I’m somewhat intentionally doing it rough around the edges. I don’t want it pretty. The rear axle and springs are from the owner of the local junkyard’s personal work truck. He would haul a load on Fridays with it. Overheated the motor in the summer a couple years ago and put it in the yard. I pulled that junk before anyone else touched it. He likes what I do.
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
_stucky’s FunK20
- Thread starter _stucky
- Start date
I’m somewhat intentionally doing it rough around the edges. I don’t want it pretty. The rear axle and springs are from the owner of the local junkyard’s personal work truck. He would haul a load on Fridays with it. Overheated the motor in the summer a couple years ago and put it in the yard. I pulled that junk before anyone else touched it. He likes what I do.
NORDFORD
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 20, 2020
- Member Number
- 765
- Messages
- 128
Well, it’s working. It’s a sleeper for sure. The look is great, functionality seems great, creativity is great. Good work.
Thanks. That reminds me, I made this to go in the toolbox. Extra wood from projects. I put used motor oil on it with a dirty blue shop rag off the floor, just to see the results. It is made to just barely squeeze past the latch. I think it turned out beautiful.
Good news. Got ahold of the localish tune guy and got the computer messed with today. I didn’t have time to do anything expect plug it in and try the key. It fired right up, had a high idle for a little bit, and smoothed right out. I’m going to sleep well tonight.
The exhuast guy says 2 weeks and he will have time for me.
The exhuast guy says 2 weeks and he will have time for me.
I got an air cleaner on finally. The keys were lost a while back, so swapped in door locks. I am going to clean up the door panels and sound deaden the doors. I got some dodge 17s this week. They touched the tie rod ends, so I got some 1/4 inch spacers, problem solved. They seem too shiny, but I like the width. The outside of the tire is pretty much even with the top of the fender. We had these tires sitting in the shed, but I plan to get 37s. The radiator sprung a leak. My 91 k5 had a napa replacement, I pulled it, the overflow bottle, washer fluid bottle, and maybe a couple other little things.
Levigarrett76
Zeus of the Sluice
What is exhaust setup?
I intend to do more on the front bumper. It looks too naked. Doors are now sound deadened, driver side panel is on, need to epoxy a piece on the passenger side before it goes back on. And I ordered 2 37s. And it has insurance now. Tuesday it will have plates.
Pickup Truck Backwall Storage System
Pick-up Truck Backwall storage or behind seat storage system organizes Tools and Supplies.Converts behind seat space into an organized storage area. These welded steel storage units have 3 storage shelves measuring 1 3/8"H x 3 1/4" D on top; 1 1/2"H x 4" D in the middle, and 2 1/8"H x 5 1/2"D on...
www.americanvan.com
Here’s the link to the shelf but it looks like it’s not available right now.
Welded a little more on the bumper and painted it. Put a packout mount in the bed. Got the new tires mounted on a different set of wheels. I think the wheels are very ugly. Got the tailgate hinges fixed and tailgate back on.
So far, I am pretty happy with how the truck feels on the road. The tires seem smooth, suspension is soft, it rides decent, it steers straight. Everywhere I have gone so far, it gets attention, the locals seem to like it. I showed the guy I got it from, he liked it, although doesn’t have a clue why any of it was done, it was his dads truck. Even my dad, who scoffs at all the things I do, he admitted to me he likes it. It’s quiet inside, can have a normal conversation in there.
But I do have a couple of issues.
So I mentioned the alternator is overcharging. My mechanic buddy couldn’t find a reason why. We assumed I needed to connect, or disconnect, a wire somewhere. It will usually show about 15-17 volts. I really need to do more investigating. Any insight on how you guys did your alternator wiring would be great. On mine, the motor/computer/harness had 2 wires from computer to alternator, these are unchanged. There is a 3rd wire at the alternator plug, my diagrams show it going to the abs system, this wire is cut close to the plug. On the truck, there was 1 wire going to the original alternator, from the firewall bulkhead connector. I suspect this wire needs hooked to something. I also assumed this wire was for the gauge on the dash or the battery light, but when I rewired the gauge cluster for the 91 cluster, there was no wire going to the battery light. I’m sure the fix is simple, I just don’t know which wire(s) I need to mess with.
