Fixing Up A 1996 Chevy 3500 Crew Cab Dually - Killing The Gremlins

1. Our truck has been extremely reliable, and up until the heater core sprung a leak and the A/C controls stopped working, we had only dropped dollars on oil changes and new tires.

2. Remarkably, the A/C controls stopped working immediately after we installed a new head unit above it, in the dash. Like much of the interior, the plastic housing for the controls had become brittle, and as soon as we pressed the retainer clips to remove it, the clips snapped off the housing. This didn't affect the controls, but when we took a reciprocating saw to the inside of the dash to make room for the head unit, we fear the vibration damaged the control's hard-mounted circuit board. A quick call to CK Resto netted us a new set of controls that fit and worked perfectly. Note that when ordering this part to have your truck's VIN number handy, because there are several different versions of this part that have different-shaped electrical connections on the back.

3. Two things alerted us to the leaking heater core in our truck. The passenger side of the floor was soggy wet, and we smelled coolant inside the cab. The leak wasn't visible until we pulled up the carpet and found the floor panel wet and rusty. Again, CK Resto came to the rescue with a replacement core that was super easy to swap out.

4c. The heater core is located beneath the dashboard, directly above the passenger-side foot well. What's great about these trucks is you don't have to remove the dashboard to swap out the core. Simply remove the five 6mm hex-head bolts from the plastic shroud to gain access to the core.

5c. Once the shroud is off, go under the hood and disconnect the pair of heater hoses that are attached to the core lines coming out of the firewall. Then, go back under the dash and remove the single bolt and retainer tab holding the cooler in the plastic housing. The cooler should easily pull out of the firewall and the housing.

6. We were curious where our core was leaking at, so we set it on the ground outside the truck and fed a garden hose to it. A pinhole-sized leak soon showed through the core casing near the feed lines. Electrolysis had done a good job of eating through the aluminum casing. That small hole sure did make a mess of our truck's carpeting. No matter, once the new core was in place we'd take care of that as well.

7b. The reassembly went smoothly. We installed the new core using the factory retaining clip and hardware. We also reused the factory rubber sealant around the core feed lines in the firewall.

8. Our next gremlin fix demanded that we replace the factory carpet that had been contaminated with engine coolant. It was a damn shame too because the stock carpet was in excellent shape. We ventured down to Stitchcraft Custom Interiors in Huntington Beach, California, to have the job done right. First order of business was to unbolt the front and rear seats and the seatbelts. The seats are held in place using 14mm bolts, and the seatbelts are locked down with #50 Torx head bolts.

9b. After removing the stock jack mount and cover and the doorsill plates, Revo began pulling up the old carpet from the rear of the cab.

10. And finally, the center console was removed by unscrewing two 9/32-inch hex-head bolts located inside the base.

11. We had ordered a new ACC custom carpet kit from CK Resto, but before we installed it, we intended on killing one more annoying gremlin; like many other '88-'98 Chevy's, ours was plagued by excessive heat coming through the transmission tunnel and the front floor boards. With the exhaust and transmission so close to the sheetmetal and very little insulation beneath the factory carpet, we constantly felt the heat especially during the summer months. Dynamic Control's Extreme Dynamat and Dynapad would be the cure. The materials came in pre-cut rectangles that we laid out atop the carpet in the pattern that would cover the affected areas.

12. To prep the floor for the Dynamat, we cleaned it using acetone to any oil or grease that would inhibit proper adhesion.

13. Extreme Dynamat has a lot of things going for it. It's lightweight and offers excellent vibration absorption, which means that whatever panel that's ratting in your truck can be silenced by placing the material either near or on it. The layer of aluminum used in its construction also acts as a thermal barrier, so it will help keep the interior of your sport truck cooler. It's also super easy to install because of its peel-and-stick backing.

14. Because it's pretty flexible, Dynamat is easily formed to the contoured floor.

15b. Scissors are employed when hard corners can't be wrapped and a small roller helps flatten out the material across long, flat surfaces.

16. This is overkill at its best. You don't need nearly as much material as you see here to dampen vibrations in your truck. But, since ours doesn't have a boomin' system and we were simply looking to block out the heat emanating from beneath the floor, we went nutty and laid down as much Extreme Dynamat as possible. Looks cool, huh?

17. The last area we wanted to insulate and dampen was the rear cab wall because someday we are going to get around to building a kick-ass subwoofer enclosure back there. Dynapad's closed-cell foam construction doesn't offer as much thermal barrier protection as Dynamat, but this area of the truck isn't as crucial.

18c. After measuring the cab wall and cutting the appropriate amount of material, the wall and material are both sprayed with high-tack spray glue. The glue is allowed to dry for several minutes, and then the material is applied to the wall. Note that we reused the existing cab wall carpet. It was simply laid back down over the material after drying.

19. The Auto Custom Carpet kit that we got from CK Resto is a custom piece, meaning that you have to trim it to fit your truck and cut in all the holes for seat mounts, wiring, ducting, and bolt-holes. It sounds time-consuming and it is, but the finished product is worth the effort.

20. This is the front edge of the carpet, which must be trimmed to wrap around the A/C ducting and firewall.

21b. You may recall that in the last issue of Sport Truck we went through the complete installation of an ACC kit, so we'll just hit the highlights here. The kit is left extra wide, so that you can trim it to fit your truck's cab. It does include the factory plastic insert or heel pad atop the driver's foot area, which is a nice touch that will help the kit last for years to come.

22. The finished product looks great, smells like new, and is topped off with a pair of matching floor mats.

23b. There are a few other gremlins common to all '88-'98 Chevys, but leaking cab lights are a dualie-specific malady. The rubber base of the lights tend to warp over time, and every time we wash our truck, the water makes its way into the roof, down into the headliner, and inside of the cab. When we bought our truck, the area above the corner of the windshield had actually rusted away from the water being trapped there. Removing the lights and spreading a bead of indoor/outdoor silicone beneath the bases is an easy fix.

24a. Our doors line up pretty well, but that's because we've already replaced the hinge pins. Chevy doors are extremely heavy, and leaning on them tends to bend the hinge pins. Because the hinges are glued to the door and cab, they are not adjustable, and so replacing the pins is the only way to get the doors to line back up properly. Leaning on them when the door is open only worsens the condition.