Pirate 4x4 banner

'63 GMC Build

54K views 115 replies 49 participants last post by  HEMISith 
#1 ·
Building up a '63 GMC as a trail rig/dd/work truck/remote welding job truck. Just after something that will be reliable, simple to work on, and capable offroad. Doing a lot of things to it that are probably more hardcore than needed, but why not?

First a little introduction, I'm Chris and this will be a slow build as I am full time in school (for welding) so don't expect too much too fast. Being built on a starving student with access to awesome machines kind of budget. I'm 19, have 5 welding certs (4 TIG in the 6G position for chromoly, stainless, titanium, and aluminum, and 1 structural MIG cert) and working on more, I think I'm a pretty decent fabrimakator but I get to use all of the fancy machines at school like a PlasmaCAM, lathe, bridgeport mill, etc.

So here's the plan for it.... I want a truck that is reliable, very easy to work on with emphasis being put on easily accessing anything on the drivetrain, a very strong drivetrain, a major PITA for any car theif to steal, heavy metal body protection wherever possible to increase crash safety and obviously to protect the body, good towing capacity, capable offroad as this may be used to get to remote welding jobs from time to time, and most importantly, what all of this really adds up to, the peace of mind that I won't break it, as I have magazine/Pirate syndrome... I've been working on it for a couple years now and progress has been slow but hoping to speed things up a bit.

Here's what gear it'll have -

-SBC350, nothing special other than an aluminum edelbroke performer intake

-TH400 with a TransGo 400-1-2 shift kit, acts similar to a manual VB only much more daily driver friendly, will hold 1st and 2nd to any RPM and it does have pretty good compression braking from what I've read, put it in 3rd and it'll run through the gears like normal "Drive" selection with "shift like you mean it" shifts. Trans will be getting a full rebuild with all new clutches, steels, bushings, orings, gaskets, torque converter, Transgo kit, etc.

-NP205, divorced ford drivers drop. Going this route because I'm building an HO72 front axle and drivers drop puts the pinion much further from the engine oil pan and drivers drop also avoids that large lump on the passenger side of GM transmissions. Nothing too special here other than 1350 joints for input and both outputs. 32 spline shafts all around, input and front output will interchange, rear will be a flange and flange yoke setup. Also getting a custom built driveline disc e-brake setup with cable and hydro operation on the e-brake caliper. Will be twin stick'd, and that combined with the e-brake, I can do that cool parallel parking maneuver like all the ricers do. Also will be getting a custom mounting system in the form of a plate for the front and rear of the case with fancy poly-bushings and all. The case will be getting a full rebuild with new gaskets and new input shaft (I have ford mated case internals and a divorced case housing, so I have to buy the input shaft).

-HO72 rear, already finished. Has a factory Eaton No-Spin locker, 4.56 gears, taper roller bearing pinion and load bolt. Did disc brakes too with 3/4 ton front D44/10b rotors, DIY4x caliper brackets (bolt on), and new 9/16-18 wheel studs (same thread that the 14b uses) from Dorman. New spring perches from WFO also welded onto the housing with 73-87 SRW spring mounting span width (wider than the older trucks). Also, I was an idiot and re-used the ring gear bolts when I put it back together, and read online that I wasn't supposed to after the fact. I have magazine syndrome (Or maybe Pirate4x4 syndrome?) which means the chunk is getting rebuilt again, re-setup with new ring gear bolts, and probably safety wired for cool points. Housing painted flat black, chunk and cover painted Chevy Orange with black bolt heads. I am a bit OCD with the whole black/orange thing but I think it looks cool.

-HO72 front, work in progress. After seeing another guy on Pirate4x4 start on an HO72/D60 hybrid, I knew that it only made perfect sense for my GMC since I have one in the rear. Using the HO72 housing and center chunk, extending the long side, cutting the short side, and everything from the inner C's outwards will be Dana 60 hardware. Already have the inner C's and the dimensions to get my housing built to the correct width, currently working on that. Inner shafts will be kept on the down low for now, I've got a cool but cheap trick up my sleeve on that to avoid paying $400 for custom inners. All outer hardware will be chevy 60, including stubs, knuckles, hubs, brakes, etc. Will have crossover steering of course with a panhard bar for extra stability. Axle seals will be of the Seals-It brand variety. Center chunk will be a ball bearing chunk with 4.56 cogs, open diff.

