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Gpcalero

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234
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SW Florida
Can you make the vids public

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Nice catch!!! Not sure why they were set on private. Should be good now, give it a try. Thanks
:thumbs:

Here's the cam chop after install with just the stock headers, nothing else. Untuned. Loud as hell and sounds like ass lol.

[video=youtube_share;Ns7rE6M02M0]https://youtu.be/Ns7rE6M02M0[/video]

And here is how the Duke sounded the next day with the exhaust back on. Stock headers, primary & secondary cat delete, and a 40 series muffler.

[video=youtube_share;o7sQanJo80c]https://youtu.be/o7sQanJo80c[/video]


The sound outside the truck is perfect, loud enough that people will deff notice and hear it chop but not so loud that I worry about waking my neighbors or can't cruise comfortably inside the cabin lol.
 

amrg

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The open headers reminds me of my offroad y pipe, very noisy and amazing [emoji16]!

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Gpcalero

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Messages
234
Location
SW Florida
Dyno Day!

Brought The Duke to my buddy's shop to get custom tuned after the camshaft install!

Performance Cycle and Auto is the name of the shop and it is located in Naples, FL. Brandon Cunningham owns it along with his father and he was the one who tuned it. We used HPTuners software and everything came out quite nicely.

Here's The Duke all strapped down on the dyno for the second time. Again, the front driveshaft was removed and the transfer case was locked in 4-High in order to make it rear-wheel drive to use the dyno.

AzevsPi.jpg


Here's a video of one of the pulls. Only took 4 pulls to get dialed in to where we wanted it to be on the dyno.

[video=youtube_share;l779ilULK1E]https://youtu.be/l779ilULK1E[/video]


After the final dyno pulls, we went out on the street to perform some drivability tuning and also worked on cam and idle tuning.

All in all, we gained +51 hp and +29 tq peak numbers. Final figures were 269 hp, 276 tq at the rear wheels, which was exactly the hp increased as advertised by Texas Speed lol.

KgdKDvh.jpg


At some point in the future, I'll have to record a new video of the cam idle after the tune for you guys, as it is a little more pronounced.

Drives like stock after the tune, even with the stock converter. And since the cam install, I have only seen a small loss on MPG, 1 MPG less than stock when monitoring before and after.
 

amrg

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Great results! Has the idle speed been raised from 550 rpm (stock). If not and with you already making 90% of max torque at 2500 rpm a higher stalled TC isnt necessary, esp if you plan to tow alot

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Gpcalero

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Messages
234
Location
SW Florida
Great results! Has the idle speed been raised from 550 rpm (stock). If not and with you already making 90% of max torque at 2500 rpm a higher stalled TC isnt necessary, esp if you plan to tow alot

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Thanks!

Yep! Not sure what it is actually set at now but I can approximate it when I drive it next.

And exactly, the reason for going with this specific cam was to not have to buy an aftermarket converter lol. When I spoke to Texas Speed about the kind of camshaft I wanted, they indicated that if I go much larger, then they would recommend a higher stalled converter which was something I didn't want to install. The future setup will deff need a new converter. Have one spec'd by Circle D already :wink:
 

Gpcalero

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Messages
234
Location
SW Florida
Local Sighting - Badass H3T

Saw this badass H3T not too long ago. Not sure if he's local but boy is his rig sweet.

Anybody know him?

MB7mMaL.jpg

09CZ7Ns.png
 

Gpcalero

Well-Known Member
Messages
234
Location
SW Florida
The Duke's New Look

This was a bit of a spa day for the Duke.

All of the trim on the truck was getting a little weathered, and the front A-pillar trim pieces most of all (like on all H3s for some reason). I kept applying plastic trim restore and honestly, they don't last that long after a detail and takes time to apply. So I looked around and found this trim restore paint from Dupli-Color. Yes, it's a trim paint and not restorer.

yhGVaOE.jpg


Even in the picture you can see how weathered the bed trim is and I wanted to make the truck look as close to new as possible.


