Now for a little where I came from...

My very first duramax. An 02 LB7, heres the day I brought her home...



After my personal modifications....



Had her for a little over a year and then tragedy struck...
An idiot in an hhr tried to beat a red light and lost control on ice and that was the end of it.










With the money from the insurance I bought a 2003 LB7.


This truck turned out to be a headache but quick as hell!!!
Had a lot of fun, but wasn't worth the stress I had from it.



After almost a year I had enough and traded her and got a truck payment but got a dream truck. Here she is the day I brought her home!!! 03/13/2013
2006 GMC Sierra 2500HD SLE 4x4 CCSB
Silver Birch Metallic
123,639









After adding the tool box.

 

Tranny Lines and Airbox Fail

Next thing I did was fix the leaky tranny lines.....



Heres some pictures I took along the way. All in all wasn't to bad, I did get drenched in tranny fluid though. I also have the lines ran a little odd but I have some rubber hoses around em to where they touched various parts of the frame so they do not run through.






Various trim pieces removed.


A view of what I removed motor wise to install the lines.


Heres a picture of the old tranny lines. I did cut them to take em out to make it easier.



Still no leaks! Alligator makes a great kit for this, and id recommend it to anyone. I went with the smaller size line, not the performance one too. :neener



So I decided to take out my pos k&n filter and install a stock one. Well it was stuck in there and wouldn't budge and I ended up pulling the whole dang box apart!!!! Heres the carnage....






And my beautiful duct tape job! Better then new!!





Heres a short video of it happening, my boss thought it was hilarious... was pretty funny though.
CLICKY!



More to come tomorrow!

 

Well injured myself at work, thats why there hasnt been anymore posts yet. I will begin again tomorrow i promise. This is mostly for me but I am also gonna rebuild my fuel filter head tomorrow and install the fender liner for easy access. Also changing fuel filter too. All taped up now so we will see how tomorrow goes. Oh here's some pics! Hurts like hell now. :thumb

 

I'm on my work computer and I always have issues seeing pics. This is the 1 set of pics I can see in this thread...lol. FML...

 

Fighting with a weed wacker?

Kidding, keep the pics coming. It's something I need to add more of on mine.


Gonna be tons when I do the trans haha

 

Next came replacing my #3 injector. I have no pictures of this, but it wasn't very hard. It did take me all of 6 hours to do a hub bearing and the injector as I had to go get the hub bearing and I ran into complications with the injector. Also spent an hour looking for the fuel line clip because I lost it only to find out the new injector had one on it.... I couldn't remove the line from the rail and about gave up after trying to bend it forever. Well I went to re install the line and the injector slid right out. So then it was a matter of bending the line to sit on top of the injector again. Sorry no pictures of that....

After that was my #3 glow plug install, cat filter adapter, and IdahoRob tuning.
I only have limited pictures of this, but it was eazy breezy!!!

I removed the wheel for easy access to the glow plug and fuel filter.



Next it was a matter of removing the nut on top of the glow plug to take the line off and then removing the glow plug itself. I had no problems with the tip breaking. I was relieved. Here is the old glow plug.



And here's the new glow plug installed with a new nut. :thumb



Next I started on re building the fuel filter head and installing the cat adapter. Well I didn't take any pictures along the way, but since im doing it again today I will take some today. Anyways here is the finished product.



Next was some tuning from IdahoRob. No pictures of that, but at first we had problems with the tuners. But all is fixed now! :gearjamin

 

Exhaust Time

Now onto the exhaust. I guess you could say I have a thing for MBRP as I have had them on every duramax ive owned. They are simple to install and sound great and are not to expensive either. Well this truck was no different. I went with this system...
MBRP 4" Performance Series Downpipe-Back Exhaust System S6004P


Not much to say to install the system. I used a lift at work to install it and was simple.

Heres the new system...



And the stock system next to the new one.




And hers the exhaust install video from our security camera. We took our time in doing it and stopped to mess around, but was simple.

 

So I had this annoying rattle under the dash and it turned out to be where the dash connects to the body. One of the slide in tabs was on top of the part it is supposed to slide in so every bump it rattled like crazy. Not to exciting here but here is some pics of the dashboard removed. Simple to do as well.




Heres the clips....




And the dash

 

Leveled her up next!!! I went with Rancho 9000, but so far I have had problems with them. On both rear shocks the knobs can no longer turn past 6 for some reason, and the passenger rear shock was a pain to install. But other then that they are good shocks! I will be contacting Rancho regarding the shock knob issue as well.





Leveled with 285s! Had a blast in the snow with em too!!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7_MwTh1vzI

 

Next on my list I came across a great deal on some tie rod sleeves. They are Deviant Tie Rod sleeves. I got them from Alligator Performance. Easy to install if you have the right tools, and make sure you get an alignment done afterwards. Just count the turns to remove the outer tie rod, and remove the nut, then spin on the tie rod sleeve and reverse the turns to put the outer tie rod back on. Much easier then measuring or counting threads.




After I put the sleeves on my belt started to chirp. I knew it was showing signs of cracks, so I replaced it with a Gatorback belt.



Its a great belt by the way. So far no noise or problems!!!

 

Transgo

Now onto some interesting stuff!!!

