SpeedCrazy

Major development in the tire/lift/price analysis.
My friend was at a tire shop in town getting some tires for his work rig(2001 RAM 3500 Dually) and being a good buddy started pricing some tires for me while waiting for his truck. He is friends with the store owner and talked him into offering $700 for 4 BFG A/T KO 35 x 12.5 tires.
Sweet deal or a sweet deal?
So so long as i take my buddy with me when i got get them(should i decide to take them) I can have the for $760 out the door.

bone collector

Awesome deal bro! how badly worn are your coopers? maybe you could sell the coopers and make some of your money back?? just a thought..or keep them for spares still a good deal no matter what. keep up the good work

SpeedCrazy

They have a little tread left, maybe a month or two of DD. If i had a second set of rims i would keep them to throw on to go play but as it is i will be scraping bottom buying the tires let alone another set of rims. Probably keep them for spares.
Oh and while my sig says coopers only three of them are...
That will make 5 spares. 1 Bald BFG MT, 1 almost bald Courser MT, and three okay cooper MTS.
What fun.

I check my engine bay this morning and the white is increasing... bah.
Looks like im going to have to carefully scrub everything with dawn a toothbrush and a rag. Not how i planned to spend my day.

SpeedCrazy

Well i have a day off so i decided to work on figuring out my gauge cluster issues in between scrubbing the engine and removing the PO's over-spray.
Well i was looking for the temp sensor and bumped my TPS and the cable fell off... guess it wasn't plugged in correctly because it clicked on tight when i plugged it back up. This may be a newbish question but why did this not make the truck un-drivable? I would assume that it is also the reason my idle was slightly high, or atleast part of the reason.

SpeedCrazy

Pics, because everyone loves pics:

That is what the corrosion looks like, a little whiter in person but on the whole not terrible. Just irritating.


A loose cable i found tucked behind the headlight. Any ideas?
Plugging in the TPS seems to have brought my idle down a little 1k rather 1200 at startup, will have to watch and see what it does when it is warm.


Got all the overs pray off the windows. I can see!! Also the PO had a can of red spray paint explode under the passenger seat and there were drips all over the back window(some still visible on trim and ceiling) so just removing that made a huge difference, but then removing the black haze. WOW, i like it.
And last but not least...

paint thinner does melt plastic. Learned this one the hard way. Was scrubbing the overspray off and noticed smearing. At first i thought it was some kinda adhesive, sooo i touched it. Hence the finger prints. Just glad i discovered it on that brake light rather than my headlights and such.

SpeedCrazy

MY locks arrived today! Got them all switched out in an hour. 5 mins for ignition, 10-15 for pass side and then about half an hour for the driver side(lost a screw down inside the latch mechanism).
Nice feeling to finally accomplish something in one go, no complications.

SpeedCrazy

I've been fighting electrical issues all week it seems like and not getting anywhere but i'm getting ready to take off for a week and hopefully when i get back i will be able to crack it with a fresh mind.
With that said i am putting together a game plan for my return.
The to do list(to be completed in roughly this order):

1. Get down to the muffler shop and have some tail pipes made. Can barely hear myself think in the cab if the windows are up, and can't here at all if the windows are down... sounds sweet from about 50ft though. Plus the neighbors don't appreciate being woken up at unearthly hours when i take off for work and i don't know what the cops will think when i take it into the city...
2. Weld on my shock mounts. Just ordered a set of these: http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/index...ck-mounts.html I know i could have had some one make me some but they are cheap so i figured it will save me time and frustration and i will know they are done right.
3. Choose order and install shocks once my mounts are in. can't wait to get rid of that horrendous rear end walk.
4. Redo a bunch of my wiring: 2 grounds are missing(block and battery), knock sensor circuit may be bad(its definitely brittle so i will just go ahead and replace it and hope that fixes the problem). Also need an aux fuse panel for amps and lights etc that i hope to install. And if i have time i would like to do my main battery lines as they are slightly corroded and too short too route out of the way.
5. Spec out and start buying parts for my audio system(i know i ought to finish the exterior first but i have a long road trip coming up and i need my tunes).

