Just picked up the truck from the shop!

Head gasket, valve job, replaced left exhaust manifold, new CKP sensor and fixed corroded ECU connector pins and she's back in business. Hopefully all the gremlins have shaken loose...

 

Got the adapters for my Hawkeye and programmed a new remote to the truck.

Tried checking the SRS, but the system said it didn't respond. It's possible something is wrong with the wiring in the truck.

Also, having finished gluing the headliner to the fiberglass form, I started putting it back in. Not perfect, but far, far better than the old soggy one. Now that the sunroof leaks are permanently repaired, this one should last.

 

Every time you post I think "maybe he figured out how to remove the alarm!"

 

I did. You just disable all immobilization using the Hawkeye or equivalent and replace the alarm unit with a Viper. The only hard part is making it unlock all of the doors and disable the Viper with the key in the drivers door, and if you don't need or want that, you're all set. There are option on the alarm to set various methods of immobilization and other options. You can turn all of them off, and then the system can be bypassed.

Worst case, a dealer can disable all immobilization for you.

 

Made a hi-lift mount today using pipe repair clamps, shock bushings and wing nuts. Worked beautifully!


I need to use about 2" shorter bolts and I plan on drilling an 1/8" hole though the bolt and using a cotter pin to keep the wing nut from backing off. It consists of a 3/4" pipe repair clamp from Lowes, a 3/8-4" (the correct lenght) carriage bolt, washers, shock bushings from Advance, and some wing nuts. I also used a cable type gun lock I had to lock the jack to the rack.

 

That's great to hear. I've been consider getting a Hawkeye for some time now. Maybe you'll sell it to me when you're done

 

Over the last couple days I installed a Terrafirma medium duty lift kit and a winch using the Terrafirma discreet winch mount. Both the lift and the winch installation were pretty strait forward. The truck maintained a fairly stock look and I am very happy with the way it turned out.

I was ale to fabricate a linkage to operate the clutch lever on the winch remotely so I didn't need to make any extra access holes in the bumper, and I won't need to crawl under the truck to free spool. I was also able to relocate the winch solenoid into the jack/battery box so there is no visible wiring when looking under the hood.

 

Sounds nice. Pretty much worthless worthless without pics, though.

 

I realize the comment is worthless without pics. I have uploaded the mediocre pictures from my phone for all to see.


This is taken just after getting it up on stands and pulling its face off, before the new Terrafirma coils are installed.




Winch and discreet mount wrestled into place. I bolted the winch to the mount first and then used a ratchet strap hooked into the hood catch to support the bulk of the weight of the assembly while I worked it into place.




A blurry picture with lift done and winch mounted.




The final result is a very stock looking truck which is what I was going for. If you look carefully you can see the socket for the hand control mounted in the middle bar of the grill next to the passenger side headlight. Sorry I did not get a picture of the linkage I made to operate the clutch lever. If people are interested I can pull the grill back off and take a few.




Regards,

Mike

 

What lift and tires are you running? 2" and 33"?



I got my transfercase put in and drove it for the 1st time in 3 years.