HanksDeuce: 8" Lift, Bobbed, External Cage, A/C and more Project!

[Lieutenant Dan]

Hank are you going electric winch in the front now? I started mine a week ago. Using original extensions and I'm going to hang the winch upside down from the plate and box in the rest for a storage area.

 

[HanksDeuce]

Lieutenant Dan: Yep, I will be putting the Warn 24v 18k winch behind the front bumper and cut a rectangular hole for the roller fairlead mount. Steve6x6x6 made me 10 inch frame extensions and 19-3/4" frame backing plates. The winch bottom plate spans the width of the frame and it's 12-1/4" wide. The frame extensions & backing plates are 5/16" thick c-channel that Steve made, and the winch bottom plate is 3/8". My wife brings the plates home tomorrow.

Make sure you take a lot of pictures and update your thread! I can't wait to see a different take on mounting a winch/storage area.

 

[Lieutenant Dan]

Yes sir I surely will! I couldn't see spending $1500 bucks a winch kit plus the extra storage will be great. I still haven't decided on a warn or not though. I can get smittybilt 17500 lbs winch for $600 and had a excellent warranty and a 100' of 1/2" cable. I can do two winches (one front and one rear) cheaper then a single pto winch and to me a electric winch is better and safer. I'm not looking at recovering 5 tons or bigger trucks or even other trucks period I just want to be able to unstick myself if need be.

 

[TruAg]

Love the truck. Your website is great too. Keep up the great work, gives guys like me motivation and ideas to keep on keeping on!

 

[HanksDeuce]

Drove the deuce 5 miles to a buddy's house down the street. He's gonna help me build a brush guard, shorten the bed for the spare tire rack, and a few other things.

Comments on the first road trip with the new engine/tranny:
- I hit 21 psi of boost pressure just under WOT. No clue what this turbo setup is good for (psi). EGT never went above 900F.
- All the gauges work. Fan never came on. Engine temp never went above 180F. Ambient temp was in the 60s. Fan clutch thermal switch is set to come on at 195F.
- Allison AT545 isn't that loud at all. Love the firm shifts. Might be in trouble on the gearing. I looked down once and saw 2000rpm @ 42mph. I need to verify that...
- Having trouble with the Hydroboost brakes. Trying to trouble shoot why it seems like there isn't any assist going on. Feels like manual brakes.
- Passed a guy on the street that drives the biggest truck at my work. As he passed by I had to look down to see him. Not the tallest anymore.
- I lost a pair of scissors in my driveway and a pair of dikes while passing a stopped mail man before a bridge. My buddy showed me the spots later and I found them both still there!
- Rebuilt transfer case from Ft. Polk is pissing out fluid from the front/rear seals. Filled to one knuckle below fill port threads. Vent doesn't look clogged. Popped out of high gear twice. Uh oh...
- Brake pressure switch from NAPA isn't working. I have it threaded into the bottom of the master cylinder. Bought a mechanical brake switch as a backup. Will troubleshoot and install mechanical as well.

[UPDATE: FIXED MY BRAKE PROBLEM BY BENCH BLEEDING THE MASTER CYLINDER! See Post #344 below or click here.]

 

[Jeepsinker]

Those are some pretty big scary bugs to work out!

 

[Lieutenant Dan]

I got a winch and mounted it. It's the hmmwv hydraulic winch. Hopefully it's strong enough. I know just need to figure out a pump.

 

[Jeepsinker]

That should be plenty as long as you have a snatch block. It won't do a straight line pull if you are really stuck good. You may look at running a hydraulic pump off of a transmission pto. Not as hard on the hydraulic system that way as opposed to running off of a power steering pump.

 

[turnkey]

Great work and nice layout...Doing really a great job on this as building something from nothing is fun and well what can I say..Different..Never sure what you will come across......But the fun is getting there .....and the band plays on...Nice great story...keep the pics coming...Best of luck on this one ...

 

[Lieutenant Dan]

Well I'm pretty much ruling out a electric pump. I'm decided right now between a gm saginaw pump or a LDS pump. A pto seems just as hard to find and more expensive then the LDS pump.

 

[HanksDeuce]

Removed the top access cover on the rebuilt transfer case. Spring, ball, and plunger assembly are same size as original transfer case that I took out. I cannot feel a firm ball detent on either low or high gear in the rebuilt transfer case. Neutral is definitely a firm detent. You can see both the rebuilt transfer case shift shaft and the original have a ramp design on the shaft for low and high. Neutral is a straight cut. I adjusted the shifter handle per the TM. No difference in feeling low or high "lock in" with the ball. Worse case I will swap out the transfer cases.

In the meantime I am building a brush guard to fit around the Freightliner intercooler. Pics to come...

 

[Jeepsinker]

Just reseal your old one and replace the input bearing. You can get the seals and bearing at napa. $23 each for the seals at napa. I can give you the SKF part number if you want it. Funny though, they come straight from Rockwell to napa in an SKF box.

 

[HanksDeuce]

So what harm would there be to take out the transfer case shift shaft and cut grooves for the low gear and high gear locations where the detent ball should fit just like the neutral location? This would replace the tapered sections for selecting low & high gears. That would keep the shaft from vibrating and locking into neutral from either direction. I don't really need to shift from low to high on the fly (split shifting) since I have an automatic transmission. The labor would be removing the transfer case top cover, cut the safety wire, remove the set screw, take the shaft out and machine it, and put everything back.

Any negatives to that?

