Coolant line stuff done (FINALLY!)
Have to test it out yet to insure the union between the factory water line and the new braided line will hold. I bypassed the Throttle Body since it is not obvious how this could even begin to be helpful. By the time the coolant is warm enough to heat up the TB the engine block would be warm too providing heat to it...
Installed the AUX box for the radio with wiring to go to the computer and to an Aux port that will be added to allow a phone or something to be accepted.
Installed the new crossovers inline in the factory wiring. (Split the tweeter feed wire, figured out which comes from the radio and routed wiring accordingly. )
Using Memphis component set for now. may move to the Diamond Audio later once I get more information on the cross overs. We will see. I atleast want to run these speakers for a while and see how they sound.
Installed the HD Radio. This goes to the PC and will be used eventually as the FM radio. For now will go through the computer which can play through the radio.
Waiting for paint to dry then will be installing the Cell/Wifi/GPS antennae. Had to drill a hole in the roof to install this. I used a paint marker and painted the cut hole to prevent rusting. Will also apply black silicone to the hole to seal it up.
Next step is putting dash back together and install the Memphis tweeters in the A-Pillar, the 6" in the doors and see how they go.
After that will be wiring up the PC box to get it into the truck and operational.
Once everything is back in the truck I can start working on my Midgate box. I have a spare midgate and just picked up a table saw to accomplish this. Will be attaching a box to the back of the midgate and install the speakers inside to box to give them enough front space to move. They are 12 inch Alpine speakers. Will be running them off my Audio Art 100MS amplifiers which put out a measured over 300 watts per amplifer when bridged. (These were cheater amps that were good for 4 ohm bridged. Due to their unregulated power supplies they go up to about 350 watts when the vehicle is putting out full voltage while running. They were rated for 50x2 at 12 volts but ramp up almost logarithmic.
From the interior the only thing that will look different will be the 10" screen in the console. Everything else will pretty much be hidden.
Installed the Antenna for the Cell/GPS/WiFi. Will be picking up adapters for the GPS and WiFi so I can use them right away. The Cell is intended for a repeater unit but don't have the $400-$500 to spend for one at the moment...
Installed the Memphis speakers in the doors. These sound way better than factory. Haven't installed the tweeters yet. The passenger side BOSE speaker was torn when removed.. The original BOSE speakers were integrated into the mounting bracket. I ended up using my Dremel and cutting away the basket for the old speaker and used an exacto knife to cut away the surround. The Memphis speakers I used are an exact fit and with them in there look like they belong. Although I didn't pay attention to my butane soldering iron discharge and melted a hole in one of the speaker cones. No damage to the speaker its self other than a hole in it. Hopefully the +33 electrical tape will do... Looks funky but won't see it unless really looking for it. Doesn't seem to affect the sound at all since it appears to be hard thin plastic anyhow.
Have to cut the A-Pillars bigger to install the tweeters yet.
Next will be looking at getting the console back into the truck and build the midgate box. Since I have a table saw here just for that project I MAY build the Midgate box BEFORE doing the console install. We shall see... Building the box shouldn't be too hard.. Integrating it into the midgate will likely take some work though.
Ok today I started reassembling my Console. Currently have the computer installed back into place and mounted some of the new power distribution stuff.
Picking up some foam from work to help quiet down some of the noise some of the components will make such as the relays.
Everything will fit in the console, just trying to sort out the best way to accomplish assembly. Will be ordering a couple small low noise fans to cool off the power supply. With the computer on you may hear the cooling fans but not much I can do about that. Just the way it is. Although may not really need much in the way of cooling for it since it is in the now wide open BOSE subwoofer compartment.
Have relays for the RAP and IGNITION wired up. I have room for 4 Relays and may install all 4l. May use it for I found the switches can fit inside the center console at the rear of the console in the unused portion that really is worthless.
Designing a speaker box now for my 3 12" alpines. Will be a stealth setup. the ONLY thing obvious will be the screen in the console and if you look behind the seat there will be mesh in the bottom section. Will be using mesh behind some sonically transparent cloth similar to the stuff there now. I will be firing the subs through the back of the mid gate but we will see how well this setup works out. I will be maintaining the window holder but will likely set it up to shut off 2 of the speakers when the window is in its storage compartment.
