Truck acquired. Let the shenanigans begin.

Pacific Northwest yetti

Expedition Medic
Looking forward to following along with the build.

I've seem them get wrapped, or just a heat gun to remove the decals if your willing to put the time in, would be the budget friendly way to go.

Hopefully sent from somewhere pretty and remote. With my entertainment and navigation multitool
 

themeec

Member
I've seem them get wrapped, or just a heat gun to remove the decals if your willing to put the time in, would be the budget friendly way to go.
Did some checking in the area, and really like the idea of a wrap. Not terribly expensive, and would be nice for protecting the surface from minor scrapes and sun damage. Thanks for the suggestion!

In general, did some more thinking about donor trailers, and have to say I'm pretty set on a Hi-Lo 17t (or similar length model). I like the idea of something that doesn't increase my clearance while under way, and keeps the weight down lower on the truck.
 

Brewdiak

kodiak conversionator
Nice that’s what I did for the first 4-5 months when I tore mine apart and re did the electrical. It looked like a blown up ambo, it was nice being able to leave it wide open the entire process in a climate controlled space!
 

quickfarms

Adventurer
c33adf12129971fcfa6db04f720b6878.jpg
 
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themeec

Member
@quickfarms thanks for the pics! Good to see a few more angles of what's going on under the frame. Looking forward to seeing what I can figure with the existing mount points on my current bed.
 

themeec

Member
@quickfarms thanks for the pic of the updated hydraulics location you did for yours. Good consideration, so I'll see what options are available to me when I acquire a trailer.

On a side note, looks like Tapatalk bungled the other two pics though. Would love to see those if you can fix that!
 

quickfarms

Adventurer
This is the shortened tongue with the gooseneck coupler mounted to the bottom of the new crossmember

3ea28ce7354f1172942329e91367ba3c.jpg


In the background you can see the pallet with the fork pockets, 3x3x1/4 rails and the angles that connect the fork pickets to the rails
 
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RonapRhys

Adventurer
Just saw this thread - how difficult was it to get the truck up and actually running? I've considered this platform for a bit now but the fact that many aren't running and there's a huge price gap up to running makes me wonder. I'm handy with tools and experienced on gas motors, but the diesels are new to me. I know tech manuals are out there for the downloading (and I may have already downloaded one), but would love to hear someone's personal experience.
 

themeec

Member
Just saw this thread - how difficult was it to get the truck up and actually running? I've considered this platform for a bit now but the fact that many aren't running and there's a huge price gap up to running makes me wonder. I'm handy with tools and experienced on gas motors, but the diesels are new to me. I know tech manuals are out there for the downloading (and I may have already downloaded one), but would love to hear someone's personal experience.

Frankly I got pretty lucky with mine, since with the auctions, your best bet is to hunt for one that "looks" good, and go on that, since you won't get much information otherwise (unless there's parts straight up missing). I just took my time for a rig that came from a dry climate, was visually intact, and didn't seem to be leaking anything horribly, and it turned out to be OK in the end. Root cause turned out to be gelled fuel/fluids from sitting, and an issue with the starter (bad solenoid) so once the thing was de-gunked it was pretty much good to go. Nonetheless I took it to a few professional shops before taking it out on the road, for safety's sake.

As a general rule if you're OK taking a gamble on a non-runner, check for signs of it getting ratfucked for parts. Missing turret is a big one, especially since an interior that's been rained on regularly is going to be no fun. A big telltale for me that piqued my interest in my truck was the fact that it had the LED light upgrade, and still had both door handles. Those things get swiped/broken constantly on these things, so to me was an indicator that the rest of the truck was properly intact.

I will say a good multimeter (that will read 24v, the truck is dual-voltage) would be a must, since electrical gremlins can often be the cause of these things getting dumped. They're not hard to work on, but due to the size, tracking down wiring issues can be time consuming. Long-reach tools, plenty of deep-well sockets, and a big dead-blow hammer are also really helpful.

As far as the engine goes, the 3116 is considered quite reliable. However, as it's all mechanically-injected, there's a certain amount of sorcery going on to keep all that operating. It requires expensive special tools, and the right kind of person who knows the engine, so making friends with your local Cat shop would be a good idea. The rest is pretty straight forward. Transmission can be checked out/serviced by most heavy-duty shops that know a thing or two about Allison's, and any old heavy diesel/OTR shop will suffice for the rest.

Routine maintenance is very easy on these, but have lots of 5-gallon buckets on hand, and expect to get quizzical looks from your local NAPA walking out with 8 gallons of gear oil :)
 

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