I bought a 2001 K2500HD LT Victory Red and Graphite leather new in April of 2001. I got the 6.0 gas because I was scared of the first gen Dmax. Kept it and drove it for 11 years. One day during a hurrican evacuation it hit me. There was no gasoline and people were on the side of the road throwing rocks at each other while ******** with their diesels were rolling up to the pump and getting fuel. That's when it hit me. I needed a diesel with an auxiliary tank.

Now my beautiful baby girls had grown up in that truck from babies and loved that truck because with a 6 inch lift and 34s they could see out of the truck in their car seats and see over most of the other cars. When I mentioned selling it they cried. So as I searched for trucks I ran across many diesels but decided between a 2003 7.3L Ford and an exact replica of my gas Chevy. The girls voted for the Chevy. It was the same year, same LT model, same color combo. The only difference was the diesel engine and a long box bed. It was in WA state and I discussed over the phone with the dealer who seemed reputable and because it had only 125K on it I assumed it was a safe bet that it was in great shape. My gasser only had 130K on it after 11 years so I was pumped about getting the same truck with potential for many more miles.

So I wire the money and they agree to deliver the truck to the house.

This picture is the day I sold the gasser. My little one was bawlling hysterically

They arrive with the truck and the first thing that I notice is that it looks MUCH bigger in person than it did in the pictures. Apparently the long bed masks the true size. It dwarfed my gasser short box with a 6 inch lift and 34s.

It was in great..no phenomenal shape. The interior looked unused and the body was perfect as was the paint. The tires were brand new Toyo OC MTs and I was pumped.

The very next morning I went to start it and .....spinning but no start......

And thus began the crash course in modern diesels.....

 

So I was a bit panicked and depressed by a purchase that was not working. I decided that I didn't know enough about diesels to really asess the situation so I thought I'd find a diesel shop to give it a thorough going through to help me understand if the issue was minor or if there were any other issues present.

My intent was that if there was an issue, I'd send it back and squash the deal.

So the mechanic I chose went through it and pronouced the issue to be filter head losing prime and a weak CP3. He also pulled a P0700 code which he said was no big deal because lifted trucks often through that code. (remember that little tidbit for later in the story)

I worked a deal with the dealer to split the cost of the repairs and went ahead and had the mechanic throw the ADII165 on it and a Banks Big Head turbo wastegate. All was well in the world and since the split of the expense with the dealer came with a settlement agreement which meant they were washing their hands.

So....3 months later I connect it to a 10,000 pound trailer for the first time and about 150 miles away from home......I learn what limp mode is.

Apparently that "nothing to worry about" P0700 code was a clue to the previously limped transmission. At this point I really begin to reseach and learn about modern diesels. I settle on a shop 140 miles to the East in Sulphur LA, Calvin's which is also home base to Kory Willis of PPEI tuning.

I drop the truck off and $6000 later I have a bullet proof built tranny capable of holding well over 850HP at the wheels and EFI Live tuning with DSP 5 switch.

Suddenly I love my truck again.... despite the fact that Kory tells me that balance rates are not bad, but at some point in the future I'll be needing injectors.....

A year later, I'm back for all new Bosch injectors, all new injector lines, cups pulled and resealed...and another $6000 bill

So now I'm nearly $40k into a truck that's worth 18-20K. Real smart financial move but I got a great education on diesels,right?

It gets better. We decide on buying a trailer...a fifth wheel. Well, that makes using the LB7 impossible without lowering it and doing a bunch of other work since the fifth wheel we want is really more than the truck is rated for. Thus I become the proud owner of a new LML dually...and decide to keep the LB7

So 3 years into this truck and it runs great looks great and I put a total of 7,000 miles on it.

We bought a weekend/hide site and all the driving back and forth is putting too many miles on the LML. Thus I want to be able to use the LB7 and drive it more often without looking for parking garages with 8ft clearance....