Those are my immediate plans that i hope to get going on real quick when i get back. Any comments suggestions or advice always welcome.

bone collector

sounds like a good plan. have a good week off and then attack your list! enjoy

SpeedCrazy

week off. haha.... Week off the truck yes. Week off work? I wish.

bone collector

I understand that one. Im sitting in a hotel room right now. I travel a lot for work too

SpeedCrazy

Well i'm home... will hopefully be able to get started on this list monday, depends on whether my check came in or not.
Shock mounts arrived. Pics tomorrow, going to bed right now.

SpeedCrazy

Making a shopping list to start my wiring, and need some advice.
Jumping to this because the guy who is helping me with the welding for my shock mounts is out of town for the 4th so thats on hold till next week.

What wire gauge do i need for my grounds?
Battery ground and block ground.

bone collector

bigger is better for grounds. but they don't need to be welding wire big...

SpeedCrazy

Okay. Need some advice before i pull the trigger.
Here is what i have:
(+) Terminal

(-) Terminal

So i decided while i'm in there i will do both the battery cables too as they are not in the best shape. I'm hoping i can just un bolt those terminals and remove the battery cables then bolt new ones in(not sure if they are soldered) then i can switch to a set of heavy duty terminals at some point in the future.
The positive terminal has the starter cable, an aux light cable and the fuse box, i understand all of those.
But the negative terminal has one cable, and it runs the AC unit.

I don't understand what that is. I assume its some kind of ground.
I believe that the battery ground should also attach to this terminal, correct?

And then my block ground is pretty straight forward.

I was thinking for the (+) cable replacing it with this as its cheap and locally available. http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...605#fragment-2
And a shorter version of the same for the negative cable(the one whose use i am ignorant of).
As for the ground cables, i thought just pick up whatever the heaviest gauge cable my local hardware store has for cheap (6 or 8 ga probably) some crimp ends and some heat shrink.
I also plan to pick up a multimeter for other troubleshooting and possibly a solder gun for future repairs.
Any suggestions or advice on this plan?

SpeedCrazy

Got back from my shopping expedition.

Got most of it from a mom and pop hardware store just down the road. As a general rule i hate shopping, but i could spend hours in that store. And they are dirt cheap.
Got 8 ga wire at 30c a foot, 9 feet of heat shrink for $3(3ft of each 3.5mm, 5mm, and 7mm)
May have time to start work tonight but i doubt it.
Pics will arrive upon completion.

SpeedCrazy

Well i got some of it done. Ran out of wire to finish.

Battery Terminals Rewired. (minus battery ground)

Block to firewall ground. Routed way out of the way like that because the previous ground had melted and did not have much insulation left when i pulled out the remnants. It is this long re-route that caused my running out of wire.
I hope to finish up tomorrow as i am off work. Maybe also remember to pick up a fuse for my dome light.
Also went down to the muffler shop earlier. Going to be $125 for a set of custom fitted tailpipes. Just need to decide where i want them to come out. Dropping the truck off early Wednesday.

bone collector

looking good so far, keep up the good work. Its not fun and exciting stuff, but it is worth it in the end

SpeedCrazy

Yup. It may be slow, but its one more thing i know i don't need to worry about. Flip side of that is i rather enjoy electrical, and also it eases me into working on my truck and lets me learn at my pace rather than having to do something big right off the bat.
About to head out for the rest of the wire and fuses.

bbrideau

Liking the look of your rig man! flat black may be hot as hell but damn it looks good, i definitely feel the pain of the heat tho. my truck is black on top gray on bottom so it gets pretty toasty inside. It's good to get all the little things out of the way, should try looking into the BIG 3 upgrade. has some pretty good insight into what you've already done. be amazed what one little ground wire can cause!


You wouldn't happen to have a link for this lock set you picked up do ya? trying to find one for my 88, seems difficult to find them, would rather have all new seeing as my ignition i can use anything flat to start my truck.

SpeedCrazy

Thanks, apreciate it. I like the flat black look, but it has a number of qualities that turn me off; namely hot, always looks dirty, no hard coat, everyone and their uncle paints their truck flat black around here. I want something completely me.
Big three? Isn't that both battery wires and the grounds? I just did all those.
Link for the locks. I have it around here somewhere. Price has gone up since i ordered but still a good deal. I am happy with them, but i have only had them a few weeks.