1999 GMC k2500 7.4l build detail

[kunstmilch]

This seems to be the place to put all the details of my build. Thought perhaps a "MySpace" style area on my profile would have been the place...but I'm old, and this seems to be the right place for this. I will be adding detailed photos and write ups on everything as time and ability permits. If this is in fact not the place to put this I would very much appreciate someone telling me where to put this instead.
Some info going in for those who decide to read on...
I am the second owner of this truck, had it for years and traveled plenty without any mods. Before that I took a Honda station wagon to places many wouldn't dare with a 4x4, never once got stuck. Let's just say there have been a lot of adventures. I used to do a lot of thru hiking and was used to living out of a pack. After going on some adventures with my partner there were some areas that could use improvement.
1. She didnt like getting stuck on the Hogs razorback mountain with a burnt out alternator, although she has a great story and loves to tell it. (reliability and electronics, check)
2. She doesnt like sleeping in the frigid ass deserts at night. (insulation and bedding improvements, check)
3. She really wants hot showers. (hot running water, check)
4. It wouldn't hurt to have a nice kitchen set up.
5. To go some of the places I want to show her she would feel more comfortable with something like a winch, spares, etc.

In 2015 I got seriously ill and have been dealing with health issues since. By 2020, I became fully disabled. This is a pretty big hamper on our ability to both get the truck built out, join OB adventures (I think Mojave clean up has all but given up on me lol) and my ability to add to this forum as typing can be difficult and frustrating. Hence the lack of doing this as it happened...
I'll be adding things from the past and trying to catch up a bit. Another bit of information that might be helpful is I am autistic and ADHD, so is my partner.

 

[kunstmilch]

In 2016, my sister refused to drive the truck as she felt too uncomfortable with the vague steering, so I took it to a mechanic recommended by AAA and a nightmare and $7,000 down the drain later we still had bad steering and now multiple scratches and dents, including a Broken grill. I am still very frustrated by this experience, the owner told me none of it matters as it's not like it's a nice truck.

 

[kunstmilch]

2017
We bought a shipping container for the cabin.
Here's a nice pic of my view while sipping coffee in the morning before we set out to prep for the delivery.


Here's my partner limbing some of the trees to make room for the container delivery.

 

[kunstmilch]

Then we needed to make final adjustments, we used the suburban for the grunt work, worked like a charm.

 

[kunstmilch]

2017
We try to keep dirt from each state in that state as much as possible...so that means car washes happen...
This was the car wash that busted our old antenna...oops.



But she looked pretty, haha.

 

[kunstmilch]

2017
during the same trip we decided to just get the driver side window fixed...the motor worked but something seemed to be getting in the way...here was a father son duo who spent way too much of their time getting it right.

 

[kunstmilch]

2017
Made it out to Canyonlands...this was during the time Bears Ears was going to be removed from protected status. Really enjoyed that time.





Some fun at Capitol Reef NP, this was moments in between monsoonal rains (no flooding this time)



Then we hit roadwork during a mountain pass and while charging all our gear and the A/C on etc...the alternator gave up the ghost. We were able to make it to the closest town, Escalante, 15 miles away by putting the truck in drive on the uphills and neutral on the downhills and kept the truck going until we got into the fist stop in town, a heavily mormon town, and the gas station let us camp the night. Very nice people, in fact everyone was very nice to us.


People started coming out of the woodwork when the found out we were having alternator problems and everyone tried helping us out, one guy ran home to see if he had an old gm alternator, I couldn't get him to not help.



We ended up making it to the local mechanic, who said we could either get the basic alternator by end of day, or spend a couple nights and get the correct upgraded 140 amp from SLC. We chose to spend a couple nights in this town and see what it was like here.



Everyone was very nice and we had a decently good time, even saw an art show over the weekend.

 

[kunstmilch]

2018
Early on in the year I bought a car hauler trailer. Still have it, used it a bunch. I bought it specifically cause I can...
A) haul our electric car up to the cabin when we stay extended times and drive the EV around. For those who have never driven a silent car through a forrest I highly recommend it.
2) Use it for property clean up around the cabin as its easy to load over the sides and can haul trees and stumps nicely.
#) Use it for Mojave clean up, lol.

Unfortunately the trailer wiring wasn't done the best, but the trailer place fixed the issue and also replaced the trailer connector. Not exactly happy with it but it works for now...still something on the to do list, as you will see thats way down the list...