-Frame is a mint '63 GMC 4x4 K20 frame, and it'd already gone under the knife. Did my 52'' leaf swap up front, notched the frame for the leaf mount crossmember, has 2 leaf bolt holes for 2'' and 3'' forward. Crossmember made of heavy square tube and plate. It's all welded in and final. Engine motor mount crossmember is too. Previous owner had some funky mounts in it, so I drew up a fancy crossmember in CAD, cut it out on the PlasmaCAM and TIG'd it up, its plate welded in a box formation with some cool guy holes (you know, the holes with tube running through them... unfortunately no dimple dies). Crossmember uses poly-bushings, and the bushings are in the crossmember. Once they wear out, support the front of the engine, remove 10 bolts (4 per side from the crossmember and 1 for each poly-bushing) and it drops right out from the bottom and they can be replaced. Much easier than factory motor mounts. Rear suspension is currently being worked on, trying to match the front with anticipated height after weight as best I can. 56'' leafs for the rear.

Other basic stuff... removed the in-cab gas tank, going with something much bigger. Going to run a flat bed on this truck also. Interior floor from the firewall to the back of the cab has been truckbed lined. Will probably get some insulation mat and a rubber mat over that. Has a mint factory dash gauge panel, with an inaccurate boat compass that I put in it that changes direction when the door closes, but it looks cool. Truck still has the clutch pedal, but since I am going with an auto, that clutch pedal will get a small master cyl hooked up to it and it will work the driveline/e-brake caliper on hydro, and the factory e-brake lever will work the cable part of it. Will have a dash to back of cab center console that will have cup holders, trans shifter, tcase shifters CB, gauges, etc.

Body protection will be in the form of 2''x5''x.25'' rectangular tube where the rockers currently are. It will be a shame to cut out nearly perfect rockers out of the cab to replace with hefty steel, but only the trained eye should be able to see the end result, and it will keep the cab from getting tweaked should it be rubbing the rockers offroad. Also have a 4''x.25'' wall tube bumper for the front, that will get some more plate and such, with feet first mounted winch on it tucked up under the grill/in front of the core support if possible.


Anyway, I've probably gone on too long and lost some interest because this is pirate and everyone wants pictures, but this is my first vehicle build thread so I'm still learning. Hope you've enjoyed the read so far, any comments, questions, suggestions, and criticisms are welcomed!

(Pictures will be in the next post)
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Well I found some old pictures on my photobucket so I'll start with those....

Here it is right after I got it, with the frightening 6 1/2'' tall rear lift blocks, clean engine, and a filthy trans/tcase. Had a 10b/14bff C&C, and a cracked and popped out windshield (thats what the tarp is for) in it when I got it.




Again this is an older picture, it still had the SM465/205 in it at the time, but this was right after I did the spray in truck bed liner and painted the dash. Note the cool guy liquid filled boat compass and perfect dash insert (not cracked or anything, just painted flat black)




And of course, the all mighty orb of traction, Eaton No-Spin/Detroit locker. For being in a truck bed trailer axle for 20+ years with a toasted R&P, this No-Spin is in mint condition.




Now these aren't actually my pictures, but this guy from another forum that goes buy Gouky gave me the drawings for this e-brake setup, great guy with lots of information, and these are pics of his e-brake setup, I cut out the same caliper bracket and my own rotor but this gets the point across. Uses an '89 Pontiac Grand Prix rear brake caliper, only $60 from RockAuto for a Kelsey Hayes reman.





 
#3 ·
Alright no real particular order here, just some pics to hold your interest!

First up, frame with front leaf spring crossmember. 2.5''x.25'' square tube with 3/8'' plate tabs for the leafs. 2'' and 3'' forward holes. Options are important, I like things to be tunable. Also in the picture is the engine mount crossmember. Excuse the mess of leafs, the cottonwoods in the yard are huge and next to impossible to clean up after.






Motor mount crossmember, excuse the rust, I finished this part a while back and it's been outside installed for mock up. Uses poly bushings, simple to install (it's self aligning with the bolt holes really, since the plates welded to the frame are angled away from each other at the bottom and towards each other at the front), rather than have individual nuts going through, there is another plate behind the ones welded to the frame with nuts welded on, so no trying to hold a wrench back in there, no fiddling with individual nuts, etc.



Of course, gotta have the weld porn...



