Alex's '42 WC53 Carryall Build Details - Cummins ISB170

[Alxj64]

Finally... finally back to working on this thing. Shop is almost all the way setup and ready for work. Still running some machines off of an extension cord and have picked up some more toys while I am at it, including a beat but cool old Cincinnati No 2 Vertical Mill with a 7.5 hp motor.. will be cool to get it under power finally.

So, ended up buying another Carryall.... and trading it for a fully built Allison 1000.

This one has a full billet converter
ALL of the Updates for seals, valves, and bearings from Allison themselves.
Has a shift kit and E-valve body upgrade.
Core is an SAE 3 from a 2005 Kodiak 4500... she sweet. About a $9500 unit.

Working with a post lift is also a life changing experience for me.
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[Bruce in BC]

sure wish I had a skid steer :)

[Gary Weaklend]

Alex, great to see your post on the PWA site and keep fighting MS. I'm also getting away from Facebook and use it only to communicate with my old high school friends. Dylan and I still want a ride in your Carryall when you make it to Iowa.

[Greg Coffin]

Hey Alex,
Good to see you're back, I was hoping it would happen sooner or later.
Sorry you've had so much drama going on, and glad to hear you are back on track.
Very much looking forward to seeing what you do next on the Carryall, or any of your projects.
Best,
Greg

[Bruce]

I am waiting for my invite, at least till you settle in that is.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

Alex, I am so very glad to see this post and to know that you never really left, you were just regrouping as was I.
Now let us teach, let us share and let us continue to have Gordon shine upon us.

[W_A_Watson_II]

Alx64,, Great seeing you back on the Form! HAd been following your life and adventures on FB.

[Alxj64]

Man...
I feel bad. I haven't been over here in almost 2 years... Because right around the time of my last post... The now EX WIFE... threw the old "This isn't working for me".

So, fast forward 2 years... importantly, still have this Carryall. Sadly, sold the other one, but it went to a good home and I hope to go for a ride in the thing when I see it again. Cough cough, Alan V.

I am no longer in the Tidewater area of Virginia. I moved closer to Richmond / Charlottesville. Bought a cool shop / barn thing with an apartment above it, on 20 acres of woods and very few neighbors around. It is heaven! I can't wait to finish getting my space squared away. I am still moving my machines, unpacking tools that were literally dumped into boxes, and running shop air, wires, etc.
I am selling some more project parts and am just going to focus on getting my Carryall done. My M.S. mess is still taking me down slowly everyday, but I am fighting it tooth and nail.

My new goals are to enjoy my life, do the wonderful manly things that I want to do, that will involve this old truck.

Cheers to all that supported this project. It is not done, and nor am I. Facebook is now just for my marketplace use and this place is now home again; whether ya'll like it or not. ha ha.

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

I don't know alot about the allisons, but could it be torque converter shutter? I have had really good luck with Lubegard platinum I believe resolving crazy issues in automatic transmissions.

Not sure if it is a band aid or an actual fix but it maybe worth looking into?

As always fantastic work sir!

[Alxj64]

Driveline vibration issue has been resolved. Required some re-work of the transfer case mount to move it a little more laterally. I still get a weird coast chatter from it and a weird down shift chatter either from it or the transmission, not sure which one yet. Its kind of a gear growl / rattle. I'm going to dig around a little on the Allison builders forum to see if its a thing.

Had to shorten the intermediate shaft a little bit more. Man I love this old Colchester lathe.

[Alxj64]

Love your attitude - treat it as a learning experience and move forward. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that you are at the crest of the hill and about to start the easy trip down the other side ...

thanks man. I do have it back on the road. Still tightening up squeaks and rattles. I have a vibration in the driveline now, so I think a yoke nut must have backed off on the T-case. I was afraid that was going to happen after re-using a nut a few times when test fitting my parking brake drum assembly.

Been working on the seat frames so far.

[Chip]

Love your attitude - treat it as a learning experience and move forward. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that you are at the crest of the hill and about to start the easy trip down the other side ...

[Todd M]

Sorry to hear about all the trouble. If people would only speak up when things are above there heads so it does not create more trouble down the road or at least you know what and when you are getting into things.

[Alxj64]

So sorry to hear about Wheeler Dog. My wife and I are the same boat - only kids we have are the 4 legged kind. Three right now - two are 14 years old and the third is 7. Met with the Vet over the holidays and she said that time is getting close on one of the two that are 14. Nothing breaks your heart more than losing a 4 legged best friend. You’re in our thoughts and prayers.

Thanks so much. Every day it gets a little easier but my heart still aches anytime I think about him. He was such a good happy boy.

Life was being really ****ty there for a while... a few things have resolved themselves but others shall remain just ****, because as is the world and just bad people will always be bad.

After about a month of more or less poking the truck with a stick, to see if it was still alive, or how much I cared, I finally got a spark lit back and am decided to make the best of a weekend of rain and dreary weather by just staying locked in my garage.


Recap on time line of events regarding the driveline "Saga"...

Bought used Engine and Transmission from a 3rd party person who had purchased it from an auto recycler in Salt Lake city, who I later found out has a TERRIBLE reputation of products and customer service. Story was it came from a 2001 FedEx truck that was flopped in a snow storm in 2005. The engine was a Nov 2001 build, transmission was Feb 2002, and the ESN wasn't activated into service until Feb of 2003.

Engine and transmission was in WI from 2005 until Oct 2012 when I had it shipped to me in Va. They come in seperate crates. The converter has a little bit of fluid in it but its not full, but I marry the two back together when I get them and they go into the truck in spring of 2013 and stay together. I build the truck around them.

First start of engine is Oct '17. It runs for about 30 seconds max.

Transmission gets filled and engine gets run on jack stands in July of '18 but the engine idles very rough, has a major lag, and seems very under-powered.

Start running ECM and TCM software diagnostics, find out that the TCM is from an LLY Duramax truck and not the correct TCM for the Industrial J1939 transmission. Not only is it from the wrong model, it is from a later 5 speed that has the G-solenoid so it really won't work, nor will it talk to the J1939 Cummins ECM.

Buy an Industrial TCM, have it flashed to match the original VIN from the FedEx truck as per what was logged in the Cummins computer and voila, the Engine starts running MUCH better. The ECM was needing speed sensor information from the TCM but the J1939 protocol wasn't there with the OBDII GM LLY TCM. Truck shifts into gear great, and acts the way it should. Chase a few more engine things and its doing great around the neighborhood and I put about 15 miles on it at around 40 mph top. I noticed that around 45 when it shifts into overdrive it has this "bearing rattle" that sounds like that throwout bearing rattle sound when a 7.3 or similarly large manual transmission truck is lugged and you get that driveline chatter growl.

Take it on the first highway speed test run... Roaring growling at highway speed in overdrive. Very audible and concerning. Sounds like it is coming from the front of the transmission or bellhousing. I check converter bolts for tightness, check driveline angles, etc.

A few more trips till about 50 miles of total distance and I go to check the fluid and it is glittery... ****it.

Pull the transmission for a rebuild. I am told "I got a guy, he does it for a living, all he does is rebuild Allisons". Okay, good deal.

First thing found is the Torque Converter is also wrong... its for an 8.1 Liter GM application. Uggh...

Order the right stall converter (expensive because this was going to be nice), have the full Transgo kits installed from shift, to E-valve upgrade, etc. Bling bling.

Builder says that the converter was trashed and that I had a burnt set of C3 clutches and everything else looks good. So he buttons it up and I reinstall everything. First time I meet the guy is when he drops it off, and he says "Thats only the second A1000 I've done, and never done that shift kit before, it was complicated"... RED FLAG... I become a touch concerned.

I install it, fill it, bleed it, etc. It is reluctant to shift into any gear at first but then finally does. I drive it around slow, seems good. SHIFTS AMAZING, so seamless. I take it out for the high speed test.... SAME EXACT NOISE, no change.

I tell the builder, "Hey, this thing is still making the same noise, nothing changed". He responds with, there was nothing wrong in that transmission, even the C3s could have stayed but they were a touch burnt so I change them. Its most likely a driveline angle problem or the transfer-case / rear end. Also, maybe something is rattling in the geartrain? Check that too".

So I go down the rabbit hole of diagnosis of other components. Check shaft angles 6 ways from Sunday, check the transfer case, even dig out and prep a replacement transfer case that I have as a spare. I put some miles on the truck but it still sounds like death in overdrive. Then I decide to take it on a long trip. The morning I leave it shifts into 2nd and all of a sudden I hear the roar in 2nd gear now... ***? Ohh well. Kept driving it. I make the 120 mile trip with it and it has NO problems other than the transmission noise. When I get home, I check the fluid again... MORE metal than before... Uggh. I message the guy that its messed up. He ignores me.

Next morning, I go for a 5 mile trip and thats when it grenades entirely. And I limp it home. The guy still ignores my calls, texts etc.

Fast forward to this weekend. I get my wild hair and decide that it was time to bust my tail and get this thing moving again.

Out comes the Industrial unit, I split the bellhousings, pull pans, swap yokes, etc. The used with unknown mileage C3500 2wd unit has plenty of clutch material in the fluid but not even hardly a skim of metal paste on the magnet. So I am happy and hopeful with that.

My takeout unit on the other hand... wow ohh wow. Just spinning the output yoke by hand was enough to make my blood boil. Crunching, hard spots, soft spots, stalled spots, all in two or three rotations.

The pan has gear chunks, bearing chunks, and even entire pieces of torrington thrust bearing rollers.

I blew up the builders phone with pictures and messages. His response..."The shift kit killed it and that I needed to take up my issue with TransGo." He is now ignoring me again.

Lets see... Day 1... "It sounds like a bearing is going bad."... Rebuilder... Okay so I'll replace clutches and blame it on the converter"... and low and behold, the pan is full of bearings... FML.

So, the swap is done, it really wasn't that bad. I learned a lot more about these transmissions and they really are interesting. I am waiting on my replacement pan filter to deliver and then I am going to get the TCM set to "fast learn" since it needs to learn how to shift this used transmission vs whatever it had figured out to shift that grenaded unit.

Pictures for your pleasure.

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[Chip]

So sorry to hear about Wheeler Dog. My wife and I are the same boat - only kids we have are the 4 legged kind. Three right now - two are 14 years old and the third is 7. Met with the Vet over the holidays and she said that time is getting close on one of the two that are 14. Nothing breaks your heart more than losing a 4 legged best friend. You’re in our thoughts and prayers.