Also considering where to install the amplifiers... At the moment looks like I will have a 6 channel amp bridged down to 4 channels. (120 watts for front, 75 for rear)
Each sub will have its own amplilfier that bridged goes over 300 watts. The subs are designed for 300 watts and these amplifiers will go up to near 400 watts so should be able to drive them fine without clipping.
Hoping to have all this stuff installed for the nationals... Have a nice alarm to protect it all too. No way you can get into the truck without me knowing it... Even if you break into the truck it has a phone home alarm that will immediately call my phone if it is tampered with. Nothing in this installation will be quick to grab other than the screen which will be worthless to someone else since you won't be getting all of the electronics to run it...
And I don't know anyone that wants a 6'3" 320 lb pissed off red head running at them with an "implement"...
Work continues on building the center console. Think I have power distribution section done. Next step is to make sure I am not forgetting any components then start putting the console back together. The computer is mounted properly and the relays, fuse panels etc are all setup. Just have to start installing the different sections into the center console and make sure it all works. Then one properly wired I can drop it back into the truck, connect to the harnesses already integrated and away I go.
This weekend I am also building a board to mount my "Hacking lab" on so I can continue working on the M2 interface. And building a speaker box to mount to the rear of my mid gate. Building it to maintain full access of the midgate. Will be mounting the amplifiers in an "alternate" location...
So other work is pretty much stopped while working on the brake lines. Currently stalled until the flexible lines arrive. Paid for 2 day delivery so hopefully no later than Wed.
The Dremel is a nice light work tool but I grabbed my jig saws from storage to continue cutting for the sub box. But this is stalled until the brake lines are complete.
I started a thread to discuss the new subwoofer enclosure and amplifier enclosures too...
http://www.chevyavalanchefanclub.com/cafcna/index.php/topic,151754.0.html
Also looking into adding some interesting lighting to my Truck...
If I use Acrylic rod with diffusers built in and some colored CREE LED's it could make an interesting light bar. Similar to the tail lights on my CTS. (My CTS uses LED powered Acrylic rods as the running lights as an OEM item.) Cost looks to be about $40 for each LED color for each tube and the tubing is like $30 for 10'.
So getting ready for parking my truck for the winter.
Engine running great after all the issues with the heads...
Sound system is better now...
Brakes work great now...
Noticed that getting a little wear on one tire weirdly so I am going to look into replacing most of the front end components. Probably will just do the A-Arms and Tie Rods since I don't have any play in the steering wheel. After raising my GF's truck I am thinking maybe its time to consider doing it to my truck. Most 6" kits seem to be around $1300 but I am assuming I will also need longer brake lines. May consider bigger tires and an hptuner if I jack up the truck... Although installing a new engine may become more interesting down the road.
So I mounted the new amplifier boards to the back of the seats and ran initial power to the power block. I will show pictures once I have run the power and tested them. At the moment I have the amplifier for the fronts and rears mounted to the passenger side seat. It also contains a 3 way crossover. I am using the cross over to split out the subs and the rear speakers. Since you don't want highs in the rear speakers and the lows are going to the subs I am sending the lows to the subs and the midlevels to the rear door speakers. Still running the front stage full range but the passive crossovers limit the bass run through them anyhow.
The power distribution I am using has both the positive and negative distributions with large glass fuses in them and a volt meter. it will accept up to a 1/0 input and send out up to 4gauge wiring. I only have an 8 gauge running to it right now and only 8 gauge running to each amplifier at the moment. I expect to run 2 gauge to this panel this spring and keep the 8 gauge running to the amplifiers. When I install the amplifiers into the bed I expect to have two of these distribution blocks and run 2 gauge from the sub amplifiers and 6 gauge to the front stage amplifier and any processors I use.
I am also researching making some cool light strips for my truck. Looking at integrating some RGBW light strips with individually addressable LED's. Going to get water proof 3 meter strips. One will go in the grill, Two will go under the tail gate in the rear. I plan to control them using an Arduino which will be integrated into the vehicle. I hope to have it read from the Databus eventually but may tap into the wiring at first to read the inputs. Will allow for some cool lighting effects and give my truck that full "knight rider" view ability. Will likely let the rear light up red a little with the parking lights, a lot with the brakes. Light up yellow with the turn signals and white when in reverse. I will be able to add effects to the lighting since I will have full control. For the front I will likely have it run Yellow lighting when the parking lights are on, flash yellow when turn signals are on. Will also have a security mode so when the alarm is going off the lights will flash with patterns and will be integrated into the alarms output. May have some sort of security LED flash going so it looks menacing as well. Just depends on how the power draw is.