I had been wanting to install a transgo for a long time and finally got ahold of a guy who would help me install it. If your near Missouri I suggest Ethan Strein!!! Great guy and he knows his stuff about the Allison. We had the transgo, pump rub kit, and egr blocker plate in and out in a few hours. And he was the most reasonable price out there. Go to him!!! Thanks caleb for suggesting him by the way!

Heres the pics I took along the way!

The inside of the transfer case....


We thought for sure we would be nearing a whole in the tcase from the pump rub, but only a slight grove. We were surprised...






Tcase with the gears installed and the updated pump rub kit.



Heres the difference between stock....


And updated....


Now we have the valve body out and are installing the transgo...






Heres a picture of the Suncoast filter loc, and it installed as well with the internal filter.





And lastly heres a pic of the blocker plate installed...


All in all I am glad I got it installed with somebody that new what they were doing because I coulda figured it out but woulda took me a lot longer.

 

Rattle Fix

So I am sure yall have heard of the annoying brake caliper rattle, well I got tired of it and tried to replace the hardware but it didn't fix the rattle. Ended up having to change the front pads and use the hardware that came with the pads. Also put some electrical tape underneath the slides hoping it would help stop the rattle as well, and that got rid of it! Heres pics I took replacing the hardware...

The new hardware...

 

Time for Shimming the FPRV!!

I went to the track and the best run I could make in 2wd was a 15. One run was a 16.4. I was losing so much rail pressure, it was ridiculous. So I decided to try and shim my FPRV.

I would do a write up but not very good with them, so heres some pics I took along the way. I followed the instructions and went smoothly. One thing different from everybody else's install was mine wasn't super human tight. It was tight but not that tight. I did use a huge wrench to remove it but still wasn't very tight. Maybe people just need the correct tools. Good thing I worked in a shop and had access to the wrench though. Im sure it would have been a pain with a smaller wrench though...

Removed the air to work easier.







The FPRV removed next to the shim kit.





After its taken apart...

 

...

 

So I woke up today with the intention of taking a bunch of pictures and only made it about half the day with pictures as things kept getting complicated. Well started this morning with a bottle test. Now im sure all these tasks could have been done much quicker but with me down one hand and half my strength things were rough. Anyways here we go....

I got some 3/8 hose and initially re used the actual u shaped hose but when I checked for leaks I found a hole in the hose. So I ended up cutting a piece of the hose I got and made that into the other hose.
Turns out that u shaped hose is 40 bucks at gm, so I may just run my mock hose for a while.



So I ran my hose different then everybody else, I got enough to run into the cab so I can watch the bottle. Heres the setup.





Well after driving for a while with probably 50 full throttle runs, and relocating the bottle back under the hood, I got absolutely nothing in the bottle. I couldn't even get her to lose rail pressure though. So I can't rule out the FPRV just yet. I will be racing Saturday at NHRDA so we will see how she does then.



While I was out and about I stopped at radioshack and picked up the diode for the All On mod. Wow was it easy. I popped the hood in the parking lot, stuck one end of the diode in 85 on the high beam, and the other in the low beam 85 and boom done. So easy!!!





Well last pictures I have are cutting the wheel well liner for the filter access door. Pretty simple, the only thing that could be improved is the cut out is flat while the inner fender has angles at the top so on the left side it doesn't contact at one point. Don't see it creating a problem, but just my two cents.





Well after I cut it I began trying to remove the fuel filter and I guess I had super human strength when I put it on as I ended up having to remove the cat filter adapter, drive a screwdriver through the filter, use a strap wrench, c clamp, and a drill bit. Oh and another guy to help as well. Got it off but man was that stupid.

Then came rebuilding the filter head again, seemed all was well until I had to put the stock clamps back on the fuel lines to the head. With one hand I couldn't get it, so had to get help again.

It sucks bad being down a hand. But that's why I couldn't take more pics. Next time will be better. I should be installing the ppe ported rail fitting for the hell of it and will try and do a write up as well.

I will also get videos and pics of my truck if I do go run it on Saturday!

 

So I called the parts department at gm and that little u shaped hose is over 100 bucks.... gonna check around online. But if my fprv isnt even opening then that hose has no meaning right? I made a hose for it but it is almost bent shut if it isnt already.

 

Bump

 

Bump for the night crew

 

Very nice so far! Keep up the pictures and modifications

 

Thanks Bud!!!

 

Looks good man :thumb im in for the continuing progress reports

 

Thanks!!! I wish my build was as cool as yours though!

Maybe check for a used one? Or did you find the hose anywhere else?

Haven't looked elsewhere because I was thinking and isnt that hose there just for when the fprv opens? Because in all my craziness the other day I didnt get a drop if fuel out of it...

 

Maybe check for a used one? Or did you find the hose anywhere else?

 

Well I got on it today and lost rail pressure again so im not sure where to look now. Its the first time in a while that its happened. I would think if I needed a lift pump then it would be every time. And if it was sucking air it would happen alot more frequently too. Could it be some bs in my tank? I dont even know where to look. Help?

 

Bump!

 

How big of a tune you running when it drains? I think it's time for a lift pump possibly.

 

120hp, but it used to even do it in the 90hp as well. Also when I pump my primer i can pump it like 20 times before it gets hard... i have a cat adapter and filter as well though.

 

Wonder if the filter head needs to be rebuilt. I know usually it's replaced when you have to prime every time you start the truck, but maybe yours is just starting to go? I know the kit is cheap enough, might just be pissing in the wind though. Hopefully someone has a better answer.