The Mega Hauler

[77GreenMachine]

It was all my wife could do to lift this thing and help me get it up onto the truck. It actually has about 10 gallons in it, made the deal even sweeter!

I would have been worried about the fuel but the dude I bought it from had just bought the truck and it came with this tank and he didn’t want it. It even has a locking cap.
Now once I find some underbody boxes and wire up all these lights I’ll be set!

 

[jeepinmatt]

@77GreenMachine Check out these guys for underbody boxes. Best prices I could find when I bought mine last spring. And they had them in stock in Charlotte.

JOBOX Underbody 36 X 18 X 18 Black - Lee Transport

JOBOX Underbody 36 X 18 X 18 Black

www.leetransport.net

The Jobox ones have a pretty decent 3 point locking system, a nice fat seal with rain gutter design, and the widest opening I could find. Also, you can get them keyed to match, and the Lee transport had a matching pair (there's a key code on the box). Only ones I saw that were nicer were Weatherguards, but to me it wasn't worth twice the price

 

[77GreenMachine]

Man, a quart of paint sure goes further than spray paint! I went ahead and painted the bed edges and where the auxiliary tank sits. I’ll finish paining it later this week. I also painted some of the frame rail and stuff too. I could mix this paint 50/50 and spray it but it’s nice to really lay it on thick.
I also popped out the tail lights on one side and painted it just to see how it looked. It’s gonna look great once all painted and the lights installed.

I may go back to Chris and have him weld a stud on the rack to stand the spare wheel up on top of the tank. But really feel like I need to sand/polish that wheel to have it looking good

 

[jeepinmatt]

Man, a quart of paint sure goes further than spray paint! I went ahead and painted the bed edges and where the auxiliary tank sits. I’ll finish paining it later this week. I also painted some of the frame rail and stuff too. I could mix this paint 50/50 and spray it but it’s nice to really lay it on thick.
I also popped out the tail lights on one side and painted it just to see how it looked. It’s gonna look great once all painted and the lights installed.

I may go back to Chris and have him weld a stud on the rack to stand the spare wheel up on top of the tank. But really feel like I need to sand/polish that wheel to have it looking good
View attachment 375028View attachment 375029View attachment 375030View attachment 375031View attachment 375032

Is there room to mount the spare under the bed on one side? That way you wouldn't lose bed space and you wouldn't have to wrestle it off/on the bed if you ever have to change it.

 

[77GreenMachine]

Is there room to mount the spare under the bed on one side? That way you wouldn't lose bed space and you wouldn't have to wrestle it off/on the bed if you ever have to change it.

Yes and that’s honestly what I’d rather do. Just build a cradle out of some angle and slide it in.

 

[NCJeeplover]

I could mix this paint 50/50 and spray it but it’s nice to really lay it on thick.

I like to paint axles, links, and stuff with the brush and can. Seems to hold up a lot better too.

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

Yes and that’s honestly what I’d rather do. Just build a cradle out of some angle and slide it in.

could also get one of the crank systems from under a truck to raise and lower it. Not sure which would be easier to change.

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

I know the filler would likely be on the wrong side and it is designed to lay flat, but can you not stand that tank up? I would think you could bolt it to the rack, if build a cradle for it like a fuel cell.

 

[77GreenMachine]

I know the filler would likely be on the wrong side and it is designed to lay flat, but can you not stand that tank up? I would think you could bolt it to the rack, if build a cradle for it like a fuel cell.

I thought of that. And would prefer it that way. I think it would potentially leak out the vents/gauge on top however. I figure I’ll place my cooler on top of that, as i park the Jeep more to the back anyway. I may change tanks later, or have my buddy weld up this vents and a new filler and just stand it up. For now it’s no big deal

 

[77GreenMachine]

Got to messing with my exhaust brake yesterday and today. It turns out my exhaust brake is seized up. Totally done for and needs to be replaced. I don’t think there’s any saving it. The air compressor is not working either. It would be easy to replace that but replacing this brake it going to be quite the job with how rusty it is and how tight the whole space is.

Not sure if I can buy just the brake itself. But if I can, I’ll remove the exhaust entirely from in front of the brake, muffler and all and deal with it that way. Hit it with the ol spicy wrench and those rusty bolts won’t matter. Maybe I can get the whole thing off and free it up. I’m in no rush to do that part.

 

[77GreenMachine]

I decided to clean the cooling stack yesterday. I was able to move the AC condenser up and out of the way, the trans cooler forward and then remove the intercooler. The intercooler was by far the dirtiest. It was insane how much stuff came out. I just used Dawn on the first round then a little degreaser on the second. All clean and able to see thru each cooler, I put it back together and didn’t have any left over bolts and it runs so I was pretty happy.

I also went and filled it up with fuel. Turned on my gravity feed line and it worked, but the line to the rear tank is lower than the check valve so fuel was flowing into the rear tank which leaks. I guess I will cap off that line and then it should all work correctly.

 

[Croatan_Kid]

Wonder where you got that idea?

