Author Topic: 1991 V3500 - The Only Minivan I Will Ever Own  (Read 67417 times)

Offline bigchevyc30

  • Frequent Member
  • **
  • Posts: 456
  • the pig
Re: 1991 V3500 - The Only Minivan I Will Ever Own
« Reply #30 on: July 05, 2011, 06:28:25 PM »
can i have the same minivan i have my truck and all but that minivan you got is so much better looking and could be played with compared to my dually
1980 c-30 dually R.I.P
1989 R2500 Sub 350/sm465
1984 k10 sub 6.2/700r4

Offline Fuel Truck

  • Newbie
  • Posts: 6
Re: 1991 V3500 - The Only Minivan I Will Ever Own
« Reply #31 on: July 07, 2011, 05:14:04 PM »
Oh man that is a bad truck, I wish I could find
'85 Silverado

Offline ehjorten

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1198
Re: 1991 V3500 - The Only Minivan I Will Ever Own
« Reply #32 on: September 06, 2011, 03:41:13 PM »
Haven't done much to the truck lately, but I did get my Odometer and Trip Odometer fixed.  A while back the Odometer quite working and the trip odometer never would reset properly.  I tore the Speedometer out of the Dash and after a bit of research and looking, I sent it out to a place in Richmond, VA to have it repaired and buffed-up.  There is a more local place in Tacoma, WA, but this place in Virginia seemed to be real professional and knowledgable.  Plus they paid for your shipping both ways!  I looked into seeing if I could repair it myself, but when I found the Trip Odometer gear was stripped and nothing looked wrong with the Odometer itself, I figured it was probably the Stepper Motor that died.  That involved a lot more disassembly and electronic board work than I wanted to take on.

I got the Speedometer back last weekend, but it was too late to install it before taking off on a camping trip, so I just put the GPS in the truck and drove it with a big hole in the dash! :D

Now it is installed, looks great and the best part is the Odometer and trip meter are working again!  GPS says it is about 2-3% reading slow, so I popped the DRAC out at work and changed the dip-switches.  The drive home should confirm that I'm dead on!

As a side...I did the DRAC modification a while back and checked it with the GPS.  I seem to remember it being pretty accurate, but maybe that was just because I was so happy to be reading only a couple of percent off instead of about 15%.  I do think I remember maybe reading about 2% slow before, so I don't think anything could be wrong with the repair; that is what I was initially thinking.  It was interesting that the GPS showed that the speedometer got more accurate as speed increased.  I'm thinking that has to do with the tires growing at speed, cause tire circumference is inversely proportional to the Input Ratio on the DRAC.  A couple of percent is only about 0.75" diameter change on my tires.
« Last Edit: September 06, 2011, 03:47:00 PM by ehjorten »
-Erik-
1991 V3500 - Gen V TBI 454, 4L80E, NP205, 14 bolt FF, D60, 8" Lift on 35s
1977 K20 Silverado - 350, THM350, NP203, 14 bolt FF, D44, Stock Lift on 31s
1969 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe - EFI350, THM350
1968 Chevrolet Step-side Pickup - 300HP L6

Offline big bear

  • Junior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 681
Re: 1991 V3500 - The Only Minivan I Will Ever Own
« Reply #33 on: September 06, 2011, 03:44:06 PM »
awesome man...some progress is better than none.   ive said it many times but...love the truck !

Offline 84chvy

  • Registered Users
  • *
  • Posts: 118
Re: 1991 V3500 - The Only Minivan I Will Ever Own
« Reply #34 on: October 17, 2011, 09:11:45 PM »
thats a heck of a truck man. i have an 84 2wd longbed and i hate the single cab long bed. i want a 4wd crewcab too but there hard to find.

Offline 84crew

  • Newbie
  • Posts: 7
Re: 1991 V3500 - The Only Minivan I Will Ever Own
« Reply #35 on: October 19, 2011, 07:02:19 PM »
Very nice minivan.

Offline ehjorten

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1198
Re: 1991 V3500 - The Only Minivan I Will Ever Own
« Reply #36 on: October 20, 2011, 11:11:13 AM »
This last weekend I pulled the steering gear off of the truck because I was going to have it rebuilt and finally get my new Hydroboost unit, new master cylinder and new booster hoses installed.  Guess what I found under the steering gear?....

Cracks!!!!  Argh!!!!