​So I began by removing ALL of the trim pieces from the truck. Bed rail trim, rear bumper, tailgate inner wall piece, tailgate outside bottom trim piece A-piller, fake hood vent, roof rack trim & rear cab trim. Only two items I didn't do was the front bumper (new from previous damage), and fender flares because they both looked decent already.

Rear end trim pieces almost all removed here.

C6PSkvg.jpg


Once I removed the trim pieces, I laid them out and washed them with some water and degreaser prior to paint and let them dry in the sun. Notice the difference of fading on each piece. Soon they will all be consistent!


h8e8fi5.jpg


I couldn't find all of my pictures of this process because they are spread out between my phone and GoPro (and I did this a long time ago lol) but I also masked off the whole vehicle except for the bed and trim-painted the plastic bed and even the auxiliary fuel tank after degreasing them. I know the paint is not meant for the tank but I didn't want to drain and unbolt it. Has held up well so far, and if it starts peeling or coming off then I'll remove it and properly paint it or powder coat it black.

Once the bed was done, I moved on to these. I got lucky and scored a set of the roof marker lights off of eBay. Wasn't the cheapest purchase for what they are (basically just plastic pieces) but I always wanted them to complete the look of the truck. Whoever had them didn't install them right on their A-pillar trims, so I decided to dremel out my own A-pillar pieces and swap over the corner lights to mine. Here's how one of them turned out compared to before.

2TK6nyG.jpg


Couldn't find the pics of the install. But if anybody does this on their own then you will need riv-nuts and a riv-nut gun along with some caulking to seal the new holes you will be drilling into your roof.

Finally, after all the trim pieces had cured with a few coats of paint on them, they were reinstalled and a trip to my local tint guy was in order. I elected to go with a light ceramic tint on the front windshield and rear windows/rear cab window, as well as ceramic tint to the front windows dark enough to match the rears (since the rears already had privacy glass from factory).

Here's how it came out after a wash and wax a few days later. Love it. The roof marker lights, tint and trim really freshened up the look of the truck in my opinion. Very happy how it turned out.

Shortly after this, I also installed the roof marker bolt caps (that mine didn't come with) that were 3D printed by German of Lased Designs to cover up those ugly holes you might notice. I also swapped out the bulbs for some LEDs that are much brighter, the bulbs looked really dim at night.

yjaPWdu.jpg
 
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Gpcalero

Well-Known Member
Messages
234
Location
SW Florida
Making Way for Big Mods -- More Parts!!!

Lots of fun stuff and miscellaneous items in this post.

New in box Rancho 4" suspension lift kit. Was very excited when this showed up.

TQWOLOg.jpg

Being one of the few to be able to snag one of these overlooked kits made me very happy. I consider myself very lucky to have one after actively searching for used kits at the time and to have these just "pop-up" years after they stopped making them.

Trip to the drag strip using the T to tow the race car. The total weight is near the manufacturer limits but she seems to do just fine.

VbShbX5.jpg

For all you a$$ fans :wink:

5hk9k13.jpg

Around this time, I also did this mod to the lower side-trim piece on the drivers seat. Mine had started to sag and turn on my seat heater to High. Didn't take a pic of mine, this is one that I found online to address the issue. You put a screw in through the trim panel and into the seat plastic behind it to keep the panel from slipping down.


8Za4qcQ.png

New tires showed up for the lift install. All loaded up for their temporary new home until the lift goes on.

byMYlSB.jpg

I went with 35.00x12.50x17 Toyo MT tires. They are a bit heavier than a Trail Grap in the same size fyi, but sturdier construction evidently. Really wanted to go with a 37" tire but since I love to daily drive this thing, I figured to table that idea lmao.

8L4zyHv.jpg

And here are the new wheels! I absolutely love them. Method Racing 312 in matte black and made from solid A356 aluminum.

gj5RhDW.jpg

Left these with my buddies over at K9 Motorworks to mount and balance for me.


