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Posted
2 hours ago, Mercracing said:

Found the screw that was rolling around above my head by the home link buttons. That was driving me nuts! Also relocated the AM/FM antenna into the engine compartment. I normally listen to XM except during Packer season. If the reception stinks I’ll put it back and try a stubby antenna.

Happy 4th everyone!!


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Your reception will be worse, but in bigger cities, should be no problem.  I'm looking at adding a hidden antenna or two to my truck, probably later this weekend.

Posted
Your reception will be worse, but in bigger cities, should be no problem.  I'm looking at adding a hidden antenna or two to my truck, probably later this weekend.


Hidden antenna? More info please!


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Posted
8 minutes ago, Mercracing said:

 


Hidden antenna? More info please!


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image.png.876f3bc49ace55651b29c1f22857bb61.png

 

Looking at putting one on the windshield and maybe a second one on the back window (opposite corner, FL/BR or FR/BL).

Posted
image.png.876f3bc49ace55651b29c1f22857bb61.png
 
Looking at putting one on the windshield and maybe a second one on the back window (opposite corner, FL/BR or FR/BL).


Very interesting. Any link? I’ll be curious to hear how it works for you!


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  • Like 1
Posted

Not necessarily something I did "to" my truck rather something I did "for" it which was getting my garage/workshop situated in a way that all I have to do is move my main workbench (on wheels) behind my table saw on the other side to get the truck inside so I can work on it late at night without being interrupted or bugging the neighbors. 

 

 

IMG_3450.thumb.JPG.a6c2d1a266a081b9bcf0312b158d385a.JPG

  • Like 3
Posted

Welp, finished the sway bar install (after the new nylock nuts showed up. (I had to get a 10 pack from amazon). I gotta be honest. After messing around with it for adjustment, it still doesn’t fit like it should, and I don’t like what it did to the nice ride of this truck at all. (I know that’s surprising.)

For the end links to be “as vertical as they can be” (quote from the instructions) you have to set it to the stiffest (inner most holes) and you have to have the end links (also adjustable) lengthened almost to the point where they come apart. But there’s a jam nut to lock those up so it’s not that I think they’d come apart, they’re just not long enough imo. Then to have the bar itself “as close to level as you can” you have to roll the axle mounts back toward the rear of the truck so the bar will clear the angles on the diff. (It also helps to level out the bar arms horizontally but not enuff.) and the further you roll them back the less vertical the end links become. 4ab62caf4dc287d1b2362f9ee438037e.jpg
c77f4d307f001f7c32aa9c8f489bb942.jpgde3e641f51d1443e285107ca26d82be5.jpg

So i got it to where it was as close to both of those I could. And having it on the stiffest setting made it feel like I took off the nice new 5100’s and didn’t put any shocks back on. [emoji1361] the body roll was reduced tho. But that’s a no-go setting. So I changed it to the softest setting (outermost holes in the bar) and it just felt like I put the ranchos back on. Body roll was still reduced but it really stiffens the ride a lot more than I’m interested in. Stuff that the truck was just gliding over was rattling the whole back end over and on start offs and acceleration on crappy stretches of road had the same axle hop it had before any of the suspension upgrades.

So, my verdict is: not a fan.
My solution is: I’m going back to the RAS I had on my Tundra. It works like a dream, doesn’t stiffen the ride at all as the suspension remains independent, (and I know it’s a solid axle, but you’re not connecting it to the frame at all) but mostly what I loved was the better traction and no more axle wrap/hop that it helps with. The only less attractive thing is it’s $200 more than I got this sway bar for.

So, to that end, imma just send it back to amazon for a refund. Disappointed, but now I really know I like the RAS a ton better. My tundra had bilstein 4600’s and it made that truck ride great. This one already rode nicer than that truck with the ranchos, so I’m sure it’s the better road to take.


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Posted
Welp, finished the sway bar install (after the new nylock nuts showed up. (I had to get a 10 pack from amazon). I gotta be honest. After messing around with it for adjustment, it still doesn’t fit like it should, and I don’t like what it did to the nice ride of this truck at all. (I know that’s surprising.)

For the end links to be “as vertical as they can be” (quote from the instructions) you have to set it to the stiffest (inner most holes) and you have to have the end links (also adjustable) lengthened almost to the point where they come apart. But there’s a jam nut to lock those up so it’s not that I think they’d come apart, they’re just not long enough imo. Then to have the bar itself “as close to level as you can” you have to roll the axle mounts back toward the rear of the truck so the bar will clear the angles on the diff. (It also helps to level out the bar arms horizontally but not enuff.) and the further you roll them back the less vertical the end links become. 4ab62caf4dc287d1b2362f9ee438037e.jpg
c77f4d307f001f7c32aa9c8f489bb942.jpgde3e641f51d1443e285107ca26d82be5.jpg

So i got it to where it was as close to both of those I could. And having it on the stiffest setting made it feel like I took off the nice new 5100’s and didn’t put any shocks back on. [emoji1361] the body roll was reduced tho. But that’s a no-go setting. So I changed it to the softest setting (outermost holes in the bar) and it just felt like I put the ranchos back on. Body roll was still reduced but it really stiffens the ride a lot more than I’m interested in. Stuff that the truck was just gliding over was rattling the whole back end over and on start offs and acceleration on crappy stretches of road had the same axle hop it had before any of the suspension upgrades.

