This is what 13 hours of wrenching will get you

[alrock]

New exhaust manifold, bolts, gasket, exhaust pipe gasket and O2 sensors

New motor mount, old one was tore up!

Reshaped rear bumper to accommodate 35s

Rebuilt leafs - new bushings (x6), new full length leaf, re-arched

With new shocks too

New u-bolts and hardware, existing tomp lo-pro mounts with new paint. (Still need to cut the bolts)

Reshaped and painted gas tank skid

Also in there: crankshaft seal and bolt, new antifreeze (pulled radiator for crankshaft seal), oil change, TPMS reset (horn beeping method), new rear diff breather tube, moved rear ABS line mounts 1.5" lower.

And a new look. Sitting 3" higher in the rear (1" from tires, 2" from springs) and 1.5" front (1" tires, .5" as torsion bars keep moving down, likely due to Firestone).

Again, many thanks to Reloader for all of his hard work, and to Jeri for lending me Reloader, watching Parker and feeding me.

 

[rsc]

Woot Woot! Looking good! It sure feels good to do some maintenance on your truck, and your truck likes it right back at ya.

 

[EPAlpha]

Damn good looking rig! Great work!

 

[06 H3]

Truck looks good! Hows the ride quality with the new spring setup?

 

[Kelly@PCMofNC]

Very nice, I bet it's like a new ride now after all of that!

 

[LagunaH1]

Fantastic! I bet you are looking forward to Moab with that new setup. How's the ride with all that new hardware?

And, more importantly, has Parker approved this new configuration?

 

[ABNTROOP]

Fantastic! Looks great!

 

[alrock]

Ride is good. The new springs are stiffer but not uncomfortable. Moving to 35s has certainly affected braking as I don't get quite the same bite as before. It's also so much quieter now w/o the giant hole in the manifold.

It's going to take a bit of getting used to getting in and out as it's nearly 2" taller at the driver's door. Valley Spring Service did a great job with the springs, giving them a light coat of paint and nailing it on the height I wanted to gain.

Parker's fine with the new config, though it means he can't jump in and out as it's too tall. It was close before and he could do it but I think it's out of his reach now.

And I'll need to send the PCM to PCM of NC soon. Last year's trans swap wiped out the custom configuration and now with the 35s the speedo seems off about 9%.

 

[Highatop]

Looks good. I bet your to do list is done now for Moab. Spring run can't come soon enough now. See you soon

 

[alrock]

Maybe done. Need upper control arms, new bump stops, PCM tune. Those aren't likely to be done before Moab, but it might happen.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[3Hummers]

Reloader moving to AZ was the best thing that ever happened to you. LOL

 

[RamRod]

Looks good! Once those springs settle out I am sure the ride will soften up... at least it did for me

I loke those TomP skids... wished he still made them, are you going to trim down those new u bolts?

 

[4speedfunk]

Post up some info on those leaf-spring bushings.

 

[cbetts]

I am still getting used to mine with the new springs in the rear. I am surprised that you had to reshape the bumper to fit 35" spare. Mine had no problem even before I did the body lift. Shocks will be next on mine.

 

[06 H3]

My bushings are toast on the springs. I replaced the frame inserted bushings when I did the rancho lift with rancho springs. Everything else is almost 9 years old now.

 

[IISPEEDYII]

it has such a nice stance to it, good job! I also like the light bar in the front, thats not something you see too often

 

[06 H3]

One more question, can you feel a power difference without the crack in the manifold?

 

[cbetts]

One more question, can you feel a power difference without the crack in the manifold?

No difference on mine. Doesn't sound like an old jalopy anymore though.

 

[06 H3]

No difference on mine. Doesn't sound like an old jalopy anymore though.

Interesting...I was getting ready to eventually dnyomat the whole interior because it seems to be louder then it used to be. It might be time to pull off the heat shield, Not just for the noise but I have smog in in 4 months.

 

[alrock]

Reloader moving to AZ was the best thing that ever happened to you. LOL

It's the best thing that's happened to HIM! If he wasn't working on my truck, or Bigunit's, or Jerry's, or Jason's, he'd probably be 600 lbs due to boredom :wink:

Looks good! Once those springs settle out I am sure the ride will soften up... at least it did for me

I loke those TomP skids... wished he still made them, are you going to trim down those new u bolts?

Will be cutting those bolts soon. Just need to pick up some cutting discs.

Post up some info on those leaf-spring bushings.

The leaf spring bushings are all OEM. They are similar to the rear lower control arm bushing, in that the rubber sits in a thin metal sleeve that is flared on one side. They bushings must be pressed in/out of the leaf springs and the frame. I got most of the parts from Zach but I ordered the leaf bushings over a year ago from another source and don't have the part #, and they are two different numbers. I had Valley Spring Service address the bushings in the leaf springs and we took care of the ones in the frame. They were not hard to press out with a ball joint press. The only really bad ones were the rear leaf spring bushings. The others were torn but not fully degraded. I ordered four new leaf spring bolts and nuts just in case I needed them but there was no rust so I didn't replace any of them.

Shackle body bushing: 14027938
Leaf spring bushings: Dayton RB-231 and Dayton RB-172
Bolt: 11588857
Nut: 11516382

I am still getting used to mine with the new springs in the rear. I am surprised that you had to reshape the bumper to fit 35" spare. Mine had no problem even before I did the body lift. Shocks will be next on mine.

Bumper was bent up pretty good. If it were the same shape as new it probably would have fit

 

[alrock]

Can't tell on the power difference as I added 35s at the same time. But, it does seem more responsive, i.e. responds to the throttle a bit better. Or it's all in my head, I don't know. The horrendous ticking/rattling engine noise is gone, finally. Before I used to hear that, now I hear the Gibson exhaust.

 

[Bigunit]

Nice work! The rig is looking good there Mr. Alrock! :thumbs:

 

[Hans3T]

Looking good, Alex!

 

[Zach]

Glad you have to help Parker get up, vet bills are spendy. Did you get a rope ladder or just using a bucket with a string so you can get in? And I also saw you rattle canned the shocks. They were pink when they shipped

 

[alrock]

Glad you have to help Parker get up, vet bills are spendy. Did you get a rope ladder or just using a bucket with a string so you can get in? And I also saw you rattle canned the shocks. They were pink when they shipped 

Just like the pink tie rods in your signature pic? :gay: