T-Unit's '12 1/2 crew shortie "build" thread.

[T_Unit114]

So after a couple failed attempts at getting some nearly new bilstein 5100s........long story,

I ordered a brand new set today.

Last week I nabbed a set of Duratracs with decent enough tread to get me through winter and next summer.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[T_Unit114]

Oh joy! One of my recent failed attempts at getting bils resulted in UPS losing one of the front struts. I received one, the other is currently vaporized in their distribution center somewhere. It took them almost 2.5 months to eventually reimburse the cost of one strut. Which couldn't be bought in singular form.

This full brand new set I just ordered.......is shipping with UPS.......watch. These tards are gonna lose one of the rears now and I'll have three front struts and a single rear shock.......

Currently have a tracking number. And website shows no record for that tracking number. Currently off to a great start. [emoji2959]

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[T_Unit114]

Productive weekend for me! And got it done before the weekend even actually started!

First off I got the Morimoto h11 55 watt kit with relay harness installed Wednesday. Aimed them at the dirt because the lights were high to begin with and the Bilstein 5100 kit was set to go on Thursday.

Got a late start Thursday on the 5100s. I intended to get rolling in the morning but the kid wanted to play before daycare so by the time I got back from dropping her off, I was getting rolling at 1pm. The rear shocks were a bit more work than I was expecting. Not difficult, but I wasn't too enthusiastic about having to pull the wheel and splash guard off to get that top bolt out. Made for a bunch of extra work. (getting the splash guard back in was the biggest pain)

From there I moved on to the front. I assembled the front struts at the 2.4" setting. For the quad/crew Hemi trucks, this would be snap ring groove number 7. The drivers side went very smoothly. I already replaced that bushing and bolt when I tried to do my pre load spacer kit. The passenger side didn't fight nearly as hard as the drivers did when I tackled that a month or two ago. Still had to cut the bolt and drive out the bushing in pieces but it didn't fight me much at all.

I got one of the camber bolts to wiggle and I sprayed the hell out of them all with penetrating oil. After setting it back on all fours, the truck gained a cunthair over 3" up front and almost an inch in back! Was not expecting rear lift. It was just shocks. But the OE ones must have been pretty worn and placing excess load on the rear coils.

Either way I'm very happy with the results. I went from nose diving to having about a half-3/4" positive front rake in roughly 7 hours time with hand tools in a two stall garage. Hoping that the coils will settle and level it out.

Got the alignment taken care of this morning. Was ecstatic when the tech informed me that all my camber bolts popped free and my alignment was adjusted and sat perfect. No other worn parts, no hassle, just perfection!

I love how this thing rides now! It's obvious that the truck was completely reliant upon the front coils. It was pretty harsh on bumps and holes and would take forever to recover after dips and drops. Now it just soaks up everything! I highly recommend the Bilstein 6112 setup. I noticed the difference in ride quality before I even left my driveway. Small lip leaving my garage has basically disappeared. The tradition from the driveway to the concrete approach is smoother and the inverted approach to the road has gone from a bouncy mess to what feels like nothing more than a smooth elevation change.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[T_Unit114]

Time for a minor update. Christmas was a success. Got AlfaOBD and an obdLink MX+. Also got in channel vent visors.

Vent visors went in without a hitch and I gave the truck a solid wash job and a quick interior clean out. Weathertech front mats are on order so I'll do a thorough interior detail once I get them as the stock mats don't cover well and weather is gonna be garbage this weekend.

AlfaOBD has already gone beyond paying for itself in under two weeks. I got rid of the blasted DRL, switched the low beam settings to HID to eliminate the series of soft codes that were active in the BCM from the Morimoto lows I have, turned off the seatbelt chime and am currently fiddling with turning the reverse chime off. No success yet but we will see if this last attempt worked before I dig it out from under the carpet and "physically disable" the unit. It comes and goes and recently has decided to work properly for about 3 weeks now and it's driving me insane.

I'm on the hunt for OEM black quads. If I can't find a nice used set, I'll have to by new. And that means window tint is creeping up the list of things to do. Loving the truck so far.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[Wahrsuul]

I got aftermarket black quads for mine. Over a year and they still look great.

 

[T_Unit114]

I've done some digging and lots of review combing and from what I have seen, there are a handful of companies that make them. They're sold by countless companies though. Seems that no matter which way you cut it, you're gonna have one or any combination up to all of the following issues within a year or two - fogged/yellowed lens degradation, lens delamination, internal reflector plating delamination, moisture intrusion, adjustor malfunction/failure, fitment issues. Damage orightbout of the box and **** poor output performance and plagues quite a few of them, but all seem to be worse than stock, which isn't anything impressive to begin with.

I plan to keep this truck for a long time, and I need lighting that performs well based off of where/when I drive. Having the truck garaged will help with the lens issues, but it's just prolonging the inevitable that will result in needing to replace them a second time, at least, before I get rid of the truck. Also moisture intrusion sucks. I already have that on my one aftermarket light that came with the truck. My lighting devices are expensive enough as it is, I don't want them to fail prematurely due to water in the housings.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[T_Unit114]

Mopar black quads bought and installed yesterday. Truck is a disgusting salty mess and it was dark when I finished up so no pics yet. But they'll be added today most likely.


Not a massive change. But it made a huge difference in the look of the truck. I feel like I need to do something with the fogs now to kinda get more black down low. Maybe I'm just crazy.




Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[T_Unit114]

Earlier in the week I located and installed a horizontal bar grille. This morning I went out to my remote started truck to leave and get a new power washer and found a puddle of coolant streaming to my floor drain. I can't believe how cruddy of a material these gaskets are made of. It literally disintegrated as I tried to remove it. Dry and brittle as hell. Outrageous. I spent almost an hour digging out the gasket and cleaning the baked crusty coolant residue out of the pump housing. Usually gaskets are silicone. This was a very obviously cheap rubber. The only thing about this truck that I found disappointing so far. After a fresh load of coolant and a solid hour idling and some driving around I believe I have burped the system thoroughly. I will keep a jug handy just in case though.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[T_Unit114]

Found out you can stuff a rigid bar in the bumper hole. So that's pretty neat.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[zacbar]

Great looking truck. Are you still running the Morimoto HID kit? Considering the same

 

[T_Unit114]

Thanks! Yes I'm still running the Morimoto HIDs. I love them. I did have a ballast crap out on me about a week and a half ago and I got this kit second hand. They went above and beyond my expectations on getting a replacement sorted out for me. That will be arriving next week I would imagine. I still have an old kit from a previous truck that I robbed a ballast from to get me by.

My first experience with Morimoto and TRS has definitely sold me on their products and support. 11/10 in my opinion.

Future plans short term are new side steps, and a set of adapters so I can run a set of wheels I've had holed up in the garage that I think might just fit the build look I'm going for with this truck. But they're 6 lug GM. So 1.5 adapters should have me sitting how I want. Maybe. Also have tint on the short list and getting the fogs and highs converted to LEDs.

Long term I want to eventually get my hands on a set of 19+ HD led tails, maybe a sport hood, a front 2" hitch receiver, shorty tonneau cover, JBA ceramic coated stainless cat4wards and arp bolts. It's coming up on 150k so I'll likely be stocking up on spark plugs and looking into MSD blaster coils. Maybe a cold air intake and I have an idea I want to try regarding the tailpipes since they're a vband style and stainless. (I have a set of tips chilling in a box that I want to possibly experiment with.



Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[T_Unit114]

Light bar has been performing flawlessly, picked up LED fogs earlier this week and swapped in some LEDs for the license plate lights. Just need to do some digging on high beam LEDs and I'll have my lighting exactly how I want it.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[T_Unit114]

Got my steps replaced. Located a set of wheels to wheel OEM ones in damn near new condition for $50! Had to buy a new hardware kit but having $80 into a set of steps that normally run $600 and barely look used is nothing to scoff at. They feel much more stable and I can get into the toolbox much easier now too!

Detailed the outside tonight.

Scrapped the adapters idea after learning I'd need two piece adapters to the tune of what it would cost for brand new wheels in the correct lug pattern. Got a guy after the six lug set and that'll cover almost all the cost of the new wheels as I'm selling 5 and buying 4.

Not in a huge rush for LED highs anymore as the stock ones do alright and the bar covers the longer distances when there is zero traffic in sight.

Broke the 150k Mile mark. Switched to midgrade after notice a half mpg drop from my average fuel economy last summer and some very random, occasional and minor (even that would be a strong word) fluctuations in idle rpm so I'm thinking I'll be looking at fresh plugs and coil packs for the fall season.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[T_Unit114]

****** Hybrid ceramic applied, wheels ordered

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[T_Unit114]

Wheels on! I questioned my life choices initially but after a couple days, it's grown on me. The longer you look at the daytime shot, the better it looks.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[T_Unit114]

TINT 20% on the sides to match the privacy glass and a 5% brow. After it cures I'll be remounting the emergency lights that were in the visor area. I'll have to lower them down a bit I think so they are still effective.

Slowly knocking the list down. I've done more to this truck in two years than I ever had the ability to do to my old truck in the 10 years I had it. Crazy looking back at it. Especially considering I have a house and a couple kids now.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[T_Unit114]

Did some light night time trail riding with the truck a week ago in some decent rain storms. Dune Grapplers dig pretty good, I'm happy with them. Picked up a few more detailing supplies to help with the clean up after my off road adventures. Not many upgrades planned for the truck right now. I'm pretty sure she will be parked for the winter on a battery tender and the diesel Jeep will be the winter beater for me. I'm hovering around 155k miles and have to do some maintenance on the Jeep before winter takes hold around here so I'll probably start running that around a bit for work so I can find any bugs and iron them out while the weather is decent.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[T_Unit114]

Jeep said no to winter beater status. Shat another turbo actuator and lost comms with the ECM the first week I drove it. So it's on the tender and the truck has been pulling daily duty. Work has been slow for me so it's on the back burner for fixes right now.

I did pick up a new controller for my lights/siren. I was tapped out on buttons and had to switch a couple over for lights and I was not a fan of giving up my siren tones. So I switched to a typhoon full function. I have a knob and two buttons dedicated to the siren and 6 buttons for lights. Much more manageable now.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[T_Unit114]

Zero changes to the truck since the last post. Just been racking up miles. But it developed a very minor occasional miss about a month ago at idle. 170k miles, probably due for it's first tune up.

MSD 8255 coil packs, and 16 NGK 92145 plugs ordered and arrived in 36 hours. Summit can bang out an order I tell ya.

They'll be installed tomorrow. I did a little visual customization on the red coil packs and gapped the plugs in the three hours I was home between work shifts.

Sent from my motorola edge plus using Tapatalk

 

[T_Unit114]

Not a whole lot has changed in the two some odd years since this was last updated. Tapatalk hasn't hosted this forum in a couple years and browser optimization on mobile is clunky.

I have rolled over 200k miles and sit at 212k now.

I added ditch lights on hood hinge brackets, replaced my HID low beams with LEDs after multiple ballast failures, replaced my Sho-me mini light bar with a Whelen Responder LP, the side warning lights with Soundoff Signal M-Power squishy lights, and had an oil pressure sensor failure which I replaced.

My exhaust is separating at the post cat connection, so I will be ordering a Borla S-Type very soon.