2002 2500HD - Solid Axle Tow Rig

I've got a few things I'll be working on today.

A little maintenance: rotating the tires, grease the front end, change a u joint, change the underhood fuel filter. Might even paint the front driveshaft since it'll be out anyway. Oh, and a drain/fill on the transfer case. Should probably check the gear oil in the rear end too.

I did order some parts. I'm real tired of the parking brake sucking ass and I ordered new shoes, hub seals, hardware kits, etc.

Also pretty tired of the power steering pump sucking ass. I ordered stuff to make sure I can steer no matter what's happening. I'll obviously post pics and details when all that gets here :D

Probably going to work on the trailer winch mount today as well.
 
Didn't bother with the front driveshaft today. The double cardan needs to be rebuilt, so that's a project for another day.

I rotated the tires, greased everything, checked the gear oil in the rear end, and then went to check the transfer case. I pulled the fill plug and got a geyser. Not sure what's up with that. The only way for that to happen would be a bad input shaft seal on the transfer case or the needle bearing in the input shaft is letting fluid leak around it. Maybe I overfilled the transmission? I don't know, but I'm going to check it again in a few weeks. I don't want to have to pull that big ass transfer case out again. The picture is after it has drained for a hot minute.

I did do some eyeballing and figuring on the best way to mount some of the new steering parts and how to route lines/hoses. I think it'll work out quite nicely.

I also changed the fuel filter under the hood. Very exciting :D

Here's random pictures I snagged. Honestly, all the front end stuff looks pretty good to have been under there for over 5 years and almost 100,000 miles.


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My package of steering goodies showed up this afternoon while I was at work. The only thing I've got to get is some lines made. I didn't want to pay for their lines as they seemed kinda overpriced. I'll likely get some made locally.

This was just under 1000 dollars worth of stuff. I have definitely noticed the brakes not braking like they used to and the steering not steering that great. Especially backing my trailer, sitting still, etc. Usually works better soon after startup and I'm sure it has some wear and is losing pressure. I'll be adding a cooler as well. The 1500s got them. 2500s didn't. Makes no sense to me.

I guess that 345,000 mile, factory steering pump has about had it. It's a shame stuff won't last that many miles and/or 20 years...

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I got 6 qts of that stuff to make sure I get a good flush and it covers the small added capacity of the cylinder, lines, and cooler.

Everything is Jenny and Shelby approved!

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I'm gunna and it'll be fine. 99% street driven, tow rig.

I just want the wheels to move left and right whenever I tell them to. Mostly when sitting still and moving slow while maneuvering with my trailer behind it.

My other truck also has a tie rod clamp, albeit, not a single sheer setup. Not sure which is more "dog shit" to you.

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I meant to post this earlier, but fell asleep on the couch after getting a belly full of corned beef, cabbage, and mashed potatoes. Washed that all down with a Guiness :D

Since it was likely the only kinda nice day of my weekend, I swapped out the power steering pump real quick. There's three bolts along the front and two on the back that hold it to the big aluminum engine brackets. Then, obviously, one pressure line and two returns. One from the hydroboost and one from the steering gear box. Of course, gotta swap the pulley over too. I did pull out the upper part of the fan shroud and pulled the fan out to give myself some more room and save some skin on my forearms, hands, and finger from all those sharp plastic edges.

Immediate night and day difference. It'd probably be even better if I had pulled the return line at the hydroboost and given it a good bleeding and flushed out all the old fluid to make way for the Swepco stuff.

The plan for tomorrow is to swing by my buddy's shop to add the power steering cooler, mount the assist ram, run up the road to CarQuest for some hydraulic lines, and then get everything nice and bled out/topped off. The brakes feel much nicer too.

I'm honestly surprised the stock pump still worked as decently as it did. I think the new pump also cured a bit of a whine I was hearing. I'm really glad I finally went ahead and did it. It's the little things, really!

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Imagine the new pump. Looks like the stock one except it's silver and has a PSC sticker on it 😂 They really do make some nice stuff. I'm over stock power steering pumps/boxes and crappy parts store reman units.

I'll pull the return line from the steering box to run to the cooler, then cooler back to the pump. The hydroboost only returns after you hit the brakes and, as such, isn't as constant as the return flow from the box. I noticed how warm (and how quickly) the pump reservoir gets on only a few mile drive. It blows my mind these didn't come with a power steering cooler, yet my half ton truck has one.

Anyway, tomorrow/later today should be promising (as well as slightly less messy) and I'm excited!
 
Have you had good luck with PSC pumps? I'm looking at doing both PS pumps in my 96 K2500 and my 00 K3500 because they both make a little noise. I was looking at the TuffStuff pump, it's annoying trying to find a pump for hydroboost trucks.
 