Also pulled the trigger on the Lased Designs dual Optima battery tray. Needed to replace the battery anyways so I purchased two and installed the new Optima Yellowtop in the truck. Mine is still wrapped up and in the box, here's a pic of how they look from German of LD. I need to get around to installing it, the battery and tray have been sitting in my garage for quite a while now lol. :no: Still deciding on what color to powdercoat it. Probably white or black. Hmmmm...

4w6KE5v.jpg

And finally... dropping off a couple of blocks to my engine builder, MPR Racing Engines. One is my buddies. Coyote 5.0 and the other is an aluminum 6.2L LS3, for The Duke. Heh-Heh.... I just well can't leave it alone and I scored a nice little deal to build this thing. For those of you don't know, the 6.2L LS3 will drop right in an Alpha. Just need to re-use the Alpha LH8 specific oil pan and the Alpha LH8 headers.

Bs0Buus.jpg

More to come... when I feel like posting
:giggle:
 
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amrg

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Lots of fun stuff and miscellaneous items in this post.

New in box Rancho 4" suspension lift kit. Was very excited when this showed up.

View attachment 26884

Being one of the few to be able to snag one of these overlooked kits made me very happy. I consider myself very lucky to have one after actively searching for used kits at the time and to have these just "pop-up" years after they stopped making them.

Trip to the drag strip using the T to tow the race car. The total weight is near the manufacturer limits but she seems to do just fine.

View attachment 26885

For all you a$$ fans :wink:

View attachment 26886

Around this time, I also did this mod to the lower side-trim piece on the drivers seat. Mine had started to sag and turn on my seat heater to High. Didn't take a pic of mine, this is one that I found online to address the issue. You put a screw in through the trim panel and into the seat plastic behind it to keep the panel from slipping down.


View attachment 26887

New tires showed up for the lift install. All loaded up for their temporary new home until the lift goes on.

View attachment 26888

I went with 35.00x12.50x17 Toyo MT tires. They are a bit heavier than a Trail Grap in the same size fyi, but sturdier construction evidently. Really wanted to go with a 37" tire but since I love to daily drive this thing, I figured to table that idea lmao.

View attachment 26889

And here are the new wheels! I absolutely love them. Method Racing 312 in matte black and made from solid A356 aluminum.

View attachment 26890

Left these with my buddies over at K9 Motorworks to mount and balance for me.


Also pulled the trigger on the Lased Designs dual Optima battery tray. Needed to replace the battery anyways so I purchased two and installed the new Optima Yellowtop in the truck. Mine is still wrapped up and in the box, here's a pic of how they look from German of LD. I need to get around to installing it, the battery and tray have been sitting in my garage for quite a while now lol. :no: Still deciding on what color to powdercoat it. Probably white or black. Hmmmm...

View attachment 26891

And finally... dropping off a couple of blocks to my engine builder, MPR Racing Engines. One is my buddies. Coyote 5.0 and the other is an aluminum 6.2L LS3, for The Duke. Heh-Heh.... I just well can't leave it alone and I scored a nice little deal to build this thing. For those of you don't know, the 6.2L LS3 will drop right in an Alpha. Just need to re-use the Alpha LH8 specific oil pan and the Alpha LH8 headers.

View attachment 26892

More to come... when I feel like posting
:giggle:
And obviously reusing all of the alpha engine accessories and their respectivd brackets

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Gpcalero

Well-Known Member
Messages
234
Location
SW Florida
Custom 6.2L Motor Complete!

Another track day excursion with the H3T as the tow pig.

I think The Duke looks extremely sharp pulling the race car behind it. Plan is to continue to use it and make a few changes to help towing in the future.


JzoFalt.jpg


New 35x12.5x17 Toyo MT tires mounted up on the Method Racing 312 wheels and how they look against this Mustang. Really like these wheels lol.


zG1kRMS.jpg


Then, a beach day with the T. Lazy summer day at the beach was long needed and right about now I could use another
:giggle:


QqKUwgL.jpg


Getting closer and closer to getting you guys to present day. This was a few months ago.