It is becoming painfully obvious to me that certain individuals need to feel empowered to bully others that try to offer support or help since it isn't coming from them or it challenges information they provide.
And speaking to the moderators doesn't help. Even though people have complained about this in other threads it continues and chases new people away. Many of the old timers don't bother coming here anymore because they don't want the drama.
I will be building my truck into an off road beast and am in the process of integrating cool electronics and such into it. But no one here will know any more about it.
I may come in here occasionally to update my threads but I am done with being an active participant of this forum. I am too busy and too impatient to deal with the Arrogant Jerks that seem to rule this place these days. Ie you won't see me in here trying to help out anyone or supporting the site.
I will be spending most of my summer updating the M2 device and integrating my computer into my truck. While Dluvr22 is an inspiration for much of my work, due to some of the contacts I recently have come in contact with I suspect the integration of my truck to electronics will be unparalleled outside of GM's research and development. Basically I have been offered "the keys to the castle" with the skill set to know what to do with them.
In the fall I finish my Computer Science Degree then likely start my Cyber Security Masters unless I catch on locally with a Security firm where I will learn a lot more.
I hope to have pictures up of my installed computer system soon. I have some work to do to it before hand and am finishing up this semester so work is slow.
But are you going to inject an RF chip into your hand so you can unlock your truck. Dluvr22 thought about it but I think ultimately thought better of it.
Lol, no need to. I will be able to do the same thing with my phone or my watch. Both have RF on them or blue tooth.
That or face recognition with gesture recognition or even voice recognition are all methods available. RF chipping your hand is so barbaric when you have so many other options out there. "Alexa, start my truck at 10pm and let it run until the interior reaches 75F then shut it off" is an option too...
But putting mics near the truck and using voice recognition that is keyed to your actual voice can do wonders too.
we shall see when I get to that point...
Like I said... Might be a little more exotic than others out there...
So one mistake when building my beast will have me digging in wiring and service manual for hours...
Forgot to put a diode on the wire going to my Dual Battery Solenoid and seem to have toasted something.
Have a parasitic drain and when I jump the battery with my secondary battery it backfeeds into the ignition system. Have to go through the system and make sure no fuses are blown. Going to be a long day.
Hoping it is just a hard to find fuse. Luckily I have a tech 2 clone so I can do some digging around.
Was concerned my coolant loss was not solved but apparently just had air in the system. Have gone about 1500 miles since the last top off of the coolant over flow tank and no more missing coolant. (I had gone about 3,000 miles since I resolved the steam vent issues from putting rebuilt 706 heads on replacing the cracked 706 heads I had. I had lost about a half gallon of coolant during that time.)
Have a slight transmission fluid leak and will take it somewhere to fix. Likely just bad o-rings but not fancying lifting the truck on jack stands and climbing under the truck. Call me paranoid but just don't trust my life to jackstands. Paying someone else $50 to change out o-rings is a much easier deal to me.
Tracked Draw to single wire which feeds Passenger seat. Went to disconnect seat to further diagnose and moves the seat up. Haven't had the draw since. So Not sure if it is going to be something in the seat or the wiring. Will be closely monitoring this situation for a while until I find the culprit. Plan to unplug the seat the next time it shows a draw and see if it is within the seat or the wiring. Or next time I remove the seat I will look at the wiring and see if I can figure it out.
Tracking down Interior colored paint to be able to touch up stuff and repaint the trim piece that is wrong color.
After figuring out the Alternator wasn't bad decided to install a dual alternator bracket and use both alternators with the 250 amp just for the stereo and the factory one for everything else. When the original alternator dies I will likely replace it with the same 250 amp alternator.
In process of upgrading to 1/0 gauge wiring...
Before upgrade. Main battery has original wiring.
Secondary battery has 4 gauge wiring for ground to firewall at bracket mount bolts then to block at dipstick bolt. 4 gauge wire running to Solenoid then to Red accessory bracket to connect to other battery and alternator. 1/0 Gauge wiring to stereo splitter block for both positive and ground. Passed 1/0 gauge wire through firewall using 3/8" thru-stud protected with 200amp breaker. This allows me to pull off wire on the inside of the fire wall for multiple accessories. Currently only pull off power for the Stereo system and the Computer Seperately. The Computer line is 8 gauge so it has its own fuse to protect the 8 gauge wire.
