LS6 Swap 2nd Gen Build + New Tundra

Superior mall crawler protection.

 

UPDATE TIME!

So tonight, we did the following:

Topped off Coolant
Drained and filled both front and rear diff’s
Drained and filled transmission and tcase
Drained and changed engine oil/filter
Re-bled the brakes
Found R134 leak and recharged AC System
Set Accusump pressure and repaired


Soooooooooo AC gurus……

we charged the ac system with 1.5lbs of refrigerant, and the driver side would get kinda cold, but passenger side was close to ambient. So we recovered and recharged to 1.1lbs, and neither side really got colder than ambient. High pressure side is at 450psi and low pressure side is at 10 psi. High side needle is bouncing around a ton. Also the high side hose got incredibly hot. Fittings couldn’t even touch them. This kinda makes me think bad expansion valve, but I just replaced it when I did the LS swap initially. So no clue.


The accusump is a funny story. I never checked the instructions when I installed it, so the pressure was set to like 130psi. Needed to be at 15 psi. So I dialed it back, but also found the wire connectors on the solenoid for it weren’t connected. They fell off, and they keep falling off. So I’m just going to solder those next time I have the truck.

the brakes: we bled all 4 corners, didn’t see any air come out of them at all, but man the brakes feel amazing now. 10/10 way better than they did before.

I took the truck out to my local whoop spot, and HAMMERED it. The new lockers let the truck hook up so well in the dirt, and the shorter gears make this truck FAST in the dirt. The new 3.0 rears feel insane. Can’t wait to start do some dialing in.


It’s actually been about a year since I’ve hit this spot, and I should’ve checked it out first, but I hit a washout and had a really hard hit in the front end. Little issue now, my steering wheel is at the 9:00 position driving straight. The wheels track together, nothing looks bent, and it feels fine. Didn’t notice it till I was on the street again. But the steering almost sounds like it groans just a hair while you’re moving the wheel. I can’t find anything bent or cracked or broken, everything looks perfect, so I guess I’m off to get a toe alignment and should be back in business.

Todo list:

find an ac guru to dick with it for a while and get it working

alignment


But man I’m ready for a cinders trip again.

 

Where is your high side service port located? Is it on the compressor discharge line or on the condenser outlet?
Typically an expansion valve that is stuck closed causes both sides to be low.

 

Both service ports are located right on their respective lines just as they come out of the compressor.

I guess more what I was thinking was the orifice tube being blocked up with shit, since it’s part of the expansion valve.

When it was charged to 1.5lbs, and the pressure was over 450, it was hitting the pressure switch cut off and turning off the compressor.

 

It seems there's a restriction somewhere then but without being familiar with how you plumbed your system I may not be much help.

Is the line coming out of the condenser hot as well?

 

Honestly didn’t check it

 

I mean usually when you have a restriction in an A/C system the line immediately after the restriction will be cool or cold.

That's essentially what the expansion valve is is a controlled restriction, you don't want any restrictions anywhere else in the system.

 

Gotcha, that makes sense. I’m a little stumped because nothing has changed since it was working last time, besides it leaking all the refrigerant out. But none of the lines have been taken off or opened and the compressor hasn’t been turned besides that one time for 5 seconds when we were diagnosing the ac controller.

 

I mean the high head pressure and very low suction pressure suggest a restriction somewhere, you sure no lines got kinked/pinched?

You didn't put refrigerant with stop leak in it did you?

 

Hhahahaa never. Just R134a PAG with dye in it. The OEM Toyota/Lexus stuff. No lines are kinked to my knowledge but doesn’t hurt to double check I suppose

 

Just tossing around ideas from stuff I've seen before, gona have to do some detective work.
If you have a thermal camera that may help as well.

 

I’ll have to snag the one we have at work but that’s a good idea too. AC shit is just wizardry. Wish it was simple like airplane AC systems.

 

Well I got the truck figured out. Pulled all the ac lines off the truck, blew them all out, no blockages at all. Replaced the expansion valve just for giggles, and it’s all good too. Recharged to 1.5lbs, got the truck warm enough to turn the fans on and boom! Ice cold AC!

also fixed my steering. Got it centered back up. No damages were found to the suspension, with the exception of a small crack in my spindle gusset now. The hit it took last night was really hard, definitely not its fault. But good excuse to upgrade I guess? Or maybe just stop drill it and reweld it. It’s teeny tiny. But if that’s all the damage from that huge hit I’ll take it.

 

Re-weld, then put into a furnace or oil bath at around 650° F for about 6 hours. Then re-install.

 

Does the crack look fresh? Mine have all sorts of fatigue cracks. Can’t wait to get this project truck out of the garage and install the drt fully fabbed spindles.

 

Yeah pretty fresh, I mean I can’t remember the last time I looked at it, but definitely didn’t used to be there.

I really want the new DRT spindles, but 2k for them is a bit much at the moment. Me and my wife just found out we have our first kiddo on the way. So should probably reel in the taco mods

 

Hell yeah man!!! Other than my two trips this summer I’m trying to bank funds and time off for our new addition later this year. Lucky I spent all my play money early this year lol

 

Congratulations! you need to wheel the shit out of this truck for the next few months…your free time is about to take a hit.

 

I know, I’m glad I got the truck caged and figured out. Gonna have to start treating it kindly and stop trying to break it every time I go out.

Thanks! Yeah my wife isn’t thrilled about not being able to go off-roading, she’s excited to get back in the seat, but I suppose I’ll probably need to replace the bench in the back with an actual race seat for a kid

 

Congrats man!!!
Carseats take up a lot more room than you think. Or at least more than I thought lol. I designed my cage around a carseat and it was still tight. You may need to test fit a couple options to find one that fits. Message me at any time if you want to talk more when the time comes.