My rebuild thread

[Red Chevy]

Ok, thought I would go ahead and start this out while I am waiting on some parts. Currently running about 19" of suspension and a 3" body lift, 52" michelin's and rockwells. Yeah, I know, just the kind of truck u guys love to see. Anyway, when I built it, it served the purpose pretty well with the way it is built. I recently bent a front spring so I decided to redo my suspension. It is not some of my best work, kinda just some shit I pieced together in a hurry while working on other peoples trucks. Now it is time to spend a little more time on it and make it a little more functional. The front axle is currently sitting about 6" forward from stock. I am gonna get rid of the 12" superstiff front springs and replace them with the stock 1-ton springs I am running in the rear. They are 63", 5 leave setup. I think with this spring pack and a 6" hanger I can come upwith about 10 to 12". I know that is a little tall for most, but I am still gonna be running the 52" tires. I am gonna move the axle another 6" forward to give me enough clearance to clear the floorboard and body mount under compression. Fenders will be cut accordingly to give the clearance needed. I have been told that with the 63" springs that far farword, it will kill my approach angle, but with the 52" tires, that changes that aspect a little, will just see how it looks when I get the hangers fabbed up. I ordered some hangers from RuffStuff Speacialties and 7" shackles from DIY for the front setup. I plan to run a ford NP435/205 behind a 454, but that is another build up. For the rear, am gonna pull the bed, move the axle forward a few inches, not sure how much but just so the tires will clear the cab and inboard the rear springs. Would like to tube the rear out and do an exo, but I don't have a bender nor do I know how to bend tube. Maybe next year for that. I am gonna buy a set of 20x12 double beadlocks from my bubby for my tires. The wheels were made by USA 6x6, yes I know all about them, but they have been good wheels with no leaks thus far, so I am gonna go with em. Here is a few shots of what I started on a couple days ago, still waiting on my hangers from Ruff Stuff so not gonna be much progess for a few days, plus I am off to get my nuts cut on Tuesday so that will stall things a little also.

Damn, I just realized how long this is, I got 4 widom teeth pulled yesterday, so I tend to ramble a little with the good pills I got from them

[Red Chevy]

No progress today, but did get some shackles from DIY, beefy.

[Red Chevy]

Things still going slow since the surgery yesterday, but I did locate an Np435/205 combo that i will do a chevy bellhousing conversion on with hydraulic clutch to run behind a BBC! Better photos and maybe some actual progress in a day or two.

[94runnerguy]

What happened to the SM465/NP208/NP205 Combo you were gonna do? I was going to copy ur ideas lol o well im going a different direction anyway.

[habitatxskate]

sick...mud guy myself, have you seen those 54" boggers?

anyways that sounds sick..instead of new leaves, couldn't you go coil and have a softer ride? i'd let the rock guys in on this..a lot of the huge trucks in NJ they are running coils for strength and ride..

[Red Chevy]

Originally Posted by 94runnerguy

What happened to the SM465/NP208/NP205 Combo you were gonna do? I was going to copy ur ideas lol o well im going a different direction anyway.

Well the deal with my buddy fell through, it was still his tranny combo but was never gonna use it. He bought a jeep and decided he might need it. So I had this ford combo laying on the ground an decided I should try to use it somehow and here we are. I think after more research, I am going to go with a "Box4Rocks" kit from D.D. Machine here on the board.
/forum/motor-tranny-t-case-performance/451754-planetary-np-231-box4rocks-349-a.html

[Red Chevy]

Originally Posted by habitatxskate

sick...mud guy myself, have you seen those 54" boggers?

anyways that sounds sick..instead of new leaves, couldn't you go coil and have a softer ride? i'd let the rock guys in on this..a lot of the huge trucks in NJ they are running coils for strength and ride..

Yeah, my buddy has a set of the boggers. Still hasn't run them yet, the tire store cut the bead on one of his with zero miles the other day and we are waiting on them to get the new one ordered.

The reason I am going with leaves is because I have the set that I am going to use already and not having to buy new coils, plus the cost of building links and such$$$. I am going to use 63" springs front and rear so I think that ride quality and suspension travel as well as strength will be on my side.

[Red Chevy]

Made a little progress today, starting gutting the suspension and removed the bed. 100hp New Holland tractor as a bed lift.........bed is not really as cherry as it was. I also need to get some jackstands, handing by the chainfall on the front and the tractor on the back sometimes doesn't balance out to well. Also trying to remove as much of the original suspension that I built to start with a fresh slate. I ran out of acetylene, maybe a good thing before I kill myself, so off to town for some jackstands and acetylene.

[MUD SLUT]

WoW! Looks like you have a serious mess there and you better watch out so you don't get buried by your truck. I know we all want that, but not literally!

[JeffHPK5]

What the hell is the chain hoist hooked to in that last pic!?!

[bggrnchvy]

So how exactly are you going to get the axle centered in the fenderwell with 63"s? Just add 8"s to the frame or something and make the leaves stick way out front?

