Project Big Red

laserjock

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Trip report:

1150 ish miles. Lost track of the gallons of fuel but it always seemed to ballpark at about 10 mpg. Truck ran pretty good. It was very hot on the way down. Saw a good bit of 220-230 water temp. Nothing unmanageable and had the AC on the whole way. Coming home, it was a bit cooler outside so temps were never really an issue.

I was concerned that I had a turbo issue developing but it turns out it’s radio noise. I put the Sirius radio in for the trip and there’s a noise that follows rpm. I used the radio suppression plug wires so I don’t know what the issue might be unless it’s the alternator. But it’s really annoying.

All in all, truck performed well. I’ve got a short list of things that need tending too but nothing crazy. Still like to have more cooling but I’m going to continue working on that. I feel like it’s close to in reach.


All in all, very successful trip. No major issues. Really no minor issues either for that matter.
 

subway

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. Saw a good bit of 220-230 water temp. Nothing unmanageable and had the AC on the whole way.

i was surprised, i was seeing this on a regular basis on the ride home and was not happy with it. i might have even got it hotter and found myself backing down. once i got through the peak heat of the day it was back down to 205-210 and 75 mph no problem though.
 

laserjock

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It’s not really incognito. It’s wedged in behind the grill. Had to clearance the grill.

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Crod150

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Im a little late to the party, but im curious what front axle and hub assemblies you put on your truck? I had a wheel bearing go out on mine, and in the process of rebuilding my front end i found out that the new hubs i got from O'Reilly's are way to small.
 

laserjock

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Im a little late to the party, but im curious what front axle and hub assemblies you put on your truck? I had a wheel bearing go out on mine, and in the process of rebuilding my front end i found out that the new hubs i got from O'Reilly's are way to small.
It’s a standard D60 KP axle out of a 90. I put new bearings and seals in the outters. Nothing special.
 

laserjock

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As camping season is coming up soon, I decided to start knocking some things off my list. Mainly tackling the nagging water temp problem. Step 1 in trouble shooting is determine if you have a problem. To that end I picked up a new auto meter water temp gauge. Killer deal on amazon.

then to figure out how to install it. Old gauge was a single wire sender. This is a 2 wire gauge. Putting it in the overhead would be tough. Wires too short. Not enough wires. Got to thinking about it, I could swap the fuel pressure for water temp and it solves the electrical issues. Harness reaches. All good.

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Not sure what’s next but stay tuned.
 

laserjock

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I finally completed the gauge swap.

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So I hate taking this console down but I’m getting better at it. Luckily I made it fairly easy.

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The molex connector made it nice. Under the hood it was just a matter of de-pinning one connector and swapping one sender wire for another. While I was in there I put some loom on the new water temp sender wire. It lays close to the valve cover. Then of course had to take it for a test drive.
 

laserjock

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It is pretty obnoxious isn’t it??

The switches are standard Carling or carling style rockers. Some came from amazon, some from eBay I think and a couple from here.


https://www.otrattw.net/
 

laserjock

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I actually managed to do a little something Sunday. Ive been concerned for a while that maybe I’m robbing too much water from the drivers cylinder head because it’s a full -10 (5/8”) hose out the back of the head, through the turbo and to the manifold I added. So I decided to restrict it a bit. Turns out -10 AN fittings have a hole just a little bigger than 7/16” which is the tap drill for 1/4 npt. Learned this during the tractor debacle that you may have seen. So I took a 1/4 npt plug with internal hex and drilled it from the back until I got into the hex. Viola.

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I put it in the exit side so the turbo will stay full of water.

While I was at it, found a couple other issues. Wrapped some 1/2” fuel hose around the AC high pressure line. It had rubbed a couple places. Put some loom around the charge wire. Same problem. Replaced a missing nut on the fuel filter mount adding a lock washer. Just odds and ends.

Trying to run the rear tank pretty much empty since it seems the float has sank. I’ve learned my lesson. If that tank gets serviced it’s with the bed off. I fought sealing it up for a full afternoon last time so I’m not excited about popping it open.
 
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