2002 2500HD - Solid Axle Tow Rig

I don't have enough uptravel for that to happen. I already checked. Plus, the ram will rotate rearward if it does touch the lines 👌 There's more room for forgiveness than the pictures can really show.

I suppose ones of these days, I could crank it up a little more. It's actually set lower than specified. I'll probably wait to do that until I get an adjustable panhard bar. I'm close to an inch less than what they say the bumpstop gap measurement should be at ride height. I know I'll likely have to adjust the coilovers once I get the new front bumper and winch mounted up.
 
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Nothing to report here. Maybe soon there will be some changes.

I did order a new pressure sensor for my boost gauge and a kit to relocate the sensor from the Y bridge to somewhere on the firewall. The boost and EGT gauges have been in the truck since...like 2016? I've had two sensors fail and I can only imagine it's from direct engine heat and vibration, so hopefully this cures it. Them little sensors aren't cheap! I also don't want to go through the cost and aggravation of changing to different gauges.
 
Hopefully this keeps the boost sensor alive. It definitely can't hurt...

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:D

I'll take the sensor off first. Them little buggers aren't cheap!
 
This turned out pretty good. I may move it further over towards the driver's side fender, but it'll work fine for now.

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It reads pretty much spot on with what the MAP sensor says for boost pressure (again), so I'm happy for the moment.
 
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Have a question about the radius arm/cross member: I know you said the cross member is the same for radius arm and 4 link, is there enough room for a 4 link to be packaged? I know WFO uses the 4 link on 9" kit, but the arms on the 3" and 6".
 
In the 6" you definitely could. On the 3", I'm not sure. Possibly.

As it sits, the upper link of the radius arm tucks up pretty snug in the pocket where the torsion bars used to pass by the frame when it's flexed or stuffed and sitting on the bumpstops. It might require a slight bend or jog in the upper link, at most, but it also may not.

I do know that unless you set it up for (pretty much) ALL down travel, it wouldn't really be beneficial to do it on the 3". There's more down travel than up travel as it sits and only uses an 8" travel coilover. To get any shock in there that's longer, you'd definitely need taller coilover mounts.

To do that, at least on a Duramax powered truck, you'd have to move the passenger's side battery tray and coolant bottle and then likely some brake lines, wiring harness, and fuse box on the driver's side. That or just mount a longer coilover and that'd probably just raise it up some. Possibly run the adjusters all the way up and play with the spring rates. These are 400 lb springs in mine.

They do flex pretty decent, all things considered. *Not my truck, obviously*


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For years, I've been plagued with a constant black haze while driving. My fuel mileage hasn't been the best...not terrible, but not great. Power and driveability were fine though, so I just went with it and chalked it up to the injectors I got from LDS.

However, in one of my constant states of hyperfocus while running my machine last night at work, I started thinking about the things I can see on my monitor while driving and decided to research some things.

I had noticed that, at warm idle, it was showing the MAF flowing at 70 g/s. After digging in to it, everything said it should be around 40 g/s, give or take. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me. I don't have any mods that would require it to ingest more air at idle and reading higher than it should, it would certainly be delivering more fuel than necessary.

I emailed my tuner about it last night and even provided a quick sketch and some rough measurements of the intake pipe where the MAF mounts and quickly realized it was a slightly smaller diameter than stock, which would increase air velocity across the sensor. Especially with the design of the pipe.

Stock is mounted right on the outlet of the air box lid, directly after the air filter, and in a straight section that's right at 4" in diameter. This is mounted after the first bend, is a slightly smaller diameter, and has a dimple molded underneath the sensor. See Fig 1 & 2 below.

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Obsessing over it for a long time finally paid off! He rescaled the MAF and so far, so good :D it even seems to drive a little better and has a touch better throttle response. I think during the first few miles it was blowing some excess build up out of the exhaust, but it cleared up as I drove longer. Hot idle, MAF was showing 42 g/s, just like he said it should.

I'm going to keep an eye on it, but I think we finally figured it out!
 
Got another update today with a little more MAF pulled out. It's better, but not perfect.

Unfortunately, I'm a bit of a stickler and will nerd out on stuff. I emailed the tuner back and asked if we could bump timing a little or maybe if pilot injection (timing or quantity), or even general pulse width could clean it the rest of the way up.

He's (my tuner) been amazing and I highly recommend Starlite tuning to anyone looking for it. I loaded up some for my buddy with an LB7 and my other buddy with the LML I was working on and they're both super happy with theirs also.

I filled up earlier, after work, so I'll see how it does mileage wise. Power is still there and haze is down, so it can't be worse! Hell, it was as bad as 14.5 mpg average over a tank. It dipped a little after the transmission build. Higher line pressure and heavier torque converter, I suppose, but didn't think it'd be almost 3 mpg. 😬

I also wouldn't think there's any way this Goerend converter is less efficient than a stock one. It feels SO much better.
 
Realized I haven't updated this lately. Not much going on, but I did just make a trip up to Lyburn, WV to ride some Hatfield McCoy trails. Rolled over 353,000 miles and the old rig just keeps on going!

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It is unfortunate, but my time with this truck has pretty much come to an end. It gave up its life for mine and kept me safe, so I can't complain and it definitely could have been way worse.

I'll post some pictures when I'm able to take some. I can tell you that the only place that the roof isn't touching the headrests on the seats is where my noggin was, thankfully. I barrel rolled it three times. It was rough and violent and loud. Then I had to walk four miles back to my buddy's house. It was a helluva night/morning.

Hopefully, I can pick up another one just about like it and swap over all the good stuff. From the frame down, everything looked to be in surprisingly good shape.

I'll post some pics after I get some. Luckily, I was also able to find my wallet, house/shop/toolbox keys, phone, and some other small things.
 
Croatan_Kid said:
It is unfortunate, but my time with this truck has pretty much come to an end. It gave up its life for mine and kept me safe, so I can't complain and it definitely could have been way worse.

I'll post some pictures when I'm able to take some. I can tell you that the only place that the roof isn't touching the headrests on the seats is where my noggin was, thankfully. I barrel rolled it three times. It was rough and violent and loud. Then I had to walk four miles back to my buddy's house. It was a helluva night/morning.

Hopefully, I can pick up another one just about like it and swap over all the good stuff. From the frame down, everything looked to be in surprisingly good shape.

I'll post some pics after I get some. Luckily, I was also able to find my wallet, house/shop/toolbox keys, phone, and some other small things.
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Sorry to hear that. I loved this truck and what you’d done to it, but I’m glad you’re ok-ish.
 
Croatan_Kid said:
It is unfortunate, but my time with this truck has pretty much come to an end. It gave up its life for mine and kept me safe, so I can't complain and it definitely could have been way worse.

I'll post some pictures when I'm able to take some. I can tell you that the only place that the roof isn't touching the headrests on the seats is where my noggin was, thankfully. I barrel rolled it three times. It was rough and violent and loud. Then I had to walk four miles back to my buddy's house. It was a helluva night/morning.

Hopefully, I can pick up another one just about like it and swap over all the good stuff. From the frame down, everything looked to be in surprisingly good shape.

I'll post some pics after I get some. Luckily, I was also able to find my wallet, house/shop/toolbox keys, phone, and some other small things.
Click to expand...
Glad you are okay buddy!
 
Man I sorry to hear that I've enjoyed reading your build threads. Glad you made it out ok. Trucks can be replaced a lot faster then a life.
 
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