Here is the rear Eaton HO72, not much to say here, has disc brakes, its painted to look cool (Flat black and Chevy orange), has a factory No-Spin locker and 4.56 cogs inside.

So here is why I am using Eaton HO72's..... They are considerably lighter than a 14bff and lighter still with disc brakes, higher ground clearance than a 14bff, all steel housing for welding trusses and link tabs to, ring gear load bolt, MASSIVE pinion shaft, no crush sleeve to worry about on the pinion (bearing preload on the taper roller bearing models is set with a simple spacer between the two bearings, can remove the yoke at any time and not worry about measuring the torque of the pinion yoke nut), axle shafts with no neck down - they are hoss from flange to splines, factory lockers aren't too hard to find if you go looking for these axles, still pretty abundant because alot of the street crowd sells them off due to lack of street friendly ratios. Only down side is bearings are expensive for these. The other positive things more than make up for that. They are a win win over 14bff's in my opinion.








And here is a quick pic of the housing I'm using for the Eaton/60 hybrid front axle, already have the spindles cut off of it. This housing is actually a '58 HO72 housing. The reason it got cut up for front axle use is because I learned the hard way that not all SRW HO72's are the same width. Earlier ones are about 1/2'' narrower per side than later ones, the difference can be seen in the axle shafts. I got later hubs all setup on this older housing with my discs and brackets, went to check to see if everything would fit and the calipers with pads wouldn't fit, the discs were 1/2'' too close to the caliper brackets on both sides. Then I compared an old housing to a later house and the spindles are slightly different in length, causing the problem. The reason they are like this is because the older HO72/52's used a slide on brake drum, and the later ones had a stud retained drum like the 14bff. Just something to keep in mind for you folks out there running the HO72/52 axles and wanting to do disc brakes. If your axle originally had slide on drums, later hubs will not solve the problem, you need special caliper brackets with less bend/spacing to them, or you need a later HO72/52 with stud retained drums. With the later ones though, EVERYTHING used to convert a 14bff to disc brakes bolts right up, only thing major your have to do is drill the hubs for the larger 14bff wheel studs. Anyway, here is the quick pic of just the housing for the front -

 
#4 ·
Alright now for some more welding porn. Made some 1'' forward offset motor mount plates for my motor mount crossmember. When I put that crossmember in, I moved the mount center line 3'' forward from where the previous owner had it, not sure if it was in the factory location as they were some hack mounts. Anyway, turns out that the engine is still 1'' behind the later model engine location, so I made these offset mounts. I also inadvertently raised the engine/trans up a few inches with this mount, which is excellent for offroad ground clearance, as a goal for this truck is to have a completely flat frame underneath with nothing hanging below it, but this scenario is bad for the floor boards. Time will tell just how much surgery I'll have to do on the cab to get it to fit. Anyway, here's the mounts with some TIG welding porn for everyone. Made of 2 pieces of 3/16'' steel, cut on the PlasmaCAM.

EDIT: These aren't finished yet either, still have to weld tabs to them and do some fancy machine work to them on the mill.








The e-brake caliper bracket, and a rough bench assembly to show how it goes together.



More TIG welding porn on the caliper bracket


Quick bench assembly showing the main component. Flange is from WFO Concepts, flange yoke is from DLSF (Driveline Service of Fresno) and I must say they have great prices on driveshaft builder parts, and a massive selection.


Check out the rotor, vented and drilled is bling trophy truck stuff for sure!



 
#5 · (Edited)
Now here is the part that I personally am the most proud of so far. These mounting plates took alot of hours behind the computer screen and out in the garage measuring to get the drawing perfect so when it cut on the PlasmaCAM, it turned out perfect. Both of my welding instructors at the community college own welding businesses and PlasmaCAM machines and were quite impressed by my mount plates here, as getting oddball clocked holes with uneven round bolt patterns to line up is no easy task.

First up, the divorced housing itself. Drivers drop Ford divorced NP205. Those massive chunks of iron for the factory mount locations are getting cut off in favor of the plates I made, which will get tabs and poly-bushings. Plates are made from 3/16 steel and cut on the PlasmaCAM. Got this housing from a Pirate member for the cost of shipping! I don't remember your username but thanks again!



Every single bolt hole lines up perfectly on both the back.......


and the front!






