RowdyRebel

I blame the government regulators who are mandating all of this crap. If airbags weren't REQUIRED to be installed by the manufacturers, they would have had the option to say "these things are dangerous, and we're not installing them". They may have even saved enough by doing so to cover extra "upgrades" elsewhere on the vehicle to benefit the consumer and still remain competitively priced. When things are required, though, the mindset is to go with the lowest bidder to conserve resources for the consumer-focused improvements...because spending money you don't need to spend on compliance burns through the budget pretty quick.

Ok, add a new alternator to the list of parts. Old one was getting EXTREMELY hot to the touch rather quickly (burned my hand about a minute after firing it up with the new TBI), so I figured it was best to get it off there before it left us stranded...again. Picked up a 105 amp unit from Napa yesterday and put it on last night. Funny thing is, after getting the new alternator on, firing it up, and letting it run for a couple minutes, the old alternator was STILL warmer than the new alternator that was on and running. Damn battery idiot light is still on, though. It's got a new battery & alternator, and everything seems to be working as it's supposed to, so I'm stumped as to the cause of the light.

Ok, so day 2 had it out at the farm. On the way there I discovered that if you're sitting at a red light idling, then go straight to WOT, it stumbles pretty hard & ALMOST stalled...long enough for me to think "#?*@"...but when I let up on the throttle, it fired back off again, romp on it again and STILL beat the fool who was 3 cars back and had changed lanes into the open lane next to me through the intersection. It is MUCH quicker than it used to be...still a bit of a dog below about 2000-2500...but then it takes off. I have 2 shift programs in there..."economy" shifts at about 4K @ WOT, and "towing" is set for 5K. When it hits 2nd in the towing program, it hits hard and leaves that car that THOUGHT it was keeping up with you in the dust. Yeah, I was beating the snot out of it yesterday, finding out what it would do, and trying to find any potential issues before the wife starts using it again as her daily driver. First 87 miles on the tank were with the old TBI, which was only getting us 6 mpg. I drove it around for another 123 miles with a very heavy foot, including some time on the farm delimbing some trees that had been cut, bucking them up into manageable size logs, loading them on a trailer, and taking them over to one of the barns to be cut to length and split for firewood. There's a small, gravel hill getting up to that barn, and I stopped. Started easing into the throttle and around 1625 rpm it started rolling forward. Got into it a little more, and at 1850 rpm it started spinning the tires. Hell, on Dec 17 (when the ignition module left us stuck on the side of the interstate in an ice storm), Damn. Dallas/Boston saw a fight not 2 seconds after the puck dropped... Anyway, as I was saying...back on the 17th of December, it didn't even want to spin the tires ON ICE! So, I'm pretty stoked about it spinning the tires on gravel with a tongue-heavy loaded trailer behind it. But anyway, fueled up on my way home...210 miles on the tank and it took a hair over 29 gallons, which is about 7.25 mpg. Considering the first almost half of the miles were at about 6, and the second part were extremely heavy footed, I'd be surprised if we're not back into the 10's driving like we normally would. I was hoping for 12-14, and once we know exactly where we're at, I'll have a chat with the chip guy to see how we can tweak the programming. I don't like it hesitating and stumbling on a quick take-off, and has always been slow to return to idle when you rev it up in neutral. I just want to have a good idea on where it's at and what it needs before I have him tweak it. Still can't wait until the wife and I have a day off together and we can hook the horse trailer up and load a couple horses to go for a ride off the farm...that'll be the real test. Right now, I'm happy though. It can hit 65-70 mph by the end of an up hill merge ramp from a stop at the bottom of the ramp. Used to be, we'd be on the interstate and have to crest the hill before it'd see 70.

Got it on easy enough. Throttle linkage was a little different, so I had to do a little Redneck engineering to shorten the rod for the cruise control. If I get a 6-40 die, I can trim the rod and remove the bolt...until then, it seems to work. The crimp connectors to splice the injector wires weren't the heat shrink kind, so I swapped them out for some that were. Kinda stupid to spend all that money on making it run right only to place a time limit before wires corrode and the injectors quit working. Anyway, seat-of-the-pants Dyno says it found a few more ponies and a couple extra ft lbs...definitely gets off the line now and ALMOST even wants to spin a tire. Eventually I might pull the TBI again to port the intake manifold, but for now it seems to work. We'll find out for sure whether it's good or not the first time we hook up to the horse trailer.

TBI take 2. It's at the post office awaiting pickup, so the wife will do that today. HOPE to have it on by the end of the day. Wrong TBI is "out for delivery" as of this morning, so we'll see how long it takes them to refund my money. This internet tracking thing is pretty slick...I remember when you just didn't know where anything was or when to expect it.