So, my verdict is: not a fan.
My solution is: I’m going back to the RAS I had on my Tundra. It works like a dream, doesn’t stiffen the ride at all as the suspension remains independent, (and I know it’s a solid axle, but you’re not connecting it to the frame at all) but mostly what I loved was the better traction and no more axle wrap/hop that it helps with. The only less attractive thing is it’s $200 more than I got this sway bar for.

So, to that end, imma just send it back to amazon for a refund. Disappointed, but now I really know I like the RAS a ton better. My tundra had bilstein 4600’s and it made that truck ride great. This one already rode nicer than that truck with the ranchos, so I’m sure it’s the better road to take.


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I was going to message you yesterday after I watched a YouTube video in it. On his at stock height the bar was right behind the axle and the bar center was super close to the tire, cleared his B&M diff cover by a hair, his exhaust by a hair. But he loved it.
I have no exhaust back there and no spare tire, traction bars, over leaf removed, and helper air bags.
I think you need the bar higher so it is 90* to the end links and then bar doesn't matter as much but seems more behind axle helps.

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  • Like 1
Posted

Replaced the factory 17s with 275/60r20 0 offset. 

No rubbing, no trimming with motofab 2in. bottom spacer

20190705_122653.jpg

20190705_204233.jpg

Posted
I was going to message you yesterday after I watched a YouTube video in it. On his at stock height the bar was right behind the axle and the bar center was super close to the tire, cleared his B&M diff cover by a hair, his exhaust by a hair. But he loved it.

I have no exhaust back there and no spare tire, traction bars, over leaf removed, and helper air bags.

I think you need the bar higher so it is 90* to the end links and then bar doesn't matter as much but seems more behind axle helps.

 

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I don’t see how that can work. When you roll the axle mounts back that far the bar also moves toward the rear of the truck by half the diameter of the axle. And since, with the axle mounts almost at 6 o’clock on the axle it already doesn’t fit because the end links are angled backwards, they would just be MORE angled, not less as the mounting point for the end links can’t change. I can see how having the bar at the back of the axle would help level out the bar, but the end links are really what need to be corrected. Because for a torsion bar to have the type of leverage on the frame it needs to work correctly, the end links should really be perpendicular to the frame AND the bar. And the bar’s leverage on the axle should also ideally be from the very bottom, or the mounts will start to roll toward the top over time. Or else when the bar lifts on one side, it’s not really lifting as much or as forcefully as it could if it were perpendicular.

 

I just don’t think there’s enough room from front to back between the axle and the end link connection points for it to work as good as it should. And again, it is also only a sway bar. It doesn’t do anything for squat under load, wheel hop, or axle wrap when there’s something out there that works for all of it and I’ve had it before.

 

Edit: actually if you still have that link I’d like to check it out, maybe I’ll give that a go since I haven’t taken the bar off yet.

 

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Posted (edited)

Not so much what I’ve done to my truck yesterday/today, but what my truck has been doing when I wasn’t looking. 

 

Gives ens new meaning to “Chevy Shake.”

 

Video files too big to upload. 

Edited by Ravenkeeper
Posted

Washed, clayed, polished & sealed the truck on Thursday... With Adams Polishes stuff mostly except for the Nanoskin clay substitute...

  • Like 1
Posted
On 6/29/2019 at 11:39 PM, 300 Blackout said:

This was a couple days ago but worthy of a post. I changed my oil. Seven quarts of Amsoil Signature Series 5W-20 and one quart of Redline 10W-60. She purrs like a kitten... Engine sounds great and is performing great at 75,000 miles.

The effective specs of this mixture is 5.6W-25. Truck seems to be really happy with the bump in viscosity. Only way to know for sure is to send out a sample for testing which I plan on doing before winter.

Why not just switch to a 5w-30 and call it a day?  It’s perfectly fine to run a 30 weight oil. 

Posted

If I can tolerate the heat today I’m gonna try to diagnose a squeak I got coming from the front driver side wheel area that only happens when I turn the wheel left and I’m stationary. Then I’m going to move to the back of the truck and try to fix the clunk and creaking sound coming from the leaf springs. 

Posted
55 minutes ago, Imcrazy said:

Washed, clayed, polished & sealed the truck on Thursday... With Adams Polishes stuff mostly except for the Nanoskin clay substitute...

I wish I had time to do this to my truck.  I've had a ceramic sealant waiting to be applied for a year and a half now.  lol.  I just did a full paint correction on a red 95 Monte Carlo yesterday and doing a 65 Cutlass later today for a carshow next weekend.

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