September '23 Chat --"Jason finds his truck!"
- Thread starter TheBac
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Think I disturbed an Indian burial ground or someone put a curse on me..
My son and I race motocross and we have been looking forward to racing the ama national in mammoth lakes California for the last 6months after we qualified which wasn’t easy especially in my sons class. It’s all the best riders in the country. The race is in the eastern sierras at 9000ft on an awesome track that is only open for that race. We decided to go a few days early for a family vacation and then my race was for the first 3 days and his was for the last 3days. We don’t have allot of $, especially compared to the people in $350k showhaulers with 3 brand new bikes each but we make it work with what we can afford.
We have a 39ft 5th wheel that’s a 2001. I got it for cheap and spent 7 months remodeling the entire thing. It’s literally nicer than our house. I even spent 2weeks removing all the decals and wet sanding and buffing the entire exterior and it came out really good.
At the qualifier in April the front slide stopped going in properly and after dismantling as much as I could of the exterior I realized the frame had cracked. The entire lower frame of the trailer is heavy duty 6” steel I beam but the neck of the gooseneck is 1/8” sheet metal formed into a box section. It cracked and buckled on each side.
I spent another month after work and on weekends removing all the brand new flooring and subfloor and I cut out the buckled sections and welded in new pieces and gusseted over them. Was afraid to test it before the trip because If it broke again I wouldn’t have time to fix it before hand and we would be out all the money I shouldn’t have spent on the camping spot and entry fees and $ I put into my sons bike.
My wife always waits until the last minute to get ready to leave for a trip. Granted she’s busy trying to work from home with 3 kids but it drives me nuts. She works for a lady that does horse riding lessons and her boss gave her a horse that we also can’t afford but I can’t really say much because I spend $ on my hobbies so I have to deal with it. Since we would be gone for 11 days we had to move her horse to a friends stable so someone could feed it while we were gone. Halfway through packing the trailer I have to stop and go get a horse trailer and move her horse across town. As I’m leaving the driveway it starts raining which it never does in summer here. I go to back up to the horse trailer and my shifter cable breaks. Have to lay in mud and horse shit to take the cable apart and it looks fine at the joint between the two cables. Take the dash apart thinking it’s something with the shifter and that’s fine too. After laying in the mud for another hour I realize the little clip that holds the two cables isn’t holding it tight enough so when you shift out of park the cable separates but when you put it in park it goes back together and somehow holds it tight enough that I can pull on it as hard as I can and it doesn’t come apart. Bend the clip a little and it seems to hold so I hook up the trailer and go pick up her horse. Where I have to drop horse off is a muddy mess and I have to go up a super steep hill to back trailer in. Of course as soon as I go to turn around the cable pulls apart again. At this point im soaking wet and covered in mud and don’t want to mess with the cable again so I have my wife step on the brake while I go under and shift the trans linkage by hand. The hill I have to pull up would be hard in the dry in 2wd so I push the button to go to 4wd high. Of course it just blinks and I get the service 4wd message. I had recently replaced the actuator and it had been working fine. Keep in mind we have a grumpy 2year old with us during this whole fiasco. Have to leave the trailer where we could since I couldn’t drive up the steep hill.
Since it was still raining and our driveway is basically decomposed asphalt I couldn’t finish loading the trailer because it would track dirt all in the trailer so we decide to leave the next day.
Wake up in the morning and realize the way we needed to go across the desert was closed because of flash flooding. Since we were already a day late we would lose our camp spot if we weren’t there within 24hrs of our reservation so our only shot was to go around and turn a 6hr drive into an 11hr drive. Spend the rest of the day packing and fixing my shift cable. I bent the clip and tested it 100times at least and it worked perfectly. Gathering our last few things and I realize my sons shoes are missing. Of course he left them at his friends so I rush over there to get them. Their house is on the top of the mountain off a major highway.
On the way back there’s some guy in his Subaru with his girlfriend on the side of the road with the hood up looking confused. I decided I needed the good karma so I pull over to see what the problem is. They overheated and his upper radiator hose had burst. Of course the guy had no clue what was going on so I quickly cut the hose back and filled him up with water and sent him on his way. Thinking everything was turning around I go home and hook up the trailer.
Finally wrangle the family up and get everyone in the truck. By this point is 9pm and I hate driving at night but since we were going to have to go the long way I wanted to get a couple hours of driving in that night. My trusty dog who never leaves my side refused to come out of the house to get in the truck. Usually he’s the first one in as soon as I open the door but I had to carry him from the house and put him in the truck. I guess he knew something I didn’t.
Go to pull out the driveway and the damn shifter cable breaks again. Now that I’ve had it apart 50 times I quickly go under truck and pull the clip out and go to squeeze it a little tighter. Of course it breaks. I say screw it and have my son step on the brake and I shift by hand on the trans and we head out.
