I somehow managed to convince my son to ride to the tire store with me. He was hating me the whole way. It was loud. They didn’t have what I was looking for so I made an appointment for the next week. Oddly, going over the speedbumps at the mall parking lot felt like nothing. The old tires LT215/85R16 Load Range D at 35psi and the ¾ ton suspension of the donor ’88 K2500 is a softer ride than the ’47 1-ton. I had previously run these tires on the original frame and it was stiff. I had been looking at options for a softer tire and found only 2 options for the size I wanted. The LT215/85R16 (30.4”x8.5”) commercial traction Load Range D, like I had, and the P225/75R16 (29.3”x8.9”) Standard Load at 40psi. max. The tire salesman suggested the 235/75R16 (29.88”x9.25”). He gave me an estimate sheet that I later noticed was for the 225/75R16 tires. I went to a used tire shop to get a spare for a test fit, that is when I noticed the size on the estimate. The spare fit, so I got new tires from this other shop the next day. The steering tightened up with the new tires. These are Load Range E at 80 psi and yet the ride is soft. The suspension makes all the difference. Now I need to get the floor mat installed for a quieter ride. Before that the transfer case shifter needs the bezel installed. I don’t like the angle the shifter is at in 4 low, so some heat and a pipe wrench to change the angle. Time to paint it too. I also found the shift tower bolts loose again. I made some spacers <0.275” tall to give the shift tower bolts something to snug up against. This is the 1988 (HM290) 5LM60 transmission, I’m guessing the first gen. The original tower gasket was deteriorated. I got the replacement as was listed for the NV3500. It seems the later versions had some sort of spacer included on the bottom of the shift tower. The NV4500 has larger holes and spacers with the bolts. I don’t know how the first gen HM290’s were originally set up. I hope this fixes it.
