Christmas break; time for some mods on the 2500HD!

[SlugSlinger]

Took off a few days for Christmas and with the nice weather, decided to do some work on the truck.

First, installed a Warn 16.5 winch with synthetic rope on a Warn Trans4Mer 2 winch mount.





Then installed the leveling kit to compensate for the winch and get a little more clearance.



installed a quick connect battery cable and ran it to the back.



I can use this with my quick connect jumper cables and my Ramsey quick connect 9,500 winch.



Finally, tidied everything up with a heavy duty battery switch. The switch is wired into the auxiliary battery, which is factory fused with a 400 amp heavy duty blade fuse. Then wired in a junction to attach all the cables. The switch controls the power to the junction. This way the winch and quick connect battery cables only have power when I plan to use them. I’ve heard horror stories about people wrapping the winch cable over the roof and attaching it to the rear bumper, then shorting the winch. That would make for a very bad day. Shouldn’t happen with the switch.

 

[SPDguns]

Nice! You can climb a cliff forward AND backward now. I just promoted you to the top of my "Who to call when stuck" list.
I have to spend the day changing the fuel injection spider on an '03 Silverado 4.3. In the cold. In the rain.......

 

[Perplexed]

Leveling kit? How much does the winch weigh?

 

[SlugSlinger]

Leveling kit? How much does the winch weigh?

The shipping weight on the mount was 135 lbs. The winch probably weighs around 100 lbs with the synthetic rope. The wire rope weighs about 35 lbs, that’s one reason I ditched wire rope.

The front dropped about 1/2” after adding the setup. I actually raised it about 1/4” higher than before the winch. It’s not much, but I OCD over stuff.

 

[SlugSlinger]

Nice! You can climb a cliff forward AND backward now. I just promoted you to the top of my "Who to call when stuck" list.
I have to spend the day changing the fuel injection spider on an '03 Silverado 4.3. In the cold. In the rain.......

Yep, give me a call. I’ve got enough cable extensions to reach about 250 feet with the winch and extensions that I keep in the truck. Actually, I have 3 wire cables from different winches at the house to reach another 350 feet or so if really needed.

My buddy that works at Warn told me I could split my truck in 2 now. Lol.

I hope to never get stuck, but usually the best way to get unstuck is to go back the way you drove in to get stuck in the first place.

It’s supposed to get cold tomorrow. Hope you finish up your project today if you’re working outside.

 

[harley128]

Wow! Very nice truck............

How hard is that leveling kit to install ? Is it a DIY project for dummies like me?? lol

 

[SlugSlinger]

Wow! Very nice truck............

How hard is that leveling kit to install ? Is it a DIY project for dummies like me?? lol

It is a piece of cake. Probably took me 15 minutes and 5 of that was putting it on the car lift.

Just get the loaner tool from Oriellys.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...17/chevrolet/silverado-2500-hd?q=Loaner&pos=9

The lift keys were $32 on eBay. These say through 2016, but the 2500hds chevys use the same keys through the 2019s.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-2016-...ling-Kit-19-/372340482850?txnId=1072037698024


You need to watch the upper control arm angle and not max out the lift because you will lose the suspension travel.

I just bought the diff drop spacers. It looks easy to install as well. It will help reduce the CV angles. I really don’t think the angles are an issue, but it will be cheap insurance to reduce excessive wear from the higher angles from the lift.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SR-Billet-...00-2011-4x4-/272886952086?txnId=2094303716017

 

[SPDguns]

Yep, give me a call. I’ve got enough cable extensions to reach about 250 feet with the winch and extensions that I keep in the truck. Actually, I have 3 wire cables from different winches at the house to reach another 350 feet or so if really needed.

My buddy that works at Warn told me I could split my truck in 2 now. Lol.

I hope to never get stuck, but usually the best way to get unstuck is to go back the way you drove in to get stuck in the first place.

It’s supposed to get cold tomorrow. Hope you finish up your project today if you’re working outside.

I got lucky, it was just condensation under the distributor cap which then caused the plugs to drown out too. $80 at AutoZone and I'm off and running to do a FTF!