Well...I literally just pust it on there yesterday. So far, so good. 275 bucks and it's assembled with a hydroboost reservoir.

I can steer sitting still now and the brakes feel much better. I'd call it a win.

That's still with mostly old fluid in it. I'm going to go flush out the old crap, add the cooler, and fill it with fresh Swepco fluid. It'll probably be even better.
 
I also wanted to do JUST the pump first, so I could compare the difference. I'm glad I did!
 
Since I remembered earlier when I checked the fluid. I DID have to bend the return line on the side inwards a little bit for clearance up against the ECM cover. Other than that, it was your standard drop-in replacement. Well worth the money.

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Croatan_Kid said:
I'm gunna and it'll be fine. 99% street driven, tow rig.

I just want the wheels to move left and right whenever I tell them to. Mostly when sitting still and moving slow while maneuvering with my trailer behind it.

My other truck also has a tie rod clamp, albeit, not a single sheer setup. Not sure which is more "dog shit" to you.

View attachment 393414
Click to expand...

Single sheer sucks.
 
Bebop said:
Single sheer sucks.
Click to expand...

If it were to ever break, I'll weld some tabs on it. The worst it will likely see is turning the tires on pavement while sitting still.
 
I considered that and got it covered. I just hope I don't have to take the bolt out for any reason 😅 Actually...making it a stud would work better than my initial idea.
 
Finally found some motivation earlier today. I got out there and put the power steering cooler on and bled everything out. It was pretty simple, but I'm really tired of making a mess with power steering fluid!

Some ⅜ hose, a couple of fuel injection style hose clamps, 3 zip ties, and the cooler with the mounting accouterments.

Didn't really have room to lay it over horizontal and this was the easiest way to do it. It bled itself out quite easily and I have a very firm brake pedal. Just have to mount the ram, which I don't really need, but I already have it...

Not going to lie, that ram mount is kinda sweet. Especially for something off the shelf. Not exactly ideal, but it was pretty inexpensive and fits in that somewhat crowded area. I dig it. It'll probably get sanded and painted black at some point.

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Still haven't put the hydro assist on. Last weekend sucked, as far as the weather was concerned.

I did get the dent fixed in the fender. I still gotta hit up @tobaccoroad4wd and order the new front bumper though. That'll probably happen fairly soon. I'm ready for it, finally.

I DID, however, snag some new tires. They weren't exactly what I wanted, but for 228 bucks a piece...I wasn't going to pass them up. I assume they dropped the price to get rid of them since they discontinued them and went to a different model/tread. Works for me! These are also slightly larger, but probably won't be a noticeable difference in height. 305/70-17 vs 295/70-17s that I've been running.

Going to swap the steering boxes soon, go ahead and add the hydro assist, possibly change injectors, and then get to work on my 99. I've got parts sitting around for it that need to get installed! Hopefully we can get some consistently nice weather here soon.

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Oh, I will! I'm just trying to properly align my migratory waterfowl. :D
 
Yesterday was my birthday, so new tires seemed like the thing to do. Afterwards, headed back home to shower and change, went an got a pedicure, and then had some sushi for lunch. Finished the day off by hanging out with some friends and we had some steaks. It was a pretty damn good day!

That first drive on new tires is like when the scissors glide through wrapping paper at Christmas 👌

So far, so good. The speedometer itself and speed displayed on the Edge monitor are spot on with what the GPS speedometer app says on my phone. All is right with the world once again :D

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Go get one. Take care of your feet. Let the Vietnamese women rub your legs and feet. Hell, take your wife/gf if you have one for brownie points. You'll go back to get another one. It's totally worth it.

Don't be scared to try a bidet either. :D You'll find yourself sitting down to pee just so you can wash your bunghole!
 
Finally found some motivation and swapped in a new PSC steering box and mounted the hydro assist. I got everything bled out, but probably still need to take a few minutes to get the ram more centered. Drives nice and the line routing is very pleasing to me.

Things are tight under there, but it all clears :D

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I actually didn't get a picture of the final routing of the hoses because it got dark on me. The go straight back under the panhard bar and loop up to the steering box. It turned out pretty slick and was totally unintentional and way better than what I had actually planned.
 
I'm sure it's not as close as it looks in pics, but any concerns about the axle going up and the panhard pinching/cutting the lines against the ram mount?

Duane
 
CLRracer said:
I'm sure it's not as close as it looks in pics, but any concerns about the axle going up and the panhard pinching/cutting the lines against the ram mount?

Duane
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What ^ said. That looks questionable. Maybe route them around the other side of the diff housing?
 
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