Any good hacks/upgrades you've come up with for our trucks

[Dougnsalem]

I've seen a bunch here so far. Custom door panels and center consoles. A mount to raise an aftermarket auto shifter off the floor. Tons of stuff.... What's your best one?

Personally, I hate dealing with fuseible links. So I got rid of them, and ran two 10 gauge wires from the starter, straight to the junction block. Then I got one of those big ass fuses (50 amp), and carefully soldered a couple eye terminals on it. Bolted it up and I was good to go. The truck has been this way for a couple years, and it has worked great. It did blow once, but luckily I had made a spare and tossed it in the glove box. I installed it after I got my short fixed. YMMV on the amperage you need, depending on what you have going on power consumption wise inside the rig....

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Something else I did was add the switch to the right. Its just a 3 position non-momentary toggle. The center output of the switch goes to my HEI. One input to the switch comes from my ignition switch. The other input comes from the junction block(+12 volts all the time). With this, I can put it in the center position and no power at all goes to the HEI (Truck won't start, even using the key). Raise it up, and the truck starts, and shuts off, normally with the key. Flip the switch down, and it powers up my HEI, even if the key is off. This is great. If I'm under the hood and need to start it, I don't have to crawl in the truck to do it. Flip the switch to power up the HEI, and then I hit this other switch that goes to the starter solenoid....

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Its just a spring loaded momentary switch to spin the starter. When I'm done, I flip the first switch to the center position, and it kills power to the distributor. It doesn't matter what position the ignition switch is in, since this overrides it. Works great for adjusting valves. Turn off the HEI, and bump the motor over with the switch by the alternator. Anyways, anyone have ideas to share?

 

[crazy4offroad]

Probably not exactly what you're looking for, but the F*rd Windstar e-fan conversion is a great way to free up some horsepower. mostly on the top end. Vortec heads as well. The Blazer gas tank mod is a great one, too. MSD has a nice digital ignition module with a built-in rev limiter, that is one of my favorites. No more floating valves or bent pushrods. Another is swapping the front output shaft of the NP205 for a F*rd front output shaft. It is 32 spline, just like the rear output, giving you a wider option for larger, stronger yokes, all the way up to 1410. Another neat one I've heard of but not tried yet is a 2005-ish D*dge 2500 front driveshaft. It is a flange-style double cardan joint just like ours, but with 1350 u-joints throughout, allowing a higher running angle and much stronger than 3R joints ours uses. It will have to be cut down to fit our trucks but it is always cheaper to have a driveline shop cut a shaft down than lengthen one. Converting to rear disk brakes is another good mod. You can use Cadillac Eldorado calipers if you want to retain your park brake but I don't remember which year works. The rear shackle flip is another one I like, easy way to gain 4 inches of lift without using lift blocks, and much cheaper than lift springs.

 

[74 Shortbed]

Handy setup there..

 

[Dougnsalem]

Probably not exactly what you're looking for, but the F*rd Windstar e-fan conversion is a great way to free up some horsepower. mostly on the top end. Vortec heads as well. The Blazer gas tank mod is a great one, too. MSD has a nice digital ignition module with a built-in rev limiter, that is one of my favorites. No more floating valves or bent pushrods. Another is swapping the front output shaft of the NP205 for a F*rd front output shaft. It is 32 spline, just like the rear output, giving you a wider option for larger, stronger yokes, all the way up to 1410. Another neat one I've heard of but not tried yet is a 2005-ish D*dge 2500 front driveshaft. It is a flange-style double cardan joint just like ours, but with 1350 u-joints throughout, allowing a higher running angle and much stronger than 3R joints ours uses. It will have to be cut down to fit our trucks but it is always cheaper to have a driveline shop cut a shaft down than lengthen one. Converting to rear disk brakes is another good mod. You can use Cadillac Eldorado calipers if you want to retain your park brake but I don't remember which year works. The rear shackle flip is another one I like, easy way to gain 4 inches of lift without using lift blocks, and much cheaper than lift springs.

Yeah, that's exactly the stuff I was talking about. I wasn't aware of the fans, or the ignition module until recently coming here. (Noob...) I'm gonna do some digging to see what's involved.... The rear disc conversion sounds awesome, and I hadn't heard of it either. Cool stuff there. Thanks!

 

[Dougnsalem]

Handy setup there..

I really like being able to kill the distributor power. With our rigs being so easy to rip off, I feel a LITTLE better knowing at least it will slow someone down just a bit. Of course now that I have plastered that all over the internet, I fully expect to have my truck missing tomorrow morning..... Lol

 

[74 Shortbed]

I really like being able to kill the distributor power. With our rigs being so easy to rip off, I feel a LITTLE better knowing at least it will slow someone down just a bit. Of course now that I have plastered that all over the internet, I fully expect to have my truck missing tomorrow morning..... Lol

Well, now you need to hide the switch, but don't tell anyone where you put it, lmao..

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

You’ve seen the Jeep XJ sector shaft swap? That’s a good one. Also, the half inch pex pipe door striker bushing is another good one. Both are very simple.

 

[4WDKC]

I added a distribution block from the 88-98 trucks connected to my battery, gives lots of post to be used for relay power, may also replace the stock one with one of these for ignition hot source.
Jeep shaft is a must if you have sloppy steering.

 

[Dougnsalem]

You’ve seen the Jeep XJ sector shaft swap? That’s a good one. Also, the half inch pex pipe door striker bushing is another good one. Both are very simple.

Yeah, I heard about those. I actually have leftover pex from when I ran our water lines through the ceiling. Now I hope they don't leak.... Lol. The jeep one sounds good- I just need to research the years.

OH, the fricken relays for the headlights! That was another great idea. I've already got new bulbs to put in, but I held off after reading about installing the relays. Gotta get a couple...

This is good at least for me- I'll never remember to do all this stuff otherwise....Lol

 

[Dougnsalem]

I added a distribution block from the 88-98 trucks connected to my battery, gives lots of post to be used for relay power, may also replace the stock one with one of these for ignition hot source.
Jeep shaft is a must if you have sloppy steering.

That would be perfect for putting in the headlight and fan relays. Damn, another great one...

 

[Dougnsalem]

Hey @4WDKC , do you happen to have a pic posted on how/where you mounted that? Would be cool to see....

 

[4WDKC]

Bought a nutsert gun at harbor freight, drilled holes, put inserts, tighten bolts. Post a pic when home.

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[Camar068]

auto-dim rear view mirror with compass/temp

 

[Dougnsalem]

Bought a nutsert gun at harbor freight, drilled holes, put inserts, tighten bolts. Post a pic when home.

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Whenever you get time. No rush. Thanks much!

auto-dim rear view mirror with compass/temp

Yeah, that looks cool. I found the updated thread that @RetroC10Sport made on the years, and install info.. All of the image links are broken though. Still shouldn't be that hard to put in.

http://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads...s-temp-mirror-in-your-truck.9216/#post-212702



*** BTW-While looking up these things, I have been seeing a bunch of threads about this stuff in the past. I guess my search skills just plain suck. Lol. Sorry to start another thread, if its already been gone over a bunch..... ***

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

84-96 Jeep XJ shaft. Make sure to doublecheck the ends to see that one’s splined with a smooth kind of keyway to guide it, and the other’s got a D-shaped end. It’ll work on all kinds of 79-96 GM cars and trucks. I think it depends on 97 and pretty sure they won’t on 98 trucks.