Dean's '11 Crew Cab Budget Build
- Thread starter DeanH1290
- Start date
Finally got around to getting some new tires this weekend. Originally I ordered P285/70R17 Toyo Open Country ATll. When I showed up to get them put on, they informed me that the ones that showed up were LT instead of P. I said screw it and had them put on anyways. They told me if I didn't like them to just come back and they would get it worked out. So far the ride isn't any worse than what it was before, but I'm going to give them a week before deciding for sure.
Now for the boring stuff. I spent a good bit of Friday evening under the truck prepping it for the new tires. I replaced all of the UCA bolts (alignment tech was bitching about them last time) and went on and pulled all of the lift out of the Bilsteins, leaving just the 2.5" upper spacer in. With the height adjustment up front, it sits at 39.5" up front and 40" in the rear. I have quite a bit of scrubbing at full lock now, so I'm debating either the NorCal mod or maybe lifting it back up .5" to get some more clearance. The tech also had some issues with my tie rods, so I'm going to have to crawl back uder it this weekend and see if I can resolve it and rough set the toe myself before I go back Tuesday after work to get it all tweaked back in. Here's all the pics I have right now, the truck is dirty and it's supposed to rain all weekend.
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Now for the boring stuff. I spent a good bit of Friday evening under the truck prepping it for the new tires. I replaced all of the UCA bolts (alignment tech was bitching about them last time) and went on and pulled all of the lift out of the Bilsteins, leaving just the 2.5" upper spacer in. With the height adjustment up front, it sits at 39.5" up front and 40" in the rear. I have quite a bit of scrubbing at full lock now, so I'm debating either the NorCal mod or maybe lifting it back up .5" to get some more clearance. The tech also had some issues with my tie rods, so I'm going to have to crawl back uder it this weekend and see if I can resolve it and rough set the toe myself before I go back Tuesday after work to get it all tweaked back in. Here's all the pics I have right now, the truck is dirty and it's supposed to rain all weekend.
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Here's a nice dump of updates, I haven't been staying on it like I should. A few months back I got a diablosport intune i1000 to replace the range device. As of now, I'm just using my own tweaks on a canned tune and I've noticed a bit of improvement. Down the road I'll probably look into getting a custom tune from diablew (tuner that uses the diablosport platform). I also replaced the upper ball joint boots with some from energy suspension. I had noticed the old ones had split, probably from when it was lifted so much. I was getting some camber wear on the fronts, so I decided to go on and get all new moot bushings and links for the sway bar so I could get it back on. I've put almost 1k on it since I put it back on and it seems to have alleviated the wear issue. Lastly, I was finally able to get the deaver mini pack I had been wanting for the rear. I got them installed yesterday and was able to get rid of rear blocks. So far, I can notice a difference in ride, but I'm going to let the newness wear off and see if my wife notices a difference. The back end does seem more planted in the corners though. I think the next thing on my list will be refreshing the shocks and struts. I've put about 50k on this set, so it's just about due.
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After an issue I had with it, the diablo intune is off the truck and wont be going back on. I was loading a tune on the truck and it managed to brick every computer on it, keeping it from even starting. Had it towed to the dealer and they had to reflash it all to get the truck running again. I don't know if its something I did or an issue with the tuner, but I wont be using it again. I'm going to keep an eye on oil consumption and if it gets worse, I'll get a range disabler or see if the dealer will turn afm off since its out of warranty.
Other than that, I'm torn on what I want to do with the truck right now. Honestly, I'm getting tired of messing with it all the time. For the time being, I'll probably just maintain it and any mods done will be for comfort and reliability. My wife and I want another little one here soon and this is the family hauler for us, so I'll probably be more focused on keeping it easy to maintain.
Other than that, I'm torn on what I want to do with the truck right now. Honestly, I'm getting tired of messing with it all the time. For the time being, I'll probably just maintain it and any mods done will be for comfort and reliability. My wife and I want another little one here soon and this is the family hauler for us, so I'll probably be more focused on keeping it easy to maintain.
