Radiators

[Pat]

Hank, Black pepper (regular not course grind) works well for those annoying little itsy bitsy pin hole leaks but we had a pretty good imitation of Old Faithful going where the branch poked our radiator. We tried a large dose of black pepper but it was too fine. Luckily the hot cereal did the trick as egg whites was next on our list.

Pat

[chevdog]

Funny story Pat - I always get a funny look or two when I flip the trim piece out to get to the gas filler neck [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]
That's a heck of an ordeal you described not only for the alternators but for the overdrive unit too. I do know that it's no fun under a car - the older I get the harder the concrete seems to be.
What I have found in repeated alternator failures is heat! Evidently many of the cooling fins just don't seem to do the job, resulting in a slow overcook of the diodes and rectifier assembly inside - they are usually at the back of the alternator, furthest from the fins in front.
What your buddy could try is to replace the fins with those from another alternator, almost any other one that will fit the pully and shaft and see if that helps.

[Pat]

Chevdog, Roger the hard concrete! My Dodge is one ton 4x4 and they come stock raised above 2 wd ride height + I fitted it with 19.5 inch wheels and custom springs all the way around (another 1/2 inch abouve stock ride height beyond the taller wheels/tires) I added leaves in the rear spring packs and in the overloads and have air bags between the rear axles and frame. I know it doesn't increase the ability of the axle to carry weight but with a BIG service body and the largest Lance camper, fuly loaded) it doesn't misalign the headlamps if I touch it up with the airbags. I don't run quite the same pressure left and right to compensate for slight L-R inequality. AND of course a big side benefit is that there is room to get my 235 lbs under it while on a good padded creeper. Not a lot of margin but enough if you are careful. Previously, with the Ford, I would use cardboard (lets you slide under easily) in place of a creeper because it didn't have the clearance for a creeper.

Heat could have been a contributing factor but poor quality was at least part of it. A couple of the units had bad solder joints at the diodes. I have used literally hundreds of press in automotive alternator diodes when I was doing R&D and building prototype battery operated arc welders. Good ones will operate at elevated temps for a good long while but cheap (read poorly designed/manufactured) ones might pop the first time they are stressed. I used 12 volt starter solenoids to switch the batteries and boy oh boy there sure was a vast difference in actual performance of different brands with the same catalog specs. Some overheat and fail if their coil is actuated for too long and some have contacts that fry all too easily. Of course the worst brands were a tossup as to whether the coil would go out first or the contacts would fry and exhibit high resistance. Best we ever found were about 1/2 the cost of the typical unit but worked much better. Price is a poor indicator of quality in some instances.

Regarding the Gear Vendor's Over/Under Drive... I failed to mention that I HIGHLY recommend their product and the company is very professional and CUSTOMER SERVICE ORIENTED both in person at their intergalactic headquarters in Santee CA (a few miles east of San Diego) or via the telephone. They do an excellent job of helping you over the phone and encourage you to do your own work if you aren't totally intimidated by tools.

Pat

[s1120]

Pat,
Sounds like qite a truck you have there. What do you use it for? As for the GV unit. I have heard a lot about them, and that is the first time I have heard of one going. Glad to hear they updated it a bit. I have been thinking of getting one for my LTD convertible. I will be building up a 460 for it, and would like some gears to move its 5000+lbs off the line, but still have a nice cruuzzzzeeeeeee when I want to [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img] . By the time I find, and build up an overdrive tranny for the 460, I will have almost as much cash in it then the GV unit.

[Pat]

S1120
Dear S, Thanks for the kind words. I bought and customized the truck as an effort to broaden its applicability to a wide variety of uses. I thought better one expensive vehicle that does a lot that a collection. We are still working on the collection. Well to tell the truth I'm still customizing, just at a slower pace.

The service body serves two main functions. I don't know your pickup camper experience but believe me, even in the largest, there is not suficient storage space for a lot of STUFF. What space there is becomes real inconvenient if it is over stuffed. The service body has nice cabinets with room for tools, spare parts, AA batteries, ropes, tarps, camper leveling platforms, chocks, canteens, tripods, camera equipment, canoe paddles, food, clothing, all the truck's repair manuals for all equipment, space to carry the inevitable rocks, shells, and or other objects de art that my wife can't live without, hiking boots, spare linens for bath and bed, dirty clothes hamper (not to be graphic but why haul it where you eat for a week or two before getting a chance to hit a laundry or return home?)

With the camper off the truck is a work truck. It pulls the 12,000 lb (Max Gross Wt.) util trailer real well. It has a 12,000lb winch on the front which I pulled the well with, unstuck myself when I got too adventuresome after a rain, and can use to load "dead" vehicles onto the trailer when it is needed (come alons work but are slow and a lot of work) The cabinets on the service body can be stocked with stuff for whatever job(s) are current. If I am a plumber, electrician, fence repair guy, or whatever, I can carry tools for the job(s) in the cabinets. The truck does pretty much anything I want or need except be small or light. It is big, heavy and tall. The bed is longer that stock 8ft (about 102" ID) so sheet goods like ply or whatever doesn't have to be stacked super neat to close the tailgate.

I got the 4:10 diffs and the 19.5 tires gave me the equivalent of about midway between that and the "Highway Cruiser" ratio. The aux tranny (OD) splits the gears so I can find a gear that matches load, speed, and slope. Without using 4wd low range, I have 8 forward speeds, starting with regular 1st gear then 1 1/2, 2, 2 1/2, 3, 3 1/2, 4, and 4 1/2. I can only use 4 1/2 unloaded with moderate slopes at interstate speeds but I'm just a comfortable margin above the peak of the torque curve in 4 1/2 at 65-70. 2000 RPM is about 80MPH. I don't know how fast the truck will go but it was still accelerating as I went through 100MPH up a very slight grade into about 10MPH wind when I decided I didn't need to know any more. I wasn't crowding the red line at all.