 

[kunstmilch]

2019 was, well 2019...
2020

After my experience with the AAA recommended mechanic I was weary of people working on the truck. My partner convinced me to try Reynold's Buick GMC, which is a dealer, I've never trusted dealers...but I trusted her, so I tried them out, and really glad I did. They showed me that parts that I bought and brought in like Bosch rotors etc were never installed on the truck...It was a start from scratch situation. The truck is too heavy for most mechanics to do the suspension on, which seemed weird for suspension shops, but if someone says they dont want to work on my truck I'm not about to push it. Reynold's was happy to do the work, and it turned out excellent. The steering was perfect. So I approached them about doing more work on the truck. By now I was having real difficulty doing any work myself, as much as I enjoy it my body just won't let me.
To make matters worse, we live on a hill and dont have a flat spot to lift the truck, makes it impossible. So we added a few Items that I wanted to put in...
I wanted a beefed up electrical system, beyond the 140 amp alternator, especially as I wanted electric fans...so to kill 2 birds...

I bought a Premiere Power Welder with an impressive alternator that is rated for 100% duty cycle 195amp. yowza.



In that pic above you cant quite see it but We also Installed a Flex-a-lite 280 monster fan set.

I know I know, no details about install or any good info, we are getting there...let me tell a story will ya?

The next thing I wanted to address was an air compressor...If I was going to spend the money I wanted one that I could use at the cabin for tools as well, it had to be robust and reliable...

Enter the on board air system, an upgraded York 210...

A pressure switch was added...


Then a nice sized aluminum tank...here you can also see the safety valve, and at the very right of the pic a Tsunami automatic tank drain, every time the compressor runs a cycle it kicks out any water.

We also added a Coalescing filter with automatic purge. You can see here all lines are either custom SS braided past DOT spec or DOT spec line covered in Rodent repellent tech flex braid.

While up on the lift I noticed the exhaust wasn't doing too well...

We will have to address that at some point... But for now, since I have air...I figured I'd add an air suspension, especially if it will act as double duty, to help with heavy loads, and to help level out the truck at camp sites!

This was also a pretty good time to add a bit of armor I thought, so I got this bad boy installed.

 

[kunstmilch]

2020
After a bit of drama around the air compressor (go back and look at the pic, you will see one line off the compressor is discolored, it was getting cooked) it was now time to begin figuring out a water system.
I really like the way the air compressor runs off the engine, and this block is massive...after about 30 minutes it comes up to temp, it can take a couple hours to cool down...so, let's use that.

I got a heat exchanger to run water through and cool down engine coolant while heating up the water, win/win.
Now let's see if it works...on the left is the new reservoir for coolant overflow, needed the room.



Some initial testing of the water pump and filtration system...remember no running water at the cabin, but we can filter water and drink that...the pump was from (unfortunately now gone [this is a theme] USA adventure and the filtration system was a guy I found up on Oregon who is looking to sell off his business, it is a three stage water filter with UV...we will be able to drink any water we come across...excellent.


We used shark bite fittings for now as they were easy and available and we were still in the proof of concept phase anyway...


Got ourselves some new headlights/park lights/taillights as I noticed the lights were a bit dim on those Oregon backroads.

 

[kunstmilch]

2020
I was also beginning my research into the electrical, all of this work so far was proof of concept and I knew I was going to upgrade (if possible) it once installed and working to dealer/GM spec. I started looking at wires and connectors and began some testing and practice. I was reading up on GM/Ford/Stellantis up fitter programs and manuals. I read up on NASA's wiring best practices, as well as Boing and other avionic standards. I also of course, was looking at overlanding and van conversion videos and write ups...all the marine stuff as well. My brother in law is a Navy Dr. Captain so that also helped a small bit, though he is more practical than I am lol.

Here are some initial tests and purchases. Some better than others...





I bought myself the FTZ power lugs and Ratchet crimper after some good reading on marine-how-to (now semi defunct)
fixing up the distance for the cut.


Using a cable cutter designed for the job makes this much much easier, if not slightly annoying when changing sizes.


here you can see the paper separator that I dont cut through to ensure no nicks in the stranding. Unfortunately I found this brand's insulation to be slightly uneven and so had to be extra careful.


Here is the nice clean cable ready for crimping.


a test fit.

then a crimp...Ilsco/FTZ states to crimp out to in...which seems backwards to me, but I'm not one to argue here I'm using all their stuff...Notice the crimp dies are a bit crooked? Ugh...

Here's the result...


And here's the final crimp...


I don't know...not all that impressed...didnt know why yet...let's move on to more reasonable sizes...here is a test for some 6awg Ancor marine wire, as big as will fit in the Redarc Manager30.

After trying to find the difference between cheap and quality ferrules...I went with the company that "invented" them and bought a bunch Z+F.
I also bought a Knipex crimper for them. First test...


Then to add some adhesive lined Polyolefin heat shrink.


yeah, nice and tidy...I like that.

now let's test some 5mm2 (10awg) and some different connectors.


checking out different brands that multiple sources say are good to compare...



At this point Im also trying to come up with a system for what would be best (over engineered) Should I use an uninsulated lug, then heatshrinkq it, or a nylon insulated lug, and heatshrinkq that? So many questions...lots of research yet to do...