I put the directions on my phone and realize the road was open on the shorter route. As we were getting on the fwy I realize I had been talking to a guy about buying a junk LLY for parts and it was on the way. Figured I’d borrow the shifter cable clip since the truck had been sitting there for years and I would replace it when I return.
The lly is as down a narrow dead end street off a busy road. It’s almost 10 at night now I figure I can just run up and pop the clip real quick and fix mine then back the trailer out. Pull down the street and the lights are on in the shop. The guy is cool so I figured I’d explain the situation and be on our way. As I’m walking up I look and realize the LLY is gone. Talk to the guy and he had just sold it. He was nice enough to look for a clip but since he’s mainly a ford guy he doesn’t have it of course. Now we are stuck down a narrow street and I’m going to have to back across 4 lanes and get under the truck to shift in the middle of the road. Of course it’s still busy with cars and busses and people on bikes even though it’s past my bedtime.
Finally get on the road and we are cruising. First time towing the 5th wheel with compounds and it was awesome. Get to the little town of Mojave as we are about to cross the desert and stop for fuel. Front of the trailer is starting to hang down and I realize the frame must have cracked again. Do a tire check and the belts are sticking out of one of the trailer tires. Don’t have a choice but to keep going with the trailer so decide to stop for the night and deal with the tire in the morning since it’s 1am.
Get up and get a tire. Leave the spare on since it was pretty new, try to find a clip that will work for shifter cable and of course nothing will work. Head out across the desert and as we are getting into the high sierras where towns are few and far between the spare tire let’s go and mangles the fender flair on trailer.
Throw the new tire on and finally make it to our camp. The last grade coming into mammoth is super long and steep going up to 7000ft. Was pushing it on coolant and oil temp but we made it. Pull up to our site and realize the trailer is barley going to fit. Have to swing the front of the truck over a rocky hill to get it in. The truck is at such an angle that the front of the trailer dents the top of my bed. There are no hookups and with how hard it was to get the trailer in I knew we wouldn’t be able to dump and we were there for 10days.
Order a shifter cable from the local Napa. In the meantime the generator on the trailer wouldn’t run right. After rebuilding the carb 4 times and doing everything I could without removing it from the trailer I give up and start looking on marketplace. Find one 40miles away. Get the shifter cable and decide to just replace the whole thing. Have the dash apart in the campsite. Have allot of extra wiring so it’s a pain to do. Get it all back together and realize the trans side of the cable is too long. Guy ordered the wrong one. Luckily I am able to use the lower part of the old cable and the new upper part and clip and get it working.
Feeling relieved my son and I decide to drive up to the track and check it out. I leave the truck running and we get out and look around a little. Get back in the truck and we are talking. What I thought was the seatbelt chime went off so I buckled it and we started coasting down the dirt road to our campsite. As we are going down the hill I look at my edge and see there is zero oil pressure. I don’t have the alarm set because whenever you turn the truck off the alarm goes off until the edge turns off. Sometimes it glitches and doesn’t show a pid or two so I look over at the dash and it’s also showing zero. Kill the engine and coast to the bottom. Sure enough the line to my remote oil cooler came apart and we lost all the oil. Have put a thousand miles on that setup with no problems and of course it lets go then. Truck probably idled for a minute and a half to two minutes with no oil pressure. Luckily my mother in law had just gotten there since we were a ways from town and I’m able to call her and send her for oil. It’s almost dark and everything is closing. She is finally able to find 3 gallons of delo and in the meantime I remove the sandwich plate for the oil cooler and get it back together. Fill it with oil and everything seems and sounds ok.
The next day I went to buy the generator. The town I was going to was at the bottom of the huge grade. As I’m coming back up my oil pressure isn’t as high as it should be. Granted I don’t have the oil cooler or oil temp gauge hooked up anymore. Before my oil temps were always +10deg of ect unless I was pulling a huge grade then they were +20deg. Not having the temp gauge I figured my oil temps were higher than before with the cooler and that’s why pressure was lower.
Go through the 6days of racing and our bad luck continues. Boys riding really well but either bad gate picks or getting taken out by other kids that fell hurt his finishes. Keep in mind I’m sparing all the non truck related mishaps like my two year old chipping both his front teeth in half or a burning marshmallow getting stuck to his face and giving him second degree burns all over his forehead.
