Walter, an okay daily and an okay offroader

[cjpett]

Walter is back in full form. After a couple of hours' work, the grill guard is mounted, the lights are wired, and the interior is (mostly) put together. I decided to be somewhat responsible and tap and die the threads and bolts. They were pretty nasty, so I'm glad I did it.

That's about where the responsibility ends. One issue I've dealt with for a long time is the driver's side mounting bracket I made a few years ago. One of the bolt holes never lined up, so I used only one bolt on that side. But I wanted to fix that. I drilled a couple of new holes and made slots. I only took a picture of the good one. The bad one, well, got bad.

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I used a small bit to get the pilot started, then used a step bit (yes, I know it's the wrong bit to use, shut up) to get it to the size I needed. I alternated between the bottom and top of the mount to keep things even. I bored out the middle using the step bit again (what are you? the drill police?). The one closer to the bumper went bad. I couldn't alternate between top and bottom because it was too close to the bumper, and I didn't want to go through all the work of removing it, putting it in the vice, and doing it the hard way.

Well, after about 15 minutes of destroying this piece of metal, I decided to go through all the work. It wasn't that bad.

After all that, I faced another issue. The damn thing was crooked. It's been that way since I bonked that Dodge. Maybe even before that. I should've grabbed a picture of it, but instead I took a picture of the solution.

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It's pretty simple. Just added a nut between the mount and the guard. It levelled it out well enough. Not perfect, but far better than it was.

Lights off:

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Lights on:

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And here's a picture of the 3D printed switches I made finally sitting in the truck.

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I'm very happy with them. I wish the color matched better, but A quick blast of some paint and it'll match fine. Just gotta find a good match. But I'm not going down that rabbit hole.

My friend invited me out to go off-roading on Saturday after work. I get off at 5 or 6, and then it'll probably be an hour drive down there to the trail, so by the time we get moving it'll be getting dark, which means the lights will be getting some use really soon. Just gotta get a relay for the top lights and I'll be set.

 

[GrimsterGMC]

Looking good mate, just a suggestion to put a light on each end of the rack pointing outwards. When the going gets tough we don't always end up pointing in the direction we intended so a bit of sideways lighting can help when getting back on track.

 

[cjpett]

Last night was Walter's first real test. We went up Switzerland Trail in Lefthand Canyon close to Boulder. We got to the trailhead around 8:30, and it was dark by 9.

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The truck did fantastic for most of the trip. I took Grimster's advice and angled the lights a bit and made sure they were all adjustable in case the worst happens. They shined plenty bright, and the wires that are probably too small didn't burn up.

If there was one thing to note from this trip, it would be that 4 wheel drive is important while 4 wheeling. Turns out the issue did not fix itself. There were a couple of times when I really could have used it.

Fortunately, I had friends with vehicles that had 4WD and a winch. They helped me get up a couple of hills and I was able to use the winch (for the first time ever) to make a tight turn.

I'm fairly certain it's the driver's CV axle or the thermal actuator in the diff. I'm pretty sure the transfercase is good, because I can shift into Lo, the front wheels just won't turn.

We got home at 2am. I am very tired. Here's a couple of cool pictures that my friends took.

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[cjpett]

Once again, I went off-roading without 4WD, on the same trail. Fortunately, I did not get stuck. Unfortunately, I did lose my exhaust somewhere. The drive home was very rough. The truck looked good though. And the views were incredible.

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So I have to put that on my list along with the 4WD. But on the good side, I finished sticking the radio in my overhead console. I made a little guide with the files that you can check out, but here's the short and sweet.

Installing a GMRS/CB/HAM in a 95+ Overhead Console + Blanks

I finally wrapped up installing my GMRS radio in Walter. I wanted it in the overhead console. So I put it there. If you want to put stuff there, here's a blank file, and the one I made for my radio. Files: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7039199 As far as print instructions go, use something...

www.gmt400.com

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The radio faceplate mounts where the old climate control blank was, then an FFC cable goes to the rest of the radio, which is mounted in the back of the console. The microphone has a mount on the garage opener, and I cut a little hole so it can tuck away without unplugging it. If I didn't break the CD holder, then the whole thing would be covered and look great, but now I have an excuse to go to the junkyard.

That's all. Maybe this week I'll finally fix the 4WD, or maybe I'll fix the exhaust, or maybe I'll find another excuse to do something unrelated to the very necessary repairs.

 

[cjpett]

Fixed up the exhaust yesterday. Walter will be going catless for the time being, mostly because they are expensive, and it was so far back that it didn't work.

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This one is a knockoff Super 10, and I think it sounds really good. It's a bit louder than I'd like, but I'm hoping some sound deadening in the cab will help. This time, I used threadlocker on all the bolts and made sure they were nice and tight, so hopefully it won't fall off.

In other news, I plugged in the old homemade radio for the first time in 2 years, and surprisingly, it still works, kinda. There's definitely a grounding issue; the thing makes a ton of noise, and Android Auto doesn't work. I knew I was going to lose Android Auto, the software is 2 years old and from a now-defunct company. I'm hoping it'll go open source here soon, but in the meantime, I want to get this stupid thing done enough to go on this BDR trip in two months. I think it would be cool to have it on the trip with us, and I think it would be especially useful to have a map within viewing distance. Fortunately, it seems like past me did all the hard work, and I just have to make everything fit in a case and look pretty.

I still haven't fixed the 4WD. I should probably do that.

 

[cjpett]

A lot has happened since I last posted, but nothing really picture-worthy (which means I forgot to take pictures).

I went on a quick vacation to Kansas to visit family (which means doing hard labor under the guise of "having fun"). Unfortunately, while we were there, Dad and my Uncle decided to push the BDR trip to next year. Some dates didn't line up, and we want everyone to be confident with everything before setting off into the middle of nowhere, it sucks, but it's the right choice.

The 4 wheel drive is fixed, I think. Still am not 100% sure. I am going to say it was the driver's CV axle. I am saying that because it was a major PITA to fix, and I don't want to deal with it again. I had to buy a new socket to get this done. Many cuss words were said. Many tools were thrown. It turns out the lift messes with the geometry in such a way that you can't get the axle out without removing the tie rod and the shock. And the shock has a spacer instead of just being the right size shock, which is insane.

The dash insert is finally done. I made the thing in CAD and sent it out to be made out of ABS. It should have some ribbing around the top and front piece, but this sucker was $300 and I don't want to spend that kind of money for a while. I already made a write-up, and I have files available if you want to make it yourself.

Passenger side dash insert for 95/96 interiors

I finally finished the insert to replace the terrible "cupholders" on Walter. I wanted something similar to the later 3500s, so I came up with this: Aside from some minor issues with warping (which are visible at the top) and painting it the wrong color, it looks pretty good. Files...

www.gmt400.com

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huh. I guess I lied. I do have one picture.

I also got a little more work on the radio. I finally figured out the button issue, and I'm frustrated I didn't do it earlier. The answer is mechanical keyboard switches. They got lights, they got a button, and I can get the exact feel that I want because there are a bazillion different switches available. I can also fit everything in one unit, rather than taking up the CD changer space and the radio space.