I also have 2 weird noises. The first one, I thought at first was power steering. New pump, used 2wd box, the trucks original lines, no leaks, steers fine. So then I thought maybe it’s the 205 whining, it’s got all new bearings and seals. If I bump it into neutral while moving, there is no change, it is consistent with the rpms, which tells me probably not the 205. It seems belt driven. I am now wondering if it is the alternator being overworked. It really sounds like a power steering pump low on fluid.
The 2nd noise it an odd one. I swear it sounds like a walnut in the water pump. But, if I use a stethoscope to try to find it, the only place I can hear it is from the power steering cap. Sometimes if I take the cap off, it stops. This motor had the upper water pump hose cut off and I really wouldn’t be surprised if a nut (think squirrel, not hex) had gotten in there. I did have the pump off, it looks to have been replaced at some point. It didn’t stand out to me as needing attention, but I can’t say I checked it for walnuts. It comes and goes, very inconsistent. It doesn’t sound like metal on metal, more like knocking on a piece of wood.
Anyways. Steering box. Several years ago I got into drilling/tapping/parts swapping internals on Saginaw boxes. I’ve had probably 15 apart. Some mixed and matched with parts from this into that, yadda yadda. This 2wd box, I didn’t open it up. It came from a buddy that builds truck pull trucks, think county fair truck pulls. It’s from his own Cummins swapped, 4wd converted, 87 crew cab dually. The steering setup is xj shaft (bolt in) to 2wd box, ord pitman arm, crossover with ruffstuff springless arm. Everything should be tight, but I had a lot of play at the wheel. So I adjusted the set screw on top of the box. It made a huge difference. I was turning 1/4 at a time and checking it, but really I just ended up going all the way down (not cranking on it, just snug) and backing it off a hair. This pretty much took out all the slop from the steering wheel.
I still think the wheels are ugly and too shiny. Maybe they will grow on me. I like that the tires are under the fenders on this one. I suspect the steps will have to go once I flex it out again.
But I do have a couple of issues.
So I mentioned the alternator is overcharging. My mechanic buddy couldn’t find a reason why. We assumed I needed to connect, or disconnect, a wire somewhere. It will usually show about 15-17 volts. I really need to do more investigating. Any insight on how you guys did your alternator wiring would be great. On mine, the motor/computer/harness had 2 wires from computer to alternator, these are unchanged. There is a 3rd wire at the alternator plug, my diagrams show it going to the abs system, this wire is cut close to the plug. On the truck, there was 1 wire going to the original alternator, from the firewall bulkhead connector. I suspect this wire needs hooked to something. I also assumed this wire was for the gauge on the dash or the battery light, but when I rewired the gauge cluster for the 91 cluster, there was no wire going to the battery light. I’m sure the fix is simple, I just don’t know which wire(s) I need to mess with.
I also have 2 weird noises. The first one, I thought at first was power steering. New pump, used 2wd box, the trucks original lines, no leaks, steers fine. So then I thought maybe it’s the 205 whining, it’s got all new bearings and seals. If I bump it into neutral while moving, there is no change, it is consistent with the rpms, which tells me probably not the 205. It seems belt driven. I am now wondering if it is the alternator being overworked. It really sounds like a power steering pump low on fluid.
The 2nd noise it an odd one. I swear it sounds like a walnut in the water pump. But, if I use a stethoscope to try to find it, the only place I can hear it is from the power steering cap. Sometimes if I take the cap off, it stops. This motor had the upper water pump hose cut off and I really wouldn’t be surprised if a nut (think squirrel, not hex) had gotten in there. I did have the pump off, it looks to have been replaced at some point. It didn’t stand out to me as needing attention, but I can’t say I checked it for walnuts. It comes and goes, very inconsistent. It doesn’t sound like metal on metal, more like knocking on a piece of wood.
