the pig rig?

[The Dark Side of Will]

The rig ought to move out way better with 4.10's than 3.07's, too!

[ericjon262]

Pretty sure it's a 10.5", not sure if there's an easy way to tell externally.it does need a new passenger side axle seal, and a lube change, it is a factory locker though, good because locker, bad because the gov-loc is kinda a POS, and not super durable, full of small internal parts that like to become small external parts, or so I'm told... Eventually, I'd like to swap in E-lockers like you're doing to the Eagle, but that will happen when I find a donor truck and upgrade brakes.

Did they build 10.5" non-floating assemblies?

going by this I would say yes?

https://www.randysworldwide.com/differe ... cation-gm/

I'm not quite to the point of bidding on a donor truck yet, but they are out there... I really like the tan 2005, looks ideal for what I want, and I could probably drive it back to washington as is. it's almost too nice though...

https://www.copart.com/lot/28434308

https://www.copart.com/lot/57042798

https://www.copart.com/lot/26736869

Throw a replacement bed on the tan one and sell it

yeah, definitely an option, but it has a salvage title. if I were to do that, I'd just sell my 2500HD and drive that instead.

[ericjon262]

The rig ought to move out way better with 4.10's than 3.07's, too!

I thought it had 3.08's, but according to the SPID, it has 3.42's. either way, 4.10's are still going to be a huge improvement! that poor wheezing TBI 350 will get half a break...

[The Dark Side of Will]

going by this I would say yes?

https://www.randysworldwide.com/differe ... cation-gm/

Tough angle on your photo, but it doesn't look like a 14b cover. It does not have the separate pinion carrier that unbolts out the snout either.

[ericjon262]

going by this I would say yes?

https://www.randysworldwide.com/differe ... cation-gm/

Tough angle on your photo, but it doesn't look like a 14b cover. It does not have the separate pinion carrier that unbolts out the snout either.

Ii just went out an took another look at it, it's a 9.5, I thought the cover looked different. not really too worried about it, either way, it's way stronger than my 8.5" ten bolt.

Edit:

to add, almost everything I'm looking at for a donor, has a 10.5 FF.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Diesel and 3/4 ton HD's will all have the 14bff. GM also has the 11.5" for getting really stoopid, although it doesn't have the internal pinion support that the 10.5" has.

[ericjon262]

getting ready for that doubler action!

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it surprised me how much heavier the chain drive NP203 was compared to the gear drive NP205.

[ericjon262]

looks full floating to me... well, maybe full hanging...

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I should get in an axle business at this rate...

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and... picked up these bad boys today! BFG mud terrain KM2's, 285/75R16. I would have preferred the all terrains, but... I got these for about $112 each... hard to pass up...

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[ericjon262]

internal maniacal laughter... time to lift it... lol!

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heater core is installed. still need to hook it up, but I'm going to flush the rest of the cooling system with it bypassed first, try and make sure there's no BS in there to clog it up.

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[The Dark Side of Will]

The fender will self-clearance.

[ericjon262]

The fender will self-clearance.

lol, a "new" inner fender will be going in.

[The Dark Side of Will]

I meant in the rear.

That's a D60 front axle, right?

[ericjon262]

I would prefer it that way, but no, its an 8.5" ten bolt for now, until I can find a Dana 60. The tires would fit without a lift, but they would rub In the front on anything other than flat ground. Rear, I've never noticed rubbing with a tire this size stock, but it doesn't mean it's not there.

[The Dark Side of Will]

The new axle is an 8.5"? I didn't think they built those 8 lug.

[ericjon262]

The new axle is an 8.5"? I didn't think they built those 8 lug.

all 3/4 tons got either D44's, or 8.5's, which are about equal from a strength standpoint. the one tons got dana 60's, which are way stronger.

[ericjon262]

a bit of news though, I'm picking up some GMT-800 front brakes off of a buddy's parts truck that I am going to use as mockup parts to figure out a suitable adapter for the later calipers at a minimum, hopefully the rotors as well though, I like the idea of a slip on rotor vice the press on which require removal of the whole hub to have a rotor turned. it would also make finding new rotors and calipers easier if the squarebody calipers ever become hard to find(lol, sure...) for some odd reason...

[ericjon262]

made a bit of progress in the past two days, I decided to go ahead and pull the engine to replace the rear main seal, and oil pan gasket. I also decided, that because I would have it this far apart, it was a good time to throw on a new timing chain. I disconnected the wiring from the engine, the torque converter bolts, and began loosening the bell housing bolts. if everything goes according to plan, I'll have the engine out tomorrow afternoon. at this point, I'm contemplating rebuilding the transmission as well. a kit is about $280 for an all inclusive kit, and I'll have to pick up a few special tools, but it doesn't appear to be anything too crazy, and would give a HUGE amount of insurance for the Alaska trip.

[ericjon262]

well, the weather turned shitty the past couple of days, snow and junk, so the engine hasn't been freed yet, hopefully today.

-break-

I picked up these calipers off of an ~05 a friend was parting out. The current plan, is to use them to get measurements, and then adapt them to the squarebody front axle, with slip on rotors, instead of the old school press on style. I am also going to try an integrate a wheel speed sensor into the adapter, so I can potentially bring on ABS as well. once I swap in a late model full floating rear axle.

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[ericjon262]

Engine is out, lots of cleanup to do still. The plan right now, is to replace the front and rear main seal, along with the oil pan gasket, oil pressure switch, oil pressure sending unit, and work real hard to ensure there are no possible oil leaks left. then drop it back in.

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[ericjon262]

been a hot minute since the last update, as seen in the last picture, the engine is out, and I started disassembly:

all 8 plugs showed no signs of oil consumption.

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with the oil pan removed, no crazy deposits or sludge was visible

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Clearly someone had been in the engine before me, as these never came stock with a double roller timing chain:

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but, if you look back to the picture of the oil pan, notice in the oil pump pickup? yeah, big chunks of bullshit. it's all plastic material, I determined it was a nylon hose clamp similar to the one in the following pictures:

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at this point, I had no plans to go any further into the bottom end, but I wasn't comfortable with the debris, so I decided it would be a good idea to pop a main cap, and a rod cap to check a couple of bearings, and the results were less than desired...

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it's hard to tell in the pictures, but there is a nice score in the bearing, with copper showing. the #1 main bearing also had a bit of wear with visible copper. the journals on the crank are also scored... I attempted to polish the scores out, but they are beyond my capability to repair.

at this point, I have about 6 options.

have the crank ground, which costs about $200

buy a replacement crank, which is about $180

buy a junkyard engine, which is probably about $700, with questionable condition

buy a reman shortblock, which runs about $900, with more confidence.

and finally, the most expensive, but probably best option,

buy a wrecked or otherwise low cost late model suburban/tahoe with a 4.8 or 5.3, some swap mounts, and smash the two together for about $2500

theoretically, I could part out the late model and recoup some of my costs, but I'm unsure of what parts are worth for one, so I probably won't go that route. realistically, I'm probably going to buy a replacement crank, clean up the block as best as I can, and get it on the road. my biggest concern with a replacement crank, is that the balance of the engine may not be right anymore with the new crank, but, this isn't exactly a high RPM monster either, and I imagine an 80's GM rotating assembly probably wasn't balanced that precisely anyways.