The Black Hole

[gmanpaint]

We also managed to get the new Camburg Inner TRE's, and the new Pro-forged outer TRE's installed.

Set the toe to 1/8" In, to make it to the alignment shop, this week. Been wanting to eliminate the weak spot in the front for a looooong time. I'm stoked about these being on now.

 

[gmanpaint]

Last project done this weekend was, the bracing tubes for the rear Bumper. 1.5" Sq tube & 1/4" plate was used. Tube is welded to the bumper and plate, and plate is bolted to the frame.

 

[Dono]

First class the whole way.. Beautiful.

 

[boominXplorer]

Looking good! What lb rate springs are you running? How's it ride?

 

[gmanpaint]

750 lb coils. Rides like a sport Cadillac .

Thanks guys. Been busting my ass, and breaking my back on this thing.

 

[CDW6212R]

First class the whole way.. Beautiful.

Ditto. I'm glad it's working out and riding nicely.

 

[boominXplorer]

I'd look into some of the boots for the inners. My last 2 sets haven't made it past over 15k miles of road driving. I'm just now trying out the boots so don't have any reviews yet. These are from seals-it.

 

[gmanpaint]

I figured they would be like most Heims and will need some attention down the road, and thought about modifying the bellow boots to fit over them. I decided against it when installing, thinking they wouldn't stay on, and I would be constantly messing with them.

Thanks for the info, as those look pretty neat if they work, and hold up to the heim bolt. I might give them a try if I can find em.

 

[boominXplorer]

Oh and buy the 6 pack, I tore the first one I tried to put on. They are super stretchy but also super tight so they seal around the threads and bolts.

I'm going to be working on a bellows boot also for mine but I've been running without them for awhile. The factory one definitely won't work and will get pinched between the rack and adapter at full lock and crack the r&p housing (ask me how I know). They require boots here in va for inspection.

 

[gmanpaint]

Got the ride height set where I need it.

But... When I took it for the coil settling run, I noticed the O/D light no longer works. It worked yesterday.

I am chasing down problems left & right with this thing, and it hasn't made it anywhere but around the block a few times since mid Feb!! I'm beyond upset with those hacks.

Wait until I show what they did to my oil pan.

Brakes are soft, and barely stop the rig right now. We bled it a few weeks ago. There must be air getting into the system somewhere.

The rest of the day will be spent correcting the Atlas shifter tower rod alignment, that they couldn't figure out how to set properly. I even gave them the Atlas manual, and verbal instructions on how to do this.

 

[Spudhut]

Great thread...Sorry about the work done on your truck...I'm speechless. When I had my shop, I tried to turn the tables on the industry from stories like this in providing a service that included my customers in every aspect of the work. 15 yrs i did this.

Moving forward, I like what your doing and it looks like your making great progress. Cheers!

 

[CDW6212R]

Got the ride height set where I need it.

But... When I took it for the coil settling run, I noticed the O/D light no longer works. It worked yesterday.

I am chasing down problems left & right with this thing, and it hasn't made it anywhere but around the block a few times since mid Feb!! I'm beyond upset with those hacks.

Wait until I show what they did to my oil pan.

Brakes are soft, and barely stop the rig right now. We bled it a few weeks ago. There must be air getting into the system somewhere.

The rest of the day will be spent correcting the Atlas shifter tower rod alignment, that they couldn't figure out how to set properly. I even gave them the Atlas manual, and verbal instructions on how to do this.

Sorry the truck still has some issues.

The brakes are likely air in the ABS unit itself. Normal bleeding doesn't push through the entire ABS module, those have passages in them which are like dead ends. The only way to bleed them well is with a special tool, or if you can create enough brake pressure to force the ABS to engage. Bleed them as you can, then try to drive it and mash the brakes. If the ABS will kick in, some of the air will be purged, and the brakes will feel better.

I had my 95 Crown Vic go through that. I added ABS to the car, module and two rear lines(4 channel), wired it in, and it was driveable, with soft brakes. It was driveable so I lived with it, and the brakes got better and better. It took a couple of weeks of hard braking to make it feel like it was good, and it got better still later on.

 

[Turdle]

The hood looks good. I like that.

The Od off light, check to see it comes on during bulb check when you turn on the key. although it would suck to have to replace it, a burned out bulb would be better than something else.
also, remember, the overdrive off switch itself might not be working. or not fully plugged in.

 

[traveler]

I checked my O/D light for that. It doesn't come on with the ignition switch. Just when the OD button is pushed.

 

[Turdle]

I checked my O/D light for that. It doesn't come on with the ignition switch. Just when the OD button is pushed.

Oh. Well, shoot.

 

[gmanpaint]

No abs in this rig. Has been deleted long ago .

The light in the dash worked the other day, when I turned it off on a test run around the block. It's not coming on now, when I push the button. Hoping it's just a bad bulb, but with all the crap I keep finding, and all that has been done to it by that shop, I'm just not sure about anything anymore.

Just got the atlas linkage dialed in. They had it all messed up. No wonder we couldn't get it into high range getting it off the trailer. They had to have had to jam it hard to get it into gear when they had it. They was warned not to force it, and to adjust it more if it wouldnt slide easily into gear. Unreal.

Just found some more crap. I was charged for 2 new 02 sensors and there is only 1 new sensor. I paid for all new exhaust pipe from manifolds back, but they reused sections of my old pipe. I paid to have a new trans mount installed, but they reused the old donors. Why am I not surprised??

Fml

After removing the t-case skid, this is what I saw....

Old O2 on old pipe, & 1 new O2, and I'm not sure that isn't the same one Jon & I installed last July, on the way to CO.

The O2 plug, ziptied to the dipstick. smh...

And some more old re-used exhaust pipe.

So instead of 2.5" pipe all the way back, I now have a mix of 2.5" to the cats, then old 2.25" pipe to new 2.5" pipe, to the mufflers and back to the tailpipe tip. Awesome!!

 

[boominXplorer]

Definitely some inexperience there with a little biting off more than they could chew. I bet they underpriced the actual job and instead of getting the actual job you were promised you got what they could do / afford with what time they had. I'd be putting them on blast so this doesn't happen to anyone else. I have a good idea where it was done but I'm not going to say.

Not sure what you got charged but my last one I did was around $4500 parts and labor. I also supplied the v8 driveline and 4406 case along with a bunch of front end parts..

 

[CDW6212R]

No abs in this rig. Has been deleted long ago .
...

Umm, interesting. If it has no ABS, and it's a 98 PCM, how's the VSS signal wired to the speedometer and computer? I'm going by what people say when they swapped those PCM's into a non-Explorer(the transmission doesn't shift right etc). The VSS is used for trans shifting, and from 98-01 it goes to the ABS from the rear sensor, and then to the computer.

 

[gmanpaint]

The donors electrical component from the HCU is in the harness, and bolted to the fender wall next to the booster. It's been done that way by many here, over the years. It is still reading the ABS system, but I have the front sensors unplugged, and it triggers the light, which shuts it off, and doesn't throw a code this way. Dash bulb has been removed so it doesn't annoy me. Rear diff sensor is dual purpose, and still works the speedo, and shift points.

As for price, lets just say, it cost more than $4.5k to do the swap, but the job was more than just an engine/trans swap. If it worked out as promised, it wouldn't be a thing, but since I am having to do a lot of the work they got paid to do, it kinda is a thing.

 

[CDW6212R]

Gotcha, very good, planned to work right from the start.