New custom built 6.2L LS3 short block is done. The rotating assembly is rated to 1000 rwhp according to Tim, the engine builder, although I won't be pushing anywhere near that figure. The plan is to keep it N/A and take advantage of the extra torque and displacement. Eagle crankshaft and Mahle pistons. The pistons are just slightly under the compression ratio of what a stock LS3 slug has.


39Ftooy.jpg


Heads are complete!


They are used LS3 castings that I had MPR port with Manley stainless steel intake and exhaust valves, and had the deck milled just a bit to bring back some of the compression lost from the pistons. With the new valve chamber volume, head gasket, and pistons, the compression ratio on this motor is going to be 11.2:1. In comparison, an LS3 engine has a stock compression ratio of 10.7:1. So the 11.2 CR is going to be perfect for an N/A truck.



lxHWKRN.jpg


It's a shame that I'll be covering these beauties up!


Here you can see the exhaust ports and the BTR Platinum dual valve spring kit installed. They are good for up to .660" of lift.


9Gz1nyE.jpg


And the view of the intake side with the ports cleaned up a bit by MPR. Should flow quite nicely.


y64X7Gl.jpg


And finally, the completed long block assembled.


sbuqmae.jpg


Has a new front timing cover with new sensors, new crank pulley (didn't see the need for an aftermarket high performance one in trucks intended use, Melling high output oil pump, and some nice matte black Holley valve covers that delete the ugly looking coil brackets. The valve covers put the coils at an angle and comes with a billet oil fill cap. Probably forgetting something but if you have a question, ask away.


The fun part of the engine is the new Texas Speed camshaft. I guess I never took a picture of it but I went a bit more aggressive (proportionally) than what is in the 5.3 that is in the truck now because I am going to be putting in a new torque converter. New cam specs are 224/236 & .600/.600" lift with a 111 LSA. She should be pretty damn rowdy lol.


Pretty much up to speed on the motor stuff. Next steps are to order a new converter and start compiling parts to build the transmission during the engine swap. I have no doubt in my mind that it'll break with the newfound power if I don't build it. I've spoken to a few people that have broken these 4L60E's and 2 that have done the 6.0/6.2 swap and will definitely be purchasing new high strength parts like hardened input/output shafts and upgraded sun-shell and planetaries.


Very excited to put The Duke's new heart in when everything is in order!
 

amrg

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Skip the 4l60 and do a 6l80. I was unfortunate that my trans broke down right after my engine swap and funds were dedicated to the swap itself so I decided to rebuild the 4l60 (big mistake)

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atvspeed4

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1,173
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massachusetts
Skip the 4l60 and do a 6l80. I was unfortunate that my trans broke down right after my engine swap and funds were dedicated to the swap itself so I decided to rebuild the 4l60 (big mistake)

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I strongly disagree. A turned down output shaft has not proven itself on the 6l80 with anything other than a stock 5.3. We are going to try this on a 6.2 we are building in the spring but I don't have high hopes long term especially with towing. We have a fully built 4l65e by PATC in an h2 on 37s and we regularly tow 8-10k pounds without any issues.
 

Gpcalero

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Messages
234
Location
SW Florida
Skip the 4l60 and do a 6l80. I was unfortunate that my trans broke down right after my engine swap and funds were dedicated to the swap itself so I decided to rebuild the 4l60 (big mistake)

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I would love to do a 6L80 instead of the 4l60. I would do it in a heartbeat if I could just buy the all the parts needed from a vendor, kinks worked out, more documented process on it. Only 1 person that I know of has done it with stock transfer case and stock style suspension/axles. I don't want my project truck to become a sitting project truck lol.

I have been bugging atvspeed4 or whoever runs Outfitter Designs' account for a year and a half now on Instagram for the updates on their 6l80 swap project and I'm sure they get annoyed! But it's getting to that point here soon that I'll want to get the engine swap done in the next few months and I'm not gonna wait for their kit to come out anymore or try to source the index plate, specific year trans and cut down shaft etc. to get it done lol. If anything, I'll sell the built 4l60e and do the 6l80 swap when they finish and offer support for them.
 

