I've been wanting to sell the LBZ for a while now and decided to go with a smaller truck. Found these ECSSB trucks and decided to track one down. It is not in perfect shape, but it's hard to find a 10 year old truck that is. The truck was repainted at some point and it appears they didn't remove any of the emblems which blows ass because I wanted to debadge it.
And now for the bad stuff:
Looks like a friendly game of tic tac toe was played on the hood:
It's not the fact that it's 2wd. It's because it's a torsion bar truck. Torsion bar and cool spring trucks have different steering regardless of 2wd or 4wd. Just happens that most (not all) 2wd are coil spring and 4wd are torsion bar
I thought all 2wd half ton had coils in front. Even GM can't be consistent building trucks. Now we just need someone to say they have a factory SFA K2XX truck. :lol2:
Correct, 2wd torsion bar truck. Apparently Tahoe's, SS silverados, VHO trucks had the same setup. It's the "tougher" suspension so to speak, but those components seem to go bad more often than a R&P would. I wish I had R&P steering to be honest.
Could not get the pitman arm off the drag link, so I pulled it out of the truck to give it the old shit beating. Getting the arm of the steering gear was the easy part once I loosened the box a bit to get the tool on
I didn't out the cognito braces back on so we will see how it drives without them. I didn't see the need for them now that I have small tires
I knew the SUVs & HD trucks used pitman & idler arms. I've replaced more of them than I can remember. Having to loosen up the steering box in order to get the pitman off is the worst part of the job on a 4x4. I figured a lack of front diff wouldn't make a 2wd too tough. And I like the R&P on my yellow truck so much, I'm looking to see if it could be adapted to the Z71.
Got the brakes finished yesterday. Had an issue with the brake line flare once we started bleeding. It was leaking where the OEM hardline connected to the Wilwood fitting. Tightened it and loosened it a few times based on internet research and that seems to have worked.
Fail
Here is the line routing at full droop. The angle at the hardline connection gets a little tighter when it's at rode height. Not sure if I should do something about that or leave it as is
Declads fit, but just barely. There's probably 1/8" or less of space between spokes and caliper
Went for a drive late last night, didn't die and got them bedded in. All seems well
Correct, just the fronts. Rear will stay drums so I can mount some drag wheels if I ever get frisky. Considering a hydroboost swap right now because there was a lot of shit in my reservoir so might as well upgrade, right?
Buy a hyrdoboost!!! I did that to my 01 Yukon with nnbs front calipers/rotors using SS lines with slotted rotors and hawk lts pads. Wow it about threw me out of the seat. Even the new owner called me a month or two later asking how did I make the brakes that amazing. Said his kid about came out the seat getting on them half way. I would do it to the Denali but saw where it was a major pia to get connected.
I used Russell on this truck before the wilwoods. Stopped amazing for stock rotors, pads and calipers. Most kits are less than $100 and we'll worth it IMO
I want to clean out my master cylinder regardless of direction I go. I don't like having all that sludge in there, so I can either get a new master cylinder and keep it stock, or do hydroboost. Still trying to figure this out
Same here. I was pouring my nice new fluid in and it had stuff floating around in there. I wasn't thrilled about that shit going through my $2k brakes... I ordered a case of new fluid for when I do my rear end swap, I would like to completely flush the lines so its all new fluid
I don't think I'm going to do hydroboost at this time. But if I do later, will the stock master cylinder you posted bolt up to the hydroboost, or are the different?
Yes correct the Russell kit has 5 lines in it which allows for 5th line off body to axle and 1 at each wheel. Good kit.
The booster works wonders compared to the vacuum boost and yes bolts up no issues with master and abs hard lines. Only trouble I had was cracking on cheap vacuum cap plug for back of intake. Stole a big thick one of a mercedes junk engine at the dealership.
Finally got the truck aligned this afternoon. I was getting real sick of the ride quality and after some research, I learned that uneven caster angles can negatively affect ride and make it feel unstable over bumps.
He made the caster equal on each side, even though it's out of spec. He also made camber equal but it's at -2° each side, which sucks. Toe is perfect and in spec. Truck definitely rides much better over bumps where it would jump around before, even over small bumps.
I also replaced the ISS and bearing to get rid of the rattle. Easy job and I wish I had done this a year ago.
I only made a quick trip around the neighborhood, but it rides like a brand new, tight truck. Here's a summary of what I've replaced or upgraded since I bought the truck:
Moog control arm bushings
Moog control arm balljoints
Moog shock bushings for the coilover mounts
Custom coilovers
Energy suspension swaybar bushings and end links
Moog inner tie rods
Moog pitman arm, idler arm and bracket
Custom heim tie rod ends
Dorman ISS and bearing
Timken hubs
Wilwoods to replace my warped rotors and rusty calipers
Yea, bad caster angles make sense for the rough ride. Typically you offset the caster to make it compensate for the crown of the road to drive straight. You may notice it trail right a bit being that the caster is equal. -2 on the camber sucks, could he not get it any more positive? You may get some inner wear on your front tires, but it should be minimal if your toe is correct. Typically the tolerance for any cross measurements on an alignment is .5°. Any more than that and you start getting a pull. Toe you want at 0 cross.
Yea, bad caster angles make sense for the rough ride. Typically you offset the caster to make it compensate for the crown of the road to drive straight. You may notice it trail right a bit being that the caster is equal. -2 on the camber sucks, could he not get it any more positive? You may get some inner wear on your front tires, but it should be minimal if your toe is correct. Typically the tolerance for any cross measurements on an alignment is .5°. Any more than that and you start getting a pull. Toe you want at 0 cross.
Let me know your thoughts on the alignment. I will say that my truck was in a wreck and I noticed the LCA mount on the drivers side was slightly bent, so maybe that is the reason for lack of alignment.
ISS wasn't bad, but here are my tips: remove the boot on the engine bay side, it has (3) 10mm nuts on it and pops right off. I tried getting that shaft out from under the dash and could not get it out, so removed that boot and pulled it right out the engine bay side. Then removed and replaced the bearing. For reinstall I put the new shaft in the boot and put them both in at the same time. Made for super simple install. I also recommend laying on your back and doing the work, it's the easiest way to work under the dash. Your back should be on the door sill and it allows you to get your arms around up there. Im 6'5" so I found this easier than other ways
Here it is. Now when I drove the truck up there, I loosened the UCA mounts and cranked all 4 bolts all the way bottomed out on camber. You can see that max my truck would ever get is -1.7° and that is with belltech bushings and camber plates. Not sure how the low 4wd guys are getting perfect alignments, but maybe I installed the bushings wrong? Truck is 15.5" hub to fender measurements FYI
Looks blurry on my phone, so here are both zoomed in
Before
After
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
GMC Truck Forum
5.8M posts
82.8K members
Since 2004
A forum community dedicated to GMC and Chevy full size owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about Silverados, Sierras, and other full size trucks performance, modifications, suspension, lift kits, tires, maintenance, and more!