Anyways. Steering box. Several years ago I got into drilling/tapping/parts swapping internals on Saginaw boxes. I’ve had probably 15 apart. Some mixed and matched with parts from this into that, yadda yadda. This 2wd box, I didn’t open it up. It came from a buddy that builds truck pull trucks, think county fair truck pulls. It’s from his own Cummins swapped, 4wd converted, 87 crew cab dually. The steering setup is xj shaft (bolt in) to 2wd box, ord pitman arm, crossover with ruffstuff springless arm. Everything should be tight, but I had a lot of play at the wheel. So I adjusted the set screw on top of the box. It made a huge difference. I was turning 1/4 at a time and checking it, but really I just ended up going all the way down (not cranking on it, just snug) and backing it off a hair. This pretty much took out all the slop from the steering wheel.
I still think the wheels are ugly and too shiny. Maybe they will grow on me. I like that the tires are under the fenders on this one. I suspect the steps will have to go once I flex it out again.
Levigarrett76
Zeus of the Sluice
I like this alot, envious of the invested time
350TacoZilla
Well-known member
Did you lower the pressure of the PS pump? I haven't dealt with it myself but keep thinking I had heard people say the LS PS pump puts out too high pressure for the old steering boxes and it is hard on both pump and box. Could possibly be both of your weird noises.
Well, possibly. I did replace the pump. I think I used the male/female threaded gizmo that the pressure line screws to that came with the new pump. I didn’t mess with the spring or anything. I used 03 Yukon for the application. I did use a 5 inch pulley to try to get it spinning faster at idle. I had to push the pulley further onto the shaft than you normally would, so I’m not sure I’d recommend it on the 5.3 truck accessories. Edit: after re reading the previous post, then re reading this post, I’d think I raised the pressure and/or flow with the pulley.
Some of you may recall from the old place, there was a power steering pump thread in the chevy section. I think Rinkrat posted it. Anyways this is the same pump part number/application that was recommended there. I don’t recall the specifics, but will see if I can find the thread. It is also what I used in my 04 s10 with a y link and waggy 44. Also when I was wasting time and pissing away money on the tbi trash in this truck, I grabbed the 91 k5’s serpentine accessories, but put this same part number pump (I left it in that setup and have another one in this) in an s10 reservoir because that one bolt is a pain in the ass to get out, the s10 reservoir has a notch to get a socket in there. I made a little bracket to hold the dipstick tube to the alternator bolt. It seemed to work fine, I don’t recall it being an issue but I didn’t get very many miles on it. I have the same 5 inch pulley on both the s10 and the tbi bracket/s10 reservoir setup. You can see the s10 reservoir on the tbi serpentine bracket in the pic of the tbi stuff on page 1.
So the whine noise is definitely power steering. Went to my buddy’s shop and had him look. He said the fluid looked like it had water in it. I thought it looked frothy from heat. I did clean the reservoir in our parts washer (mineral spirits I think). But it sat there for days before I put the pump in, so I’d think it was dry. When I got back, I went looking through my parts stashes and trucks and found a stock squarebody steering cooler and got it swapped on. My buddy said put atf in instead of power steering fluid. I only have about a 4 mile drive home from our shop, and it was squalling when I got here. The atf looked frothy again.
Steering pump part number is napa 385136. The 5 inch pulley is dorman 300202.
By the way, the pulley worked fine on the s10 with the 04 4.3 accessories, and I have the same accessories on the vortec 5.7 in it now. I didn’t have to put it further on the shaft like I did with the 5.3 truck accessories. This pump was also what was supposed to be in my 5.7 donor, 99 express van.
Some of you may recall from the old place, there was a power steering pump thread in the chevy section. I think Rinkrat posted it. Anyways this is the same pump part number/application that was recommended there. I don’t recall the specifics, but will see if I can find the thread. It is also what I used in my 04 s10 with a y link and waggy 44. Also when I was wasting time and pissing away money on the tbi trash in this truck, I grabbed the 91 k5’s serpentine accessories, but put this same part number pump (I left it in that setup and have another one in this) in an s10 reservoir because that one bolt is a pain in the ass to get out, the s10 reservoir has a notch to get a socket in there. I made a little bracket to hold the dipstick tube to the alternator bolt. It seemed to work fine, I don’t recall it being an issue but I didn’t get very many miles on it. I have the same 5 inch pulley on both the s10 and the tbi bracket/s10 reservoir setup. You can see the s10 reservoir on the tbi serpentine bracket in the pic of the tbi stuff on page 1.
