Rawhide and The Burb

HotWheelsBurban said:

Well...went to put the Burb's air cleaner box back on correctly...and the square tube piece is gone, and the bolt with it. And it wasn't snapped into the fender hole either! So I have to go to the yard now LoL! Does anyone know offhand if the mounting parts are the same for the trucks with the heavy duty Donaldson air cleaner box? I'd like to get a spare set for each truck. Also need to get the bumpers on the top fender edge that keeps the hood from rattling, a grille bowtie and a few other bits. Plus whatever else I can find.... gotta make going across town worth it cause I don't wanna get hosed at LKQ!

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Crap like this is the main reason I dislike taking any of my vehicles to a repair shop. No one will take as much care with it than me. Fortunately for me, I have always been able to do all needed repairs, until recently. I recently put our Tahoe in a shop to replace the rear main seal and oil pan gasket. IT LEAKED big time. At my age and working alone, I gave in and let someone else do it. Initially I was pleased with their work. Now that I have been under it, not so much. Missing and loose bolts, etc. Didn't see that I had a choice though.
Plenty of 400s in the yards so I feel sure you will find all the parts to put yours back together.

Jimmy D said:

Crap like this is the main reason I dislike taking any of my vehicles to a repair shop. No one will take as much care with it than me. Fortunately for me, I have always been able to do all needed repairs, until recently. I recently put our Tahoe in a shop to replace the rear main seal and oil pan gasket. IT LEAKED big time. At my age and working alone, I gave in and let someone else do it. Initially I was pleased with their work. Now that I have been under it, not so much. Missing and loose bolts, etc. Didn't see that I had a choice though.
Plenty of 400s in the yards so I feel sure you will find all the parts to put yours back together.

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Yup, I found 3 of those mounting assemblies so I can fix it tomorrow afternoon and have a spare one for each truck. My local U Pull And Pay (their Houston location, across town from where I live) has been pretty consistent with the 400s, since I started going there in February. The closest LKQ is a few miles from the RV park, but they're so expensive....they had a good selection of trucks though.
The U Pull had a '97 Cheyenne CCLB, that poor truck was thrashed bad though. And some dumba$$ broke EVERY PIECE of the crew cab exclusive interior plastic parts!!! Before I got my crew cab, they had 2 or 3 of them; I got chassis and underhood parts for another member off one of them.

HotWheelsBurban said:

Does anyone know offhand if the mounting parts are the same for the trucks with the heavy duty Donaldson air cleaner box?

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Sounds like you've already got it covered but for reference it looks like the Donaldson and Delphi boxes share the same mounting hardware. Here's a link to diagrams for both in a '97-'98 5.7L Suburban from Nemiga Parts.

Donaldson:
https://nemigaparts.com/cat_spares/epc/chevrolet/54c-c/03/tc03-035/

Delphi:
https://nemigaparts.com/cat_spares/epc/chevrolet/54c-c/03/tc03-117/

df2x4 said:

Sounds like you've already got it covered but for reference it looks like the Donaldson and Delphi boxes share the same mounting hardware. Here's a link to diagrams for both in a '97-'98 5.7L Suburban from Nemiga Parts.

Donaldson:
https://nemigaparts.com/cat_spares/epc/chevrolet/54c-c/03/tc03-035/

Delphi:
https://nemigaparts.com/cat_spares/epc/chevrolet/54c-c/03/tc03-117/

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Good to know, thanks!

Well, I finally got to the shop building to check on things and drop off/pick up parts. Checking on the Burb (to pull the battery to get the neighbors to charge it) and discovered that the cables must've been just tight enough to get it home (which was only a mile or so from the collision repair shop). I had looked at that, when it wouldn't start before Christmas, but obviously not close enough. Of course during the time it's been parked, we've had multiple fluctuations in the weather and temperature, and the battery, cables and air cleaner assembly were likely reassembled by someone who may not have as much experience as I do, with these parts. Hopefully later this week I can get it put back together correctly, and we'll be back to both trucks being available. I'm planning on cap/rotor and plugs on Rawhide on Wednesday morning if weather cooperates....and oil changes this weekend for both.

HotWheelsBurban said:

Well, I finally got to the shop building to check on things and drop off/pick up parts. Checking on the Burb (to pull the battery to get the neighbors to charge it) and discovered that the cables must've been just tight enough to get it home (which was only a mile or so from the collision repair shop). I had looked at that, when it wouldn't start before Christmas, but obviously not close enough. Of course during the time it's been parked, we've had multiple fluctuations in the weather and temperature, and the battery, cables and air cleaner assembly were likely reassembled by someone who may not have as much experience as I do, with these parts. Hopefully later this week I can get it put back together correctly, and we'll be back to both trucks being available. I'm planning on cap/rotor and plugs on Rawhide on Wednesday morning if weather cooperates....and oil changes this weekend for both.

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Awesome to hear that things are getting back to normal for y'all!

New UMP cap and rotor on Rawhide, cleaned up s little bit under the hood. He idles better and smoother.... Old cap and rotor were not the originals but the rotor was fixing to get burnt and the cap terminals are corroded aluminum.
Did some detail painting with some "brass" testors model enamel, close to the truck color. Also did the Vortec letters on the resonator....

Couple days ago, got the air cleaner box reassembled and reinstalled on the Burb, and got him back running. The "dead" battery was due to the cables being just tight enough to get him home from the collision repair shop (which is a mile or so from my shop building. I was undoing the negative cable bolt, to pull the battery and take it to the neighbors to have them charge it, and I noticed that this bolt seemed a little more loose than it should be! Put it back in properly, tightened up the positive cables, checked,"yeah I have some lights and they seem bright", put key in and he fired right up! Which is great cause I need to use Burb for a couple of shows this weekend, for covered cargo area and less truck to park. Ya know your other truck is Texas sized when your "short" one is only 18'......

Took the Burb across town and back today to a show, saw a couple other 400s in the vendor parking. After not being in the Burb for two months, I had forgotten how it rides and handles way different than the crew cab. Part of it is the 1 ton has 10 ply truck tires and stiffer suspension and steering. The Burb's tires are 235/75R15 car tires, and probably slightly under inflated from the cold and it sitting up.
I need to take care of a few things on it, hopefully this week or weekend. Don't want to drive it much until then, gonna swap trucks tomorrow and try to get the oil change on Rawhide. This time of year, I would like to roll in something the heat works in....

Got Rawhide loaded up for the swap meet, before doing that , went and aired up the tires(fronts had 32, rears had 38). Door sticker says fronts 50/rears 80, so I got them to 45/75 and that'll allow a little room for them to get warmer.....
I know I probably have at least a thousand pounds of stuff in the bed(which I know is half what it can carry, but we'll still have the 3 of us and our gear to go in) and I swear this truck has only dropped an inch or so in the back. My heavy totes are in the front row, but I have four fairly heavy tables between the axle and tailgate because that's where they fit(trying not to have too much sticking up to catch wind and block view rearward).
Eventually I am getting a shell for this truck, but the first mods before then are eye bolts in the stake holes and some kind of driving lights.....need more tie downs and gotta have more light on these f'n dark streets in Houston!