 

[kunstmilch]

2021
we decided it was a good idea to get a reverse camera, at this point we had one on our EV and really found it to be a good thing, I have a difficult time craning my neck at this point too so its a nice thing to have. I am also big on music, so I bought the pioneer floating panel radio...now to install it. The radio shop I bought it from gave me the ick, so had to do it myself, besides, even the good shops dont install to my liking. I want to make sure its done well.
Here I started doing tests on GM pins by Aptiv (formerly Delphi). Still learning about all this stuff, remarkable how obtuse all these pins and styles are.
This is a male Metripack GT150 pin.

The crimp was one of my first. Looking back on it I see a number of issues...it's not terrible, but it isn't to spec either...GM is very specific about the crimp specification. I also didnt have the right tools yet. There is a slight "bell house" in a good crimp that is missing here. You'll see... Does this crimp work? Yes, it works fine, but it's also a crimp for the radio and not say...the PCM.
here's the harness connector all done up.

 

[kunstmilch]

2021
progress on the truck...
we took the truck up to Oregon and tested the water system. Works beautifully. The hot water system will take moving water that is at freezing temp and make it hot enough to burn you if you want. The door actuators dont really work anymore, need to address that...and we still haven't addressed insulation, also I'm learning a lot about wiring and the truck...at this point though I've now got a giant pile of parts in the garage.

 

[OG_Zuninja]

All those spade terminals and T-taps in that proximity is the stuff of nightmares. I understand this is 2021 according to your timeline but was that for testing purposes and did it get cleaned up later?

 

[kunstmilch]

I HATE t-taps, dont ever use them lol. Not even for testing. So...yes, that was the work of the mechanic. I specifically took photos so I could study what he did, before fixing it. we had run it for the summer to see how it worked out, it worked fine. It is all taken apart at the moment, still working on things...so the story continues! And in this story you will see more...you guessed it...T-taps. We are coming to the place very soon where the meat and potatoes of me doing the work comes in...but there are still a couple events that happened that are a pretty big deal and I think are important to this "story" thank you for your interest! Typing aggravates my carpel tunnel so I only do a bit at a time, sorry for the wait but try and enjoy the sweet antici...pation!

 

[kunstmilch]

2021
The mechanic asked if we wanted to rip out the auxiliary hvac in the back of the truck and use that space for the water system and other things...after talking to my partner and giving it some thought (lol, get a load of this, I was still thinking at the time that I wanted to make changes that could be reversed and brought back to stock, pfft) so we decided to keep it all and work around it. I am glad we did, I like having the extra heating and cooling. I've thought about running the heat exchanger in the back through this auxiliary system but everyone I've discussed it with says thats a massive downgrade from running it in the engine bay. I bought but have yet to install a Wolf drive shaft bearing, the mechanics put a new GM one in when they did the initial work, so I figure I'd leave it in for a bit.

We started stripping the interior and were looking to deal with insulation and learn about wire routing etc.
I like to see how GM dealt with wiring at this time, in 1999 this suburban was kinda their moneymaker or brand marquee. It was a well built truck in my opinion. The main thing I've come across is support is more for the GMT800 which started the year after mine...things like front suspension from companies like Kryptonite are offered for the 1500 but not mine, or for newer trucks. anyway...

interesting to see no grommeting or protection here at the hole, just a bigger hole than necessary, likely cheaper to manufacture this way. ONE extra layer of tape.

For the upper (ceiling) console, not even extra tape, though the console kinda holds it in place a bit when its in, and no chafing after 20 years, nice...but I'll address it.


I found these clips for holding the front of the ceiling panel up near the windshield...looked everywhere for the replacement part, even asked GM and Aptiv...no go. Not on Ebay...So just have to make some of my own.


here we can see some vibration dampening on the upper left of the photo. the wiring is taped and nylon straps hold the bundle around bends keeping it out of the way of trim.

According to the technical manual, the police and some other packages runs wires up along this pillar behind the rear passenger door. I'll be using this same pathway for comms as well.

Something the mechanics found was the front hubs were just a bit sloppy, so bought a couple replacements.

Very unfortunately, the vibration dampening GM put in was only tentatively holding on in places...but of course, holding on for dear life in others, so it had to come out in my opinion, I was NOT going to be doing this twice.

I bought a large package of second skin products for this part. I know technically 60% coverage is actually as much as needed on the average vehicle. So if you are reading this to figure out best practices understand that vibration dampening is one part of a multi step process...you will be better off buying good product and using less here than buying cheaper products and covering everything. Also, with these dampening products, tests have shown that the thickness of the aluminum layer is more important (effective) than thicker butyl. So find a brand/product that has the thickest aluminum layer, as long as the butyl is decent quality that's the way to go.