Go to head home and the trailer is getting worse and worse. As we are starting to drop into lower elevation I lose power steering and brakes. Pop the hood and I threw a belt and it melted rubber all over my engine compartment. Swap the belt and realize the ac compressor had seized. Now we are heading across the Mojave desert with no ac with 5 people and a big black dog in the truck and just the stock oil cooler with 15k lbs behind the truck and compounds. Temps are over 110deg out as we go across the desert. On a two lane section a lady decides to pass us and about 5 cars behind us and almost goes head on into a semi. If I hadn’t have checked up and swerved so she could get in sooner she would have been dead. Give her the train horns and she speeds off.
Getting closer to home and there is about 15miles of construction with zero shoulder and inches on either side of the lanes with jersey barriers on both sides. I’m starting to get tired and swerve a little bit and catch the bottom corner of the trailer on the barrier at 70mph. Caves in the front of the lower part of the trailer and blows off the front leg of the awning. Tie that up and at this point I’m pissed. Haul ass home and as I’m backing into the long drive way the sun is low and truck looks like it’s hazing bad. Have to get the trailer in so do it quick. Realize the haze is coming from engine compartment. Look under passenger wheelwell and arm and turbo blanket on the atmosphere had oil on it. Have my son kill the engine not knowing where oil was coming from. Engine is too hot to work on and I’m pissed so I leave it for a few min. Come back to fire it up to see where oil is coming from and I have a no crank/no start with no codes. No wait to start or check engine light when you turn the key. At this point it’s almost dark and I haven’t been at work in almost two weeks. Ride my bike to borrow my parents suburban and come to work and will deal with the truck when I get home.
My truck has been rock solid until this trip from hell.
Don't know what to say but damn!
I usually deal with these kinda issues well and they don't bother me too much but I think you have me beat
I usually deal with these kinda issues well and they don't bother me too much but I think you have me beat
Wow that's rough. I appreciate perseverance but darn, I would've cut my losses on the trip there
Not horrible, but wait there is more.... Now let's try and weld some 1/16" thick galvanized pipe to some flat stock.... I didn't have to bad of time striking an arc on my 3 test passes, but damn trying to do it next to those pipes and not move them. Some of the ugliness is me going back to where I was to far away from the pipe or trying to fill the holes after blowing through it.
My $50 welder. It's smaller then my welding helmet. Maybe I should have just spent $150 more and got a MIG, but I felt this is more versatile.
I did manage to stick a few pieces of metal together so mission accomplished.
My $50 welder. It's smaller then my welding helmet. Maybe I should have just spent $150 more and got a MIG, but I felt this is more versatile.
I did manage to stick a few pieces of metal together so mission accomplished.
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Damn wydopenLb7 Im a gluten for punishment, but you got me beat. That was a rough trip.
Watch that galvi pipe. It’ll screw up a weld and your health. Make sure you clean it off real good.
I'm going to guess more practice for a steadier hand and more heat. Did you have the polarity right?
It done. I have my new regular cab LLY truck!
I ended up using tow bars despite all the naysayers
. No issues and towed just fine. Obviously not as well as on a trailer or dolly but well enough to get it home. Just over 300 miles one way.
As it sits in my driveway. Had to remove the bumper to install the bars on the horns. Took the grill off so I could get the drill in there to make some new bolt holes.
Here is how I attached it. I was a little worried about the bending force but it stayed true and doesn't show any signs of being bent or tweaked. Neither the frame nor bracket
From looking over the truck and talking to the previous owner. It's bone stock other then the camper shell, steps and radio. He also gave me a thick folder of all the maintenance and repair records since it was new.
He said head gaskets where done a while back. Still has the stock intake. May put the LBZ one on. Or aftermarket. Before playing with the power
There appears to be some leaking around the transfer case so I'll need to look into that. Everything else looks good.
I'm thinking of painting the grill and bumper plastic parts before I put them back on as they have the typical faded look from being out in the sun a lot. I'm considering white. What do you think? Kinda like this one
PS: can we rename the thread to Part 2 the conclusion
@2004LB7 congratulations!!!! Sweet ride!!!
I worked on pulling an LS from a 2500 and assembling the new replacement 6.0L I built. Going to finish it today hopefully. See if we can get a tune it too.
I worked on pulling an LS from a 2500 and assembling the new replacement 6.0L I built. Going to finish it today hopefully. See if we can get a tune it too.
Should have used these hydraulic hoses I had made for the oil cooler. They were a little long and weren’t flexible enough so I shorted these stainless lines and used 45deg fittings. That didn’t work out so good
That reg cab would look sweet with the paint to match front end and flares. Congrats that should be a fun project…
Maybe I didn't clean it off well enough and that affected the weld some then. I was out doors with a fan on me, but ya I'm not going to make a habit of welding galvanized.
Definitely. I probably did about everything wrong. Including not cleaning all the Slagle off before making a second pass while trying to fill in where I blew through the pipe. I did maybe turn the power down a to much trying to fill the holes.
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