2002 2500HD - Solid Axle Tow Rig

I had another sleep study last night, so I was off yesterday. I was going to fix the fuel leak on my CUCV, but my buddy had a truck in the shop. If I had pulled it in and not finished, I would have had it blocked in.

So...I tinkered with the "new" HD. The driver's side door pull was busted and suuuper annoying. eBay for the win! Picked up some 3D printed door pull repair brackets and some super glue. Easy enough and took maybe 45 minutes with varioua gluing and holding until the glue kicked off. I think both brackets were 28 bucks shipped. Made by some dude in Texas. Figured I'd go ahead and get both sides, just in case I need the passenger's side later on, plus he knocks off a few bucks if you get them both.

It's the little things that really make a big difference :D

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Once I get all set up with the ol' CPAP machine and get a few nights/a week's worth of good sleep and finally have some energy, I'm going to get moving on swapping parts over from the old truck.

I really miss the big ass fuel tank, the gooseneck hitch, coilovers, solid axle, and hydro assist steering. I also forgot just how much I absolutely hate the way these trucks ride and drive in stock form!
 
I wouldn't want to go a night without mine. I tried several types of mask before finding one I liked
if you've never used one before I recommend ResMed Air Touch F20 it has a memory foam seal works pretty good with facial hair.
 
I just use one of the nose things. Luckily, I'm not a mouth breather šŸ˜…
 
Well, I did finally order some new frame plates, the frame side panhard bar mount, and some new bumpstops for the front. I'll probably get new coilover mounts at some point also. If my buddy wants to cut all the old stuff off and use it on his '04 HD, then he can have that stuff as payment for helping me and letting me use the shop.

It's been rainy and wet, so I haven't swapped over the gooseneck hitch yet either.

One of these days, I'll get around to it!
 
Decided to go ahead and get new coilover mounts. One of these weekends, here soon, I'll gut the front end of my new truck, start welding, and start getting things swapped over. I miss having my comfortable and reliable truck. It's also the only one I have with AC...and AC season is upon us!

I need to order some PPE motor mounts, S&B body mounts, and put in a decent sized Amsoil order and that should about cover it for swapping over the drivetrain as well. Oh, and some heat/sound deadening to put on the firewall and in the transmission tunnel.
 
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Motivation has been eluding me, but a buddy needs a truck fixed and I don't feel like driving an hour each way every time I need to work on it. Finally started swapping the B&W to the "new" truck.

Had to pull out the inner fender liners I had added to protect the lift pump. Luckily, they're able to be saved. I got the old crap unbolted from the new truck and the side plates unbolted from the old truck. I can't access the bolts on the cross braces because the S&B tank is massive, so I unbolted the bed. I'll block it up this afternoon and pull the center section out as one piece, disassemble, and then install in the new truck. At least I'll finally be able to move my trailer again!

Baby steps, right? :D

At some point, I'll take a hole saw and cut out some patches to weld up the four holes from the Curt or Reese setup that was in it. I don't like the cradle mounts. B&W is where it's at.

I do, still, need to drill the four 1/2 inch holes for the safety chain loops, but that has to wait until the center section is in and you use it as a guide to drill from the bottom. (That's what she said!)

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I believe that once I get started and get my buddy on board to help, getting everything swapped over won't take too long. I just need somebody to keep me motivated. Plus, some of this stuff requires two people anyway. Most of this crap is heavy!

He sold his 4 post lift, so now we can pull both trucks in the shop. One on the 2 post, the other next to it where the 4 post was formerly located, pull both front clips, and get to working. I may not even split the engine/trans/t case. We'll see!
 
I went loping through this whole thread again. Man it's a good one. Good work all around. I need to get this dedicated on some projects again.
 
skyhighZJ said:
Yeah, like that jeep you have that should be at the G2G!
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This is extremely true. I seriously considered bringing the farm mule.
 
As you may have seen, the gooseneck hitch was successfully swapped over. Now I need to check the wiring, run the 7 way up in to the bed, and add the brake controller.

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Got outside yesterday afternoon and used what teeny amount of daylight I had after work to get my trailer wiring sorted out and working.

