1986 GMC S-15

YetiX

Active member
Almost forgot, out ice fishing again.
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These perch are one of the best fish you can put on the table in my opinion,
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How do you cook em up? Fry them>
 

Andrew_S

Observer
^ Yup, definitely. Butter, salt & pepper. We do fish tacos, fish & chips, rolls, etc, etc. Can't go wrong.

Wife's on a trip to Hawaii w/ a friend, so I've had a bit of time to do some wrenching this week.

Started modifying the truss for the upper arm.
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Picked up a piece of 3"x3" tube @ .25" wall. Kind of funny buying a big piece and cutting out this little guy.
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Fixed* minus the paint
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Done and ready to go in,
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Started burning these coil/schock towers together.
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Fun little project.
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Andrew_S

Observer
4runner day,

This muffler has been sitting on the floor for far too long.
Felt like I was back in Ontario doing this job...
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Must be the heat because this is the most rust on the entire truck.
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Had to cut in a few pieces but it finally came out.
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What a pain.
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One size fits #$%@ all...
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Like new again
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I was about to call it and then I remembered* I stuffed this rag in the cat when wire wheeling the flange. Sure would have run funny if I didn't pull it back apart...
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Rather than quit while I was ahead, I decided to try and figure out why the rear hatch wouldn't unlock from the rear with a key.
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This took some serious head scratching. One of the brass bits was broken inside of the tumbler...
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Ran to the parts store to pick up some parts, this beauty was in the parking lot,
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Band-aid fix until I can find another tumbler housing. Works great now.
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pigsammy

Active member
I really enjoy your updates. Both the truck projects and the trip reports. Beautiful trout! and the scenery is spectacular. Your area is now on my "visit one day" list

A couple questions;
I am intrigued by your ice fishing reports. No opportunity here in Georgia for that, but it may be an option at our Colorado property. How do you know where to drill a hole and fish? What do you use for bait/lures?

Your tumbler fix, what did you do? It looks like perhaps you ground the pins off?

Thank you again for taking us along on your adventures.
 

Dougnuts

Well-known member
Can you share some more pictures of that Rusty's truss system? How does that move without binding up?
 

Andrew_S

Observer
I really enjoy your updates. Both the truck projects and the trip reports. Beautiful trout! and the scenery is spectacular. Your area is now on my "visit one day" list

A couple questions;
I am intrigued by your ice fishing reports. No opportunity here in Georgia for that, but it may be an option at our Colorado property. How do you know where to drill a hole and fish? What do you use for bait/lures?

Your tumbler fix, what did you do? It looks like perhaps you ground the pins off?

Thank you again for taking us along on your adventures.
Learning the lakes and the honey holes takes a lot of time. It really depends on the species your after and where they reside in the cold water. For lures, again it really depends on the species. For trout, shall bays with lots of weeds and a small jig head with some type of live bait is usually a great place to start.

For the tumbler I simply removed the broken pin. I have since picked up some spare parts and plan to fix it correctly.

Thanks for the good words, I really appreciate it.


Can you share some more pictures of that Rusty's truss system? How does that move without binding up?
A couple of different bits going into the front axle. It has an IRO truss & an old set of Rusty's long arms. The radius style arm design isn't best known for max flex. The flex comings from the pivoting joints at the frame and where the short arm connects to the long arm. It'll will definitely flex more then my wheel wells can handle, so it will work plenty for us.

It's been a hot minute, or at least it feels like it.

I picked up some more bits from the junkyard.
A set of XJ coils, isolators and bump stops. Also got some stuff from a 4runner to finish repairing the wife's unit.
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Need to clean these up a bit but they'll work perfect.
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Picked up some spacers to make the civic donuts work
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Just* clear the calipers now
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Test fitting a coil
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Also picked up some perches and shock mounts for the 8.8.
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The main reason all progress is dead in the water is because we turned all of this,
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Into this....
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3 loads of vinyl plank, approx 3000 sq ft.... It's kind of ironic, we spent a good chunk of time earning that money, only to turn it something that will also take up a good chunk of time...
Truck was doing work, 3 loads at just under 3k lbs each.
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We've spent every spare day for the last month doing this.
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Huge upgrade over the 23 year old carpets. I can't friggin wait to get back to the normal projects though.
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I have an honest 5 days left of work to get the entire house complete. After that it's back to the regular program.
 
Last edited:

Andrew_S

Observer
Quick update, it's been a hot minute.

Getting the canoe wet on the big lake after work.
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Some spring cleaning action
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Full mock up of the front end
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A couple of small camper improvements,
external temp sensor for the diesel heater panel
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New usb charger for the main panel, previously always had to charge in the truck.
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Always had an exhaust leak on the passenger side, new manifold
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So quiet and nice now,
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Finally found a couple of tires. I've been looking for a lightly used pair of 33x10.5s for a longgg time. New price is almost $500 each now...
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2 new k02's and 2 old Ko's that are trash. Picked up some rims as well. I'll still be keeping my eyes open for some black steelies but these will do for now. The black steelies w/ the tires are the wrong bolt pattern.
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Andrew_S

Observer
We were planning to go on a week long trip to the island again this easter weekend.
The night before we checked the forecast... We opted out of this one.
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Now that I had a week off and no plans, time to get after it.
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Fitting up the 8.8
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Looks hilarious w/ the donuts
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W/ 33's
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Old perches coming off
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SOA is the new set up
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Setting pinion angle
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Setting offset
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Had a local shop make up some new custom 1/2" u bolts
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Lots to wrap up in the rear but onto the front now. No turning back after tomorrow.
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Andrew_S

Observer
Yesterdays progress,

T bars, front diff, everything deleted.
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A lot of crap on the ground,
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Rolled the front axle underneath to get an idea of how much cutting of brackets and cross members is required.
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Fitment of the new wheels is absolutely spot on,
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It fits, today I'll be cutting/grinding my life away.
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zgfiredude

Active member
I think for fun you should count the number of times you've jacked it up and changed the "rolling status"! Seems like each photo has a different wheel, wheel/tire, or jack stand in place, LOL.
 

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