 

So before I did that, I had a vibration of idle in the drivetrain and decided it was the 2 piece drive shaft. Found a neat little store....DMax Store, that had a massive one piece replacement. Replaced the shaft and the rear yoke in order to be able to use the larger heavier duty joint.

Note the snap on seal driver...AKA 2x6.
Because of the crush sleeve on the pinion there are technical things that are supposed to be done to make sure you get the pinion re torqued to the right specs. I pulled both axles and got a bearing on the rotational torque so that when I reassembled I could approximate it.

Turns out it was a waste of time. I put it all back together and torqued it with all I had with a breaker bar and called it good.

 

So here is the game plan.

Zone 6 inch lift
Used set of stock rear leaf springs of a 2010 (the currents are Deaver 10 inch springs)
All new front end joints and bushings
All new steering linkage
New AC Delco upper control arms (the FTS lift has the tubular with those fancy joints)
35 inch rubber (still debating but likely Toyo)
New exhaust...a real exhaust with a muffler that goes out the back

 

Subd for the SAS and air ride

 

I don't plan on growing up anytime soon, Tex.
Look into Cooper tires. I was running Toyo ATs, but am more than happy with the Cooper AT3s.

 

Lift ordered from DMax Store today. Leaf springs came in from LKQ today so I will pick them up Monday.

Next weekend I plan to start on the rear first which will put the truck at a better angle when I go to start playing with the front. The good thing is that I had previously installed a lift on the 2001 gasser so prior lessons learned should be helpful. I may have to find and weld some bumpstops or get some hydro bumps to install once the 12 inch lift is off. I hope I can net the cost out to zero by selling the 12 inch lift and springs and tires.

 

picked these up from LKQ 2010 with 60k miles on them

 

looks like fun Tex. How you been?

 

Good Steve. You?

 

Not bad getting ready to have my hip replaced.

 

Lift kit showed up and I decided to give it one last bath before going under the knife.

Took some measurements of before

 

Lets start tearing stuff down. Starting with the rear

Apparently the small block under one side of the deavers was cracked....

So here's a moment for you,

I'm breaking the ubolts loose on the rear and I have the axle lowered down. As I hit the trigger with the gun in the vertical position, my left hand is supporting the gun with my little finger under the rear. It breaks loose....and then threads down....and then pins the gun to the shop floor...with my little finger underneath. And the reverse switch is ...you guessed it...on the back of the gun.

So my finger is pinned to the floor and I can't reverse the gun....and no one is around to help...

Fortunately after a moment I realized I could roll over a bit and use the floor jack to raise the axle......

The rear is pretty straight forward
finsihed rear with cali lean

 

Gonna paint the rear underneath red to match the front?

 

no. But as you'll see later, I did try to paint the front calipers....

 

before

So tearing the front end down....parts-a-flyin

Noticed a bad left wheel hub...so the rabbit hole gets deeper. Decide since I have it all torn down its time to replace everything. Hubs, brakes, poly pushings, steering linkage, steering box, torsion bars etc...

 

Love the backstory and progression! Subd for the whole 9 yards, lol...

 

Thanks. And all the stuff that came off will be up for sale shortly.

 

Ha, my neighbor did the same thing while working on his travel trailer suspension. It was his whole hand and couldn't reach his jack and his hand covered the reverse switch. He hollered until he got the attention of his brother in law next door. Wasn't a happy camper, pardon the pun.

 

No more hip pictures! Rofl

Hope it all goes according to plan

 

Lookin good! Get it ridin right so you can sell it to me!

 

I'm starting to think Jeff is wearing off on me...I'm considering selling everything and starting over. 2017 F450 Platinum, toy hauler and a pontoon boat....smh

 

I feel like I've read all of this before... Oh wait, I have - over on RM

Definitely will be a much more useful truck when its all done.

 

Deja vu all over again....

 

Hi Tex, what's shaking? I like both the before and after with the lb7 drop. Awesome truck dude!!!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

In on this

 

In.