Our next step, which is over the top, is to add "spectrum" which is a viscoelastic layer. It is usually used instead of the dampening mats. It is similar but not exactly the same as "lizard skin." We also added ceramic beads to it for the ceiling and firewall areas. This slows down and breaks up thermal bridging in the material. This is still only addressing mechanical vibrations in the paneling. though the density also helps, in a less efficient way, with higher pitched sound, heat transfer, and vapor build.

Took a break from all this and drove up to the cabin (with the truck in a right mess too). There are a lot more people in the area then used to be and these people totally confound me. They move to the middle of the forrest to get away from the city, but then refuse to change their city habits for forrest ones...a lot of these people leave their garbage out which attracts bears...then they complain about the bears...then they get mad when I tell them to be more hygienic in a forrest. They rather want to kill the bears...then get mad when I call them cowards...after all it's just black bears. The bear around our area visited me while I was there, I scared the shit out of him too, cause I didnt know what was going on and went outside and ran into him looking in the truck at our fridge haha. Anyway...just an aside.



I also wanted to address the frame and undercarriage. The truck has very little rust and what it does have is surface. There is a spot in Oregon that ODOT started using salt (ugh) this winter and I noticed it really made a difference under the truck! Yikes...ok. So I'm gonna paint it, and add some waxoyl. But gotta clean it up first. I bought all the guns and products from Rovers North who were very cool about it all.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot...I convinced my nephew to work on the truck too. Look how young and spry he is.

 

[kunstmilch]

2022 still...
First work on getting the rear camera to work. I had been trying to come up with a good labelling system for the wiring. Wanted to be able to look at it and have all the info, but I am also making a manual for all the things we are changing, so if we break down somewhere, any mechanic can refer to the manual and see exactly what they are looking at and save time and hassle. I also wanted to be sure that my partner could pull it up on her phone or iPad (or hardcopy in the truck) and we can go problem solve ourselves. Where we go AAA doesnt, and she doesnt want to keep all this info in her head so this is an important step. It has to make sense to a lay person too. Well...the rear camera was a good trial...

Here you can see the overcomplicated labelling system I came up with at the time, I was pretty frustrated as I needed to get this done quickly, but I also wasn't happy with the labelling system and I dont want 7 different systems for labeling all over the truck, and I dont want to have to go back and change them all. Well...something I am always fighting with my autism...dont let perfect get in the way of getting it done at all.

Here you can see there is some wiring that was done by the trailer company. We decided to address it later...I am absolutely the worst about "while I'm here" but when it is being done by the generosity of others you take what you can get. We left a bit extra wire and laced it up as we were going to get back to it. We were on a real time crunch here. It will have to do.

Radio head unit side.

Found this company out in Florida that some racing guys out on the salt flats rave about...figured I'd give it a try on the frame ground and see how well it holds up.

Later I also got a former student of mine, who has become a close friend to help me out on the truck too. We decided to get rid of the stock jack location.

 

[kunstmilch]

So with the truck in the shape it was in...ran up to Oregon and while I was there I figured I'd get the exhaust dealt with. The Cat died, California car ugh. so new system put in. I wanted it to be as quiet as possible, while also being as efficient as possible, and tucked as far up as possible. The shop did a great job.

 

[kunstmilch]

Then, In November of 2022, tragedy struck the family.

My sister who was a VA Nurse had just moved to the cabin and began work to transform the VA hospital in the area after building out a great program in San Diego. Was hit head on by a semi truck that swerved into her at the last possible second. It was like her third day of work or something like that...I found out days later when I received a call from a neighbor, they found out she was in ICU. Alive but barely. I had to go up and take care of the situation, which isn't great cause Im disabled myself...the blind leading the blind. She survived, but is now permanently disabled, lost her job, basically lost everything. It sucks.

 

[kunstmilch]

2023
Skipping past a bunch of non truck related stuff...(see above)
The new vinyl floor came in, we wanted something robust that could get wet, muddy, whatever, and be scrubbed down and washed out easily.

It was time to address the roof and the floor. Anywhere there was any possibility of paint bubbling from rust we ground down and prepped and painted.


Then theres the roof...



Once again everyone jumped in to indulge my fantasies, lol.


Having worked at the University of California running a number of shops...I had the fortune of being able to really test a slew of products. After years of tests, I was able to come into this with a lot of knowledge already which helped. We use the Mastercoat system of paints for the truck. Just my experience, if someone wants to discuss thats fine, not trying to knock you products. But this stuff is good, really good.

After prepped and painted, we template, then lay down the dampening products. For those reading, do NOT just cover everything with this stuff, leave all the access holes.

Whenever you are grinding paint, be careful about heat build up, it's very easy to cause rippling in the panels as the metal expands so unevenly. Take your time, go slow.


We went ahead and rolled two Coates.

Then sprayed a third coat as the color coat would have to wait. No time.