 

[welldigger]

So what harm would there be to take out the transfer case shift shaft and cut grooves for the low gear and high gear locations where the detent ball should fit just like the neutral location? This would replace the tapered sections for selecting low & high gears. That would keep the shaft from vibrating and locking into neutral from either direction. I don't really need to shift from low to high on the fly (split shifting) since I have an automatic transmission. The labor would be removing the transfer case top cover, cut the safety wire, remove the set screw, take the shaft out and machine it, and put everything back.

Any negatives to that?

The shift fork isn't what holds the t/c in hi/lo. You have another problem.

Machining detents will only wear out the shift fork from constantly attempting to hold the case in whatever gear is selected.

 

[HanksDeuce]

Catching up on modifications. See pictures below:
1) Finished shot of the instrument cluster wiring before installation in the dash. Dual row barrier strips with jumper strips from radio shack help clean up the wiring connections.

2) Dash picture showing the 3 battery voltmeters. Top meter is left battery, middle meter is right battery, bottom meter is combined (alternator output). Top Blue Sea Systems covered port is for 12v accessories (cigarette plug). Bottom Blue Sea Systems port is dual USB charger for cell phones. Hole next to bottom voltmeter is for future brake low fluid warning light.

3) 50 amp Vanner equalizer installed with four 24v 100 amp continuous rated relays. 35 amp breaker for 24v to Vanner. 80 amp breaker for 12v to Vanner. 100 amp breaker for 12v load to left battery. 50 amp breaker for 24v load to right battery.

4) Left side fuse panel is for 12v loads. Right side fuse panel is for 24v loads. No electrical draw unless the ignition switch is on. Sounds like a hammer hits the back of the cab when all of the relays kick in.

5) Close up of the relays and breakers for the electrical distribution system on the deuce.

6) Bench bled the 1-1/2" Ford master cylinder and eliminated my Hydroboost brake problems. NAPA brake pressure switch turns the brake lights on with minimal pedal effort.

Next up:
1) Finish new brush guard
2) Trim bed for spare tire rack
3) Swap transfer case out for original

 

[gringeltaube]

The shift fork isn't what holds the t/c in hi/lo. You have another problem...

Hank, did you inspect the dogs (=teeth) on the synchronizer assy. and HI-range gear?
See this post...
If that really was a rebuilt unit they should have put a new synchronizer in there, at least. Eventually also replace both gears.



G.

 

[HanksDeuce]

Dropped the bumper extensions and winch plate off at a machine shop to get all of the holes drilled. For as many holes as I want on those brackets this guy doesn't hit me up for too much cash. It works out to be about $0.75 per hole. I bet it's all of 60 holes total. I'll count all of them when he calls me later in the week to pick them up. 90% of the holes are for 1/2" bolts, but a few are 5/8" bolts. Takes a long time to drill through inner and outer frame rails plus the winch plate. This guy has a drill press the size of a small helicopter.

I inspected the reconditioned transfer case hi-range (synchronizer) teeth and they look angled at one end. I'm not sure if the news is good or not based on the attached picture below. Still gonna swap out for my original transfer case when I drive the deuce back to my house.

For now we are concentrating on finishing the custom brush guard and cutting almost 19 inches out of the bed for the spare tire rack installation.

 

[M920]

Catching up on modifications. See pictures below:
1) Finished shot of the instrument cluster wiring before installation in the dash. Dual row barrier strips with jumper strips from radio shack help clean up the wiring connections.

2) Dash picture showing the 3 battery voltmeters. Top meter is left battery, middle meter is right battery, bottom meter is combined (alternator output). Top Blue Sea Systems covered port is for 12v accessories (cigarette plug). Bottom Blue Sea Systems port is dual USB charger for cell phones. Hole next to bottom voltmeter is for future brake low fluid warning light.

3) 50 amp Vanner equalizer installed with four 24v 100 amp continuous rated relays. 35 amp breaker for 24v to Vanner. 80 amp breaker for 12v to Vanner. 100 amp breaker for 12v load to left battery. 50 amp breaker for 24v load to right battery.

4) Left side fuse panel is for 12v loads. Right side fuse panel is for 24v loads. No electrical draw unless the ignition switch is on. Sounds like a hammer hits the back of the cab when all of the relays kick in.

5) Close up of the relays and breakers for the electrical distribution system on the deuce.

6) Bench bled the 1-1/2" Ford master cylinder and eliminated my Hydroboost brake problems. NAPA brake pressure switch turns the brake lights on with minimal pedal effort.

Next up:
1) Finish new brush guard
2) Trim bed for spare tire rack
3) Swap transfer case out for original

That is some really nice electrical work in your cab and dash Hank! Your truck looks awesome, thanks for sharing!!!

Soni

 

[gringeltaube]

............I inspected the reconditioned transfer case hi-range (synchronizer) teeth and they look angled at one end. I'm not sure if the news is good or not based on the attached picture below. Still gonna swap out for my original transfer case when I drive the deuce back to my house. ...............

I have seen worse... Definitely not all new parts, there. It also seems that the dogs are engaging only halfway?


G.

 

[HanksDeuce]

Spent the better part of today making the 5 ton spare tire rack fit behind the cab. This made the truck just under 11 feet tall. Actually 10'-6" if I remember correctly.

Notes:
1) Please don't point out any OSHA violations on the bed lift.
2) I plan on making the passenger side toolbox 9 inches shorter so it comes out flush with the side of the M105 bed.
3) The driver side toolbox saddle brackets were shortened by 8 inches or so. The angle support brackets were not needed.

Plans:
1) Tomorrow cut 13-3/4" out of the M105 bed (front) to make it fit with the 5 ton spare tire rack.
2) Get the frame extensions back from the machine shop. Paint & install frame extensions, front bumper, and winch.
3) Swap the leaky, pop out of gear transfer case for the original on Sunday. 50% chance of rain.