Upgrade will include removing the accessory bracket that currently has the alternator to battery connection.
The two bolts holding the bracket on will now be used for grounding points for each battery.
1/0 Gauge ground wire will be added from each battery to this new ground point to pull the best ground from the Alternators.
1/0 Gauge Power will be routed from the secondary battery to the 250amp Alternator with a 200amp breaker at the battery to protect the wiring. (May have to upgrade Breaker but won't worry about that unless I have issues with it. My wiring is well over sized so this breaker shouldn't be an issue. )
1/0 Gauge power will run from the main battery to the Alternator.
1/0 Gauge ground will run from main battery to ground location mentioned previously.
1/0 Gauge wiring to where the 6 gauge currently goes. (Likely starter but haven't looked yet. ) The current wiring is not really compatible with the system as I would have to modify where the alternator originally connected to it, the wire is no where near as flexible as the welding wire I have and having bigger wire should help the starter start better.
Will leave original grounds in place and will likely leave the original power wire in place to the fuse box.
Next up will be looking into replacing the tie rods and A-Arms. Not sure how I want to do them yet but will likely do them all together. Want to also do center link too and related hardware but not sure. I have found some less expensive hardware I can do the whole job using but not sure if I want to go the cheap Chinese route. I have a press available so I MAY just get the parts and install new bushings and ball joints in the old stuff. I can also sand blast the old stuff and epoxy paint them too if I decide.
Ok, 250 amp alternator is too hot.. Burned up the connectors it was connected to. Sending back to replace...
Also working on front end. Replacing hubs, balljoints, bushings and tie rods. Upper arm was easier to buy new. Bottom was too expensive so I am rebuilding the bottom.
Have most of the system apart and working on lower control arms.
Have everything disconnected and trying to separate from torsion bar.
Anyone have a suggestion on best way to get it to release from the lower control arm?
If I remove the shock all together I can rotate the unit up high enough for the bushings to totally clear the frame but then is it as easy as hammering the piece off or is there a key or something of some sort?
I have removed the adjustment bolt and mount from the back side of the torsion bar so it is free to move otherwise.
So still working on rebuilding front end... Man some of those parts are a pain to get out... Cutting out the UCA in the morning...
Current list of parts:
Moog full UCA.
Moog Tie Rods - inner and outer
Timken Hubs
Moog Bushings and lower ball joint
Sand blasting then painting with caliper paint the LCA and Knuckle.
While I type this I only have the tie rods and UCA yet to remove.
UCA bolts appear to be rusted to the bushings and will have to be cut off.
The LCA was like $200 apiece to buy whole. Rebuilding was about $50 in parts. UCA were $40 new so no point in messing with them.
Will use 50 ton press to press out the bushings, a ball joint press to press out the lower ball joint after grinding the tabs off and will be pressing everything back in using the Ball joint press. (If I have problems with the ball joint press I may use the 5 ton press to press all of them into place.)
I have new UCA and Hub bolts.
Plan to use neversieze on all the bolts to hopefully insure I can disassemble everything in a few years when I put a significant lift on my truck.
Ended up being a little bit of pain to work on the lower control arm. Used a combination of a Ball Joint kit and the stuff at work to get my lower control arms disassembled then reassembled with new parts. Ended up having to buy Shock bushings and new sway bar links. Everything went back in fine.
Upper control arm was rusted into place. Had to cut off the bolt ends. Used sawzall but had wrong type of blade... Took me 8 hours (Plus breaks) to get them off.
Noticed brake pads were almost gone so replaced them. Tore the boots on the Calipers trying to get them retracted for the new pads. Tried to replace the boots but ended up damaging one of the calipers. Know what i did wrong for next time.
Bought rebuilt calipers at Napa...
End cost before Alignment was about $800 for all the parts and about 20 hours of labor including the 8 on just the UCA. I also sand blasted and "caliper paint" painted the Knuckles and LCA to protect them some.
Easily could have been a $2500 job at a standard mechanic. The Alignment will be another $65. I also leveled my truck now so no more "rake" I have 37 1/8" on the rears from the fender to the ground and 37" from front fenders to the ground. Close enough...
I have a couple fluid leaks I have to track down. Looks to be clear fluid... probably Power Steering fluid. And maybe the Orings on the Transmission cooler lines have to be replaced. Nothing too serious.