I *did* have an issue on the truck side, but it's temporarily rigged up. Only three other people have ever used my trailer and after looking at it some more, I realized the plug didn't look right. I think my cousin either broke it or drug it down the road and replaced it. Naturally, the 6 wires in the trailer harness aren't entirely the normal colors. I managed to find a diagram on Kaufman's website and quickly got it rectified :D


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It's a small victory, but I'll take it! Of course, now I'm thinking about rewiring the trailer with an actual 7 pin harness so I can put some backup lights under the ass end AND have them all the correct colors throughout the whole trailer šŸ™„
 
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I found out that my girlfriend may not *actually* love me. She said she'll never buy me truck parts for Christmas. It's something I'm going to have to work on...

Anyway, I said "F it" and did it myself. After having 2015+ style mirrors, anything else absolutely sucks. Spent about 700 bucks at Boost Auto and got new mirrors and a 2020 style retrofit key fob. They just showed up today. I'll get them bolted on one afternoon this week and, hopefully, get around to wiring them up and leveling them maybe this coming Friday. I need to snag the solid state/LED flasher relay from under the dash of my old truck and pop that in there too. Quick flashing turn signals annoy the hell out of me.

I'm slowly, but surely, making progress though!

These things are sweeeeet. They key fob is also very, very nice!

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Croatan_Kid said:
I found out that my girlfriend may not *actually* love me. She said she'll never buy me truck parts for Christmas. It's something I'm going to have to work on...

Anyway, I said "F it" and did it myself. After having 2015+ style mirrors, anything else absolutely sucks. Spent about 700 bucks at Boost Auto and got new mirrors and a 2020 style retrofit key fob. They just showed up today. I'll get them bolted on one afternoon this week and, hopefully, get around to wiring them up and leveling them maybe this coming Friday. I need to snag the solid state/LED flasher relay from under the dash of my old truck and pop that in there too. Quick flashing turn signals annoy the hell out of me.

I'm slowly, but surely, making progress though!

These things are sweeeeet. They key fob is also very, very nice!

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Been driving my 2500 with the 2023+ Ram HD mirrors for the past couple weeks. Got in the 5500 today with the 2015+ GM mirror conversion, and while the newer Ram mirrors are a big improvement over the old ones, they donā€™t hold a candle to the 2015+ GM mirrors.
 
My buddy is about to get his 2nd Gen painted and wants (needs, really) new mirrors. I keep telling him to get the conversion ones from Boost Auto. They actually look pretty damn good on the Dodges!
 
I had cheap mirrors on my last truck the first time I replaced them and the glass shook constantly. I like the extras on the Boost Auto stuff too. The backup lights in the mirrors, both panes defrost, and the way the turn signals/markers function are on point. They're probably the closest thing you can get to OEM. I think they were 615 bucks all in.

He's eyeballing the Boost Auto mirrors as well, but in the Dodge flavor.
 
jeepinmatt said:
eBay ones are much cheaper too but the details are not as nice.
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I have some of the early Boost Auto mirrors on my K2500; I ponied up for the prewired kit with dual function lights and everything.
While they're nice, they have some flaws like vibrating glass and adjustment problems; but the ebay cheapie mirrors I put on my K3500 are rock solid and don't shake at all. Kind of a crapshoot when it comes to parts like this.
 
My eBay ones donā€™t shake at all and everything works like it should also (power/defrost/lights). I figure they all come from the same factory in china and the features and quality control are better on the Boost ones, but maybe not. šŸ¤·ā€ā™‚ļø
 
Iā€™ve been eyeing those mirrors for my truck. Glad you have liked yours that helps me make up my mind.
 
My last set from BA were awesome. I can confirm they don't have a very good rollover rating though. Hopefully the new set are as good or better.

A different buddy got some eBay ones and they were the cheap cheap ones, not the decent cheap ones. We're talking something like 99 bucks. They looked bad from 20 feet away.
 
Mine were about $250. My only complaint really is when the mirror is properly angled, thereā€™s a 1/2ā€ gap between the side and the mirror where you see the wiring and all the crap behind it.
 
I finally bolted the mirrors on yesterday afternoon. I still need to wire up the marker lights, turn signals, and backup lights. Luckily, they have a separate harness. I do have to run it down through the door and wiring sleeve between the door and cab. Oh, and I still need to level them. That involves popping the cover off, putting two to three thin washers behind the upper two bolts, and filing the lip off of the inside of the cover. Easy enough and it looks soooo much better afterwards.

It's a little bit of progress! Hoping to finish them up tomorrow since I'm off work. This all feels like deja vu...

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