So the whine noise is definitely power steering. Went to my buddy’s shop and had him look. He said the fluid looked like it had water in it. I thought it looked frothy from heat. I did clean the reservoir in our parts washer (mineral spirits I think). But it sat there for days before I put the pump in, so I’d think it was dry. When I got back, I went looking through my parts stashes and trucks and found a stock squarebody steering cooler and got it swapped on. My buddy said put atf in instead of power steering fluid. I only have about a 4 mile drive home from our shop, and it was squalling when I got here. The atf looked frothy again.
Steering pump part number is napa 385136. The 5 inch pulley is dorman 300202.
By the way, the pulley worked fine on the s10 with the 04 4.3 accessories, and I have the same accessories on the vortec 5.7 in it now. I didn’t have to put it further on the shaft like I did with the 5.3 truck accessories. This pump was also what was supposed to be in my 5.7 donor, 99 express van.
Last edited:
Found interesting P/S pump info!
Oh yea. So last Tuesday I went to the dmv to get plates situated. I got there early, and back before 9. Plan was slap the plates on and take it back to town to my buddy’s shop to mess with... issues...
On the way back, I’m thinking I’ll zip tie the plates to the bumpers for now. But I get there and stepped on a piece of old baling wire, chuckled and thought even better. I have now tacked bolts to the bumpers, still need a light.
A few days earlier, I had left it outside, it snowed, the bed was full of snow. I pulled it back in and the snow melted.
So baling wire the plates on, throw my tools in the bed. Clean up a little bit around the truck and go to start it. It spit and sputtered a little bit and ran like shit for a little bit and died. Odd, it has so far ran fine. I thought it was out of gas, the gauge is not working right (I think i know why).
Go get a gallon out of the bulk tank. Still no start. Another gallon. No start.... another gallon.... no start.... hmmm. I’m thinking possibly bad gas in the bulk tank. Talk to my buddy, who has been known to run shitty gas he’s had to pump out of other peoples tanks in his own junk, and been bit in the ass by it a couple times. Run through all the things he says to check. Then he says, well the only other thing I can think is water in the gas.
So I took the line off at the filter, hot wired the pump relay and pumped about 20 gallons out, a gallon at a time, into a clear bottle. I bet it was half water. Put 3 gallons from the bulk tank in and went to the gas station.
My theory. I have a k5 tank in the back under the bed. I have a trimmed down elbow and an amazon special filler neck for a boat in the bed floor. When the snow was melting, I had noticed there was a perfect circle melted above the filler neck. As in, the snow was a good 2 foot deep, and I could see the filler neck on the bed floor. A perfect circle. Pretty sure it melted and ran right in the tank.
On the way back, I’m thinking I’ll zip tie the plates to the bumpers for now. But I get there and stepped on a piece of old baling wire, chuckled and thought even better. I have now tacked bolts to the bumpers, still need a light.
A few days earlier, I had left it outside, it snowed, the bed was full of snow. I pulled it back in and the snow melted.
So baling wire the plates on, throw my tools in the bed. Clean up a little bit around the truck and go to start it. It spit and sputtered a little bit and ran like shit for a little bit and died. Odd, it has so far ran fine. I thought it was out of gas, the gauge is not working right (I think i know why).
Go get a gallon out of the bulk tank. Still no start. Another gallon. No start.... another gallon.... no start.... hmmm. I’m thinking possibly bad gas in the bulk tank. Talk to my buddy, who has been known to run shitty gas he’s had to pump out of other peoples tanks in his own junk, and been bit in the ass by it a couple times. Run through all the things he says to check. Then he says, well the only other thing I can think is water in the gas.
So I took the line off at the filter, hot wired the pump relay and pumped about 20 gallons out, a gallon at a time, into a clear bottle. I bet it was half water. Put 3 gallons from the bulk tank in and went to the gas station.
My theory. I have a k5 tank in the back under the bed. I have a trimmed down elbow and an amazon special filler neck for a boat in the bed floor. When the snow was melting, I had noticed there was a perfect circle melted above the filler neck. As in, the snow was a good 2 foot deep, and I could see the filler neck on the bed floor. A perfect circle. Pretty sure it melted and ran right in the tank.
