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Been wheeling a bunch.. and the 3.0 is getting a little tired. Shes been nose up too long too much and getting a little knocky. Going to keep limping it along and start prepping a 3.4 to go in. Ive gotten 10 years of solid wheeling out of this ole 3.0.
Same climb from the other side. Local hard climb (at the jungle in Bethel Vermont) , this was my first time making it. I havent even tried in years because of how quickly it can go bad. But it was hot and the rocks were sticky and the wife and I strapped in and gave it ago.
Do you have to worry about getting this thing smog certified in Vermont?
Looking forward to progress
No smog, but do have yearly safety inspections that the systems need to work on. (which I would not pass do too no cat/lights/glass/fenders/cab holes/rust just to name a few)
But, this truck has been a trailer queen and only used on private land since 2014. So I can do whatever to it.
Last edited by rattlewagon; Oct 12, 2022 at 04:32 AM.
Battery tray to move the batter to the drivers side. Bolts welded to the bottom to hold it to the inner fender.
2" emt exhaust welded to the factory collector, with an amazon 02 sensor bung welded on. I dont need to pass emissions because its a woods only truck so only running the front 02 sensor.
Checking things off the list. Should be ready to start soon!
Clocked and moved the 02 sensor so it wouldnt smash in to the floor every time I drag over something. Hard to tell but tis above the front spring shackle.
Intake, fuel lines, heater core hoses and vac lines all set.
Excited for you! 3.4 swap is my favorite mod I've done to date and completely changed the truck especially driving up at altitude. Little jealous you don't have to worry about emissions I ended up having to add a second CAT in front of my factory one to get my CEL to clear. Not that I wouldn't have done it anyway because I hate having the cat efficiency code CEL but the new cat sits a bit close to my trans for my liking.
Back in the garage on its own feet again. The power steering pump was dead, so we had to swap it out for another used one. Took me about a month to get this motor swap done, I need to clean the throttlebody and idle air control valve because it idling high. And one fix a power steering leak. Should be ready for Hallowheelin next weekend!
Last edited by rattlewagon; Feb 13, 2023 at 04:03 AM.
the 5vzfe has been working awesome. I cant believe I waited so long to do this swap.
Still have a few little things to button up like my lack of heat and an intermitten oil gauge, but so far things are working great. Been out a few times and ready go for snowwheelin.
Also updated my front bumps to the same chevy 1500 amazon clones. 16$ for the pair, cant beat them.
Used some left over hand rail tube for a mount.
They bump on to the ubolt plate. They hit just before the spring goes flat, based on the rear Im guessing that the bump will compress about 1-1.5 inches.
3.4s running awesome. I had to re do some of my wire routing, and I must have a loose pin in the harness, because evetime the passengers feet would touch it, the truck would die. Always restart, but it would die.
Removed the factory heater for one of these amazon ones which left plenty of room to remount the computer/wiring high and out of the way.
Cant beat those translated instructions
Used some carb heater hose as a duct to shoot the heat out, and ill get one longer one to run up to the defroster. Used a piece of sheet metal and exhaust tubing so the hose will adapt to the defroster
Made a "new" set of wheelin chains out of my 2 older sets. My old set is in the middle, about 91 inches long and fits well on my 38s. The new set is about 110' long, so well cut them down a bit.
Removing the cam locks for two reasons. 1, I feel they pop open when dragged across trees/rocks and B, I want to put another cross piece right where they are..You could also add two quick links instead of undoing the whole side, but I only had a few quick links on hand.
I did this for all 6 cams on both chains, Started adding the extra pieces
stock vs doubled
cross pieces and the chain tool.
Use this side of the tool to open the clamps up. I would put one handle on the floor and use my body weight to help compress it.
This side closes them back up. Having this tool makes this go so much faster.
My through bolted stock motor mounts were shot so I replaced them with some RuffStuff Toyota mounts. Not many more vibes than I had before and the engine doesn't wiggle anymore.
The rest of the can of the engine paint
And the paint chipped when I put them in
On the driver side I had to pull the oil filter and dipstick tube to get the engine side mount off, and had to pull the starter on the pass side. These are supposed to keep the engine at stock height, but my old mounts were so shot I think it brought it back up to stock height and now my hood doesn't close anymore... so hoodless again for a bit.
Finished just in time to rip it around as the sun went down.
And upgraded my summer traction! Found a good deal on a set of used BFG reds! 37s, so I hopefully wont break much. They work awesome in the rocks, not so great in the mud. Which I expected. Excited to put them to good use in the next couple of months.
2 wraps of gorilla tape on each bead and got them mounted.
Helping my buddy bring his new blind up into the woods
This rig is rad I’ve been reading through the build and I really dig what you’ve done, I’m glad I skipped the rebuild the 3.0 part with mine. The 3.4 seems like a night and day difference but then again I never had the 3.0 running at 100%
Aug 15, 2022 | 11:15 AM
