Still working on the GV install. So far so good. I plan on taking the driveshaft to the shop this week to get shortened so I can button this up. I will have to re-locate muffler as it is too close.

Unboxing
NP205 adapter
Side view
Mostly installed including speedo. Still have to wire up.
Speedometer coupler with speed sensor

 

Man that's a hefty looking unit!

I see one mounting point directly above it. Did you have to modify/increase the support with the NP205 as well?

Seems like a lot of weight hanging on the motor with a couple of frame supports. Not trying to bash or complain. Just curious what your thoughts are on the supports.

Btw, this is all very exciting. I haven't seen a GV in a build thread yet.

 

Hmm, now that I think about it most GV threads are stand-alone and not part of a build thread.

 

Got my drive shaft shortened - total length 41 3/4". Cost me $210 at South Bay Driveline in San Jose, CA. Dropped it off at 9AM and they called me at 1PM and said it was ready! Hopefully I can make a few hours this weekend and get it all wrapped up.

 

Finished installing the new shortened driveshaft and wiring up the control unit last night. Took it around the block this morning and everything works great!

I'm not taking out it on the freeway yet since I need to have the muffler moved first. But around town in shifts into overdrive at about 45 mph - actually not that hard of a shift as I've been reading about. Got to about 55 and it turned about 1800 RPM which is exactly what it should be doing. I have 4.10 gears with 35" tires and the OD is a 0.78 ratio.

Once I get the exhaust relocated I'll test it out more thoroughly and get it on the freeway. But for now, it seems to be exactly what I wanted.

 

My wife drove the truck for the first time (a few too many IPA's for me). A little bit of a shock for her coming from her Ford Flex to this She did great though!

 

Oh my goodness that is a short short rear driveshaft.

Glad it's all working out well though! 1,800 RPM at that speed must be quite nice!!!!

Congrats on the mod

 

Thanks! It was great to finally get it back on the road again. Basically a 1 day job took me over a month - typical for this project. I have appt. With the muffler shop Wednesday so I'll be able to try it out on the highway this weekend.

so far at 55mph no vibration. 70 mph on the highway will be the true test.

when I brought the driveshaft down to have it shortened I had to fold rear seats down and lay lengthwise from the trunk. On the way back, it fit sideways in the trunk😁

 

Well, finally got to take it for a drive on the highway. What a difference! Before 65mph felt like I was taking off in an airplane, now I can cruise at 75mph and it is no problem.

It seems like the combo of 4.10 gears, 35" tires, and the 0.78 over drive put it in the sweet spot for the 390 on the highway.

65mph was turning maybe 2000 RPM and 75 was around 2200 RPM. I didn't feel like I was pushing it at all and did not feel obliged to stay in the slow lane any more. I used probably 1/8th of the tank driving about 60 miles so roughly 15mpg. I plan on driving it to my Mom's house which is about 100 miles away in a couple of weeks and I'll calculate actual mileage on that trip. I didn't notice any vibration which I was worried about before the install.

But I'd say even though this is an expensive upgrade, it definitely made a huge impact on highway driving comfort and noise.

 

Very nice upgrade. Makes it a more usable toy, wink wink. Can't wait for the report on how well it does on the road trip too.

 

Well, one of the reasons I started this project was that if I was going to own a truck, I wanted to be able to fit the family. Rather than selling my 75 regular cab F250 and getting a newer crew cab which would have been easier, I opted to rescue a basket case old crew cab and build it myself. One of the (many) goals I had for this truck was I wanted to fit us all when getting a Christmas tree.

Ten years later, mission accomplished

Piled the family in the Green Machine and drove about 10 miles to the tree lot we always go to. Seems like a small thing but I felt proud to be taking the family out in the truck I built.

To any still watching this old thread, Happy Holidays!

 

Great job man...nothing is more satisfying than getting to use your truck for what you built it for in the first place. I didn't have a family when I started my crew build, but I knew that someday I would and that's why I built a crew cab. And now I love touring around in the crew with the wife and our one year old daughter Isabelle and our dog Sarge in the back seats! We all tend start our "builds" thinking that we'll be done in a year or so...then as the years go by reality sets in....but as I like to say "quality takes time".... my truck took 5 years and yours took 10, but at the end of the day we both ended up with trucks with a purpose...mission accomplished! Cheers man!

 

Thanks, I'll make sure to report back when I take it on it's first roadtrip.

Thanks, and congrats on your build as well

 

Must feel nice. 7 years and counting for me. Light is getting brighter at the end of the tunnel.

 

Nice to hear the overdrive unit is working out well. Maybe I'll put one on my Christmas wish list. I also have 4.10 gears, 35" tires and a 390/C-6 so seeing your RPM numbers is helpful.

My goal was to have my crew cab on the road in time for the family to use it for picking out our Christmas tree this year. I didn't make that goal, so we ended up using the regular cab F-250 and another car to do our Christmas tree hunting last night. We still had a good time.

Glad to see you're getting some time behind the wheel and have more planned in the coming weeks.