Gpcalero

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Messages
234
Location
SW Florida


They are used LS3 castings that I had MPR port with Manley stainless steel intake and exhaust valves, and had the deck milled just a bit to bring back some of the compression lost from the pistons. With the new valve chamber volume, head gasket, and pistons, the compression ratio on this motor is going to be 11.2:1. In comparison, an LS3 engine has a stock compression ratio of 10.7:1. So the 11.2 CR is going to be perfect for an N/A truck.



Fun fact that I thought I would throw in... The stock Alpha 5.3L LH8 has a compression ratio of 9.9 to 1. Realized that I never looked or included that figure in the post. 9.9:1 isn't awful... but I'm not sure why they didn't have more compression in these truck motors from the factory. I'm sure they could last just as long or longer than the car-going versions.

Going from 9.9 to 11.2.... can't wait! :horns:
 

amrg

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Higher compression would need more fueling dropping mileage
Or higher octane adding to fuel costs
Am I guessing Right?

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Gpcalero

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Messages
234
Location
SW Florida
Higher compression would need more fueling dropping mileage
Or higher octane adding to fuel costs
Am I guessing Right?

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You know, I would think that it would actually increase mileage (not that it is the goal for me). Maybe somebody else more knowledgeable would be able to chime in on that.

Most certainly increases probability of knock, so higher octane fuel will be needed for sure. But that's not a big deal for me since I only run 93 octane in it already. Higher compression would also mean creating a bit more heat due to the increased pressure vs. space, but really likely not any amount that would be significant over the amount of heat a stock LS3 puts out anyways. And since there would be no change in total uncompressed volume, then the fuel ratio should be the same as well. Because of those items, I'd say it would increase mileage if anything.
 

amrg

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Yes you're right! For some reason I was thinking boost (and that needs added fueling to prevent knock and make power)
But yes, more comp = more power and better mileage but more heat = less reliability or higher load on the cooling system

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Gpcalero

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Messages
234
Location
SW Florida
Time to finally install the Rancho 4" lift kit.

I was sitting on this kit for about a year and a half before I finally got off my rear and decided to start working on installing it back in August lol. And I should've done it sooner because it completely changed the truck, I love the way The Duke turned out.

I did this mostly by myself and with a help of a buddy for the first few hours. Really wasn't too difficult to install.

AGdMAV1.jpg


First thing was to lay out all of the parts get the truck on the lift & remove the wheels & tires.

In the kits that were found, they supplied longer shackles and an add a leaf to lift the rear (more on that later).

Non-Rancho items that I used were Bilstein shock absorbers with reservoirs on all 4 corners, new rear brake pads, new upper control arms, new ball joints for the lower control arms that are serviceable, and some Jeep shock mount adapters to adapt to the eyelet mounts on the new shocks.


mkdc8go.jpg


Started on the rear first to knock it out of the way since it is the easiest thing to tackle. Lowered and removed spare wheel/tire to gain more working room. Inspected the spare tire and it was showing signs of aging so I just threw the whole thing in the garbage. Have no use for that lol. On the positive note, the wheel had barely any rust on it.


kkNXa3Y.jpg


I didn't take photos of every step (not that my photos are any good) but here is the rear finished*. New extended shackles installed, bump stop extensions done and rear shocks mounted. Here is where I ran into my first gripe. I ordered these shocks based off of my forum research and what reservoir shocks our fellow Hummer enthusiasts said would work. Do you see the issue here? Annoyingly, the placement on the reservoir lines prevented me from flipping them and mounting them the other way because the lines hit the shock reinforcement. As you can imagine, I wasn't too happy about that and couldn't return them because I bought them not long after buying the lift kit 298178298 weeks ago. The only way to run these was to have the lines dip down about an inch from the bottom of the shock which is going to be a BIG issue when off road. For the sake of finishing the install, I said screw it and will run these until they break, then buying the correct ones. Thank you to Shawn Townsend for getting me the part number for the correct shocks for when these break! And yes, they are bound to break at some point with my adventures.