 

[77GreenMachine]

I got a 2nd coat of paint on the flat bed. The first coat soaked in and wasn’t shiny. The auxiliary tank is all hooked up and working correctly after a frustrating ordeal with that.

I also finally got around to installing a backup camera over the weekend. Backing up to the camper wasn’t too easy with this thing honestly.
While I had the radio out I also installed a USB port that’s flush mounted on the dash.

Looking forward to towing to Harlan this week with it after cleaning the cooling system and changing the air filter.

 

[77GreenMachine]

Finally installed my EGT probe, but it doesn’t work. It reads around 100° even under throttle. But anytime I turn the key off, for the brief moment the screen continues to display, it shows upper 200s as if it’s accurate. Very frustrating

 

[Croatan_Kid]

You didn't tighten the ferrule nut too much and crush the probe, did you? Everything hooked up properly with all the expensive cables and EAS is turned on in the monitor?

 

[77GreenMachine]

You didn't tighten the ferrule nut too much and crush the probe, did you? Everything hooked up properly with all the expensive cables and EAS is turned on in the monitor?

Nah I just snugged it up. I’ve unplugged and replugged everything, plenty of slack in the cables. Im going to call Edge today.

 

[77GreenMachine]

I called Edge and they sent me a new probe. It worked for about 5 minutes and then done the same thing. I’m almost certain I have a ground issue I need to track down.


The trip to Harlan with this thing was awesome though. I averaged 9mpg which I think is respectable given the weight what it is.
I was able to maintain 70+ no problem most of the time. It’s taken a little getting used to towing with a diesel. Learning to build boost and hold rpm on the hills helped a lot.

I have to watch myself though cause I’ll get to running with traffic and realize I’m revving it 2800rpm and it’ll just keep going. Part of that is me being more comfortable driving it I guess. I really like 67-70 as that feels best and it’s keeping the RPMs around 2450-2500 and doesn’t seem like I’m spinning it to death. I try to keep it under 3k on the hills.

Temps didn’t change a great deal after the cleaning, however it does seem to hold the temps down longer, as in it will still get to 230° on a hill but it takes longer to do so. It will not seem to go over that temp, however I’m going swap out for an HD fan clutch for good measure.

I towed my Jeep to Uwharrie with it Saturday, it moved down the road very nicely with just the Jeep. I was very happy with it, although it felt weird handling, seems a little darty but no big deal. The bad thing is the AC went out. Seems I have a leak I’m going to have to find

 

[Croatan_Kid]

If they use the same AC fittings as the pickups (and everything else GM makes, for that matter) it's probably the service fitting. They used a rubber ball with a spring under it to seal them. Dorman 800-955 is a replacement fitting with a Schrader valve. They're readily available at most part stores.

Hopefully that's all it is.

 

[CasterTroy]

This pic gives me convulsions....that black BLACK black truck with all that....dirty filthy STUFF on the back

 

[gslander]

I want to say thank you for taking that setup to the big rig portion of the fuel station and not being "that guy" using the normal pumps and jack knifing your setup across the entire gas station simultaneously blocking evrey entrance and exit.

Looks good!!

 

[Jody Treadway]

I want to say thank you for taking that setup to the big rig portion of the fuel station and not being "that guy" using the normal pumps and jack knifing your setup across the entire gas station simultaneously blocking evrey entrance and exit.

Looks good!!

We (diesel truck drivers) do that as payback for Mazda Protege drivers who block the diesel pumps

 

[BigClay]

I want to say thank you for taking that setup to the big rig portion of the fuel station and not being "that guy" using the normal pumps and jack knifing your setup across the entire gas station simultaneously blocking evrey entrance and exit.

Looks good!!

I am that guy… because my truck is a gasser

 

[StretchASU]

I want to say thank you for taking that setup to the big rig portion of the fuel station and not being "that guy" using the normal pumps and jack knifing your setup across the entire gas station simultaneously blocking evrey entrance and exit.

Looks good!!

I am that guy because I don’t want to walk inside to validate my card since most big rig pumps only take fleet cards at the pump.

 

[CLRracer]

I am that guy because I don’t want to walk inside to validate my card since most big rig pumps only take fleet cards at the pump.

And the car pumps usually have the cash price at stations that charge more for credit.

Duane

 

[77GreenMachine]

I am that guy because I don’t want to walk inside to validate my card since most big rig pumps only take fleet cards at the pump.

For this reason I got a fleet card. It didn’t cost anything and now I can buy diesel at the same rate as a company with 500 trucks on the road. When I went to Harlan Diesel was $5.40 and I bought it for $4.72

It really doesn’t fit just any gas station. Even a Sheetz would be hard (I will not buy their gas/diesel anyway) but possible at some. I don’t wanna fool with any of that so I just got a fleet card so I can go in and out and not have to pre-pay. The wife and kids go to the bathroom in the camper while stopped, grab snack, wash hands and all so we never even have to go inside.

Works at Loves, TA, Flying J, Pilot and more.