[American]

For serious, yo! What bggrnchvy said

[Red Chevy]

Well got everything cutout and the shackle's hanging with the front springs. The front axle will not be centered, it will be about a foot forward from center. This way I can bring the truck back down about 6" or maybe more when it all settles out, but still run the 52" tires. Fenders will be chopped accordingly. I used my original shackle hangers that I had when I was running 47" chevy springs. One of the photos shows were I will extend the frame to, about 14" more. This will not be as bad as what u are thinking with the 52" tires, I will only have about 6" or so sticking out past the tires, thats less than stock. I am going to incorporate a winch mount in this also. Maybe later when I get a bender and learn how to bend, I will tie in an exo to this also. The shackle angle that us see below is what I am going to start with, maybe they will have a good angle when I lower the truck on them. If not I will adjust the front mount accordingly. The overload that is still on the top of my springs will be removed when everything is finalized incase I have to add a leaf or something to get every thing the way I want. I am going to cut about 2 feet off the frame in the rear when I move my springs forward, going with 63" in the rear also, but just a regular half ton set. Don't worry, the wood pallet that u see is just for the photos and to hold it up over night, I had the tractor under it while I was working. The chain hoist that was mention earlier is hooked to the engine crossmember, u just can't see it in the picture. Gonna get a stand for the rear tomorrow so u want see the pallet collapsing on my fat ass. That is about all I got done today.
Also, that front crossmember will be coming out cause that is the space that the rockwell diff will be occupying.

[94runnerguy]

what cases r u adapting with the Box4Rocks Adapter

[65Chevy4x4]

I've never seen so many redneck ways of holding up a truck in one thread in my life. Good JOb.

[Red Chevy]

Originally Posted by 94runnerguy

what cases r u adapting with the Box4Rocks Adapter

Not sure yet, will still be a little while before I can tackle that. I am using an Np 435/205 combo and probably a BW1356, but I will have to check with D.D.Machine here on the board to see what kits he has to work with my setup.

[Red Chevy]

Originally Posted by 65Chevy4x4

I've never seen so many redneck ways of holding up a truck in one thread in my life. Good JOb.

You don't know the half of it, U should have been around when I first did the SAS with the D44 a couple years ago. Stock height truck, no a-frame, no jackstands and 1 small autozone floor jack. The challange was to get it from stock height up to clear the 9" suspension so I could roll the D44 under. U wouldn't have wanted to see that.

[Red Chevy]

Made a little progress today, got started on the front hangers. The front is setting on jackstands now, but far from finished with the hangers and crossmember. Got it up to about were it will sit with the Michilen's on it. The rear still will be about 3" higher than the photos show. Much fender hacking to do on the front and some bumpstops are needed. Gonna try to get the front a couple more inches forward with my spring perch. The front axle won't be 12" forward after all, but pretty close, maybe 8 to 10". Anyway, just a little update.

[Red Chevy]

A little more progress today, lots of rain lately, knida hard to get anything done(man a shop would be nice). Got some more done to the front hangers, don't look quiet so bad now, still more welding and grinding to clean it up. What u can't see is the 2x2x1/4" crossbracing behind the flat bar, so it should be pretty strong, when finished gonna remove the factory crossmember for rockwell clearance. Maybe the rain will slow a little tomorrow and I can finish the front to start on the rear.

[tomshouse516]

dont look too bad, why dont you take the overloads off the springs?

[Red Chevy]

I am gonna remove the overloads later when I figure out if it works like I want it to. I may or may not put another leaf in the pack, so I will remove them when I have to pull the pack apart. Finished welding out the hanger and cleaning it up today and got a little paint on it cause of all the rain here lately. Maybe get the stock crossmember out tomorrow and finish a little welding on the backside of the hanger to the frame. Still waiting on my hangers from Ruff Stuff Specialties, must have gotten lost in the mail. Was gonna use them on the front, but had to go ahead and start so I will use them on inboarding the rear springs. I think they turned better than I thought they were gonna, considering how far out and how much drop they have. Started pulling out the grill so I can finish welding were it attaches to the frame.

[guidolyons]

Originally Posted by 65Chevy4x4

I've never seen so many redneck ways of holding up a truck in one thread in my life.

WOW I don't know how you have escaped death so far, that is some scary shit.
Glad to see you finally got some *slightly* better jackstands, and something out back besides a pallet, I would make another sawhorse style stand like you have holding up the rear. Please take a few safety precautions and keep that thing from fallling on you and crushing your skull.

Front spring mount actually looks pretty good, I would beef up those rear mount, too though.

That "mad flex" shot with just the chain holding it up is straight up scary.

[Red Chevy]

HA HA. It is not as bad as it looks! The tires that the front is on have steel wheels in them so the wheels are supporting the weight. The i-beam is old trailer house frame under the stands so the front is pretty steady right now. I didn't work under on wihile the pallet was under there, it was just to get it off the ground until I found my other stand at a buddy's house. The shackle hangers are actually pretty solid, lots of good bead to the frame and gusseted on top, but I have been considering a little more. Thanks on the hangers, I was thinking about scraping the whole thing for a couple of days there, but it worked out ok. In the first shot, still have more welding to do were they attach to the frame, kinda looks shitty.

[Red Chevy]

Got the factory engine crossmember out so I can finish welding out front hangers. Slid the axle in place just to see how I was setting and bolted on the tires. This is sitting about ride height less the engine and tranny. In the first pic, the paint can sitting on the frame is were the rear axle will set and if u can see the gold colored solid motor mount, that is were the frame will be chopped. The front is not quiet how I would have liked it. Can't really get much lower and still have a couple inches of up travel. Still considering a set of springs made for the front with an offset of about 6" center. THis would help me to clear the cab adn bodymount behind the tire, I will see how bad it rubs when we get this thing rolling. If u can see the finger mark on the front fender, that is about were I will cut, trying to leave the head light in place and probably quiet a bit of cutting behind the tire. THats all I have for now, flame away!!

[TAWL_BOY]

It does look a little weird, but your approach angle is still really good.