RbiyYyO.jpg


View of the shock. Instead of coming out perpendicular and then 90 parallel to the shock body, these just exit at a 45 degree angle and straight.


oVDUVMm.jpg

VaDRhQe.jpg


Rear complete and new wheels/tires mounted for test fitment. Minus the sway bar. My Rancho kit was missing a sway bar end link so I ordered up some JKS adjustable end links for a Jeep and re-installed the sway bar a few days later. I ended up liking the Rancho bushings better so I pressed the JKS ones out and put in the Rancho pieces.


sTnGw6E.jpg


Another view of completed rear and view of how far shock lines hang.

GAwqHDe.jpg


Moving on to the front end progress and did an oil change while everything was apart.


st9Bdqz.jpg

wTXidV1.jpg


Front diff cross member on.


v52vn37.jpg


​More progress. Passenger axle was leaking so we threw in a new one.


QL0dSuU.jpg


New lower control arm ball joints pressed in, new upper control arms in, sway bar and end links done, extended bump stop mounts done, trailing arms installed and test fit wheels. Almost all set!


A600VKX.jpg


Setting ride height with the torsion bars. Crank the bolts, lower vehicle, jump on front end, measure fender height and repeat. Just the tires alone are making a big difference! Still need to install stock and Rancho skid plates.


D0dz7gy.jpg


Finished this weekend project late Sunday night with the exception of a few missing bolts. Left it at the shop and came back next morning after a run to the hardware store. My kit was missing the bolts for the trailing arms so I had some longer bolts laying around the shop that I used as a placeholder.

Here's how it turned out.

b8cFqw9.jpg

XlRfR3G.jpg

qJ2MvKs.jpg

7MZ4Gb5.jpg


All I can say is, wow! The truck looks great and I can't stop staring at it lol, like I'm in love with the truck all over again. Still a few things that need to be addressed... the front still needed to be adjusted a bit more before a trip to the alignment shop and the rear really only received a minor lift and looked low and out of place. Being that this sat in my garage for over a year, I forgot all about the rear add a leaf lol. Considered a spring over on the rear but have some other plans. The fender flares also make the lift seem not as high because they come down and out from the fenders as opposed to just out.


zQFs6PD.jpg


Couldn't find the add a leaves anywhere. Found them a couple days later. Turns out that I brought them inside for whatever reason. Time to head back to the shop after work.


DtD0jl1.jpg


​New JKS end links installed and reattached the rear sway bar. Add a leaf done & raised the front a bit. Much better!!


gFl1N1H.jpg


And finally... all washed, cleaned and just right on time to take out for date night with the gf. Man I love this truck. The Duke definitely turns heads driving down the streets crowded with pedestrians with the new lift and cam.

More to come...
 
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Gpcalero

Well-Known Member
Messages
234
Location
SW Florida
Rear Airbag Installation Time



After the last round of adjustments to the front T bars, I felt like I went a bit too aggressive with the height. So I brought it back down some prior to going off to get an alignment.

tLLjRSI.jpg



I'm sure this wouldn't have lasted too long at this angle.


I7J8qpy.jpg




After an alignment, I had the wheels & tires rebalanced. There was a noticeable vibration on the of the wheels, and the shop that balanced them before indicated that they were "chasing weights" on one of them. I.e., the balancer kept telling him to put more and more weight on the wheel to balance it.


So now that I had the front to the height I was finally comfortable with, I wanted to tackle the lack of lift on the rear. All that I did to the rear when I did the Rancho install above was the extended shackles and an add-a-leaf. And they definitely lifted the rear some (I'd say maybe 2-2.5-ish inches), they weren't enough to match the front. If you just glanced at the truck you might not have noticed it, but if you stare for more than a second or two then you can see the subtle difference in height between the front and rear. And this would probably be even more pronounced when towing the race car or anything with a bit of tongue weight.

