finally time for some REAL power
so i think i can officially go ahead & start my build thread. http://www.camaro5.com/forums/images.../happyanim.gif
so for a little back story for those who don't know yet... http://www.camaro5.com/forums/images...es/popcorn.gif
may 27 2009 - the day the music... *cough i mean, my truck died :cry:
i'm driving home from nashville & mom's in the passenger seat. she managed to only halfway shut her door, but i didn't notice until we were on the interstate & heard all the wind wooshing by. rather than just open it & slam it shut real quick, she makes me pull over & stop first. *bam* door's shut. i start to pull back onto the highway & see a couple tractor trailers getting close pretty fast, so... i do just what anybody with a loud, good-sounding exhaust does... i gun it :burnrub: speed-shift to 3rd & keep on runnin to 80 (keep in mind that was only about 4400rpm)
and then it happened... http://www.camaro5.com/forums/images/smilies/yikes.gif
i let off the skinny pedal & hear something weird http://www.camaro5.com/forums/images/smilies/iono.gif
i pushed the pedal back down a little. hmm... no sound :) i let off again & it was back http://www.performancetrucks.net/for...ech/gr_sad.gif nothing too obvious... just a little *chicka chicka chicka chicka* but by the time we got back to murfreesboro, it was more like *chicka chicka chicka chicka* & all i could think was :confused: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/images/smilies/help.gif
-- now let's jump back in time a little more to january 2008 --
cue saved by the bell style wavy screen blur & harp strums
i decided to make the switch - conventional oil to synthetic & i used none other than mobil1. that probably wouldn't've been such a big deal if i didn't already have 135k miles on the truck. now, as we hit the fast-forward, we watch as the odometer hits 138k, 141k, 144k, 147k - each mark being the usual 1 quart low, but rather than completely changing the seemingly still pretty clean oil, i just filled it back up & kept going (after all, it did say you could go 15,000 miles on a cycle http://www.camaro5.com/forums/images...s/facepalm.gif http://www.performancetrucks.net/for...n_rolleyes.gif).
-- back to *chicka chicka chicka chicka* --
i gracefully roll through town at a slightly faster pace than coasting & when i got home, i let it run & crawled around trying to locate the source of the most heart-shattering sound i've heard in a while. after talking with my mechanic (and once he heard it after i towed it down there http://www.camaro5.com/forums/images...racter0264.gif), we figured out that a rod was broken & by the grace of God hadn't shot through something http://www.camaro5.com/forums/images/smilies/yikes.gif
remember that synthetic switch? what i failed to realize was the nice buildup of shellac getting ever thicker in the bottom of my oil pan & on the end of my dipstick :whack: turns out, the extra additives in synthetic wear off the shellac deposits that conventional oil leaves on moving parts such as bearings (which actually helps lubricate them) & that gunk (rather than being gradually drained with the oil every 3-5k miles like it should've been) eventually clogged the oil pump & on that particular hard run, starved the engine of oil, causing something to seize up & break the rod. http://www.camaro5.com/forums/images...es/mad0260.gif whoops!! my bad http://www.camaro5.com/forums/images...s/facepalm.gif
long story short - i need a new engine. http://www.camaro5.com/forums/images.../thumbdown.gif
now i could be the nice easy-breezy person & just find another 4.3 to drop in it & be done...
but where's the fun in that?!?! http://www.camaro5.com/forums/images/smilies/evil.gif
in my opinion, (as great as the 4.3 is - congrats GM on making such an awesome engine http://www.camaro5.com/forums/images/smilies/clap.gif) a fullsize 4x4 truck that hauls stuff, pulls trailers, & likes to get on it every now & then deserves a lot more than a 200hp V6.
that's why, after much research on great forums such as this and PerformanceTrucks.net Forums - Powered by vBulletin, i decided to go ahead with the V8 swap i'd been planning on doing down the road anyway. http://www.camaro5.com/forums/images/smilies/w00t.gif
i started a thread earlier this year on camaro5 (the only forum i was on at the time) describing some initial plans i had
so much for a T-56 swap! - Camaro Forum - 2010 Camaro / Camaro Z28 SS Forums - Camaro5.com
my final decision: keep the stock transmission & swap engines to a 5.3.
but in the mean time, i'll be driving mom's truck if i need to go somewhere & she ain't using it
http://www.ls1truck.com/upload/files.../excursion.JPG
why does diesel have to be so freakin expensive?!?!
i'm gonna run out of money just driving to work!
