feel the mental pause of sharing this stuff in the southern land of fairy tails and offset load lines on the bearings with fat wheels that break their own mirrors...

the internet is great for that.

I can't wait to share what i did to mine.
the ground is quite frozen still...
getting impatient.

I am seriously wondering what tonnage I have made out of a half ton.
it might be a 3000 pound load in the bed worth now.

I feel any wiggle at all.. and think of photos like above. Maybe this fear is a good discipline.

[DanStokes]

Does anyone make a frame repair kit for these? Given that it seems to be pretty common it seems like someone would make a splice kit to fix it. If not, here's a backyard business opportunity for someone.

Dan

[Barry Donovan]

Does anyone make a frame repair kit for these? Given that it seems to be pretty common it seems like someone would make a splice kit to fix it. If not, here's a backyard business opportunity for someone.

Dan

there is some swingarm back half as a kit..and the notchers for low riders (I think those are banned in maine)
adding to factory is most welcome.
I have even had a state vehicle inspector ask me if I could weld his truck.

the factory are so simple and straight, even the hips, don't need anything but steel.

I watched this guy today with his dodge...
excellent video.
his point of view is very mellow and casually truth

maine has it worse by at least 3 times over. that dodge here in this locale died before the chevies.
gmt400 is still number one.. from 1988 to today.
and it doesn't have a 350.. the 305 and the oddball 4.3 are the champs.
the 3/4+ tons have had their engine swaps to keep happy.
that one dodge realm was engine related.. could still revive frames very easy.
the cummins oweners are cussing by november and coming back out of the snow pile in april.
the fords of the same years.. EGR, engine... over and over and over again, they do tend to keep nice frames.

I shared video on the facebook group for these trucks, i am mysteriously no longer a member.

someday there will be a truthful group for working men with actual testosterone as an admin.

Advanced truck owners with no place to go.. real shame.
Bangshift is dynamical. I am very glad to be here.
the fabrication and making things.

my frame is actually doing quite well. I simply want way beyond...
it is nice to gain up a weight category with simple geometry
a lot like this dodge guy did to his old plow truck

I call these chevies the heartbreakers..as one motor can rack over 3 times, and its not even the worshipped LS
the most often to find broken in half... because they never stop running.
the frame chores are my fun. Make it match the bulletproof drivetrains.
they deserve it

we finally got some rain, the cold wet rain to grb some melting snow in its way down.
truck and waterproofing chores are in. not even a burp gurgle or hickup.
I saw that often posted in the facebook group. Rain and dying coughing etc.
it is the same problems since the 1910s...and some kids have to still ask.

[Barry Donovan]

never did find a crash test for these trucks..
1999 onward does though.
I found american trucks don't have bumper requirements.

I wonder what they become long after the fresh squashy metal has hardened to 23 years and 373k miles of being anodized, tempered?
even aluminum can break with a big hard bang after that long.

I'll stay factory bumpers. it is hard enough.
My only goal is extra tough rails. I search for the crispy or crunchy that aged normal. Should be exfoilation, some brittle layers of something. the mild steel added seems very wimpy in comparison. This simply means the frame stays in charge of whatever you added.
I find those clean old ones love the welder too.

[Barry Donovan]

I can see why they played with ounces way back when with the swords.
if to find a sword at 40 inches and beyond a big guy was yeilding it..

anyway. cool video by rob dahm. those steel guys get it done.

I mention the sword... this was on demo ranch.
supposedly, the pile of steel is just 120 pounds.

that is the way steel is. a 120 pound grain bag, even my wimpy 130 pound self has it over the shoulders.
density standing ground...makes steel soooo scary.

I wanted to mention this.. as i added only approx 70 pounds to a shortbed area of my truck frame
all welded, some bolts..

that is all it took to go massive and squash half ton springs.
find the tone of that you want strong... and it is exponential in return.
find the sweet spots.

not to go too nerdy and get kicked from a group of trucks again...
don't need to break the back of that dads truck he left behind to restore.


one last note on the steel and never talking to mommas hands and savants with wide wheels on the load lines again..



this was on sv seeker. notice how thin the side bands of steel are in relation to the 2+ inch angle iron up top?

steel does this in stretch versus perpendicular.


these trucks hips have problems in 360 degrees...can't just look at a line and fantasize gm being a gift to steel..
this angle iron is just right.

and your receiver hitch is your own wrecking ball...unless the gauge resembles the frame it is getting attached to.

the last time I talk of truck frames.

god bless the color of iron
you wimps go on, and keep calling it rust.

[Barry Donovan]

inspection day

---

went to my favorite place. the same guys did the balljoints.
all is well, but they doubted brake lines.
I agreed to changing brake lines.
previous owner had those fresh when I bought it 4 years ago.. and it was obvious.
but the low grade steel had one of the guys in doubts this year.
they look like 2 decades already.
I agree.



I went and got a kit with good reviews.

ebay link:

the most useful review was "it took all day to get bled and together, but nearly perfect."
my stuff is literally still unboltable, won't take me long with a prebent kit..

At 373k miles and a third round of brake lines...
its time to seal this perfection of seeming immortal with some real stainless.
lets go for a 30 year round on one set of lines this time

..and they informed me of randall, he was my immediate neighbor in the building we lived in , which was right next door to the garage.
A viet nam vet with a failed stomach, a lot like louis..
they passed on within 6 months of each other.

more than coincidence.
they were both viet nam veterans.
..and they did not even know each other.
I just happened to live next to them in two separate towns 40 miles apart.

It may be a guiding light to reveal my own oddity to be found with these very unique illed veterans as immediate neighbors.
find your generation and keep after details was very good advice.

randall and louis nearly lived the same extremely rare phenomena without even knowing each other. Only the veit nam war in common...and they were both marines.

rest in peace louis and randall. semper fi.

I rowed my gears home, the ground is still frigid, but the sun is proving to be March like.
The sound of old iron between tough rails and a whine of hardened gears is something that has not changed since day 1.
it has outlived some of my friends..
it has outlasted more than a few wars.

I'll treat it good until the end. It is easier to diagnose a machine after battle in a war that never ends... than a human that has been to war.
It reveals our stupidity.