Solhays85

So, I just came out to my truck and it started just fine. I haven't done anything to it since the 30th or so. I'm so dang lost, but glad it started as easily as it did.

I'll give it a shot Clay. I'm losing my mind on this damn truck. Just little thing after little thing. Lol. I did my version of the big 3. When I got a new battery I got one that was both side and top post. Then I got the top post cables and clamps. Ran the new negatives to the body, block and frame. I then ran a cable from the positive to the alternator because chevy has that tiny little wire there so I beefed it up. This was all in addition to the factory wiring.

Interesting. Shouldn't I just be able to pull the fuse for the cluster? I know that my speedo is bad, but that seems to be the only thing that's out in the cluster. Not that it has anything to do with the power issue. Thanks Clay, I've been feeling under the weather since Monday, so I'll have to go out and see if the truck has drained the battery or not after the parts place as able to fully charge it. It's still strange to me that even immediately after warming it up, driving it and testing the battery that it was sitting at 12.2 but they were able to get it to 12.6. Good thing I've got a primary vehicle and not relying on this.

I'm sorry I didn't see your comment. I work at an optical lab, no rail head. I was parked at Costco when this picture was taken.

I hope that this is in the place to post some questions. So, I had a post going a while back about some bad grounds and a new battery. Solved all that, a new battery and new grounding, think the "big 3". It's all been fine for about 6-7 months, drove the truck at least once a week and never had a dead battery. But now, all of the sudden it's been dying in a day or 2 for the past month or so. Jump it, let it warm up and shut it off, or drive it. It's dead shortly after. I thought that it had to be a parasitic draw. As the charging is sitting at 14.4 or so, but the battery would be instantly 12.2 after shutting it down. I know that a fully charged battery should be about 12.6. So I started doing the old pull every fuse with the tester set to Amps and the negative pulled and my testing side. I "screwed up" and had the door open while I tested some of these fuses, but even then no drop in amps while pulling fuses. I started testing again with the door closed and noticed after about 30 second of the tester being connected the amps would start to fall to .01 on the tester and stay there, unless I pulled the tester off for a short bit and reconnect. It would then jump up to .76ish(more when I put the radio fuse back in for a bit) and 30 seconds later drop to .01. So it made me think that my draw is gone. But, if it is gone, why wouldn't my battery fully charge? I took the battery in and had them test it, they even tested twice, said that it was completely fine and I tested it at 12.6 when I got home. It has an aftermarket alarm/remote start that I disconnected(at the battery) about 2 weeks ago and I got new factory fobs to use with the factory system. I've even pulled the amp out, the stereo fuse is still out, I'm utterly lost. Also an other weird thing that's been happening with it, when I do get the truck started, the heated seat tries to turn it's self on, but will just sit there and click the relay for a 10+ minutes, with the lights in the buttons clicking on and off. I drive for a bit and it goes away. Anyone have any ideas what could be happening with my battery? Any ideas on how to test for sure that I don't have a drain? In the video, I replaced the radio fuse and that's why it jumped over 1amp, I guessing it needed to charge the radio caps.

Here she sits after the parts.

I know I haven't posted, been super busy lately. Got the new stock torsion arms and stock rear shackles installed along with the kit that Tony suggested I use. The new Belltech street kit and shock extension has made this truck feel so nice. I haven't had an opportunity to put some real weight in the back, but even just a 260lb fireplace made it feel even better by taking some of the bounce out of the rear. The truck doesn't bottom out anymore just cruising down the road. I'm super happy with how it's feeling now and it wasn't super expensive to get it fixed. If I would have wanted to go back to factory height, it would have been much more expensive. Thank you all, and Tony, you are the man! I really appreciate all of your help, going back and forth with me in emails and not giving up on giving me the knowledge I needed to get this truck usable. If I end up getting some real weight in the back and it bottoms out, I'll probably end up getting some air bag, helpers for the back. The kits are cheaper, easier and more simple than getting leaf springs done.

So, since I bought a dual post battery, I went to an auto parts store and picked up top post positive and negative cables. I ran the positive straight to the alternator. I then ran the negative to the "ground" by the alternator on the block. I then ran an other from the same area, different bolt, to the frame. The spot on the frame looks like it may be the mount for the arm that holds the driver side fog light, if I had fogs that is. I cleaned this area when a wire wheel on my drill as it had a lot of road grime on it. So far, I no longer have the turn signal surging that I had, I even tested it before I did all of this work. My stereo no longer buzzes/hisses, all seems well. I will take it for a drive later to see if bumps in the road cause it to have the previous issues. I am also hoping this fixes my dash problems. If so, then I get my cruise control back and I don't have to worry about weird signal problems anymore.