I used to stay @ Super 8 / Days Inn, and it was really getting to be hit & miss on quality. Pay $75-$80 for some of them and I've stayed at nicer Motel 6's for $35-$40 than I was getting @ twice the price. Stayed at a Holiday Inn Express once because it was the only hotel available where I needed it and was expecting a MUCH higher price. Turned out to be cheaper than some lesser quality hotels if they give a "business rate", and I've tried not to go back to the lesser quality hotels. I told 'em when I signed on here that I don't mind an occasional night out on the road, but it needs to pay enough to justify a room at the Holiday Inn Express. If it doesn't pay enough for me to get a decent room, it doesn't pay enough to keep me away from home. I've only broken that rule once...stayed at a Super 8. Made an exception because they gave me a jacuzzi suite for the regular room rate. Called the wife up: "Hey, baby! What you doing?" "Winding down in front of the TV" "Yeah? So am I! ...but I'm in a hot tub!" She was a little jealous.

No biscuits & gravy, though. Guess I'm too far north for that. Gravy was replaced with egg white omlettes. Still had the other omlettes too, just have to do without my B&G.

I eat a better breakfast when I don't make it home...

They just know how to treat you right.

Sometimes I think I'd be better off trying to walk away from this thing...but I'm in too deep already. Can't sell it for anywhere NEAR what I've got in it. Brakes, engine, transmission, springs, tires, gauges...all new. Still working on working the kinks out, since the transmission isn't original and neither is the engine. Hell, previous owner put a rear axle under it from a 70's era truck...different brake drums, different parking brake cables...absolutely ridiculous the "little things" that keep coming up with this stupid truck. It is a damn cool truck, though, when it runs. A real one-of-a-kind. Guess you can say I've got a love/hate relationship with it. Of all the vehicles I've ever driven, it's the only automatic I actually enjoy driving...and that says a lot, because I HATE automatics.

Well, I've run through just about every cuss word there is & even made up a few. Waited damn near 2 months for this thing to show up, and it turns out the TBI replacement for a "1990-1995 5.7L GM TRUCK" is not the right one for a 1990 GMC Suburban. Everything LOOKED right, except for the TPS plug. Instead of ordering the 502-9, I SHOULD have got the (less expensive) 502-6 for a "1987-1989 5.7L GM TRUCK". I'll receive a credit for the sale price I paid for the more expensive TBI once they receive it. In the meantime, they're charging me nearly $5 more than I'll get back because they aren't on sale now. The correct TBI ships tomorrow, should be here Thursday, so I'll have it put together by Friday night and be ready to test it out on the farm next weekend. I even asked if the 502-6 TPS would bolt onto the 502-9 TBI...easy enough to swap out if it did...but it doesn't. So, it's parked in the driveway 'til the right part gets here...still out of commission. On the bright side, I did get the ignition module swapped out and new ignition wires installed. 2 wires had made contact with the headers, and the spark plug gaps weren't even CLOSE to what they should have been...guess I should have paid more attention to that when I was putting the new motor in. Oh well. I was going to swap the magnetic pickup, too...but that would require pulling the distributor and disassembling the damn thing. Screw that. Tested it with an ohm meter and it is whithin spec, so I left it in. The other piece of good news is that the new TBI gaskets are tapered to make the transition from the 2" bore on the new TBI down to the OEM bore size on the intake manifold. I was thinking I'd have to port the manifold to open it up, but since the gaskets are tapered to fit I'll just leave it as is. Of course if I still feel it's starving for air, I'll pop it off and put my dremel to use...but no point in doing that if it isn't necessary. I'd also have to trim the taper off the gaskets or the port job on the manifold would be pointless. Guess that's the long-winded version of "It oughtta be back on the road by Friday night."

Got home to a pleasant surprise on Friday...wasn't expecting it to ship for another 2-3 weeks!

Sounds like fun...NOT! Last winter the Mississippi hit record levels and they were concerns about the levees. We moved out & camped in a horse trailer at the farm for a few days until a levee breeched a ways south of us and the river started going down again. The whole "hoping for the best, expecting the worst" gets old after a day or two...waiting for a news headline to come across the radio indicating you are now homeless. Thankfully, that didn't happen 'round here...but I know what they are going through and it ain't fun.

Yup. Used single axle semi tractor will pull more without stressing the truck 1/4 as much. Instead of working that $70K pickup at 95%, you're working a $4K single screw tractor at 20%. Less wear & tear, meaning lower maintenance costs and more longevity. In 2 or 3 years, that $70K pickup is wore the F out & worth not much more than scrap value. That $4K single screw is still worth $4K, and perfectly capable of continuing to work. Hell, even a brand new medium duty (F650/F750) would do the job better, last longer, and all for only a marginally higher initial start-up cost as these new decked out 1-tons.

