LBZ: My truck's progress

[MadMax17]

Hey everyone, I don't post much here as I don't have much free time but i'm usually lurking at night. I have finally gotten around to starting a progress thread so I have something to look back on. Progress will not be very fast for a while but I have done quite a few things since I bought the truck last february.

The day I brought it home.

Swapped my tow mirrors off the '03 2500hd 6.0 gasser I traded in for this.


It was bone stock with 98,500 miles and very clean, I don't have any pictures of the engine bay stock, but it looked untouched. I waited a long time to find this truck and couldn't be happier with it so far.
The second day I had the truck, I bought an EFI LIVE license and began tuning using my dad's V2.

Built an intake and relocated the battery after I seen a thread on this straight intake setup with great air intake temps, decided to try it and it is still like this today (until I decide on twins or a larger single).

Also made a "cowl" hood to remove underhood heat.
( there are smaller holes drilled on the backside)
bought a DSP 5 switch and turned my cig lighter into a hidden switch

A little off-roading to the party cove at saguaro lake


I color matched the grill and painted the chevy emblem black. I plan on color matching mirrors, grill with new paint, bumpers, and door/tailgate handles in the future. Also flipped stock trans cooler for more direct air flow.

I decided one saturday to pull the stock turbo and clean, port, polish and paint it, glad I did after seeing the rust in the turbine housing.


I also painted a few other pieces in the engine bay to break up the dull look a bit.

I scored a crazy deal on 2 transgo kits off ebay, the seller had just re-listed the kits and missed a digit, got 2 full genuine kits for 11$!! installed mine and installed one in my dads LBZ the next day.

 

[MadMax17]

I used the truck to move 2 times so far since i've had it and it tows the 16' trailer great.

After I got 5% tint all the way around, used to have an eyebrow but have since broke a windshield


After I got some new treads on her, 265/75r16 cooper s/t maxx.


Snow boarding in Flagstaff.

Then disaster struck and my headgaskets began leaking, I had limited time with work and it took me over a month to get everything completed. The front bumper cleared the garage door by 1 inch while the rear bumper touched the rear wall of the garage, it was a fun project. There is a project thread on it in my signature.




Cleaned, surfaced heads with valve job torqued down with arp studs. LML manifold, welded up-pipe, drilled fuel rail fittings, new fpr, grade c gaskets, SDP y-bridge and intercooler pipes, I'm sure I'm forgetting things.

welded water pump

Painted valve covers (shouldve taken the time for powdercoat)

Wrapped all of exhaust under hood

cleaned paint off turbo compressor housing and finished port/polish.

SDP kit!

 

[MadMax17]

Took the truck to Colorado a few months back to meet up with friends and snowmobile the mountains.



This is where we get to more recent pictures, my buddy had an 06 lly that was totaled about 8 months ago, I recently got his wheels and tires off of him, less than 1000 miles on this setup and I'm obsessed about how they look on the truck.
when I first test fit them to see how they would look and if I wanted to run them.


Very close up front!


Took them back off and tried to make my mind up on whether to lift the truck or not. The next weekend, I decided to do the large fender mod and space the bumper forward to fit them until I get a lift.


My dad waxing his LBZ in the background, He got my old tires/wheels.


I'm planning on getting a 4-6" cognito ntbd lift, cognito uca's, fabtech tie rod ends, and all new bushings fairly soon. I have a company service truck and don't get to drive this much so I may wait until this summer is over to do the lift and suspension work to avoid the heat. Either way I'm very excited to own a lifted truck someday.






Right now the front end is cranked and my angles are pretty bad on the upper ball joint and tie rods. I have removed the cv shafts for now as I don't drive it much right now and don't want to break or wear them for no reason right now.






I'm hoping to soon have some pictures of a lift kit install and some more wheeling pics when I'm comfortable and confident in my front end lol. I will try to keep this thread updated as the truck progresses. I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I do!

 

[DIESELMAFIAPER.LB7]

Someone may correct me but iirc you will destroy the wheel bearing with the cv not in there and driving it around it helps support the bearing iirc? Mayne I'm losing my mind but it'd throw them back in

 

[DefiantArms]

Yea id throw the cv axles back in I dont know if it's bad but I don't really think it's good lol what size tires are those? Fwiw I've been running 37's for a few years with bars cranked and haven't had a problem with my cv's

 

[DefiantArms]

Someone may correct me but iirc you will destroy the wheel bearing with the cv not in there and driving it around it helps support the bearing iirc? Mayne I'm losing my mind but it'd throw them back in

I think it was 07 and newer doesn't require the short shaft to hold the hub together but the older trucks it does unless it's an aftermarket hub that doesn't require it

 

[clrussell]

Someone may correct me but iirc you will destroy the wheel bearing with the cv not in there and driving it around it helps support the bearing iirc? Mayne I'm losing my mind but it'd throw them back in

This ^^^^ as far as I know it's correct

 

[MAXX IT OUT]

I had one of my front wheel fall off of my first truck, 93 half ton, I took out a broken CV shaft . So much for driving to the store to get a new one.:spit:

 

[MadMax17]