I agree with you there Richard. What's weird is, the computer never shuts off on the cluster. Just all of the mechanical gauges. I'm hoping to get some decent weather up here in order to start looking for loose or bad grounds. I'll have to find a wiring diagram for this.

I'm definitely not versed, but I feel I'm about to be. Haha. Any help is greatly appreciated. I had a feeling as well that it was a ground. I still wonder if the stepper for at least my speedo is bad. I can hear it clicking and see it ticking when it's not wanting to work.

Also, in the video you can see the 2 left turn signal bulbs alternating. I feel this may be incorrect, but I honestly don't know. It could be from the surging or it could be that way from the factory. I don't remember my old 04 LT doing this.

So, I've recently gotten my SSS, I've been going through things with it to get it back up to snuff. I've ordered suspension parts to get it riding better and a bit taller, as it is slammed. Anyways, I'm at the point of trying to figure out why my turn signals cause my other tail lights(and 3rd brake light) to surge. A side note, the gauge cluster needs to be repaired as well. It will cut in and out intermittently as I hit bumps and just drive it around. The speedo will stop working, sometimes you can hear it clicking, the gas, battery, oil, and fuel gauges will all shut off and come back on. I'm assuming it's the common issue of the stepper motors and bad solder. So, when I have my driving lights my LEDs in my mirrors will come on, off and on I should say. Some times very bright, some times very dim. They also will show "on" on my cluster. If the mirror LEDs are dim, the arrows in the cluster will be dim, and the same for when the LEDs are bright, so are the arrows. I've replaced my tail light junction box and my tail lights. The tail lights came with all new wiring and bulbs, so I used them. (Eagle Eye tails) My head lights had LED dims(the only LED bulbs I can find on the truck), so i bought some cheap Sylvania bulbs to see if it was because of that. Still, no fix. I also replaced the battery as it has a bad cell. I'm at a loss of what to try next. I'm not sure if it's because of my cluster, a bad ground somewhere or if it's the body control module. I have a video of it up on YouTube and I am linking. https://youtu.be/vD5H5LjMExY

If you were in the area I'd definitely be down.

That makes sense. I may just find some stock keys or stock control arms. I'm thinking control arms because those are 3inch drops and all I really want is a 2inch drop all around. Or 1in lift torsion keys if those exist. (just thought about them, no idea) lol

Thanks LilEZ, I'm going to get either stock shackles or a 1 inch lift shackle, new shocks all around and probably start with stock torsion keys in the front. From what Tony told me, I have DJM 3in drop lower control arms. I need to figure out how to tell if the spindles are drops or not, but Tony didn't seem to think so. Anyways I can't wait to really start driving this truck. I've been just cruising to work and work a couple of times.

Thank you very much Johnny, Tony is awesome and so helpful.

Thank you.

That's good to hear. Thank you. I'm so used to my Subaru, everything is interchangeable on those cars. It was super easy to lower my Forester XT with factory parts from other cars and it made a measurable difference in performance and I never have issues. I'm used to trucks being stock height and having engine mods at most.

No blocks. I read that the SS didn't come with them. So it seems that the leafs are lowering leafs, shackles and hangers. Or the leaf springs are just very flat because of the shackles and hangers male the rear really low.

Crap. Stock hangers are pretty expensive. But, if it's what I need, it's what I'll buy. One of my problems is, I don't know how the geometry works on these trucks. I drive a lowered Subaru Forester XT, it's super simple, STi springs and WRX struts, that's it. Lol. So, if I replace the rear shackles and rear leaf springs, could I leave the front hangers alone? Or do I need to replace the hangers, leaf springs and get 2in drop shackles?

It's not the appearance that bothers me. It does look killer slammed like it is. It's just the fact that I pretty much can't use the truck. With my girlfriend and her 2 teenagers in the truck with me, we bottomed out on nearly every bump in the road. Here in Spokane, we've got some nasty roads with some very bad potholes. Along with that, I can't use the truck to haul off stuff from the yard and house. We are planning on doing some remodeling inside the house but we can't get rid of anything until this truck doesn't bottom out and can turn without rubbing. Lol.

Thank you. I'll hit him up.

Here's 2 quick videos. Sorry, I know they aren't the best. It's a pain trying to get under the truck right now. Video #1 https://youtu.be/Ct-mbvqgQDY Video #2 https://youtu.be/YnyaRSjHppo

The photo quality sucks when I have to down size it. But, from what I can tell, it's bolted in. This is beginning to look expensive.

Does this look like the stock hanger for the front of the leaf springs?