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

HanksDeuce

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Location
Prairieville, LA
What a long, grueling 24 hour wait for the silicone to cure on the driver side spindle slot for the silicone boot repair job. I knew I should have bought more Permatex (The Right Stuff). That stuff cures in minutes. Anyhow, after a few honey-do errands this morning I added fluid to the front axle, greased the chassis front to back, and put the intake snorkel on. I test drove the deuce on a 10 mile loop to Tractor Supply for yet more Grade 8 bolts. This time I needed bolts to finish bolting the transmission floor cover plates down in the cab.

When I got home I checked the transmission dip stick. The transmission operating temperature was 190 F. I topped the fluid off into the hot zone. Back out on the road I decided to see what she could do. Once I got rolling at the top of 1st gear I punched the throttle. By no means is this thing going to win any drag races, but at least she SOUNDS like she gets up and goes. The boost gauge fluctuated slightly between 19-20 psi and after a 1/2 mile of running on the 2700 rpm governor I had my number - 55 mph. There you have it folks. By shear luck I have engineered this bobbed beast to be in the same class as your typical U-haul truck that is governed to your typical small town speed limit, 55 mph. I guess it helps that I never have to check my speed on the interstate for fear of shredding one of the Michelin XZL 16R20s by going over their design speed limit. After that 1/2 mile speed test the non-lockup converter had raised the transmission temperature to just 200 F. Plenty under the maximum converter outlet temperature of 300 F per the Allison manual. That's where my temp sender is located.

The guy helping me with shortening the M105A2 bed won't be able to get back on it until this coming weekend. Wish us luck in getting the bed finished so I can trek over to Jeepsinker's place for paint.
 

HanksDeuce

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Location
Prairieville, LA
A few updates from the past few weeks:

-completed 12v+24v systems
-new brush guard
-installed 24v Warn 18,000 lb winch
-installed civy wiper blades on my existing wiper arms
-bobbed the M105A2 bed 13-3/4" to fit the 5 ton spare tire rack
-installed 5 ton spare tire rack

I finished all of the gauges and wiring for now. The only other major accessory to add is the A/C + heat kit. Soon...

The brush guard is an amazing piece of redneck engineering. It serves 4 purposes: brush guard, step, seat, and most importantly barbeque grill. It comes off in less than 5 minutes by removing 4 bolts. And when those 4 bolts are tight this brush guard doesn't move.

Everything is complete on the 24v Warn 18,000 lb electric winch install except for wiring. I don't do that until the Deuce comes back from paint in April.

The civy wiper blades were a quick, cheap fix. I bought wiper arms that were called out on the SS forum, but I didn't need them. Took 15 minutes and only cost $10 for the 2 wiper blades. Each blade is standard equipment as the rear 13" wiper blade on a Chevy Suburban.
 

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HanksDeuce

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Location
Prairieville, LA
More updates:
M105A2 bed needed to be shortened for the 5 ton spare tire rack in front of it. Local fabricator John and I found the perfect spot to cut and try to match the factory weld seam in the bed. Once the bed is painted it shouldn't be noticeable at all. After all of the cutting and welding was over the inside bed length with the tailgate shut is 8'-1/4".

When I got the Deuce home it was time to install the spare 16R20 + HEMTT wheel combo in preparation for driving 3 hours to Jeepsinker for paint. At first I tried a 3 ton chain fall, but ran out of overhead room. A 1 ton chain fall helped, but it ended up taking my 1-1/4 ton come-a-long to get the 53" tire onto the spare tire rack. No modifications to the davit arm were necessary. Just a 5/8" D-ring, 2 chokers, a 1 ton chain fall, a small come-a-long, and a lot of praying. In a previous post I showed where we had to modify the spare tire rack base by widening it for the bigger tire.

Coming soon:
1. Paint!
2. A/C + heat.
3. Tim's rally!
 

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Jeepsinker

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Dry Creek, Louisiana
You want to drive my deuce? Why didn't you just ask?rofl
By the way Hank, I'm leaving for the Texas rally Friday, so you can take your time getting here Thursday.
 
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HanksDeuce

Well-known member
1,081
242
63
Location
Prairieville, LA
Neighbor across the street was trying to remove a huge Sago palm from his front yard yesterday. He asked me as he cranked his truck if I would mind helping him pull the palm if his Chevy truck couldn't do it. I told him sure I'd help. A few minutes later after the Chevy tried a few times unsuccessfully I backed the deuce up to the palm. The neighbor had a choker wrapped around the base of the palm. I attached the choker to the pintle hitch, turned the lockout hubs to lock, shifted to low in the transfer case, and engaged the front axle. I rolled into the throttle and I felt a small tug. Ripped it out of the ground.

Deuce good Samaritan job #0001 complete.
 

HanksDeuce

Well-known member
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242
63
Location
Prairieville, LA
Drove the deuce to Jeepsinker this morning and dropped it off for a repaint. Going with 686 tan. God speed Garrett!

I rode the governor for over 4 hours at 55 mph. No issues. Brought a ton of spares and tools but I took them all home with me because I didn't use them.
 

HanksDeuce

Well-known member
1,081
242
63
Location
Prairieville, LA
Attached are some paint progress pictures from Garrett.

Notes:
- Garrett ran out of red alkyd primer so he started using gray
- First round of tan top coat was too yellow (pics 8, 9, 10)
- Second round of tan looks much better (next post after this one)
 

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