C3500HD Tow pig

[red]

Been seeing those type hitches a while now. Is that just to make hitching easier or does it help in ride also?

Ride improvement for both truck and trailer. The tech has been around on 5th wheels for awhile, air ride or polymer bushings on both the truck and trailer sides of the hitch. Came to goosenecks a few years ago with this option for the truck and a few options on the trailer side. Gen Y makes the polymer hitches, Air safe and Shocker make some air versions for the trailer. Reese makes some for the 5th wheel trailers converted to gooseneck with their Gooseball, which is one of the few gooseneck adapters that 5th wheel manufacturers approve of.

 

[red]

Air ride hitch raises it about 5", the 5th wheel had 2" of available upwards adjustment so went ahead and collapsed that as much as possible. Trailer will still be sitting 3" higher up front than it did before

 

[red]

Will have to drop the hitch into the bed frame as far as possible to get the trailers back to level.

Ride: very smooth, no bucking to or from the trailer when going over bumps including bridges and railroad tracks. Even on roads that are pretty smooth you can still see the hitch compress from time to time without feeling it.

Braking: trailer brakes seemed to prefer engaging earlier to keep the hitch in tension.

Being that this truck is a medium duty with stiff suspension bucking wasnt a big problem for the truck anyways, was for the trailers though. Big problem with lighter suspension trucks as well.

 

[red]

New tires on the front so all 6 are now newish since the others have about 10k miles. New are load range H on accident. Tossed new pads on the rear axle and cleaned up their sliders since the old ones weren't wearing even. Can't go any bigger on brakes or any smaller on wheels hahaha.

New parts on the way from Leroy, injectors and exhaust.

 

[Will L.]

Yeah, having the sliders filed down perfectly flat and coated with copper antisieze helps a lot. Getting them ceramic coated with the friction reducer. Just takes some elbow grease.

Helping out the rotors by having the non friction areas coated for thermal is good for getting out that heat faster and will help slow the rusting. Another thing that helps is chryo treating the rotors. Of coarse if you don’t have the rotors in the mud and packed dirt all the time- start with the drilled/slotted rotors. If you cannot afford the treatment and coatings, use flat black high heat engine paint. That painted surface will shed heat better than rusted surface.
Getting the caliper done for the heat helps a lot too.

 

[red]

Yeah, having the sliders filed down perfectly flat and coated with copper antisieze helps a lot. Getting them ceramic coated with the friction reducer. Just takes some elbow grease.

Helping out the rotors by having the non friction areas coated for thermal is good for getting out that heat faster and will help slow the rusting. Another thing that helps is chryo treating the rotors. Of coarse if you don’t have the rotors in the mud and packed dirt all the time- start with the drilled/slotted rotors. If you cannot afford the treatment and coatings, use flat black high heat engine paint. That painted surface will shed heat better than rusted surface.
Getting the caliper done for the heat helps a lot too.

When I actually go through the axle to overhaul it I might do the coatings. New rotors, maybe search for better than stock calipers, traction aid in the diff, and likely 4.10 gears. For now its just new pads.

Got the rest of the AC system put together and charged/oiled up, nice and cold now. Also installed a new Diamond Eye exhaust on it. Wrapped the down pipe and painted the rest of the new exhaust with some cheap ceramic paint thats rated for up to 2,000 F. The paint is mostly for rust prevention.

Both the larger crossover and downpipe are wrapped up, should help significantly reduce the heat transfer when working the engine hard. When it gets a better turbo it will get a blanket but for the stock turbo it has a cheap little heat shield.

Have been pulling the toy hauler back and forth with work, got laid off so that will stay put here at the lake for awhile again.

 

[red]

 

[red]

Started the main transfer tank install, have to design the straps and will likely go with angle iron to secure the tank in place (with padding). Dropped the tank off to get some welding work done.

Having issues with the AC after it's been running for awhile, building up too much pressure and kicking the compressor off.

 

[red]

Air tank found its home on the bed finally, air compressor to follow. There will be a cargo box outside the tank and the spare tire will be mounted in front.

 

[Husker6.5]

I assume you'll be rerouting the airline(s) through/under the frame rail instead of over the top as seen in the photo (which I infer is to show the tank's placement, not final install) before putting the bed on?

 

[red]

I assume you'll be rerouting the airline(s) through/under the frame rail instead of over the top as seen in the photo (which I infer is to show the tank's placement, not final install) before putting the bed on?

Correct thats an old hose that needs removed and some tweaks to get the tank completely flat with the top of the bed rails.

Since the spare tire has to be spaced out away from the frame, probably going to mount the air compressor right in front of the tank. It can go just about anywhere if that is a problem but doubt it would be.

 

[red]

Well that was a deal I couldn't pass up and a good upgrade. Pretty sure the bumper is meant for a early 2000's GM so the mounts are off but close. With the stock upper mounts it sits 1 in too high and need to be moved out a bit.

Thinking of paint matching the bumper to the grill/fender flares/bed.

 

[Will L.]

Yup, paint to match trim. Looks good.

 

[Husker6.5]

Or, you could paint it "Peeling White" to match the stock hood!

 

[red]

Or, you could paint it "Peeling White" to match the stock hood!

Hahahaha ah GM paint on this body style sucked.


Front mounts are now modified to lower the bumper 1 inch. Next step is the lower mounts so the bumper is stable then address the diamond plate since it's blocking some airflow to the lower part of the radiator. Using some 6 inch wide 5/16" plate steel for the mounts.

 

[Twisted Steel Performance]

Looks a lot like mine....

 

[red]

Looks a lot like mine....

View attachment 62535

Quite similar, the gap between the main bumper and the grill guard was a problem with others that I looked at. The main bumper usually completely covered the bottom 5" of the radiator that is uncovered on the HD'S, this bumper will cover about 1 1/2" of it instead.

Should get the air compressor mounted and plumbed tomorrow, nothing fancy just a little 12v unit. Today installed the new intake manifold.

 

[Will L.]

Yes, but the round pipe will split that air there in half, and the air going over it will speed way up just like an airplane wing. So while it is more restrictive than having nothing, that will flow better air than the factory design bumper. I learned a lot when playing with the engineers in the cali wind tunnel with my hummer designing the hood scoop.

 

[red]

Sounds good, didn't want to lose the extra airflow which is why a bumper search took awhile. Thinking ill wait until the spring to finish up the front bumper (want a winch and recovery points) and paint it then. For now though its a nice upgrade especially with all the deer/coyotes around.

Not the intended purpose for the big fuel tank mounts but works well haha. Tire work for the flatbed trailer tomorrow. The spare tire mount will be a similar idea on the other side, just behind the cab and actually bolted in place.

 

[Will L.]

How much clearance Clarance?