Did someone say super bling trophy truck sway bar arms? Got bored one day and drew these bad boys out and cut them from 1/4'' 6061-T6 aluminum, each arm is made of 3 pieces for a total 3/4'' thick. Why spend $300+ on a Currie Anti-Rock bar when I can machine some square ends on 1/2t truck torsion bars and make my own awesome looking arms? They aren't finished yet and kind of dirty from laying in the back of my daily driver truck for a while, but the pics should speak for themselves. As for welding them, it was all the little Miller Dynasty 200DX TIG machine could do at 200 amps to weld these beasts, once they were up to temp I didn't stop welding for anything! Done with a WP20 watercooled TIG torch and 3/32 tungsten, 200 amps and pedal to the metal. These will be for the rear sway bar, still figuring out the front.











Well every build needs a beefy part or two, so just for grins, here's some meat on this truck's bones...

A Dana 60 stub yoke next to a 10 bolt.... I think a see a puny little 10 bolt shaft back there somewhere...




And here is one of many reasons why I like the Eaton HO72/52 axles... the absolutely MASSIVE pinion shaft, what other axle out there short of 2.5t's has a pinion shaft that big? That ruler doesn't lie, 2'' and huge splines.






That's all of the pictures for now folks! Please feel free to comment, suggest things, criticize things, question things, or request tech for anything posted! And thanks for all of the welcomes and interest in the build! Much appreciated!
 
#6 ·
More cool transfer case mount tech to follow soon, been sick for the past week so I haven't been able to do anything with this. Next up will be welding on tabs and such for the tcase mounts, doing some work on the motor mounts, and an engine/trans mid plate mount.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Thanks guys!


Anyone have a preferred driveshaft parts supplier? I know that HAD is popular around here but I want to build my own shafts. The best 2 so far that I've found have been www.drive-lines.com which is Drive Line Service of Fresno, and then www.northerndrivetrain.com which is a little pricier than DLSF but similar selection. DLSF seems to have EVERYTHING of any u joint size series. I have ordered from them before with good luck, but wondering what other options do I have out there?

Now on the driveline tech side of things, when I built my motor mount crossmember I inadvertently raised the engine/crank centerline straight up by like 2'' or 3'', so my t-case, even though its divorced and I can put it where I want, will also be higher up. It will also be further back since it's a divorced case. Well all of this means steeper rear drive shaft angles. I am only slightly concerned about running 1350 joints, but the cost difference of going to a 1410 setup at the tcase (vs 1350 parts, prices being for a flange yoke, slip yoke, and weld on slip stub shaft) for the rear shaft is only a few more bucks for parts from DLSF. However, I already have a 1350 flange yoke though, so I'd have to spend another $43 for a 1410 flange yoke.

Anyway, my question is, is it really worth it to do to 1410 at the rear output of the tcase if I don't really have to? Lets assume that a 1350 joint will be able to reliably run in this setup in a single joint configuration, but we'll say that the angle is close to being where one would switch... I also want to avoid running a CV setup if possible.

So my options the way I see it currently...

1350 joint at rear output in the single joint configuration (no CV), already have the flange yoke, don't have any more parts for the rear shaft.

1410 joint at rear output in the single joint configuration (no CV), would have to buy the flange yoke and the rest of the 1410 parts for the rear shaft. Cost of the 1410 shaft parts are only a few bucks more, but a 1410 flange yoke adds another $43 to the cost. Remember I am on a starving student budget.

1350 CV at the rear output IF a CV can be run at the slip yoke end. I'd like to not have the slip at the diff if possible, but I don't know if a CV can be used on the slip end of the shaft, can someone school me there?
I guess I am not totally against the idea of a CV joint, but for ease of maintenance and ease of repair in case of breakage is a big factor here.


I also have some questions regarding slip stubs, the idea of only having say 2.5'' - 3'' of spline on the slip stub is not very appealing to me, but is this normal? Seems like the shorter length splines would wear quicker and have more slop and potential for vibration? Most of the high end shafts I see have full length splines on the male end of the weld on slip stub, but for a DD/Trail rig/remote offroad welding rig, is something like that going to be more than enough? Does anyone know where I could get the 1.5''x16spline weld on slip stubs with full length splines?

EDIT: Also looking for a weld yoke/tube yoke that will work with 3''x.120'' wall tube, anyone know where to get one? The yokes meant to work with that wimpy .083'' wall stuff just isn't going to cut it for me. I've searched a bunch of sites and anything meant to work with .120 wall tubing is aluminum...

