Run to the Hills! - Jason's Glacial Pace Colorado GTFO Build

Those feels, I know them. Honestly I don't even think the tub is where I have my leaks anymore, I think my rear windows are letting water in.

 

Damn, man. That sucks. But maybe that's an easy fix?

 

What?!

Letting water in behind the panel and traveling to the front? Where are you finding water at now?

 

Yeah we got heavy rains when I was doing my carpet removal/vinyl install and water would gather depending on which way I parked the truck (nose up or down) and tracked the water coming in from the side wall under those windows. I probably just need to replace the window seals but that requires pulling the side walls which I didn't want to do. Just going to keep an eye on it and see how serious of an issue it really is. It was straight pouring when it happened but if I like wash the truck it doesn't come in.

 

Wouldn't have to pull them completely. But would be much nicer if you did. Which is not very fun but not that hard.

 

I just feel like if I am going to do that I will do sound proofing at the same time and time/budget doesn't currently allow that lol

 

@jubei777 was your locker light on initially when you installed the ECGS rear?

I'm told by a second gen guy that you need to move the diff into the locked position for it to come out. I don't remember doing that. Maybe my diff came in the locked position?

 

I remember having to get in there and manually move the actuator to the locked position (I think) to get the 3rd out, and then move it back to the unlocked position once it was installed. All I did was turn the gear with a flathead screwdriver.

I looked back in my build, but I never made me of that. So just going off my memory here.

 

Yeah I unlocked it this morning already haha, couldn't sleep last night if you could tell by the time stamps. I'm just surprised it was locked when I took it out because I did not manually move it. My theory is that when we were setting up the switches for the elocker it stayed in the locked position. Shit, I hope that doesn't mean my switch will leave the locker on. We'll see when I can finally get this damn thing out of the garage.

 

When I was messing with my actuator last weekend this happened. The gear has to be pushed all the way to the right to unlock. Mine was just the tiniest bit to the left when I initially installed the actuator and it caused some binding during lock/unlock or the diff. All binding was in the actuator gear, but it sounded horrific.

 

Well it's definitely all the way over now. Hopefully I can test for functionality soon.

 

Finally got the truck out of the garage and on the road!!!

Granted, it was all highway miles to Grand Junction, but the truck did great! In fact, she drove like a raped ape, and just flat out BOMBED up the passes. With the 5.29s and 35s, she just hums along around 3500 at 80 like it's no big deal. Granted, that's without the RTT and a full loadout, but still, it was pretty cool!

...

The tubbing is done for all intents and purposes. The last couple of things are kind of "insurance", and I'll get to them when I get back. Basically, I need to foam the dead space near the cab mount with expandable foam. There are a lot of options, but that is the one that feels best to me. The idea of the foam displacing all of that volume is pretty attractive. We'll see how it goes.

I'll try to get some pics of the truck later today.

 

Told Ya 5.29s are the shit.


Add a blower and shit gets really interesting.

 

Holy shit.

I just got back home from Grand Junction, and managed to survive possibly the worst nighttime 'winter' driving conditions I've ever encountered on I-70. And I've driven that highway A LOT, especially in the winter to go home and back for the holidays.

Vail Pass was bad. Wet roads with standing water and hydroplaning, transitioning to black ice and driving snow. Not a huge problem, but not the most fun I've had, for sure.

But the approach to the tunnels was a completely different animal. Coming into Frisco, it was like someone unleashed hell. Huge, fat, snowflakes. Crazy crosswinds, and icy roads with no discernible margins because the whiteout was so bad. I had my defroster cranked and it was barely keeping up. I honestly thought about pulling over and waiting it out because I just flat couldn't see for shit.

Thankfully, on the east side of the tunnels, it was dramatically better. Still sketchy, but not anywhere near the level of mayhem on the west side. And as I got closer to Denver, the weather gradually got better.

What I learned, specifically about the truck, is that it needs some help in a few areas, but that it also probably saved my ass tonight. Cars were hydroplaning and sliding around on black ice, and the truck always felt planted. I can't say enough good things about the ST Maxx after having them pull me up to the tunnels without slipping one single time. And the powerband and gearing were perfect for steadily pulling up the passes and then engine braking down. So glad I have a manual.

However, there were two areas of improvement:

The first has to do with lighting. I need to kill my fucking DRLs like yesterday. The headlights were terrible, and I couldn't even attempt to try just my running lights. So instead, I was effectively nearly snow blind in whiteout conditions. The plan is to kill the DRLs, and invest in some proper fog lights that won't just puke light right back at me in those conditions.

The second issue involves the tubbing. I can now officially petition for membership in the leaky tub club. It's not bad. And in fact, it was barely a trickle with no discernible pooling. But there is some "weeping" at the peak of both tubs. I'm not super spun up, because for it to only be that much, given the onslaught of rain, slush and snow is not too shabby. But I will have to address it.

All in all, the truck did great. I even managed to get some dirt miles in when my dad and I drove up on Piñon Mesa and Glade Park and drove all the way to the Utah border. On a whim, I engaged my rear locker, and it engaged and disengaged flawlessly. So, while there are some things to deal with, all in all, the truck is performing far beyond my expectations.

 

Damn with all of you guys and your leaky tubs haha will have to keep better ey on mine.

Y'all need to learn to weld better

Also in those kind of white out conditions, no light will help it sounds like.

But I'm all for getting cool new lights

 

Sucks to hear about the leak, at least it isn't terrible. Did you do the welding or did Jake?

I have to partially agree with Monte regarding lighting; nothing can really help in complete whiteout conditions. Projectors greatly improved drive ability at night, though. So much so that I may say they are my favorite mod.

I couldn't see the output from the OEM headlights while driving I70 beforehand, oncoming and neighboring traffic would completely drown them out. Projectors easily light the path.

 

Piaa 510 ions for fogs. Best lights I have ever owned hands down, and work awesome in the snow. The color is perfect to light up snowy roads that your headlights reflect off of.

Stay away from LEDs, their color and difuse beam pattern are horrible for snow.

 

Yeah, that whiteout was nuts. I just figure that an amber light mounted lower might not be as bad as the damn headlights or DRLs.

When the time and budget line up for some lighting upgrades, you'll be the first one I'll hit up!

Jake did the welding on my passenger side with MIG and a buddy of mine did the driver side with TIG. The MIG side was certainly rougher, but I made sure to get seam sealer on both sides as I went around the welds so that when it squeezed through any holes, it met seam sealer on the other side and made a rivet of sorts.

One thing I noticed last night is that it almost looks like I had some water sneak through the wiring grommet above the clutch. Again, it was really minimal, but my concern is more for water crossings down the road and for trails like Kane Creek where you're driving in the creek a ways. I'm doing a snorkel soon, and part of that effort is gonna be devoted to sealing critical intake, wiring, and cab stuff. It'll be an ongoing fight, looks like.

Oh, and I'll definitely look into HIDs and projectors at some point. I'm not into halos and shit, I just want modern headlights with good performance and good cutoff.

 

Outstanding.

Thanks, Brett. I appreciate the info!

 

Oh, and don't think this didn't go unnoticed, Monte

I'd LOVE to drop in a SC after all of the major shit is done.