The solution came from my buddy Joshua Gostomski, a fellow H3T enthusiast that some of you know, who suggested I run the Firestone airbags in combination of the Daystar cups. Not only will this be able to lift the rear the additional ~1.5-2" that was missing, but it would also be able to level the rear when towing AND have the off-road benefit of not being mounted to both the leaf spring and frame. By only being mounted on the frame, it allows the rear to articulate and not pull up or push down on the axle when going over obstacles. I put pictures of what I used below


4wpUCbi.jpg


hWStUjv.png



What I also purchased that's not above was the mount spacers. These are pretty universal and depending on your set up, you will need a 2-4 inch spacer.

I ordered everything right before going on vacation so I didn't have time to install until after.

Might catch some flak for this but...
:wink:


iW3Zd91.jpg


fuOUjun.jpg




Part of our vacation was visiting Moab, UT which was beautiful. It was my first time in Moab, and being the adventurous type (like most of us in here), we rented a Jeep Rubicon to hit up the Hells Revenge trail. Moab offers a Hummer H1 tour that I looked into but it's a ride along, lame. And the other "self-drive" options were guided, so you had to follow the guy in front of you. Ours was a day rental that we could do pretty much whatever we wanted on our own albeit a bit more pricey.

All I can say is WOW!!! Aside from it being a Jeep (I know...), the trails and obstacles were WAY different than anything​ that we have in Florida. The scenery was beautiful, weather was comfortably cool and we all just had a great time. I wish we had something even remotely close to this in FL. The Jeep, if you're curious had a suspension lift and 37" tires, electronic locking front/rear diffs and even an electronic sway bar detachment button. Not gonna lie, it impressed me a bit. Doesn't make me want to get rid of the T though.
:giggle:

Anyways, back on topic...

q4QPrZB.jpg



​The Firestone airbag system will go in place of your bump stops. First thing to do is cut out the bump stop mounts and grind down the frame for welding. Once that is done, I mocked up the frame mounts to where I wanted them, tacked in place and welded outside face. After that, I heated them up with a propane torch. This is because the frame mounts that come in this kit are just slightly wider than the frame for the H3/H3T and meant for a Silverado frame I believe. Not a huge deal. After the mount has some decent heat in it, we took a BFH and coerced the mount to conform to the shape of our frames and welded the inside of the mounts. My buddy Will took care of the welding while I prepped the other side of the truck.

73fCbDp.jpg




If you also do this, just be careful of the fuel lines on the drivers side. Here Will is welding the bottom and inside of the drivers side mount.


SMY6Ryt.jpg



OtCEoxr.jpg



Driver side views after some chassis paint and install of the spacer, Daystar cup and airbag on top mount. You can see my red air line routed to the other bag (they are Tee'd together) and brake line not yet secured. This was a test of the system to identify any potential issues or line snags.

My recommendation for you if you do this is to go for the 3" spacer if you have around the same amount of lift that I do in the rear. Maybe even a 2" spacer for a stock rear. I bought the 4" spacer as recommended by Josh, and it works but I find that it is a bit too tall on my truck and will be switching to a 3". I want more compression space between the bottom of the mount and the top of the Daystar cup.



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The amount the airbags can lift up the rear is impressive! Firestone doesn't recommend going over 100 PSI in the air bags, so in our test we aired them up to 80 lbs to see if any lines would be caught or stretched. To my amusement, the bags at 80 lbs lifted the rear 5 inches over it's static height without the lift.
:thumbs:


I'm very happy with these and would recommend to both trail-goers (with Daystar cups) and people looking to level the rear when towing. Here's a shot of the rear after install with just 25 psi in the rear to level it out. Much better. I will also post towing pics when I try it out.

No more of that saggy butt look!


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Anddddd then there's this to top it off. The LS3 is back from the engine builder and on the engine stand in the garage.
:)
 

Gpcalero

Well-Known Member
Messages
234
Location
SW Florida
Rancho Update:

I felt like the front end was settling down some months after the install so I cranked each side half a turn and re-measured ride height. Opposite of what I would think, the ride quality improved noticeably and unexpectedly. Just thought I'd share something I thought was odd.