And has anyone purchased from www.arizonadrivelines.com also known as "Drive Shaft Super Store" ? They have some of the long slip stuff that I'm after, but I remember hearing something a while back about them not being very reputable?
 
#11 ·
Thanks for the link, I might give them a call, however, I'm not necessarily after long slip, more so full length splines on the weld on stub shaft. I just prefer the idea of maximum spline contact at all times vs. only 2.5'' at all times, especially for a rear drive shaft on a truck that will be "every other day" driven.
 
#14 ·
They do that because the transition from splines to yoke or tube is a much larger stress riser than splines to shaft [cut down to minor diameter of the splines] to whatever larger diameter thing.

Keep doing what you're doing, you seem to be doing plenty well.
 
#15 ·
Cool looking build man, I say go the single 1410 route! Saying this I must admit I haven't finished my rig enough to drive it yet, but its what I decided on too. With a single joint(I have divorced case as well) there may be a bit of vibration over a cv but alot of the time the cv is what fails so I wanted to eliminate a cv. With a 1350 single joint i would have had to limit some of my downtravel so I went 1410 single for the extra angle and strenght!
 
#18 · (Edited)
Sorry for the lack of updates folks, I'm on spring break now so I'll be doing quite a bit more work on this truck. Did quite a bit already though, so just a quickie update for now, pictures will be uploaded tomorrow....

Extended the frame back out to factory length in the rear, had to cut off the last ~10 inches because the previous owner booger welded a hitch to it and wasn't worth trying to remove it from the frame. Used some 4''x2''x3/16'' wall rectangular tube to put the frame back out to factory length, it fit in between the frame rails perfect and I welded it all around, should be stronger than the original!

Then I got my leaf spring hangers bolted up as well as the shackle hangers. Leaf hangers are from a 2wd 3/4t 73-87 GM truck and the shackle hangers are from a 4x4 3/4t 73-87 GM truck. Using 56'' 3/4t leafs in the rear with a 4'' block. I didn't really want to use lift blocks, but I can't afford new springs right now and I didn't want to use the 73-87 4x4 leaf hangers because they hang really low and it would've looked stupid, and I've seen lots of trucks that have factory lift blocks in the rear, so I think I should be alright. And I am using the 73-87 tension shackle setup, so I don't think axle wrap will be a problem, and because this truck wont be a super hardcore wheeler with flexy springs, I'm not really worried about it. If it becomes a problem, I'll either pony up for custom made Deaver springs or lift springs of w/e brand, or build an anti-wrap bar.

Also made a midplate mount from some 1/4'' 6061 aluminum, cut out on the PlasmaCAM at work, bolts between the engine and transmission and will have a poly-bushing on each side, should never have to worry about cracking a TH400 bellhousing with this midplate.

I also built that GotTrikes air/hydro tube bender since the last update, and I am very pleased with how it turned out. Still learning how to set up my bends so they are in the right places, but its super easy to work with since it bends in the vertical plane. Expect to see some tube work on this truck in future updates!

I cut up a rusted out 64/5/6 chevy cab to use as a mock-up floor and firewall, just cut the back off right below the big dimples and cut the windshield pillows a couple inches above the dash. Has a perfect unmolested dash and firewall to work with for mockup purposes, and its a large hump cab like my GMC cab, great to checking driveline to cab clearance and its light enough without the roof/back that it can be picked up and moved around easily with 2 people. I put it on my frame today after I got the Eaton back under the rear springs and back to rolling frame status again.

Tomorrow I'll be working in boxing the frame from the core support forward, since my front leaf hanger crossmember is there and that supports alot of weight, figured it would be better off if I boxed it in. I've got a badly bent 63 1/2t 2wd frame that I can cut the front end off of just ahead of the core support, perfect match for boxing in my frame. After that I'll be starting on my transfer case crossmember and transmission mount crossmember.

Pictures of the current progress should be up tomorrow!
 
#19 · (Edited)
Alrighty, here's the pics....

BEFORE YOU POST SAYING "GET RID OF THE LIFT BLOCKS", I KNOW, LIFT BLOCKS SUCK.... But this isn't a super hardcore wheeler by any means, it just needs to get me to wherever I want to go in the back country and highway reliably, and lots of trucks come with blocks in the rear from the factory and don't have problems, so again, I know everyone here thinks blocks suck, I know that I should eventually get rid of them, no need to post saying such things. Have to use this disclaimer because I know someone will post about the blocks anyway.


