Just won an auction - M1088A1

[GeneralDisorder]

You guys are great, I really appreciate the help. How do you get the extended reaction arm for the 4:1 torque multiplier? Is that something sold by X-4?

Made it from a scrap hydraulic cylinder ram. The end was threaded so I got a pair of matching nuts, turned them down to a nice slip-fit in the X-4 handle and red Loctited them to the cylinder threads. It's overkill being a solid rod but it was like $10 and the perfect diameter.

 

[dwlindsey]

Uuuh thats just the mount location for the chem detector… The box with the wires is your anti-lock brake controller… The box with the hoses is your air operated hydraulic pump… Don’t think you want to cut any of that out

don’t think I have seen any of these trucks with a chem detector still attached. It would have a second alarm box in the cab on the passenger side behind the seat, as that is the other half of that system when it is installed…

OK, good to know . . . I think I'm going to need to move them . . .

 

[GeneralDisorder]

OK, good to know . . . I think I'm going to need to move them . . .

Eh. You should be laser focused on the reliability aspects before you start cutting and hacking. Find out what's working and what isn't and start fixing critical systems before you introduce more problems by deleting anything. You have years of work to get that truck to a place where you can trust driving it without fearing a 4-5 digit towing bill.

Get things working and start replacing rubber. And start DRIVING it to find out what's going to fall off, blow off, stop working, go up in flames, or otherwise leave the chat on the freeway. Just don't drive outside your comfortable recovery radius till things start to be reliable.

Trust me. Junk is 23 years old. You got your work cut out and a STEEP learning curve guy.

 

[dwlindsey]

Eh. You should be laser focused on the reliability aspects before you start cutting and hacking. Find out what's working and what isn't and start fixing critical systems before you introduce more problems by deleting anything. You have years of work to get that truck to a place where you can trust driving it without fearing a 4-5 digit towing bill.

Get things working and start replacing rubber. And start DRIVING it to find out what's going to fall off, blow off, stop working, go up in flames, or otherwise leave the chat on the freeway. Just don't drive outside your comfortable recovery radius till things start to be reliable.

Trust me. Junk is 23 years old. You got your work cut out and a STEEP learning curve guy.

Heard you, loud and clear

 

[Ronmar]

So what are you planning for the truck?

 

[dwlindsey]

So what are you planning for the truck?

It's going to be an Expedition Truck. We're currently thinking of a 20 foot box. My wife wants at least one slideout . . . we will see . . .

 

[MatthewWBailey]

Make sure you are turning the left hand lug nuts RIGHTY LOOSY.

Left hand lug nuts are left hand thread. Right hand lug nuts are normal thread.

Hey, no one ever gets that wrong. ahem

 

[Ronmar]

It's going to be an Expedition Truck. We're currently thinking of a 20 foot box. My wife wants at least one slideout . . . we will see . . .

so are you planning on relocating the spare tire, air filter and accessories and removing the forward crane lift structure?

 

[dwlindsey]

so are you planning on relocating the spare tire, air filter and accessories and removing the forward crane lift structure?

Yes, I'm taking off the spare tire and it's lift mechanism. I'll be doing the Donaldson air filters to replace the stock filter and snorkle. I'm not sure what the "forward crane lift structure" refers to, but in principle, I'll be doing everything I can to get the habitat box as close to the cab as I can.

If I read it right, you DELETED the coolant expansion tank on your truck. Did I get that right? Is the tank not needed? I'll want to either move it or delete it

 

[aw113sgte]

Yes, I'm taking off the spare tire and it's lift mechanism. I'll be doing the Donaldson air filters to replace the stock filter and snorkle. I'm not sure what the "forward crane lift structure" refers to, but in principle, I'll be doing everything I can to get the habitat box as close to the cab as I can.

If I read it right, you DELETED the coolant expansion tank on your truck. Did I get that right? Is the tank not needed? I'll want to either move it or delete it

You need an expansion tank.
The crane lift structure is the large crossmember behind the cab with the large sliding arms that come out.

