XL to XXL - The saga of a work truck
01-21-2014, 07:43 AM
#21
01-21-2014, 09:14 AM
#22
Senior Member
iTrader: (1)
so... back to my project
Complete detail wash today, my hands ache! Sweep out the bed of random pieces of wood and trash. There was a film of black mildew on the top of the cab that took some muscle to get off. I sprayed the hose under the body lips around the fender wells and the lower rockers and you'd be amazed the amount of pea gravel and mud that came out! I'd recommend you guys do the same to yours at least monthly. No wonder these things rust out down there.
The interior had a coating of dust/sand/mud residue everywhere so that took hours to clean up with the vacuum and some Simple Green. Good thing this truck has the vinyl floor! I'd hate to be battling one with carpet in this condition! I did find about 93 cents in the thing so I at least got paid for my time. I even sprayed Lysol on the seats to hopefully cut through some of the old funky smell. Anyway it is CLEAN and hope to get some pics posted tomorrow.
I'd really like to get some new lights in this thing ASAP because the stock ones SUCK! I drove around all last night with the 'brights' on and nobody even flashed their lights at me. And it was still hard to see with those on. Oh and it also needs an alignment bad but I may just center them up myself as the tires are already dead so I'm not gonna mess them up any worse.
below are the lights I'm gonna get as soon as funds allow, the notorious Harley Davidson lights:
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Comparison shot of the HD's vs stock
Complete detail wash today, my hands ache! Sweep out the bed of random pieces of wood and trash. There was a film of black mildew on the top of the cab that took some muscle to get off. I sprayed the hose under the body lips around the fender wells and the lower rockers and you'd be amazed the amount of pea gravel and mud that came out! I'd recommend you guys do the same to yours at least monthly. No wonder these things rust out down there.
The interior had a coating of dust/sand/mud residue everywhere so that took hours to clean up with the vacuum and some Simple Green. Good thing this truck has the vinyl floor! I'd hate to be battling one with carpet in this condition! I did find about 93 cents in the thing so I at least got paid for my time. I even sprayed Lysol on the seats to hopefully cut through some of the old funky smell. Anyway it is CLEAN and hope to get some pics posted tomorrow.
I'd really like to get some new lights in this thing ASAP because the stock ones SUCK! I drove around all last night with the 'brights' on and nobody even flashed their lights at me. And it was still hard to see with those on. Oh and it also needs an alignment bad but I may just center them up myself as the tires are already dead so I'm not gonna mess them up any worse.
below are the lights I'm gonna get as soon as funds allow, the notorious Harley Davidson lights:
Comparison shot of the HD's vs stock
01-21-2014, 05:36 PM
#23
Senior Member
I have a 97 XL. Anyone who doesn't know better assumes it's much newer and not so basic inside till they climb into it. Gotta love the simplicity however I do wish I had power windows.
Rubber floors are great and my girlfriend sits in the middle of my bench seat, can't complain!
Rubber floors are great and my girlfriend sits in the middle of my bench seat, can't complain!
01-21-2014, 07:12 PM
#24
Maintenance>Repairs
Thread Starter
Yeah my '99 Durango was super nice but all the electronic stuff in the thing probably amounted to 10 miles of wire and way to many switches that were going bad. The simplisiticy of the XL is refreshing to know that only the bare minimum of electronics are on the truck. I'm ok with the crank windows as the Durango windows would randomly work and the back ones quit a year ago. Crank windows always work!
Oh I figured out my Airbag light on the dash, its not the passenger one, its for the driver. Anyway its related to the seat belt tensioner and there is a little wire that goes from the buckle to the floor under the bench seat. I noticed while cleaning that it was broken off. So a simple reconnection and I should be done.
Oh I figured out my Airbag light on the dash, its not the passenger one, its for the driver. Anyway its related to the seat belt tensioner and there is a little wire that goes from the buckle to the floor under the bench seat. I noticed while cleaning that it was broken off. So a simple reconnection and I should be done.
01-21-2014, 08:51 PM
#27
Maintenance>Repairs
Thread Starter
Pre & Post carwash pics. For some reason the pics look the same but believe me it was dirty! You can see some of the mildew residue in the roof channel post wash. There was mildew around all the windows and seams. A haze of dirt over the whole truck especially the hood and roof. And I still need to scrub the floor more because the dirt is still there.
And the dreaded manifold rust is a major issue to be addressed. Any recommendations on which brand shorty headers or if I should just replace them with the factory manifolds? If I go headers it will be the best quality for the cheapest amount (I know thats impossible... but you family guys understand). But if these are still useable which I highly doubt then I'll just buy new gaskets and studs and throw them back on as it would allow me to fix other things more pressing like the ABS.
And the dreaded manifold rust is a major issue to be addressed. Any recommendations on which brand shorty headers or if I should just replace them with the factory manifolds? If I go headers it will be the best quality for the cheapest amount (I know thats impossible... but you family guys understand). But if these are still useable which I highly doubt then I'll just buy new gaskets and studs and throw them back on as it would allow me to fix other things more pressing like the ABS.
Last edited by FunkSkunk; 01-21-2014 at 08:53 PM.
01-21-2014, 08:57 PM
#28
Maintenance>Repairs
Thread Starter
Post pics.... anyone need a load of gravel? I know the interior floor still looks bad but it was dark and... excuse excuse... I'll do better next time guys.
01-21-2014, 09:00 PM
#29
Maintenance>Repairs
Thread Starter
Has anyone ever take a hose to there vinyl floor? I've done it in my jeep but that was just bare metal floor. I don't know what lurks underneath this thing.