Someone may correct me but iirc you will destroy the wheel bearing with the cv not in there and driving it around it helps support the bearing iirc? Mayne I'm losing my mind but it'd throw them back in

Yea id throw the cv axles back in I dont know if it's bad but I don't really think it's good lol what size tires are those? Fwiw I've been running 37's for a few years with bars cranked and haven't had a problem with my cv's

Hmm, never heard of that before, I have been told that the front hubs were the same for 2wd and 4wd so I assumed that they did not need to be installed. I better look into that, I hope the damage isn't already done. They are 35x12.5 17's. looks like I'll be jacking the front end out to check it tonight and reinstalling the cv's. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[AJH]

Hmm, never heard of that before, I have been told that the front hubs were the same for 2wd and 4wd so I assumed that they did not need to be installed. I better look into that, I hope the damage isn't already done. They are 35x12.5 17's. looks like I'll be jacking the front end out to check it tonight and reinstalling the cv's. Thanks for the heads up.

Depends on if they are new or not. Timken shows one part number now but back in the day there was 2.

 

[MadMax17]

Depends on if they are new or not. Timken shows one part number now but back in the day there was 2.

Good to know, thank you guys for bringing that to my attention. As far as I know they haven't been replaced. The truck has almost 127k on it now. I raised the front end after work and checked the front end out good. I don't have any play in anything as of now, (new moog xd idler and pitman arm 5 months ago). I only put about 150 miles on the truck since removing the cv's and putting these wheels on. I guess ill keep checking it every 100 miles or so for a bit and make sure everything is still tight.

 

[chevyburnout1]

I'll say that is a great looking truck right there! After being surrounded by the "Bro-dozers" at the Ultimate Callout Challenge all week it made me really appreciate a well maintained, straight clean built truck! And that price on the Transgo was killer luck for sure.

 

[blk smoke lb7]

Great looking truck nice mods:thumb:,I also agree with Jake put the axes back in I knew a guy the did that and both hubs fell apart in short order.

 

[MadMax17]

I'll say that is a great looking truck right there! After being surrounded by the "Bro-dozers" at the Ultimate Callout Challenge all week it made me really appreciate a well maintained, straight clean built truck! And that price on the Transgo was killer luck for sure.

Great looking truck nice mods:thumb:,I also agree with Jake put the axes back in I knew a guy the did that and both hubs fell apart in short order.

Thanks guys! I try to keep it clean and take care of it. I don't plan on ever getting rid of this one. Axles are back in so i'm gonna keep an eye on hubs for a bit, time will tell if damage was done.

 

[MadMax17]

Finally got around to getting a lift and getting it done. Went with the tough country 4" kit instead of the cognito, From what I researched the tough country was a good bang for the buck with what I do with the truck. Install went decent and I'm happy with how it turned out. I'm sure the cognito kit would've been a bit better quality but for half the price this turned out pretty good. I did all new moog ball joints with poly control arm bushings and bilstein 5100's and bilstien steering stabilizer. The shop ordered me the wrong rear shocks so I need to exchange those this week but no big deal.
I didn't take many install pics as I was trying to get it done in this 100+ degree heat we had this week after working outside all week.
On to the pics.

when I set it on the ground finally.




More pictures to come after I get tie rods and an alignment!

 

[Dozerboy]

Nice truck.

Don't short change the TC lifts. They are pretty damn good lifts. Way better then Cognito for the price IMO.

 

[fastgreek]

nice truck

 

[MadMax17]

Thanks guys!

I was going to wait until after summer to do the tie rods and get cognito uca's at the same time but decided to get the tie rods done now and decide after some wheeling trips this summer whether I need the uca's or not. (anyone have any experience with the cognito uni-ball uca's in a dd/weekend warrior application?)
I couldn't believe the size of these tie rods when I opened the box!

Front end angles are perfect after the TC kit.


Next to my dads LBZ for comparison during a 20 minute rain storm that came through.

Went looking for a new spot to stage the dirtbikes and climbed a few smaller hills to see how it would do.




I need to get new headlights soon to freshen up the front end look, find time to get the alignment done, and get new mounting tabs welded to the rear axle for the 7100's that are going out back. I'm very happy with how it has turned out to this point. It's taken a lot of time and energy to get it to this point but has been well worth it. Hoping to have all of this done by July if work permits so I don't have to work in this crazy heat after getting home from working in it all day.

 

[Dozerboy]

I don't think the uni ball was worth a shit for a DD, but I could be wrong.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[MadMax17]

I finally got around to installing some new headlights. Im planning on taking them apart and color matching the orange reflectors at some point but I just wanted them in for now. I may decide to go with led's or something else but I'm waiting until after summer to do much more. These headlights are aftermarket from keystone automotive (lkq), they are so close to factory that most people wouldn't know a difference and they only cost me 78$ with bulbs included for all 4 assemblies! I do notice a little bit larger gap between the grill but not enough for me to care about right now.
Before with old lights.


It's crazy how much of a difference they made to the looks.


I went for a drive last night and went shooting a bit so I snapped some pictures as the sun was going down.



I love the way the lights made the front end pop and look cleaner




One of my favorites