Mockup cab with bare block and empty TH400 case in place, everything clears, lots of room behind the engine!





Mid plate mount, and engine/trans to firewall/floor hump clearance



Gotta show off the aluminum welds! :metal:



Rear suspension and Eaton HO72 with disc brakes and a Detroit/No-Spin inside


Extended frame and shackle hangers, still need to plate the rectangular tube between the shackle hangers and the tube so the surface is flush with the side of the frame.



Showing off some more welding, nice beads all the way around the rectangular tube


More of welds, also note the fish mouthed frame, less likely to crack and with a longer weld, stronger overall.



They didn't come this pimped out from the factory! Awesome paint scheme (flat black and Chevy orange), and a Detroit and discs, doesn't get any better than that!
 
#25 ·
Alrighty, here's the pics....

BEFORE YOU POST SAYING "GET RID OF THE LIFT BLOCKS", I KNOW, LIFT BLOCKS SUCK....
With your fab skills and the plasma make a flipped shackle setup for the rear. It'll get rid of the lift block and you can make it to reuse the same shackle.

This is ORDs, also the first one to come up in a google image search.
 
#20 ·
And here are those transfer case mount plates, everything fits up perfectly! Don't mind the funky plate bolted to one of the factory mounting bosses with 2 poly bushings, that was a failed attempt at a cool setup, going to go with a single wide poly bushing there instead of 2 angled ones.

Front...


Back...



Now I am working on the transfer case crossmember(s), since the factory divorced tcase crossmember has to come out, I needed another structural piece to add to the frame, so I cut 2.5'' square holes in the frame, going to weld in the 2.5''x1/4'' wall square tube (not yet cut to length), have holes drilled through those 2.5'' tubes, then have 2''x1/4'' wall square tube that goes through the 2.5'', and bolts will run through that as well. Should stiffen up the frame quite a bit in this area, and will serve double duty as a skid plate mount and transfer case mount. The case itself will have poly bushings, but these crossmembers are obviously solidly mounted. The individual tubes that will go up to the poly bushings will bolt into the 2'' tube after its slid through the frame. The long winded explanation may be a little difficult to picture, I've got a pic now with just some scraps of tube in place to give you a better idea of what I'm going for here. Should have this finished by tomorrow with more pics.
 
#22 ·
Thanks!

That cab was rusted out so I turned it into a mock up cab, the drivers rocker internal sheetmetal, external rocker sheetmetal, and floor right next to the rocker is only about half there, and the cab corners aren't in much better condition, but the back of the cab and roof were still good. Figured the floor/firewall/dash would be good as a mock up cab, and with the back and roof cut off, its light enough that it can be picked up with just 2 people.
 
#23 · (Edited)
i finally get to see pics... I cant see them at work.

looks pretty damned good from here. if you ever get bored, i could use some welding lessons, and I would probably take them from you... damn you can lay a nice bead.


Keep up the good work.



and dont give me any shit about making a compliment.
 
#24 · (Edited)
Thanks!

About the welding though, if you are near a community college look into what they might have for a welding program, that's where I learned and got my certifications, the community college here has an amazing welding program, the tuition cost has been worth every penny.


lol at your invisible font
 
#28 · (Edited)
I think it's about time for some updates right?

I got some more done on my transfer case mount setup. Uses 2.5''x2.5''x.25'' square tube welded to the frame, with 2''x2''x.25'' that slides through and bolts into the 2.5''. Not completely finished with it yet though, but the pictures get the point across.



2 bolts per end on the square tube to keep from pinching the 2.5'' tube down and making it difficult to slide the tube out. Showing off my welding with this one too.


And what it looks like on the outside of the frame rail, mostly just showing off my welding again.



Since my frame had some hack job of a mount and reinforcement plate for a later model power steering box, and was cracked around a couple of the bolt holes, I decided to fix that. Plated and boxed the frame with 3/16'' plate, not completely finished as I still have to box it in from the core support forward and finish welding the passenger side boxing plate in, but the pictures get the point across. Frame is now 3/8'' thick after being plated where the steering box mounts, plus being boxed and sleeved for the bolts, so I shouldn't have any frame flex or cracking issues around the steering box anymore.

Spacers will be welded on where the bolts are to set the steering box away from the frame slightly since I don't have a formed section of frame to fit the profile of the steering box.