Dealers can't turn afm off. The ecm programs are already loaded and basically copy and paste from the gm sps server to the module. Unless I completely missed that. Lol
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Wasn't sure if they could or not. the tech said there was some stuff that they can change to avoid using a handheld tuner, but he may have been referring to changing tire sizes and such. My dad is the one who talked to them, so its all second hand info anyways. If that's the case, I'll just pick up a range again.
Started to get some noise form the ball joints, so I decided to scoop up some new arms. It was going to cost almost as much to rebuild the arms vs replace them, so decided to get all new. Went with the new RC forged arms since I got them for a good deal. Some of the powder is already chipped off, so I may repaint or coat them before install. I'm just waiting on some halfway decent weather and some time to install them.
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Not much of an update, but more so a post to keep me on track with this thing. Since we have baby #2 on the way, I plan on trying to get some stuff knocked out this spring so I don't have to worry about it when I'm getting the house ready. The only change on the truck recently is the steps going back on it for now. Plans are to get the new UCA's in, Clearance the front more, and potentially bump it up a little if trimming does't get rid of the rub that it has at full lock. The other main thing I'm trying to iron out is a ride issue. The deavers seemed to soften up the rear enough that the way the truck handles bumps differs greatly front to back. I've pulled the sway bar links up front to see if a softer front helps for now. If I don't like the ride like that, I'll throw the links back in and maybe throw a leaf spring clamp on each side to firm up the back end some.
As for some longer term goals, I'd like to swap out my tri-fold cover for a camper shell/topper (or whatever you call it in your region) and get a new HU and dvd system for the kiddos. The camper shell would give me more dry storage and room for the dogs if we decide to take them with us on a trip. Eonon makes a decent HU that is plug & play along with headrest monitors and a flip down that integrates with it. I would probably go with the headrests since the flip down would block the rear-view mirror.
As for some longer term goals, I'd like to swap out my tri-fold cover for a camper shell/topper (or whatever you call it in your region) and get a new HU and dvd system for the kiddos. The camper shell would give me more dry storage and room for the dogs if we decide to take them with us on a trip. Eonon makes a decent HU that is plug & play along with headrest monitors and a flip down that integrates with it. I would probably go with the headrests since the flip down would block the rear-view mirror.
Did finally get my Blackstone lab results from the oil sample I sent about 6 weeks ago, pretty sure it got tied up somewhere with them thinking it was hazardous or something. Anyways, here they are. Shows some wear, but with all of my short trips and all the hills it doesn't surprise me too much. I'll probably send out another sample soon.
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Have a few minor updates,
Picked up some DL3 mirrors for a steal and got them swapped in this weekend. I dont believe I can get the powerfold to work with a factory switch, so later down the road I may wire up my own switch. I mainly wanted them for the turn signals. Found the oil cooler lines leaking recently, so I picked up some new ones that will go on next oil change. I'm hoping to find the time to get the new uca's on here soon too.
Picked up some DL3 mirrors for a steal and got them swapped in this weekend. I dont believe I can get the powerfold to work with a factory switch, so later down the road I may wire up my own switch. I mainly wanted them for the turn signals. Found the oil cooler lines leaking recently, so I picked up some new ones that will go on next oil change. I'm hoping to find the time to get the new uca's on here soon too.
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Had some nice weather today, so finally got around to getting the new ucas and replacement alignment pins in. It was getting dark when I thought about pictures, so this is all I have for now. For anyone on the fence about these, they have much better clearance on the strut and have a better ball joint angle at full droop. Going to try to take it Friday for a fresh alignment. I was able to get it pretty close by eye, it's at least good enough to hold me over until then.
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I had aftermarket arms before :fp: UBJ's were shot, so just replaced the arms and upgraded while I was in there. figured might as well since it was going to be around 200 to have the arms rebuilt + any downtime.
:rofl: