Two other what? I always recommend upgrading to the 145a alternator if you havent already and your truck came with the 105a. Fixes a lot of tuning gremlins also.

Made some small progress on the new tank. Forgot I had this flex hose, may use it but looking into options as it needs to make an S bend as its really close to the frame. Fitting 1.5" ID hose is a pain.



Heres a good example of why I like using elbows and straight fittings vs elbow fittings when possible to fit. The throat area at the turn (where there would be the most head loss) is way larger for the elbow vs the 90 degree fitting. Probably overkill for this, but in my mind it helps.

 

I have never read an entire thread this long. Very amazing

 

Haha thanks, I need to give an update, just been really busy over winter doing the AFP thing. Kinda hoping the virus slows things down so I have a chance to finish up the truck for this year.

 

Figured it was time for an update. Had some time lately to work on the truck although progress is always slower than expected. I finished up the new plumbing for the intercoolers. running 6 x 3/4" hoses to the same spot is a pain but I think it will work. Also have a pretty simple path in and out of the tank without too many bends or stress on the hose. I had to notch some of the area between the body and frame mounts to run the big hoses. Only thing left is to run the wiring to the pump from the PWM controller and battery.





Getting rid of the engine bay tanks lets me take those out and also remove the turbo and supercharger heat exchangers so it frees up some room up front so in theory I could put a AC condensor back in if I really wanted to.


Second big change was decided to go with the F it route with the exhaust and made some relatively short aluminum downpipes to just exit at an angle under the truck. I dont really street drive the truck anyway, but I can put the other one back on with the stock muffler if I really want to, but this saves probably 75lb of exhaust stuff.


The biggest thing Ive been working on is with the seat mounting. I dont have a cage in the truck and I finally made some seat brackets for myself and decided to make a harness bar to mount the shoulder straps to. Mounting directly to the seat brackets isnt a good idea for a lot of reasons so its best to have a harness bar or cage. I designed this to be a bolt in deal for any 99-06 truck and only requires trimming a 1" by 4" slot on the side plastic. This is probably my 4th design until I got it where I like it and it feels extremely solid so I am pretty happy with it. The shoulder straps wrap around it then go down to the seat brackets on the floor. I plan to start selling these soon.

 

I am liking this harness bar design. I been racking my brain trying to figure out how to run a harness without a cage. Can a passenger seat stay in with this bar in or does it need to stay out?

 

Yea passenger seat fits fine, see the last pic above, everything is installed there.

 

Looks badass. What you think the pricing will be?

 

Havent decided yet, this is definitely the most complicated thing I make with the most parts and most difficult to ship so it won't be cheap.

 

Interesting take on a harness bar. Incorporates nicely with your seat brackets and allows good ingress/egress for a street truck. The inboard supports seem solid but it is hard so see how the outboard attachments are made. Without a diagonal support to the floor on the outboard mounts or a direct attachment at the bar, it seems an actual crash may put a large moment on the outside of the horizontal bar possibly folding it inward, ie wrapping around the center diagonals. I presume packaging or ease of mounting are the reason for the long outboard 'L' brackets?

 

Yes, the solidworks picture gives the best visual, except the large outside piece is bent 90 degrees on a press with a gusset welded in the joint and attaches to the back of the door striker bolts. I used that spot because it is the only reinforced area on the entire side of the truck. The main bar is an extra thick DOM tube and like mentioned it is secured on 4 spots (2 inside with the triangulated DOM bars, and 2 outside on the big L brackets). I scientifically straped myself in and flailed about as much as possible without the bar budging at all. The bar itself extends to about an inch from the plastic on the walls. It would have to twist that large 1/4" steel piece that is gusseted in two spots like a pretzel in addition to bending the main bar to deflect on the outside. I could have made outside bars, but I like this better and believe it will work just as well. It is also compatible with any of my seat brackets I have made in the past 3 years or so.

I have seen other implentations that are simpler, however they either require welding and cutting up the plastic, and/or dont reinforce the side structure which is their only attachment point with anything stronger than the thin metal used for the inside bracing. Literally the only thing you need to modify with mine is just a 1/2" x 4" rectangle from the side plastic to slide the big L bracket behind the door striker. I am working on an installation video now.