And of course, gotta show off the welds...



I traded a 14 bolt axle for a set of 6 of these beasts..... 12 bolt Humvee wheels with 37'' military Goodyears. Funny thing about the deal, I was under the impression I was only getting tires, when the guy showed up to pick up the axle, the tires had these wheels in them and he said he knew I wanted the wheels and he didn't feel like pulling them apart to give me just the tires. Win win situation for me, since I have another trick up my sleeve for a different set of 16.5'' wheels that I plan on using and I won't be using the Humvee wheels for a while until I can afford to recenter them ($50 per wheel).




So transmission plans changed with the truck, decided to go with the 4 speed SM465 instead of the TH400, main reason being cost of rebuild and other required parts, and I really don't mind shifting, so the 4 speed it is. Plus the truck already had a SM465 in it when I got it, I already have a good clutch on the engine for it and have all the linkage stuff, and a full rebuild will cost me half of what the TH400 rebuild with a TC and shift kit would. Throw in the $230 Winters/Art-Carr shifter I wanted for the TH400, well that money will go a long way towards driveshaft parts that I need.

Went from this setup....


To this....




And just to hold your interest in case it takes me a while to post, here is a teaser shot of something I've been waiting quite a while to build..... Let's see who can spot it first....

 
#30 · (Edited)
You got it, but I was hoping someone would notice the D60 inner C attached to the HO72 housing. Not much of a teaser I guess. :homer:


Also on those bars, I forgot to add in the post that they will be split in 2 pieces per bar, a short side and long side, so the short can be slid out, then the long can slide towards the middle of the truck, down and out. Not just for ease of removal, but because having posts for the poly bushings welded to those bars makes them impossible to remove without being in 2 pieces.
 
#32 · (Edited)
Alright folks, now time for the coolest part of the build, what I call the "Every Man's Eaton" build, because anyone with access to a lathe, good welding skills, and a lot of time with a tape measure, pen and paper, can build this same axle. But like an idiot, I forgot to get pictures of the making of the most important part, the housing extensions. Anyway, here's a mini-build dedicated to my Eaton HO72/Dana 60 hybrid front axle.


The housing for this project started out as a '58 Eaton HO72 with slide on drums, meaning this axle is about 1/2'' narrower per side than later Eatons (I learned this the hard way after getting this housing all cleaned up and then mocking up my disc brakes....), the difference can be seen in the spindles if you compare one of these older housings to a later Eaton, unfortunately I don't have pictures of that difference but take my word for it, the width difference can also be seen when comparing later Eaton shafts to older ones.

It went from this ('58 housing, complete)....


To this, spindles cut off immediately behind the weld holding the backing plate flanges to the housing, everything removed from the housing (leaf perches, shock brackets, etc., the perches you see in the pic are for mock up)...



Now keep in mind I am building this without having a Dana 60 to measure stuff from, so I had to track down the information I needed on the internet. I bought my inner C's from ebay and had those, but I have nothing from the knuckles out, so I had to know some basic measurements of a Chevy Dana 60 housing to figure out how wide to make my Eaton housing and tube extensions. For some reason this basic info is non existent on the internet so I had to post on here to get some of the information, and even then it wasn't quite everything I wanted to know but I had to work with it.

Anyway, I knew a Chevy Dana 60 front axle has a WMS-WMS width of 69''. I knew this would be too wide for my GMC and it would look stupid with a 65'' wide rear axle, so I wanted to narrow it to 67'' WMS-WMS give or take 1/2''. After posting a request for some Chevy Dana 60 housing measurements, someone was able to get some rough basic measurements for me, good enough to get this axle into the ball park for the width that I wanted. For a Chevy D60 stock housing, with kingpins installed on the inner C's, top of king pin center to top of king pin center is 53'', so this was a very good starting point dimension for me. Would have liked to know the width from end of axle tube to end of axle tube, but couldn't get that info so I went with the 53'' KPC to KPC dimension.

I mainly use PlasmaCAM for drawing since I've forgotten how to use AutoCAD. Something cool about PlasmaCAM is I can turn a picture into a line drawing, use a known dimension and scale part of the drawing to that and have a pretty accurate drawing. I found a detail of a Chevy Dana 60 inner C/knuckle/spindle/hub/rotor assembly, scaled the drawing up in PlasmaCAM so the axle tube in the drawing was 3 1/8'' in PlasmaCAM, checked drawing dimensions against known dimensions posted online and everything checked out. I wont make everyone bored with all of the details of drawing it, but I drew it and all measurements checked out in the drawing, so hopefully it will turn out right! :lol:

Here is a quick screenshot of what the HO72/60 hybrid looks like in 2D...