Anyways, my other fun vehicle has mostly been sitting in the garage but I finally got a chance to go out racing again and use the truck to tow the race car for the first time with the Rancho last month!


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It pulled rather well with the lift and 35's there and back, and I got the chance to add some psi to the rear bags to level it out. Also I think it looks sexy af when towing lol.


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Getting back into the racing groove so I'll be towing the Mustang more often. I definitely am thinking about re-gearing to the 4.56 gears to help towing. But might hold off until after the new engine is in and I see how it pulls with that first. Taking my time on it, more on that in a bit.


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Anybody interested in these items before I list them for sale? Stock H3 16" wheels with 33" Nitto Trail Grapplers & front and rear Bilstein shocks for a torsion bar cranked H3/H3T. Taking up space in my garage!


A big part of the motor swap came in last month from Circle D Specialties too...

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Nicely packaged converter with some swag goodies!



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View of the rear above



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And the front ^^^


Ordered this from Circle D Specialties and didn't expect to get it before Christmas due to the 6 week lead time, came in 4 weeks! I went with the 278mm LS HP Series with 2800 stall and optional billet front. Now that I have this, I'm pretty sure I have most everything I need for the built 6.2 swap to run technically. But I want to wait and get a few more things like an oil cooler for the trans, build the trans itself, decide how I want to re-do the exhaust & miscellaneous hardware.

I'm working on a bunch of other life things not related to car stuff so I am going to slow down on this project for a while. But at least you mostly have an update on where it sits now.
 

amrg

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,317
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Im sure when you do that full throttle "engine break in" launch you will be impressed. When I got me engine it said to do one after 100 miles, glad I was driving on an empty service road the way the truck jumped and pulled.
How much did that converter set you back? I had a 3200 converter but not billet, but on hindsight I shouldve went 2800 since my trans really heats up offroad and easily goes above 210* even with a 40K trans cooler. If I really pushed my truck wouldve be surprised id hit 250*.
Hoping with my axle swap to 4.56 Ill solve that issue (or reduce it significantly) otherwise im gona have to either add a second trans cooler woth fan or change to a lower converter.


As for your ride, if you set the ride height to rancho specs then you probably were riding on the bump stops. Raising it probably reduced contact and that improved your ride quality.
 
Last edited:

Gpcalero

Well-Known Member
Messages
234
Location
SW Florida
Im sure when you do that full throttle "engine break in" launch you will be impressed. When I got me engine it said to do one after 100 miles, glad I was driving on an empty service road the way the truck jumped and pulled.
How much did that converter set you back? I had a 3200 converter but not billet, but on hindsight I shouldve went 2800 since my trans really heats up offroad and easily goes above 210* even with a 40K trans cooler. If I really pushed my truck wouldve be surprised id hit 250*.
Hoping with my axle swap to 4.56 Ill solve that issue (or reduce it significantly) otherwise im gona have to either add a second trans cooler woth fan or change to a lower converter.


As for your ride, if you set the ride height to rancho specs then you probably were riding on the bump stops. Raising it probably reduced contact and that improved your ride quality.


I am definitely excited to floor it but at the same time, I am worried that the front diff might break lmao. Converter is about $549 on their website and another $100 if you want the billet front. But I ordered it during one of their Black Friday deals so I got a small discount.

And I know man! I was reading through your various threads about a year ago and was wondering why you did the 3200 stall at the time as I thought it was a bit much. This should be good enough for the cam and also be able to tow well without flashing it. I think you should probably do the lower stall converter either way because the gears would just make your rpm higher in overdrive and may make it run a little hotter at cruise. If I recall correctly, you run a Circle D converter too, eh? If so, I'm pretty sure they will re-stall it once for you for free. I know it might not make the most sense due to your location, but you could check it out.

I think you're right on the ride height and bump stops, that absolutely makes sense.
 
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