Antarctic IDI Build

[Thewespaul]

U joints could cause it but it’s hard to say until we get some new shocks on the truck, which will happen after final ride height is figured... so that’s going onto back burner for now.

Made some good progress today, I started on the gauges, spent a good amount of time massaging the gauge pod with the bench grinder till it fit flush and clean.
For those who don’t know, this is meant for an obs truck sense it isn’t available for bricknose and older.
I used two sheet metal screws to hold the gauge pod where I want it, I like where they are located but I’m going to use a different screw that sits more flush than these.

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The pyrometer was an older model so I replaced the stock bulb with an Led I had leftover from another project, now it matches the rest.

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Soldered all the conections and grounded everything on one of the screws, that way there’s just one power coming in, two sensor wires and the tubing for the boost gauge, makes it much cleaner.

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[Thewespaul]

Ran the harness inside the weatherstripping and behind the trim so you won’t see it when you open the door. Ran everything through a grommet in the firewall, keeping everything well away from foot space and the emergency brake.

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Looks pretty good!

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Then got on the alignment, here’s what I use in case anyone is interested. Just a piece of trim with slots cut for tape measure, it’s held up by fishing line and a set of hooks. Had to make this because my last one walked off.

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Toe was 1/2” out. Got it within 1/16”. Should be better

 

[Thewespaul]

Relocated the glow plug controller while I had my wiring stuff out, pulled back the harness and ended up cutting out a bunch of spade connectors that had been added at some point, lengthened the harness and hooked up a new gpc. When I first fixed the cold start issues I replaced the original gpc with a spare I had in the shop that I knew was good, well I wanted to replace that with a new unit and once I hooked that one up I couldn’t get the glow plugs to work. I kept second guessing my wiring and looking for burnt wires, well I threw the old controller on there and everything works, gotta love the quality of replacement parts these days.

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Mounted the gpc on the fender

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[Thewespaul]

More progress, mounted the gpc a bit more securely and loomed the whole harness. I added a manual push button right on the gpc in case the controller ever fails the glowplugs can still be cycled without needing tools.

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Then got on the headlight relay mod, Matt bought the complete harness which worked very well. Headlights didn’t function at all and I tracked it down to a wire that had popped off the back of the headlight switch and then seems the high beam switch is shorted, I bypassed it and I have lights!

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Headlight relays:

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Tucked everything out of sight

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[Thewespaul]

Headlight relay mod is something every one of our trucks need, it really helps out a lot. I polished the headlights up and replaced the headlights bulbs with 9004 silver star ultras.

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[DaveBen]

Clean off the battery posts and connectors. Yours are dirty.

 

[Thewespaul]

Clean off the battery posts and connectors. Yours are dirty.

Read back a bit, I did that in post #1

 

[Bart F-350]

Great!!! I just stumbled over this post, I have exactly the same truck, exept I ditched the ambubody, and have also exactly the same Idea for the wheels.

In the first and second pic there is another tire alongside the truck, is that by any chance a Michelin XZL 12.50R20?

in the first post you said the truck hasn't enough power for the weight, I think it's different, you need to reconcider the gearing, pretty sure it came with 1:4.10 in the axles, there has to change something.

At this moment I don't know exactly what, I'm still finding a way to calculate that.

also I'm curious why you change it over to hydro brakes?

and for the wheel alignment, did you use the standard data? (as if it stood on the standard 235/85R16 tires?)

 

[Thewespaul]

Great!!! I just stumbled over this post, I have exactly the same truck, exept I ditched the ambubody, and have also exactly the same Idea for the wheels.

In the first and second pic there is another tire alongside the truck, is that by any chance a Michelin XZL 12.50R20?

in the first post you said the truck hasn't enough power for the weight, I think it's different, you need to reconcider the gearing, pretty sure it came with 1:4.10 in the axles, there has to change something.

At this moment I don't know exactly what, I'm still finding a way to calculate that.

also I'm curious why you change it over to hydro brakes?

and for the wheel alignment, did you use the standard data? (as if it stood on the standard 235/85R16 tires?)

Very cool!

1) that tire is a skid steer tire mounted on a cat rim
2)the rig already has 4.10s and I think it has enough power to run down the road empty, but for hauling desert race trucks accross the country and rock crawlers up mountain passes, more power is needed.
3)hydro brakes is a common upgrade for these trucks, it really helps support the braking system a lot better than the vacuum assist
4) I took no specs or fancy readings, just did a toe adjustment using the grey beard method

 

[theSHERPA]

Great!!! I just stumbled over this post, I have exactly the same truck, exept I ditched the ambubody, and have also exactly the same Idea for the wheels.

In the first and second pic there is another tire alongside the truck, is that by any chance a Michelin XZL 12.50R20?

in the first post you said the truck hasn't enough power for the weight, I think it's different, you need to reconcider the gearing, pretty sure it came with 1:4.10 in the axles, there has to change something.

At this moment I don't know exactly what, I'm still finding a way to calculate that.

also I'm curious why you change it over to hydro brakes?

and for the wheel alignment, did you use the standard data? (as if it stood on the standard 235/85R16 tires?)

The tire in the first pic looks to be a solid tire for an excavator, but Wes can probably answer that better.

The truck was regeared to 4.56 at the upfitter. As it stands right now, the recentered HMMV rim and tire combo is heavy. Really heavy. The double bead lock steel rim is beefy, the E coded Baja tire is heavy, and I am still running the heavy factory solid rubber run flat inside. LOTS of rolling mass.

I do have a set of lightweight PVC run flats I could install, but as top heavy as the truck is, I like the thought of a flat tire dropping to the run flat, instead of the rim. If and when I lower the truck a bit, I might swap them out—probably save around 40 lbs per wheel.

I swapped to hydroboost because it’s awesome, and I need all the advantage possible to stop this heavy beast.

General rule of thumb an alignment is 1/8 towed in, regardless of tire size. At least that is what I have been told.


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[Thewespaul]

Mostly spent the day cleaning up the shop but got some more progress today

Wrapped the up pipe and downpipe with exhaust wrap, I’ll have more wrap later this week and I’ll do the crossover pipe as well.

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Hit all the exhaust connection points with a wire wheel and a file, I like to always clean these to try and prevent exhaust leaks down the road especially on the the donuts.

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I got the timing meter on the engine, it had 4* when I first checked it, adjusted it to 8* starts much better now and sounds much healthier

 

[Thewespaul]

Headlights polished up nicely

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[chillman88]

Sheesh I'm going to mail you my headlights lol! What system do you use to polish them? The only one I've ever used is the 3m kit that goes in a drill.

 

[79jasper]

Was about to ask.
I hadn't used one of the modern kits. I did see that meguiars just came out with a new one.
I use wet/dry sandpaper. I think I start with 660 and work my way up to 5000. Then I clear coat.
I want to experiment with polishing right before the clear coat. But 5000 is pretty fine. Lol

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[Thewespaul]

Just 1500 grit sandpaper on a sanding block and a cheap throwaway foam attachment for the drill and I use some buffing compound I had in the shop. Nothin fancy and takes about five minutes per light.