I did change out the injector pump and injectors and the claims of "Dr. Performance" were accurate. I got more HP and torque (verified on a Cummins dealer's dyno) AND I get better fuel economy by 10% or so. How? More efficient combustion, less unburned fuel out the tailpipe which is 4 inch from the turbo back with a low restriction mufler. I regularly pass Ford Powerjokes, and GM based trucks going up hills that are producing more than rated power but are smoking like crazy and when we compare notes at the fuel stop they admit to poor economy lessened by their "upgrades."

I can blow a little diesel smoke if I punch the pedal too quickly, especially from a stop. If you let the turbo spool up it doesn't show visible smoke. The newer 24valve Cummins can almost do what I do with power and torque, stock, so I would never have to go this route again.

So, S, I realize you asked me what time it was and I told you how to build a watch and a short history of hourology.

The problem with GV Over/Under Drives was a Cummins Turbodiesel issue. They use their 2 speed aux tranny in some KILLER dragsters, race boats, race cars, big RV's and on and on with real good results. They told me that I went a lot more miles with mine than was normal befor it broke. It is important to note that although it failed big time catastrophically with bad funy noises, when I turned it off, I could drive the truck in "normal" gears with no problem so I wasn't stranded. Had it "EXPLODED" I could have dropped the rear drive shaft, shifted to 4wd and driven it normally, again, not stranded.

The power pulses from a gas engine will not stress the unit. Power pulses from all the other Diesels but Cummins, didn't stress the unit. I think you would be pleased with the results. Maint is easy. It takes a quart of GM fluid. If you buy a new drive shaft instead of shortening yours, you could pull the unit and put the old shaft back in and "save" the unit to use in another vehicle. They have adaptors to fit it to nearly anything.

You can order it as an over or underdrive depending on what you need to achieve or what sort of stock ratio you have. If you are running a 1:4.56 you might want to get the overdrive version. If you have 1:2.88 then an underdrive would perk up your acceleration.
If you are fanatic, get two, inline. (just kidding)

Pat

[s1120]

Cool thanks Pat. I was thinking of jumping up[or down however you want to lok at it] to a 3:90 gear. But with the avablely of a under drive, I could stick with my 2:75's.

[chevdog]

Pat, great info that you have posted - you need to attach a picture of this beast [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Pat]

S, Your 1:2.75 ratio, commonly referred to as 2.75, with an underdrive wouild give you about 1:3.63. If 3.63 will do it for you, its only 7% off from the 3.90, then you are in buisness.

I kept all the stuff removed from my truck so, I can drop the GV OOD, reinstall the original driveline and keep the GV to put on another vehicle. At most, I'd have to buy an adaptor from GV to mate up to the back side of a Xfer case or tranny on the new vehicle.

Oh, the 7% guess was based on the ratio in my two samples. I can only assume yours would be the same. You'd have to ask GV to be sure. Maybe they offer other optional ratios and you could get a wider spread for a better drag race potential.

Pat

[Pat]

Chevdog, My $50 Wally world special RCA digital camera died and my wife is off collecting more junk from Iowa (old used furniture... some call them antiques) and has her NICE digital mega mega pixel macro zoom Kodak with her. SOOOOOOOO I had a look around the hard drive and selected three pix to share. None are exactly Motor Trend or Car and Driver photo layout style.

Oh by the way, the camper was built by Lance as a custom unit to my requirements and has oodles of P-V on the top (12-14 amps at 12 volts in good sun) It has a swamp cooler for hot dry places and it only takes 5-6 amps of 12 volt) Has regular roof mount A/C too. Sat TV on roof + regular TV ant + ham and CB + NOAA weather. Propane fueled gernerator, microwave, central heat, stereo, etc... Just the bare neccessities. This picture was on a trip where we stopped off to see the bridges of Madison County (In IOWA, please forgive the four letter word). If you go, save time, just look at one. They are all essentially exactly alike.

Pat

[Pat]

Beast picture #2

This shot in the barn shows me in the Kubota unloading hay. You can see the adjustable mirrors I put on the truck. They use the original inside electrical switches to adjust left and right and up and down but these telescope in and out as well. Fully extended I can see around the camper or trailer. Sucked in, I can go through a much tighter hole or standard garage.

You can see the mud flaps I installed in front of the front wheel. Really helped.

I have a couple mag mount antennas on the front bumper one is a dual bander (2M & 440 meg ham bands) the other a CB + NOAA weather)

The triangle shaped thing on the front of the util bed is a hold down for the camper or strong point to tie/attach anything.

You can see the front right member of the 6 matched Alcoa alluminum 19.5 rims with Michelin M&S tires. They are about 25% worn away in 50,000+ miles. I'm curious to see if I wear them out before they rot off.

Too dark in the wheel well to see the dual gas charged shocks or the custom eliptical variable rate front coil springs. You can see a little of the Reunel Extreme Duty bumper with built in fog and driving lights. The bars over the headlights are not tubing, they are solid steel. The bumper is formed and welded 1/4 inch steel plate. The uprights are thicker. The 12,000 lb winch is hidden inside the bumber and there are two solid stainless steel push bars to protect it if I have to shove some beemers out of the way.

On the right front wheel, the 8 large lug nuts are chrome covers over the actual nuts which are torqued to 450 lb-ft (I carry a 600lb-ft torque wrench with me since so few shops have a wrench in the right range.)

Continued if I can recall more stuff with beast picture #3.

Pat (OOPS, my good long distance friend Egon told me I don't write like a Pat but like a Patrick so...)

More later,

Patrick