 

[dwlindsey]

I'm considering using a plasma cutter to cut off huck bolts and a few flanges that protrude above the frame rails. I'll be grateful for any wisdom about this. I guess it might be similar to welding on the truck and the ECM might be in danger. Will the battery disconnect be enough? Or do I need to remove the negative lead from the battery? Clamping close to the cutoff points should help . . . but I've never welded or used a plasma cutter, so I will value any advice

 

[dwlindsey]

You need an expansion tank.
The crane lift structure is the large crossmember behind the cab with the large sliding arms that come out.

Yes, I'm going to delete that lift structure, once I figure out how

 

[GeneralDisorder]

Plasma is not the right answer for the huck bolts. Angle grinder and eye-pro. Go about halfway through them or a little more - right above the hex part and smack em sideways with a hammer. They are under tension so watch yourself and stay out of the line of fire. They tend to go flying and the LAST thing you want is red hot flaming projectiles so put the torch or plasma wand down.

The forward air lift structure is pretty integrated into the chassis. Be careful that you do it without compromising the structure and make sure you replace any reinforcement it provided with something equivalent.

Before you attempt structural welding on what will be a 25k lb wrecking ball on wheels I would recommend some classes if you have never welded before. For the safety of everyone.

And unless you have bought one already, forget plasma for a one-off job. The small units can't cut thicker stuff for beans and a gas axe setup will cut ridiculously thick material and has 100% duty cycle till the bottle runs out. Setup is faster. If you know how to run a cutting torch..... Well I look at it this way - if I'm running cuts by hand I usually go for gas. If the computer is running it via CNC then I want plasma. That's what works for me.

 

[Ronmar]

What General said about hucks. Right angle grinder and a cutoff wheel. Heavy welding gloves and face shield!. If y0u cut all the way thru the shank, the released tension causes them to pop. To avoid this Cut thru till you are almost thru the shank, hit the collar with a hammer to break the small fragment of the shank And they will pop right off… Plas or a torch will just make a mess of them… Did I mention face shield and gloves? Especially important with cutoff wheels ans they sometimes explode

cutting the hucks up into the front lift channel is a little tricky as they are kinda close so you wind up cutting a good portion of two of them simultaneously…

 

[Ronmar]

Yes, I'm taking off the spare tire and it's lift mechanism. I'll be doing the Donaldson air filters to replace the stock filter and snorkle. I'm not sure what the "forward crane lift structure" refers to, but in principle, I'll be doing everything I can to get the habitat box as close to the cab as I can.

If I read it right, you DELETED the coolant expansion tank on your truck. Did I get that right? Is the tank not needed? I'll want to either move it or delete it

Didn’t delete the expansion tank, re-located, it, as it is necessary, but does not need to be up high. You could mount it on the rear bumper and it would still work as an expansion tank and air purge, you just cannot fill the system from there when it is down low. I put mine down behind the passenger grill alongside the lift cylinder, but may locate it back onto the front of the habitat box in the final configuration As there will be enough room there.
i did 3 vids on my cooling system re-config as I restored it to more like how cat intended, so it warms up normally(diesels don’t appreciate being run cold).. if you are placing the Donaldson’s on the front of the HAB, there is probably enough room to put the expansion tank there also

you will have to relocate the ABS controller and the LBCD/polarity box. You will also have to relocate the Air op hydraulic pump. I did away with mine and went with a manual pump since it is just for the cab. You will find videos of that on my channel as well. Way simpler if you are only lifting the cab.

here is the first vid on my cooling system mods. The 3rd vid shows how I fill systems from the bottom of the radiator…

 

[dwlindsey]

Plasma is not the right answer for the huck bolts. Angle grinder and eye-pro. Go about halfway through them or a little more - right above the hex part and smack em sideways with a hammer. They are under tension so watch yourself and stay out of the line of fire. They tend to go flying and the LAST thing you want is red hot flaming projectiles so put the torch or plasma wand down.

The forward air lift structure is pretty integrated into the chassis. Be careful that you do it without compromising the structure and make sure you replace any reinforcement it provided with something equivalent.

