Plus Sized Grandpa

[HotWheelsBurban]

Good luck beating the rain!

Diesel bumper FTW! I'm still waiting on a trip to KC to get mine.

Yes I thought I spied with my little eyes, a diesel bumper, just the size for a 400 series.....

 

[phatphuck]

I was gonna go with Harbor Freight vise.

Don't hate! I have more than a few HF tools lol.

The backlash in that thing is really really horrible. But I have had it for over 10 years and have abused the ever loving **** out of it and it ain't broke yet. One of these days I'll upgrade.

DeeZee taigate assist? Part number?
I've looked at those several times over the years, but could never find a listing for a 400.
Actually contacted them at one time & was told that they didn't make a model for our trucks. Are they making one specific for us now or is that for a different year/make of truck?

Its simply the unit offered for the gmt800 trucks. I just had to come up with my own mounting solution. Works a treat however! I absolutely love it.

Yes I thought I spied with my little eyes, a diesel bumper, just the size for a 400 series.....

Yeah they do look objectively better. Not so much that I would have bought it all new, but $70 better thatd for sure.

 

[phatphuck]

That oil pan gasket kind of a pita. I hope Mahle is decent gasket on these trucks. Only brand I could get a hold of.

Also, I don't think I've ever done as much cleaning on any vehicle as 8 have on this truck for this front end. Some interesting discoveries always occur too.

Anyone know what the plastic cover is on the inner fender sheet metal framing on the passenger side is? Mine was siliconed in but looks like it had clips of some kind on it.

Frame to body ground strap was broke but getting upgraded with the rest of the big 3 i need to slap together from the parts I bought for it.

Have some loose exhaust studs I need to take care of.

Frame is ready for paint however. Which is huge.

Cleaning this diff with all the cooling fins has been a nightmare. Knocked out the mount bushings already. Have new ones going in with new output shaft seal and some other seals I got iunno.

Put a fumoto drain valve on the oil pan. They are a handy deal.

Tomorrow rain so it will be component clean and paint prep in the garage. Chassis Save the inside of my "new bumpers" and put those back together.

Got about 15 hours in already. Easily got 15 more. Maybe 20.

 

[phatphuck]

Truck is pretty clean. Only a few more minutes of prep left needed before paint tomorrow. Going 2 coats of chassis saver and 2 coats of single stage black topcoat.

Control arms were nasty. They were a whole project just themselves. Bushings and ball joints were real bad. As you can see, they all came out in a dozen or so pieces.

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[phatphuck]

Bjs were real bad.

Wire wheeled the heck out of them and reassembled.

Went with the moog problem solvers with the integrated boot/seal. I don't like the idea of them being inverted a bit when mounted for water/debris, but they are definitely built beefier than a conventional ball joint.

Cleaning was again a chore, but they are paint prepped.

Reassembly was a breeze breeze. Real nice.

Also, I was musing earlier in the thread about the diff bushings, both on the two ears of the housing itself and the two in the upper mount on the passenger side. They are indeed all the same size although the design was a bit different between the two pairs on the oem ones that came out.. the pass side didn't have the interior jacket "collars" on them you see on the new ones.. and so I installed new ones. Same PN on all 4.

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[phatphuck]

Those pieces also ready for paint tomorrow.

First thing needs to prep the swaybar for paint and do the diff service. Any recommendations on diff fluid front and rear? I know its a non additive fluid only.

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[Z71Hobbs]

Those pieces also ready for paint tomorrow.

First thing needs to prep the swaybar for paint and do the diff service. Any recommendations on diff fluid front and rear? I know its a non additive fluid only.

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What bushings did you use for the passenger side diff mount? Only info I could find is they were made by silent bloc or something like that.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Nice work, you are plowing through it now!

I'd recommend Amsoil Severe Gear 75w90 for the diffs.

I've been using it for a few years now with good results. I also use their OE trans fluid...both are on my list for my 'burb in the near future.

 

[phatphuck]

What bushings did you use for the passenger side diff mount? Only info I could find is they were made by silent bloc or something like that.

I used 4 of these. One on each diff ear and 2 on the carrier on the passenger side

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[phatphuck]

More progress. Just a bit more paint and prep today and we'll be in reassembly mode tomorrow!!

Both of the magnet paint products I've used so far seem great. They go on thick with a brush/foam pad as well but seem to be drying hard as nails.

Cut corners and left the engine side frame in just the chassis saver silver to save time and did the exterior facing frame bits in black. Figure worse case it will brighten up the engine bay and allow me to spot leaks better.

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