Kinda ticked at the USPS at the moment. Or the Idiot delivery guy we seem to currently have. I have a new 250 amp alternator that was supposed to be here this Monday but came last Thursday. He run the bell, knocked twice within about a minute and left. I was sound asleep when he run the bell. By the time I got my pants on and got to the door he was already gone. No slip or anything either. I only knew he had been there because Amazon told me. I rescheduled for yesterday... No Show... Going to be calling in the morning...
Sounds like you've been busy. Not the Avy, but I've been doing wheel bearings and brakes on my Bimmer which has morphed into rear axles, output shaft seals, king pins (steering knuckle), control arms, tie rods and sway bar links. I too have had issues with USPS. Ordered a bunch of stuff, car and non-car related, in early June. Everything shipped FedEx and UPS arrived in a few days. Two different sellers used USPS and the tracking information stops at received at facility. Even opened a claim for an axle with a tracking number stating exactly what was shipped and they replied back I didn't provide enough information.
My truck Is currently at Muffler man getting an alignment and I asked them to check for where the leak is. I THINK it is a power steering leak but haven't had time to try tracking it down. After the alternator gets installed and tried out and I get my leak(s) fixed I hopefully will be done with mechanical stuff on my truck for a while and can get the PC mounted.
So latest updates.. New Alternator from a different source. Looks exactly like the old one. Hooked it up and let it run for half hour... Running great and actually cooler than the factory one is sitting next to it. Might have to get another one of these to replace my Factory one so they look the same. But for now I am happy with the setup.
I made a "jump" connector for the original setup by using a 4 gauge wire and a breaker to connect the two outputs of the alternators. This is ONLY for jumping purposes if the main battery goes dead and I still have the secondary battery. This was on the original setup and was made due to my parasitic drain that is currently not being seen but I know what wire it is related to. For now I will leave it be..
Well the original 250 amp alternator got much hotter than I imagined. Not only did it melt the brass plating off the bigger connectors but it looks like my 4 gauge connectors are Copper. It actually burned the Copper on the connector and melted the electrical tape. Can't say I ever have seen electrical tape melt before. Oh and the wire housing as well. New alternator seems to work fine. I just probably got a bad unit originally.
Hoping I fixed an oil leak by replacing the gasket on the Oil cooler block off plate. Otherwise looks like an Oil Pan gasket which I would not be looking forward to doing on Jackstands... Probably will hire that out if it needs to be done. We shall see...
Installed new spare tire winch... With the speaker box in the bed, keeping the spare in the bed really was cramping the available space. Granted the box is only about 13" into the bed but still.
Truck handles much better now after the front end rebuild but steering still is a little sloppy. I account this to the fact i did not change the center link, pitman arm, idler etc... I mainly wanted to make sure my wheels wouldn't be falling off any time soon and the steering will be totally redone when I redo my truck for off road usage.
Appointment this week to replace a gasket between the Transfer case and transmission that is allowing transmission fluid to leak out. Was quoted $450 at a dealer. Was quoted $180 elsewhere. I have "lifetime" warranty in Detroit but by the time I consider the tank of gas and having to rent a car to get home and another to get back out there when it is done it probably is best to just pay a local shop to do it.
So hopefully this means all of my maintenance issues have been handled for now.
Have to fix a couple issues with my CTS then MAYBE I can get back to integrating the console back into my truck...
My CTS has a traction control issue that seems to kick in anytime now that I accelerate fast... Such as when making left turns...
Also adding OEM fog lights my car didn't come with.
My wife's Flex had all sorts of issues related to the traction & stability control. It's a known issue for Ford. The issue stems from the steering wheel angle position sensor malfunctioning. When making slight left turns the car would slam on the brakes since the outer wheel was traveling slightly faster than the inner but the car didn't know the wheel was turned. While the CTS is a Caddy not a Ford, it could be a similar issue causing your problem.
Hopefully the +33 electrical tape will do... Looks funky but won't see it unless really looking for it. Doesn't seem to affect the sound at all since it appears to be hard thin plastic anyhow. 
Dluvr22 thought about it but I think ultimately thought better of it.
I too have had issues with USPS. Ordered a bunch of stuff, car and non-car related, in early June. Everything shipped FedEx and UPS arrived in a few days. Two different sellers used USPS and the tracking information stops at received at facility. Even opened a claim for an axle with a tracking number stating exactly what was shipped and they replied back I didn't provide enough information. 