After drawing it up I knew how much more I would need to cut off the short side of the housing and how much I would need to extend the long side. Well I was able to figure out how I could do it without it being obvious that it was extended. The center chunk is a little closer toward the center of the truck, but the pinion center line to leaf spring distance is about the same as a passenger drop Chevy 10 bolt front axle, so no big deal there.

Anyway, I set it up so I only had to extend the housing 1.75'' on each side, which is all that each inner C needs to press on to. So to make my life easier, I decided that the extensions would have the same OD as a D60 axle tube, so I could press it onto the C and not deal with trying to have the housing turned down or the C's bored. I ordered 12'' of 3.125''x.5'' DOM tube from Speedymetals (To the tune of $101 shipped! :ack: ) and cut it into two 6'' long pieces and spent a couple hours on the lathe turning the chunks of tube into housing extensions/inner C adapters. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of these before I pressed the C's onto them and put everything on the Eaton housing for the final time. So to make up for that, I drew up a quick dimensioned side profile view of these extensions/adapters.



When I pressed the inner C's onto the extensions, I froze the extensions prior to make pressing a bit easier. It was definitely a very tight press fit even with the extensions frozen, I would say very close to factory spec, took something like 34 tons on the 40 ton press where I work. :eek: After that I milled a flat on the extensions to clear the seam of the tubes on the Eaton housing and have a bit of wiggle room to adjust my caster before tacking it together.

When I was ready to put the C's with extensions into the Eaton housing, I once again froze them since I turned the extensions to exactly the same OD as the ID of the HO72's tubes, which meant for a very tight fit at room temp, and a snug slip fit when frozen. Set my pinion angle to 6* up at the transfer case, and caster angle to top of inner C's back at 6*, for a total combined angle of 12*. All angles and measurements checked out right on the money, so everything was tacked together after the frozen C's/extensions warmed up to room temp.

Prior to all of this I cut 4 holes at the end of the HO72 housing tubes for plug welds, so after everything was tacked, I decided I would go ahead and do the plug welds and grind them smooth with the housing. Next step will be to put the final weld around the C's to secure them to the extensions and main housing. Going to do this at work with a Miller 350P MIG machine set up for pulsed spray transfer, I want a good hot weld that will penetrate well into all 3 parts at each end.

So here is how it sits now, caster and pinion angle set, awaiting final weld around the C's, and soon will get a nice pair of 6'' long spring perches from WFO concepts.




An attempt at a cool looking picture with the macro feature turned on, note the beefy 1/2'' wall tube at the C, same as any Dana 60, so aftermarket outer axle seals will work for this setup. Also note the inner C gussets, because they make it look like I am going to wheel it in such hardcore terrain that I might need such additional strength,
and to make it hardcore enough for the Pirate web wheelers, too... :flipoff2:
 
#33 · (Edited)
Note the bevel on the housing tube end for good weld penetration, as well as a good exposed section of extension for the weld to penetrate as well, and the usual back face of the inner C, slightly beveled from where I ground the weld out to remove the small chunk of tube that both C's had in them when I got them.


Again, from a little further back. You can also see where I ground the plug welds smooth with the housing.


Again, but on the passenger side.


And on the bench measuring for inner shafts, which I am also making.



And for those who are into the offroad world and follow some buggy builds on Pirate, a lot of the custom axles with aftermarket fabricated housings usually have a tag with the company name or logo welded onto the housing somewhere. Well I thought it would be cool to do the same thing but with the Eaton logo, so I made a couple of those tags to weld to the housing (one of the front axle and one for the rear).



And since I am making my own inner shafts, here is whats left after I attacked a pair of stub axles and '58 HO72 axle shafts with a lathe (for boring a 3/4'' hole in the stub yokes) and a cutoff wheel.


And since we are on the subject of making custom length inner shafts of strange and unique diffs, here are a couple links to some tech that shows how to do such a thing....
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showpost.php?p=13533465&postcount=50
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showpost.php?p=13580410&postcount=76
(Bottom of the page on this last one) http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8271223&postcount=132
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top