Not the best pic. I don’t think I got all the power steering fluid out when I swapped the factory cooler on. And I filled it with atf this time. But it looks to me like it is bubbly. Thoughts?
I’m thinking get a different cooler, possibly mounted in front of the radiator on the core support. Maybe get new hoses. Of all the junk I’ve messed with, I’ve never really had much trouble with power steering.
I’m thinking get a different cooler, possibly mounted in front of the radiator on the core support. Maybe get new hoses. Of all the junk I’ve messed with, I’ve never really had much trouble with power steering.
Dadnson1
New member
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2020
- Member Number
- 2749
- Messages
- 2
Your alternator overcharging issue, I ran into the same issue with a Chevy engine swap on a YJ. On the three wire alternator; large charging wire goes to the battery. On the two small wires there is one that is hot with key on. That wire needs to have a small "load" on it like the dash light for alternator charging. I installed a small indicator light inline to that. The light comes on when the key is turned on but goes out when the vehicle is started and running and charging. Hopefully this helps because it cleared up my issue. You can also Google wiring for a 3 wire GM alternator and it will show you basically the same thing but in a wiring diagram.
I will get some more info on how it currently is tomorrow. But I think the wire that went to the truck’s original alternator should do as you are saying.
On the pump, could it just be that I have a bad pump? It’s not uncommon to get bad parts from the typical parts places. This pump is the only variable from when I had the tbi 5.7 and now. I think that the squalling noise is worse with the cooler I put on. It went from I can’t pinpoint what is making noise, to a constant screeching. I drained the power steering fluid/atf slurry that was in there and refilled with atf. It looks to me like a lot of tiny bubbles.
On the pump, could it just be that I have a bad pump? It’s not uncommon to get bad parts from the typical parts places. This pump is the only variable from when I had the tbi 5.7 and now. I think that the squalling noise is worse with the cooler I put on. It went from I can’t pinpoint what is making noise, to a constant screeching. I drained the power steering fluid/atf slurry that was in there and refilled with atf. It looks to me like a lot of tiny bubbles.
I intend to swap another pump in on Monday. I don’t think the atf helped anything. If I have enough power steering fluid, maybe tomorrow I’ll drain this atf out and refill it with power steering fluid and see what happens.
Lets start with power steering. I drained the atf and refilled with power steering fluid. No real change. This time, it’s big bubbles. Still squalls like crazy. I may try draining it again and hooking the old hose back up to bypass the cooler and see if it quiets back down. It seems to steer fine, even when bubbly and squalling, and no leaks.
For the alternator, I tried a couple different things today. I don’t know if I learned anything.
Blue is to “P” on the alternator, obviously I have it unhooked.
Brown is to “L” on the alternator, and is going to C2 green connector pin 15. Lt1swap says “charge indicator control (models with generator battery control module, rewire alternator brown wire to this pin to remove gbcm)”
Grey is to “IF” on the alternator, and is going to C2 green connector pin 75. Lt1swap says “generator field duty cycle signal (models with generator battery control module, rewire alternator gray wire to this pin s pin to remove gbcm)”
“G” on the alternator didn’t have a wire.
So the info from Lt1swap matches one of the diagrams I have, but not the other. The 1 shows the brown and grey wires doing the opposite functions.
Pin 15 and pin 75 on this. I call this mess the treasure map.
But on this one, it shows them being the opposite function.
So I’m confused. To add to the confusion, I did some experimenting.
With key on, the brown wire, C2 green 15, does not light up. For the record, the grey wire didn’t light up either.
With key on, the brown wire that went to the stock 87 alternator is hot, but stays on when the truck is running.
So it would seem as if I should hook this up. I took the brown wire out at the computer, jerry rigged it to the brown wire at the firewall with the test light in between them. With it running, it still seems like it is overcharging. If i unhook it, it stops charging. This is what I assumed from the start needed hooked up, even before I ever looked at any diagrams, brown to brown, seems logical. I still think this may be the solution. When I did the serpentine belt accessories on the tbi 5.7, I found an a-dapt-or with the resistor in it. I dug it out when I got home.