Couple weeks ago, I had a clean level 3 by an Arkansas DOT man who randomly pulled me over...complimented my corporate logo. FWIW, I doubt I'd get the same reaction from a LEO up in the NY or NJ...but 'round here, they all dig it:

So yesterday I was short on time and long for miles, so I had to run the big road up to Terre Haute. Get to the big super coop on 70 at the state line and they're checking everybody's ground pressure...until I get in line. Then they open up the bypass. Everybody in line is getting weighed and sent to the exit...until me. Weight was good, but I'm told to report to the inspection barn. I explain my situation to the officer as I'm handing over the required documents before he's quite able to ask for them...permit book (cab card, insurance, etc...), log book, BOL, etc...compliments me over how neat, organized, and complete everything is. Checks the lights, and heads underneath to mark the push rods. Tells me to apply the brakes. I do. 4-5 seconds later, I hear air start leaking...and so does he. Blew a hole in the air line to my front right steer brake can right there in the damn inspection bay. Damn. OOS, but he was nice and didn't write a citation, so it only cost me an arm and a leg to have a $13 hose brought out...and the TIME. He complimented me again about the overall condition of my truck, saying that "Usually with these old Macks, we find a long list of issues." I guess that was him admitting that I was profiled. They saw an old Mack rolling into their scale and they were all set to write some citations. Pisses me off, because I really didn't have the time to waste there...REALLY made for a long day by the time I got home again. Good thing I'm still on paper is all I can say about that, though. I hate being profiled like that...wastes my time, and it wastes yours, too, if you happen to drive an old Mack truck AND take care of it. For those of you who don't (and I'm sure I'm wasting my breathe here...because those who don't probably aren't here reading this) TAKE CARE OF YOUR $#!+. They pulled me in because "Macks" have a reputation there for being easy pickings...so let's change that. Take care of your $#!+. Let them see us coming and say "you know, those Mack guys are pretty on the ball with their maintenance...so let's not waste our time with them". Yeah, I know...Brake hose leaking OOS. Wouldn't have blown if I wasn't sitting in their bay applying and holding 80-90 PSI in the system. I never brake THAT hard...15-20 psi max. Anyway, rant over. I'm going back to avoiding scale houses again.

They're raving about the steering system, despite having found it's major flaw. When at the "in-between" speed, the computer can't figure out which steering gearing to use. I like predictability in my steering, so that I know EXACTLY where my wheels are pointing. What happens if you're late-braking into a turn...and suddenly your wheel input causes the truck to turn significantly sharper once you drop below that threshold speed. Likewise, accelerating out of the turn, once you hit that speed your inputs won't be straightening you out as quickly causing you to run wide. Maybe most people won't have that problem...but I like curvy roads, and I love getting through those curves quickly. I don't care if I'm on a motorcycle, in a full size pickup, or even in the Mack...I just enjoy a nice, tight, narrow little hilly, twisty, curvy road.

Just got an email from Jegs...that Holley TBI that I ordered last month is out of stock and not expected to ship until March. Guess my chances of finding a warm weekend to do the work will be a little better...just sucks that the Suburban will be down 'til then. Sure, I probably could run it with the old TBI...but @ 6 mpg, that's an expensive proposition. Good thing we've got other vehicles to drive.

Anybody else hear this in their head when Obama & his family boarded the helicopter?

Well, they called just before quitting time to say they're done with it. Injector tip broke off...said everything else looked good. Guess I'll hitch a ride in tomorrow when the wife goes to work to pick it up. Warranty fixed the truck...doesn't do a darn thing about the week of work I missed, though.

The avalanche is butt ugly vehicle that has identity issues and can't decide if it'd rather be a truck or an SUV. The Suburban knows it is an SUV. I was simply pointing out that a short bed pickup is less of a truck than an SUV. As I stated in an earlier post, at least Ford recognized this simple fact with the Sport Track...and badged it as an "Explorer" with a "bed" rather than a quad-cab "Ranger".

Just 'cuz it's little doesn't mean it ain't a truck...but it's GOT to be able to haul stuff. Only difference between a mega-cab Dodge with a 4' bed and my wife's Suburban is that the stuff hauled in the Suburban can haul more AND the stuff stays dry. That and with the 3rd row seat removed and the 2nd row seats folded down, there's still 8' of cargo space between the back of the front seat and the barn doors in the back (so does that make it a "truck" since it can haul a sheet of plywood or sheet rock?). Kinda sad when an SUV has more cargo space than a "truck".

With the tool box in the bed of my F250's 8 foot bed, my '92 Ranger has just as much cubic feet of space in the bed...a little longer, but a little narrower...but still enough to haul an assembled kitchen table and 6 chairs. No tailgate on it, so a 4x8 sheet of anything just tips sideways and lays over one bedside. The F250 also has the gooseneck ball in the bed that prevents anything from being layed flat in the bed. Got to put the nose against the box and the tail up over the tailgate. My '86 Ranger has a 5.5' wide by 7.5' long wood flatbed on it...so it's the only thing I've got that a 4x8 sheet of plywood or sheet rock would lay flat in/on...so I guess by your standards, it's the only real truck I've got. F250 still gets the job done, though... Problem with the short beds is once you put the tool box in, you've lost yet ANOTHER 2' of bed space...

Actually, adventures like this I'd rather be close to home...easier to deal with and not near as expensive.

Nah...my vote for ugliest and most useless would have to go to the Aztek.