My Duramax Build

[Pat_the_mechanic]

I'd return the u-joints & get solid spicers

Agreed.


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X3 on the u joints

This is all they had when I picked up the parts. I have put 5 u joints on the rear drive shaft of this truck since I got it. I suspect that my drive shaft is out of balance just enough to kill my u joints but not feel it down the road. Next time one goes bad I will have the driveline shop in town put solid Spicer ones in it and balance it.

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[Pat_the_mechanic]

I got the truck aligned yesterday and finished up all the little things on it. I'm 220 miles into my 660 mile trip and I couldn't be happier with how it is to drive . I found 4 really good condition door panels for the truck and all the vapor barriers for $250. I don't know if that is a good price or not but the old panels were so trashed that I didn't really care. I almost forgot what this truck is like to drive with door panels in it, it is so much quieter now haha. I will post pictures of the door panels and the coolant tank but I ended up making for the truck tomorrow

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[Pat_the_mechanic]

So this happened last night.

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[Pat_the_mechanic]

Forgot to post pics of the coolant tank I made. It's not the best looking tank but it serves its purpose and it holds a lot of coolant too.

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[clrussell]

You need to wrap that down pipe and cold side I/c pipe being that close together.. I'm betting you'd drop a significant amount of intake temps

 

[Stancedlb7]

Nice build! Do you mind getting a close up of how the MAF sensor is mounted? Also is that a PPE converter?

 

[Pat_the_mechanic]

You need to wrap that down pipe and cold side I/c pipe being that close together.. I'm betting you'd drop a significant amount of intake temps

That is definitely on my list to do. I thought I had enough wrap but I ended up being short so I didn't wrap either one. I'll be ordering more shortly.

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[Pat_the_mechanic]

Nice build! Do you mind getting a close up of how the MAF sensor is mounted? Also is that a PPE converter?

The MAF is stuck right into the rubber 90° on the intake. I used 2 machine screws and nuts then I kinda crimped the threads so the nuts wouldn't fall off into the intake. I sealed the MAF with I light amount of silicone. The converter is Goerend "T" fully billet.

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[Pat_the_mechanic]

Ordered some drop shackles and got them installed last weekend. backed to bolts out of the front almost all the way. If I would have taken them all the way out it would have had too much of a rake to it. I think the way it sits right now will be perfect for when I end up towing. I had to cut a lot off of the bumper and massage the inner fender to make the tires clear but it was worth it. Tonight a friend of mine just got his truck back with the lift installed so we parked them nose to nose to see the differences haha

 

[Pat_the_mechanic]

Haven't drove the truck much in the last few weeks after I found the lower ball joints to be REALLY bad. On top of that I found the cause of the noise and terrible vibration when using 4wd. Drained some oil out of the front diff and it was full of metal. I finally talked a friend of mine out of his good used diff he had and started the tear down this weekend. Once I started removing parts I kept finding more and more things wrong with the truck. Motor mounts are shot, front pads and rotors need replaced, both front shocks are bad, and once I got the diff out and looked things over I found a nice big crack on the upper diff mount bracket! Also the water pump has been leaking a tiny bit but while it was in the shop it decided it needed to start leaking all over me while I pulled the diff out.

 

[Pat_the_mechanic]

I got my new parts on Saturday and didn't get to work on it till later that day. Sunday I picked up a new set of motor mounts and figured after a little research that it wouldn't hurt to drill, install 1/2 grd 8 bolt, and tack the nut to make them hold up better. After the mounts were installed I found a pretty decent sized hole in the hot side IC pipe from hitting the hard lines going into the steering box. Other than modifying and installing the new motor mounts I spent most of Sunday degreasing the under side of the front end. Then I pressure washed every part that I took off and got them ready to be painted. I figured since I was doing this much work that I might as well make it look good. Tomorrow the plan is to fix the cracked diff bracket, install the water pump, finish painting parts and frame, install the water pump, and if I have time I would like to cut my ugly "home built" trac bars off.

 

[c20elephant]

CAC Duramax turbocharger intercooler hot pipe rub

You caught just one of the area's the hot pipe rubs, mine was the glow plug controller lead wire, could have gotten pretty nasty coming on in the morning and sending sparks. The stock pipe did this not the aftermarket pipe...

Mine:
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I was tired of the turbocharger whine inside the cab and had Levi @Turbo Performance sew me a sock to kill two birds with one stone, it will keep the chaffing down and keep the heat inside the pipe and not melting the wire harness near it or on it.....

Not pretty but functional, my truck is not pavement queen and I treat it like tractor, looks good and mechanically in tip top shape. You can see the JIC/-AN fitting at my infinitely rebuildable power steering lines at the right of the picture..........:thumb:
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Here are a few more from another truck..
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[Pat_the_mechanic]

You caught just one of the area's the hot pipe rubs, mine was the glow plug controller lead wire, could have gotten pretty nasty coming on in the morning and sending sparks. The stock pipe did this not the aftermarket pipe...

Mine:
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I was tired of the turbocharger whine inside the cab and had Levi @Turbo Performance sew me a sock to kill two birds with one stone, it will keep the chaffing down and keep the heat inside the pipe and not melting the wire harness near it or on it.....

Not pretty but functional, my truck is not pavement queen and I treat it like tractor, looks good and mechanically in tip top shape. You can see the JIC/-AN fitting at my infinitely rebuildable power steering lines at the right of the picture..........:thumb:
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Here are a few more from another truck..
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I checked both sides over really good and it looks like I only have a rub in one spot. I would like to order new AFE tubes for both sides but funds are short. I'm going to header wrap the new ones when I get them to help prevent any future problems.

 

[Pat_the_mechanic]

Been out of North Dakota for a week and finally got this thing cleaned up half way decent. This truck gets too many miles, I'm up to 205k and it just broke 200k in December. Anyways enjoy the pics and let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

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[OregonDMAX]

Badass! Love that color a lot!!!

 

[c5fourj]

X2 on the color!

 

[Lb7_Katie]

Been out of North Dakota for a week and finally got this thing cleaned up half way decent. This truck gets too many miles, I'm up to 205k and it just broke 200k in December. Anyways enjoy the pics and let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

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Omg I want it! Looks amazing


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[Pat_the_mechanic]

Well now I get to let my truck sit for a little bit while I save up money for injectors and a cp3. I must have lost 1 or 2 injectors on the way home. I was pretty impressed with it haha it will sit there at idle and puke out thick grey and black smoke. If I let it idle too long it looks like I'm trying to start a low compression pull tractor engine haha. I'll be driving a friend's LML for a few weeks and I just have to repair all the little stuff wrong with the truck in trade for driving. I hope I didn't hurt the engine too bad by putting 650 miles on it like that.

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[Pat_the_mechanic]

Ended up driving my truck for a few days this week. Of coarse I was driving with a heavy foot. Had some tire slip thru 1/2/3, I let out around 2300 rpm to stop spinning and get back on it. Then I get back in it and it held 3rd gear till 4k and I got out and right back in it again then it went into limp mode. It logged a P1720 code. I'm gonna bring it to the trans shop this morning and drop it off since it's under warranty.

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