I got the weld-in reinforcement and the bolt-in brace coming.  I'm gonna grind out the cracks, weld them up and grind them smooth before I weld on the the reinforcement.  Gotta get all of this done before opening day of Elk season!  I'll post pics later of the repair and install when I get the parts.
-Erik-
1991 V3500 - Gen V TBI 454, 4L80E, NP205, 14 bolt FF, D60, 8" Lift on 35s
1977 K20 Silverado - 350, THM350, NP203, 14 bolt FF, D44, Stock Lift on 31s
1969 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe - EFI350, THM350
1968 Chevrolet Step-side Pickup - 300HP L6

Offline ehjorten

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1198
Re: 1991 V3500 - The Only Minivan I Will Ever Own
« Reply #37 on: November 13, 2012, 10:19:17 AM »
I looked at my last post on this thread and realized the last problems I had with the truck were last Elk season...guess what now...another Elk season and I had a little Snafu mid last week! (never did post pictures of my frame repairs, but they are holding up great and I never did use the poorly fitting weld-in repair, just the welded-up and ground-down frame and bolt-in braces).

So while I was out Elk hunting last week I had a little snafu!  It was night-time and pouring down rain.  All of a sudden the truck goes completely dead while driving!  Pulled-off on the side of the road, got out and checked under the hood.  HOLY-####!!!!  The positive battery cable is glowing bright-red, sizzling & crackling!!!!!  Run to the cab to get my mini-mag and dig-out my multi-tool.  All the time I'm thinking...FIRE!  Get back to the battery and disconnect the battery.

All safe now, but the insulation on the positive lead is melted and dripping and the accessory wire melted the solderless-crimp connector and is now in two pieces!  What am I going to do now???  It is about 10 pm and I got to get home so that I can get up at 4 am for the next days hunt!  How am I going to get home?  How am I going to fix this in the middle of the night with no stores open & how am I going to get any sleep???  Cop happened to be going by on the road not 5 minutes after this happened and then another showed-up.  They were really cool!  Helped tow me off of the road after they went back and got the SUV with the tow strap (no way the cruiser's push bars were going to even be close to reaching up to my bumper!!!).  Called my mom and she was en-route to come get me (45 minutes away though).  The cops also advised me that I had better take care of this tonight, because even though my truck was off to the side, that come morning people were going to be calling in and complaining about it and that they would have to do something.

Realizing I had a roll of electrical tape in the glove-box, I thought...just maybe I could splice the accessory wire and wrap the positive lead.  I thought that even if that worked, there was probably no way the battery would have anything left to turn over the engine.  By the time Mom showed-up I was just finishing wrapping everything and making sure everything was in order.  I connected the battery and hopped-in the truck...turned the key...and she lit right up!!!!   :D

Now...the part about the tranny cooler lines...finally you are saying what the heck does this have to do with the battery cable?

A few strands of the battery cable welded themselves to one of the tranny cooler lines.  Luckily it didn't burn a hole, but at that spot it is weeping a little.  I looked for replacement lines, but neither Chevrolet nor NAPA has anything.  I next looked at Inline Tube and they have something listed for 88-94 4WD Chevy Trucks with a 4L80E and listed for 1-tons (P/N CTT9241).  Any idea if this works for my rig (1991 Chevy V3500 w/454 - so 1-ton with 4L80E trans)?

I know I could probably just repair it, but then it would be repaired and I am a bit anal about these things!  :D

Oh...also...when I went to remove the positive lead on the starter to replace it...guess what...the freakin stud spun out of the back of the solenoid and the phenolic insulator on the back of it busted apart!!!! So now I also have a new starter! LOL
-Erik-
1991 V3500 - Gen V TBI 454, 4L80E, NP205, 14 bolt FF, D60, 8" Lift on 35s
1977 K20 Silverado - 350, THM350, NP203, 14 bolt FF, D44, Stock Lift on 31s
1969 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe - EFI350, THM350
1968 Chevrolet Step-side Pickup - 300HP L6

Offline ehjorten

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1198
Re: 1991 V3500 - The Only Minivan I Will Ever Own
« Reply #38 on: February 13, 2013, 09:44:49 AM »
After ordering a set of Transmission cooler lines from Inline tube for a '91 Chevy 1-ton, receiving them and finding out in-deed that they are for the 4th-gen trucks and not our 3rd-gen trucks; I sent the lines back to Inline along with my originals.  They duplicated them in stainless steel and I received them really fast!  Got them last week and installed them this past weekend!

