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Matt Dylan

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Oh I forgot to add in an older post, but this is the side by side of the old shocks and the new Bilstein 4600 shock i had installed.
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GrimsterGMC

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New ACDelco spark plugs and wires are in, sounds significantly better, finally removed the old exhaust and I will be getting ready to install a new OEM style exhaust for the time being. Old downstream o2 sensors are seized to the pipes so the truck's gonna get a new set of upstream and downstream.
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found a little surprise after removing the catalytic converters, the flanges are certainly not the original and probably are part of the reason why they never stayed attached to the headers

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So I'm gonna have to now fork out an additional 3 to 400 dollars for cats in addition to the pipes as well and that will hopefully happen late July or mid August.

Then I can finally get some new tires, for the time being it's just gonna be a set of Mesa AP3's since the NITTO Terra Grapplers did not last.
That is an interesting alignment of pipes inside of that junction not to mention the classy piece of welding holding it all together. Somebody was relying on the out of sight, out of mind rule of maintenance.
 

Matt Dylan

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Quick update, I found a complete factory air intake assembly with the air restriction gauge and threw that into the truck, no noticeable difference in overall sound but it fits better than the Volant intake with the body lift.
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I'll post the pictures of the new exhaust system soon, but the Flowmaster system i wanted has either been discontinued or is just never in stock whenever i have cash on hand to buy it so i went with an OEM exhaust. Next on the list will be HVAC, wheels and tires.
 

Matt Dylan

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I forgot to mention when i did install of the OEM intake, i actually had an O.E. style K&N filter laying around the shed for the last couple of years so i threw that in so i didn't have to worry about needing to buy yet ANOTHER thing when i threw it together.

I'm narrowing down on the issues and the codes are for the throttle position sensor and an evap leak, so i have a good idea on where the evap leak is coming from and I have the replacement TPS already. again I'm going OEM for all of the repairs so that when i get to actually doing what i want to do, i have the truck in working and driving condition to be able to do the real upgrades.

Once the OBD2 codes are finally done, I will then fix the transmission (which may be as simple as new seals, but i will be having a new valve body assy. and servo ready as well) along with a new front and rear axle assembly with 3.73:1 gears (GT4 instead of GU6) along with a new front actuator for the 4x4 ready.

I'm on the fence on whether or not to have the G80 posi optioned with the new axle since it's a 300 dollar addition to the axle which without it is still $1300.

Since the t-case is leaking from the back i will need to apply a new seal on the rear i will have the seal, and new u-joints for the rear driveshaft since if the front driveshaft u-joints fell apart when i did the shift motor, the back is definitely going to do the same when i get around to that.

the tires I'm gonna go with for now will be the YOKOHAMA Geolander A/T G015, the reviews are pretty positive on the tires, and my folks seem pretty happy with running them on their cars so seems to be a pretty solid choice for the Chevy
 

Matt Dylan

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Quick Update: Still fiddling around with solving the P1441 OBD2 trouble code, it's somewhere around the gas tank, gas cap, filler neck, evap lines, charcoal can, and the actual purge valve on the upper intake manifold.

even though there are no codes for the EGR Valve I'm gonna replace it pre-emptively

The new tires will have to wait for now.

The fuel pump buzzes like a glow plug alarm on a diesel cold start, so i plan on replacing that around when i remove the body lift

I changed the front 4x4 actuator and got a good idea of the condition of the diff fluid, there's water in it. which isn't too surprising since the poor condition of the truck when i bought it and i drove it through hurricane Florence. I'm gonna have to drain the front and rear diffs and change the fluid.

I'm looking at Mevotech TTX tie rods for the steering since the full rebuild kit for the front I initially purchased left something to be desired.

The 4x4 push button control lights still blink whenever i select 4Hi and 4Lo but 2Hi doesn't and wonder if that has something to do with the transfer case control module, the switch itself, or the transfer case.

the window deflectors have been removed after the passenger side broke off while i was driving. I plan on replacing them with In-Channel deflectors from WeatherTech.

My plan on installing 3/4-ton 6-pack rear leaf springs are still on the table, but like in my last post I'm torn on going foreword with 3.73 or keep the 3.42 rear axles

It also appears to have a slight leak at the water and the power steering pump.

Other than that I've removed a ton of rear window decals and added a cubby pocket to the dash to fill the void left behind from the (missing) original CD player.
 
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Matt Dylan

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I replaced the door card lights and was honestly not expecting them to be as bright as they ended up being. (my porch light is on on the picture below)

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I took the truck through some trails up in the nearby mountains after a rain storm recently and got a gauge on how my tires fare in wet and muddy conditions, along with how much more i need to tear into my drivetrain and suspension.
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Long story short: the Nitto tires i have aren't that great, and i need something better suited for wet conditions. My current options look to be Yokohama, Goodyear, Michelin, or BFGoodrich, since the Nittos have actually left me stranded in sketchy situations more times than I'd care for, and losing traction on paved roads during the monsoon season plenty of times, spinning out on a wet road at a stop sign is kind of embarrassing and nerve wracking.

My suspension is much better now but i still need to figure out how to bust the torsion bars out of the lower control arms so i can replace the lower bushings and bolts. I have poly bushings for the upper and lower a-arms even though the uppers already had rubber bushings, i am going to replace them anyway for the sake of longevity and the questionable quality of the kit i used initially.

The transfer case is going to need to be drained so I can see how bad the fluid is in order to see if it can either be saved or replaced since 4x4 isn't engaging even after replacing the front diff actuator and the transfer case shift motor.

Rear LSD is no longer a suggestion but a necessity, especially for when i start using the truck to tow a small trailer (think a teardrop or an r-pod) to go to out of state events or family road trips when the weather is going to be unpredictable.
 

Matt Dylan

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I feel that I owe you guys an update on Old Red.

I made a few short videos to showcase the engine running

The video of me revving it ended up as a YT Short but i kinda figured that would be the case.
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SO far these are the only two videos on the truck on my Youtube since i made them only because i can't post the .mp4 directly here.

Overall I am extremely happy with the outcome of this truck and it has become so much more pleasant to drive with the noise under control. I also found what tire I am going to run for now, they're 265/75 R16 SL BFGoodrich Trail Terrain TA's and they're really quiet and have excellent grip.
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we'll see how well the 3-Peak Snow rating holds up when the monsoon season hits this summer and when the snow hits in the winter.
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Matt Dylan

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Quick update, I ordered a new EGR valve to see if that will help with the P1441 code, even if it doesn't the truck is still probably due for it anyway. The truck now gets approximately 14.9 mpg daily driving and 15.7 mpg rural highway with the new tires.

I also ordered a set of mini bulbs for the instrument cluster since half of the speedo is out and the rest are pretty dim.

Still need a new fuel pump and filter. brakes are gonna need work soon and it's starting to take a couple seconds to start her up.

AC compressor and clutch still needs to be replaced

also i did a height comparison with my '99 ford and noticed that the heights are virtually identical side by side.
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(i took this picture a while ago before i redid the exhaust on the Chevy.)

I find it absurd how the Chevy with the 2" body lift is still ever so slightly shorter than the completely stock F350.

With the current MPG, Red now gets better range than the dually at 394.02 miles of estimated range compared to the dually's estimated range of 366.3 miles. Ironic that the truck with a 37 gas tank has worse range than the truck with a 25 gallon tank.
 
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