But it didn’t seem to be working right. I put the brown wire back in pin 15 and pulled the grey wire out of pin 75, still overcharging. It seemed like this wire did nothing, I noticed no change at all.
On the chance that the one diagram is the correct one, and the other 2 are in fact wrong, I swapped brown and grey at the alternator plug. Still overcharging. I swapped them back around the way they were.
This leads me to is the regulator in the alternator bad. I don’t know. I’m confused. I think my s10 has this same alternator (not the stock s10 alternator, pretty sure one of these is what I swapped in years ago). I will try to look tomorrow and if I have time will swap them around. When I got the pedal and tac module and maf etc from the junkyard, the Escalade I grabbed stuff from had a new alternator, I set it off to the side. Still there as of Thursday. I’ll grab it Monday when I go get another pump.
I feel like I accomplished nothing today.
For the alternator, I tried a couple different things today. I don’t know if I learned anything.
Blue is to “P” on the alternator, obviously I have it unhooked.
Brown is to “L” on the alternator, and is going to C2 green connector pin 15. Lt1swap says “charge indicator control (models with generator battery control module, rewire alternator brown wire to this pin to remove gbcm)”
Grey is to “IF” on the alternator, and is going to C2 green connector pin 75. Lt1swap says “generator field duty cycle signal (models with generator battery control module, rewire alternator gray wire to this pin s pin to remove gbcm)”
“G” on the alternator didn’t have a wire.
So the info from Lt1swap matches one of the diagrams I have, but not the other. The 1 shows the brown and grey wires doing the opposite functions.
Pin 15 and pin 75 on this. I call this mess the treasure map.
But on this one, it shows them being the opposite function.
So I’m confused. To add to the confusion, I did some experimenting.
With key on, the brown wire, C2 green 15, does not light up. For the record, the grey wire didn’t light up either.
With key on, the brown wire that went to the stock 87 alternator is hot, but stays on when the truck is running.
So it would seem as if I should hook this up. I took the brown wire out at the computer, jerry rigged it to the brown wire at the firewall with the test light in between them. With it running, it still seems like it is overcharging. If i unhook it, it stops charging. This is what I assumed from the start needed hooked up, even before I ever looked at any diagrams, brown to brown, seems logical. I still think this may be the solution. When I did the serpentine belt accessories on the tbi 5.7, I found an a-dapt-or with the resistor in it. I dug it out when I got home.
But it didn’t seem to be working right. I put the brown wire back in pin 15 and pulled the grey wire out of pin 75, still overcharging. It seemed like this wire did nothing, I noticed no change at all.
On the chance that the one diagram is the correct one, and the other 2 are in fact wrong, I swapped brown and grey at the alternator plug. Still overcharging. I swapped them back around the way they were.
This leads me to is the regulator in the alternator bad. I don’t know. I’m confused. I think my s10 has this same alternator (not the stock s10 alternator, pretty sure one of these is what I swapped in years ago). I will try to look tomorrow and if I have time will swap them around. When I got the pedal and tac module and maf etc from the junkyard, the Escalade I grabbed stuff from had a new alternator, I set it off to the side. Still there as of Thursday. I’ll grab it Monday when I go get another pump.
I feel like I accomplished nothing today.
Last edited:
It was hard to capture it since it was bouncing all over place. Anywhere from low 14s to high 15s is what I saw today. This is the highest I got a picture of. I want to say I had the lights on, radio all the way up, and heater fan blowing on high when I took this. I have seen it in the 17s, but not today.
I swapped the s10’s alternator, it seems to have cured the overcharging issue. However... my welds didn’t hold up to some shenanigans.
Hi lift jack on the bumper, roll axle back into place, chain springs to axle tubes, pull driveshaft, drive onto trailer. I didn’t look too hard yet, but I don’t think much got destroyed. I’m blaming the brake line that was leaking.
Hi lift jack on the bumper, roll axle back into place, chain springs to axle tubes, pull driveshaft, drive onto trailer. I didn’t look too hard yet, but I don’t think much got destroyed. I’m blaming the brake line that was leaking.
Levigarrett76
Zeus of the Sluice
Well that sucks
Neutral drop?
Neutral drop?