Before you attempt structural welding on what will be a 25k lb wrecking ball on wheels I would recommend some classes if you have never welded before. For the safety of everyone.

And unless you have bought one already, forget plasma for a one-off job. The small units can't cut thicker stuff for beans and a gas axe setup will cut ridiculously thick material and has 100% duty cycle till the bottle runs out. Setup is faster. If you know how to run a cutting torch..... Well I look at it this way - if I'm running cuts by hand I usually go for gas. If the computer is running it via CNC then I want plasma. That's what works for me.

This is exactly why I asked the question. I haven't bought a plasma torch, I was just considering it. I will now shelve that idea.

I don't plan to be welding on the chassis, I'll get a professional for that. I do plan on taking an adult education welding class in May and I may get good enough to do some bracketry in the habitat . . .

I've never touched a welding device of any kind until now, so I won't be cutting anything off with acetylene. If needed, I'll get a pro.

I had a look at the air lift structure a few minutes ago and some of the huck bolts are going to be hard to reach with the angle grinder.

 

[GeneralDisorder]

Not saying you won't need a torch occasionally like for those huck bolts that are not accessible another way. If I can't get my angle grinder in there I'll switch up to a die grinder but if I'm hanging from my ankles with a snorkel on...... Well it is true that it can't be stuck if it's liquid so sometimes that's just the easy answer.

It's just that there has to be a whole bunch of setup and safety when doing that. First you need to build yourself some kind of containment to keep the torch and the slag and the hot flying bits contained. Then wet the whole mess down and keep a 5 gallon bucket of water and a fire extinguisher nearby but not too close. Eye-pro, mask, two condoms, jock strap, mom on speed dial.....

 

[dwlindsey]

Eye-pro, mask, two condoms, jock strap, mom on speed dial.....

Not going there any time soon . . .

Meanwhile I've got another small issue. My truck came with a *shredded* tire on the right front wheel. Picture attached. I've got two new 2023 Goodyears and I went to mount one of them on that wheel. I got it mounted fine . . . although it was a learning experience.

When I went to inflate it, I got it up to about 40 PSI and when releasing the air chuck I could hear air leaking from the valve stem. It was definitely NOT leaking around the new valve core, but further down on the valve stem. My current theory is that the valve stem died, the tire lost pressure and therefore shredded. The CTIS controller box was disconnected when I bought it and is still disconnected. I have Christian's new Arduino box ready to go in, when I get the tires done.

So . . . I bought a new valve stem. It's about an inch longer than the old valve stem. Picture attached. Before I mount the tire again, I'd like to know if I can use that longer valve stem. I've got 6 tires on the truck now that are holding air, so I probably have 6 good valve stems. Can I use the longer one on the 7th tire?

Also . . . the O-Ring in the wheel that the shredded tire came off of looks just a little bit worse for wear. Do I need to get all new O-Rings?

 

[GeneralDisorder]

Always use NEW valve stems and o-rings. This is the correct turret valve stem from Haltec:

Haltec AMG-4: 13/16" Valve Hole | eBay

Fits 13/16" valve hole.

www.ebay.com

Don't skip those parts - the old one's will fail at about a 50% rate (higher for the o-rings) just out of spite and meanness (and age).

The wheel half nuts (20 per) are also one-time-use technically since they are distorted thread lock nuts. Given the extreme danger these tires can pose, it would be wise to follow the guidelines - they were written in blood.

 

[dwlindsey]

Always use NEW valve stems and o-rings. This is the correct turret valve stem from Haltec:

Haltec AMG-4: 13/16" Valve Hole | eBay

Fits 13/16" valve hole.

www.ebay.com

Don't skip those parts - the old one's will fail at about a 50% rate (higher for the o-rings) just out of spite and meanness (and age).

The wheel half nuts (20 per) are also one-time-use technically since they are distorted thread lock nuts. Given the extreme danger these tires can pose, it would be wise to follow the guidelines - they were written in blood.

OK, I've got the valve stems in my ebay cart. Where do I get the O-Rings and wheel half nuts?