No more leaking transmission fluid! And, they fit perfectly!!  ;D

Got them in Stainless steel and Inline Tube is keeping my originals to fully reverse-engineer them so that they can have a drawing for them and add them to their catalog.  So...if anyone else needs new cooler lines for a '91 R/V Inline Tube has them.
-Erik-
1991 V3500 - Gen V TBI 454, 4L80E, NP205, 14 bolt FF, D60, 8" Lift on 35s
1977 K20 Silverado - 350, THM350, NP203, 14 bolt FF, D44, Stock Lift on 31s
1969 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe - EFI350, THM350
1968 Chevrolet Step-side Pickup - 300HP L6

Offline pholliday1

  • Junior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 632
  • 1990 V3500 Crew Cab
Re: 1991 V3500 - The Only Minivan I Will Ever Own
« Reply #39 on: February 13, 2013, 12:31:49 PM »
Does your truck have cross over steering?
VETERAN AND LIFETIME NRA MEMBER. WHAT DO YOU STAND FOR?
1991 V3500 CREWCAB SRW 454TBI GMC
1991 v3500 crewcab SRW 454tbi 480le 6" lift
1990 V3500 crewcab Dana 60 FF 14b 5:38 ratio 40 inch 11" lift
1989 v3500 crewcab 454TBI 5" lift

Offline ehjorten

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1198
Re: 1991 V3500 - The Only Minivan I Will Ever Own
« Reply #40 on: February 13, 2013, 01:06:56 PM »
Yes!
-Erik-
1991 V3500 - Gen V TBI 454, 4L80E, NP205, 14 bolt FF, D60, 8" Lift on 35s
1977 K20 Silverado - 350, THM350, NP203, 14 bolt FF, D44, Stock Lift on 31s
1969 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe - EFI350, THM350
1968 Chevrolet Step-side Pickup - 300HP L6

Offline Jason S

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1561
Re: 1991 V3500 - The Only Minivan I Will Ever Own
« Reply #41 on: February 13, 2013, 06:32:20 PM »
I was re-reading your November 13, 2012 posting.  I may have missed something, but what was it that caused the battery cable to melt in the first place?
1973 GMC K2500, Super Custom, Camper Special, 350, TH350, NP203, 4.10's
1974 Chevrolet K10, Custom Deluxe, 350, SM465, NP203, 3.73's

"1) Peace through strength; 2) Trust but verify; 3) Beware of evil in the modern world"

Offline pholliday1

  • Junior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 632
  • 1990 V3500 Crew Cab
Re: 1991 V3500 - The Only Minivan I Will Ever Own
« Reply #42 on: February 13, 2013, 09:43:45 PM »
LOL.  Was thinking same thing.... And did you get an elk?
VETERAN AND LIFETIME NRA MEMBER. WHAT DO YOU STAND FOR?
1991 V3500 CREWCAB SRW 454TBI GMC
1991 v3500 crewcab SRW 454tbi 480le 6" lift
1990 V3500 crewcab Dana 60 FF 14b 5:38 ratio 40 inch 11" lift
1989 v3500 crewcab 454TBI 5" lift

Offline rhino

  • Newbie
  • Posts: 52
Re: 1991 V3500 - The Only Minivan I Will Ever Own
« Reply #43 on: February 14, 2013, 07:33:29 AM »
Just wanted to say, what a sharp looking truck you got.

Offline ehjorten

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1198
Re: 1991 V3500 - The Only Minivan I Will Ever Own
« Reply #44 on: February 14, 2013, 09:41:22 AM »
So the night I was driving home it was raining cats and dogs.  The battery cable welded itself to one of the transmission cooler lines and burned a small hole into it.  Originally I thought that the cooler line rubbed a hole in the insulation, but after my starter solenoid coming apart and re-thinking it...I think I had an internal short in the starter solenoid.  It was probably brought on by all of the rain.  The fact that the whole positive cable was glowing red and that nearly all of the insulation was melted off of the cable points in that direction.

As for Elk Hunting...well it was a strange year!  I got backed-doored (minds out of the gutter guys!  But I will admit that it kinda felt that way!!) by another guy on opening day in this walk-in area after I had parked at the gate at 3 AM!!!  He most likely knew exactly what he was doing because it was a tricky way to come in over the top of me and to do it in the dark meant that he knew the area really well.  It is a really long story, but the guy actually was party hunting and shot 2 that I know of and most likely a 3rd that I can't confirm for his buddies that were not anywhere near him on opening day.  The rest of the season was really poor and both me and my other 3 hunting partners didn't get a single one!  We usually all get one each year.  But...that is why they call it hunting and not shooting!  ;D
-Erik-
1991 V3500 - Gen V TBI 454, 4L80E, NP205, 14 bolt FF, D60, 8" Lift on 35s
1977 K20 Silverado - 350, THM350, NP203, 14 bolt FF, D44, Stock Lift on 31s
1969 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe - EFI350, THM350
1968 Chevrolet Step-side Pickup - 300HP L6