Terrick down Under - Toys and work horses.

[Terrick down Under]

G’day everyone. I have been like so many others, just sitting here and gawking at all the creative minds that this planet has at work. It makes me feel like I’m not as bad as my friends say.

Posting pics will be slow as we live out of town and the wireless network is VERY slow.

We were in the capital Canberra, but have jumped 5 k’s over the border to New South Wales. On the way up to the snow fields, being close enough for shopping centres and emergency services, but out of the rat race. I am a ticketed Fitter/Machinist/Welder/Toolmaker and now (a phewtician) we just service waste water treatment systems. I have worked at the steel mills, the mint, construction, hot rod fabrication and medical research. Now I have a different place to be every hour or so, this makes the days never the same. AND some of the countryside we get to see is really wonderful.

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In a shipping container I have a 55 Chevy Nomad that I started to rebuild 20 years ago, it’s from The Delaware peninsular and it was full of rust. It’s now in primer with the only original panels being the roof skin and the rear quarters. Late model Aussie front suspension with a Ford 9” rear end held in by “an inverted triangulated coil over 4 bar” rear end. But she is going to have to wait until the House is finished. I have a work area of about 12’ x 20’ for my tools. If I need to do anything I have to go outside. Working outside in the mud is not fun or good for dropping small parts.

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First thing was to get a slab down in front of the garage, put up a 4500kg two post hoist so that I can lift my 93 Chevy 7.4 Crew Cab long bed dually safely. Then I found a portable 31’ x 20’ carport with polycarbonate covering that would fit over the hoist, so now I can be dry and safe.

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[Biggershaft96]

That nomad is gonna be sweet! Im probably stealing your carport lift idea if i buy a house with a short garage lol.

Is that an alpacka in your shed/barn thing in the first pic?

 

[Terrick down Under]

B, yes that is Franc, his mother cleaned him up after birthing and didnot feed him. So he was bottlefed untill 3 months. He likes watching TV, and thinks he is a dog. Because he was raised with a GreatDane/Lab cross. He has a great temperament, except when it come to shearing, he hates it.

 

[Clinton]

That's a good setup you have there. What's the plans for the burnt truck?

 

[Terrick down Under]

C, we originally bought it to strip for parts, but it we found the compliance plates when sorting thru the junk. So seeing that the suspension has not been molested it will become the new work truck. About 50% of our driving is thru paddocks, Lil has been lowered 4 inches so sometimes I gets a bit annoying not having to walk because the truck won't go thru. I have already sourced a complete wiring loom from the US. The bucket seats along with the front bench from the dually get new coverings and go into the dually, then the original rea seat from the dually gets a seat cover and goes into No3. The wheels and suspension stay the same, the bed will be getting some work to lighten it, A new 5.7 will be built to run pump gas and propane. Already have the propane setup and twin 100liter tanks. It already has an aftermarket steel front bar, so that will get a clean-up and painted. I have a large 4'x6' toolbox that used to be over the bed of the dually that will be mounted over the propane tanks behind the cab.
I just have to find a bonnet and grill, radiator and some trim. Then its back on the road.

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Then the next job is to rebuild the 7.4 in the dually.
Then strip and rebuild Lil for my son. He wants to bag it and get it lower.

 

[deejaaa]

great story. love to hear how you guys manage, being so far from the states, when all we have to do is drive a few miles for parts.

 

[Terrick down Under]

The “never good enough” gearbox.

Well about 2 years after we bought the dually I had noticed that the additional linkages for the right-hand drive conversion that do the gearshift selection were really badly worn. So being a machinist I set about to make some bushes and took out approx. 90% of the slop. I was really happy with this as now we could feel the detents when changing gears. I was driving along a really bad dirt road with lots of ruts and hollows when at 50 mph the dually went slamming into reverse and we stopped…of course very suddenly. Well the tranny was replaced with a ‘98 4L80E GM reman unit, cost me $5000AUD. Everything was great for about 3 months when it happened again. So after about 20 phone calls I took the original box to a local shop, they said $5700 to repair and put a tow kit through it. I picked it up and installed straight away. Could not get anything but 1st and reverse, so limped into town and they replaced a couple of solenoids. Drove home and everything was great for about 2 months when it started to release OD and TCC. So I took it in and they said the cable that had been fitted by me was incorrect???? So, they replaced it. OK so we load up the TC and head off for 10 day travelling Weddings and holiday. 4 hours from home the OD and TCC drop out again, so I ring and ask for advice…”how would we know just bring it back in!” So, after I used up all the Russian expletives I knew it sat down and continued along our way. I discovered if I held 3rd and only selected OD when on the flat and downhill then it would hold up for an hour. On the 9th day we pulled into a shop that had Snapon unit that would read our vehicle and got the codes. I relayed this to the shop and they said bring it in. I booked it in for the Tuesday morning and landed there right on opening time. I asked what would happen…” we will have a ponder and get to it about Thursday!” I said “ this is a work truck and needs to be back on the road”, “that’s not our worry” so “&%^#&^%#$%*%” was my response.

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I have been talking to people here and there about it for 3 years now and finally we got a new customer-resident in our estate……he owns a transmission shop. He asked me to bring it to his place and he sat down and connected and downloaded all the memory from the computer. His eyes lit up and said, “gee you have had some faults with this box”. Then he sat down with my rebuild receipts and said they the original shop did not replace the valve body??? And on a box with over 300k that would have been a must. So now I am saving up for a Sonnax unit complete with solenoids and shift pins.

 

[skylark]

A 4L80E has an input and output speed sensor. If is sees more than about 30 rpm difference it will kick out OD and the torque converter will stay unlocked. What causes the slip is the converter slipping in lock up. This was a somewhat common problem.
http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=319893
http://www.thetruckstop.us/forum/threads/4l80e-transmission-problems.12979/

 

[Supercharged111]

I hate getting my chain jerked by ********** that don't know what they're doing which is why I do all my own work. I can't fathom what you've spent on transmissions, I can't imagine that box being a foreign unit down there with all the 4L60s floating around in Holdens.

 

[Terrick down Under]

The mark-up down here on parts is horrific! Eg, A new 2016 GMC CCLB dually is $164000AUD, my '93 Silverado Dually has a sale value at the moment of $38000AUD, it is insured for $41000AUD, Lil is a '98 GMC SCLB and is insured and worth approx. $28000. Our 2002 Summerwind truck camper is valued at $38000AUD, I paid $9100USD for it in Sacramento a few years ago.
This is why I try and make all my own tools and parts for the vehicles. I wanted to upgrade the towbags in the dually from slam bags to something with more suspension travel.

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Not finished yet, but will be soon.
Even the tie down points for the TC were made by me, I found a lot of inspiration on these types of forums.

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It is a bit hard to see but its the black section between the running boards, and it spreads the stress back over a wider section of the chassis and is inline with the top of the boards. BTW if any one has a set of theses STULL boards they want to get rid of, please send me a message. They will make it easier for DW to get into Lil.