2001 Silverado Solid Axle Swap 14FF/D60

[TeXJ]

Originally Posted by DMANbluesfreak

Are you suggesting I run those? Aside from not being able to fit them, I don't think they'd be a great highway tire

naw, I think they are only a 46" size so far. Just more of an off-topic-on-topic of tires...

[DMANbluesfreak]

Originally Posted by Lugnutt

Thaler have been like that since June of ‘18

What's your point?

[DMANbluesfreak]

Originally Posted by TeXJ

naw, I think they are only a 46" size so far. Just more of an off-topic-on-topic of tires...

43x14.50/17

Definitely a cool tire, but looks like some major axle breakage would occur.

[TeXJ]

Originally Posted by DMANbluesfreak

43x14.50/17

Definitely a cool tire, but looks like some major axle breakage would occur.

Oh SNAP! hahaha

[DMANbluesfreak]

A couple awesome pictures captured by Harry Wagner during FSI 2019.





No major updates to the truck - just been taking it easy after the wrenchfest prepping for Moab. But a friend's bachelor party is at the Badlands this weekend so I spent some time last week and last night getting it ready for that.

• Transmission was leaking and I thought it was the pan seal. Turned out to be the harness connector bulkhead so I popped a new o-ring on that and fixed the locking tabs so it stays in place this time. New filter while I had it apart.
  .
• Siphoned out the PS fluid from the PS reservoir and replaced it with fresh stuff just for the heck of it. I use ATF (argue with me, I dare ya!) and it was still bright red, but figured it wouldn't hurt since the system got kind of toasty in Moab.
  .
• While under the truck swapping the pan, I noticed some paint missing from some of the u-joint caps. Come to realize, I was able to remove the u-joints from the shaft-side yoke of the double cardan by hand... There wasn't much sign of wear, so I think it's just been like that since it was new - junky Chinese driveline crap. Put it back together with fresh Spicer life joints and some Loctite 660 (designed for worn press-fits with anti-rotation characteristics). If it doesn't work, I'll tack weld the caps to the yoke and run it for a year or so before replacing the whole double cardan head with Spicer or Neapco.

That was all I needed to get done before the trip to Attica this weekend. It's rare I finish this many days before departure, so I'll probably leisurely pack up and maybe even clean the garage

[Esteban86K5]

Awesome pictures. Cant wait to see it in the mag!

[DMANbluesfreak]

Originally Posted by Esteban86K5

Awesome pictures. Cant wait to see it in the mag!

And these are the pictures that didn't make it into the feature

[cj8scrambld]

Hey pretty awesome!! http://www.fourwheeler.com/news/1906...5B4DE4B96572CF

[TeXJ]

Congrats on the feature!

[DMANbluesfreak]

Thanks guys, I saw someone sent me this RIGHT before I was out of service for the whole weekend for a local-ish wheeling trip. Super stoked!!!

And I'll provide an update from this past weekend's trip later this week, hopefully.

[DMANbluesfreak]

Last weekend, my buddy’s Bachelor Party was set to be at the Badlands Offroad Park in Attica, IN. I took Friday off so I could do a half day of wheeling before he arrived that night.



A good comparison of the shape of my truck compared to what it used to be (mgrohe’s truck is nearly identical to my truck before the wheelbase-ectomy).


There were some hiccups along the way. Taking it “easy” around the park, I found a mud hole that was deeper than I expected. Trying to back out while winching my front end away from a tree that wanted to rip my mirror off resulted in a busted bead on my driver’s rear tire - first time ever on my H2s. Swapped the spare on and wheeled the remainder of the afternoon. Got the nasty tire vacuumed out Friday night and let it dry overnight before reseating the bead Saturday morning. I wanted to have the confidence I wasn’t going to end up with no spare to drive home on if I sliced a second tire.

[DMANbluesfreak]

Saturday morning we played around in the rock garden for a bit. As I went to climb one of the rock walls in the quarry, I ended up busting a centering stud on my double cardan joint on my front shaft. Video of the climb will come later. You can’t even hear it break, but I tried the climb again and as I was backing down I could hear the h-block flopping around. I ditched the h-yoke by cut the centering stud parts off the other two parts to turn it into a single cardan joint and wheeled a few trails on Sunday with no issues. Thank goodness my front driveshaft has tons of slip, or else this wouldn’t have worked since it shortened things about 3”.









I’m done with double cardans for the indefinite future . I rode passenger and took videos of others’ rigs the rest of the day, but when someone confirmed at dinner something I’d thought of earlier in the day, I broke out the grinder and tore my double cardan joint apart.

My plan moving forward is to keep my old GM 3R double cardan shaft as a spare in the truck in case I ever need to drive somewhere in front wheel drive on the street. The vibration/pulsation from the single cardan front shaft under power is unbearable on the street due to mismatched joint angles. The yokes of the modified double cardan were pretty flimsy, so I am going to order some high angle 1410 stuff and make that work with my current shaft. Eventually I’ll convert the pinion side to 1410 from 1350, but in due time.

Anyway… Sunday, we did some of the tougher climbs that I’ve done before to get more of the group up them. No issues with the modified driveshaft to speak up, but it was raining and sloppy. Definitely added some difficulty, but the truck went up everything I pointed it at, except one I’ve always struggled with when it’s been raining.




This is the one I was denied on… you can see how soupy it was at the top by seeing the clay packed in my front tires.


No issues driving home either, which is always a plus.

More pictures to come as the resident photographer (Matt Hayes - mattspitchers on IG) keeps processing the photos he took.

I'll also post pics of the others' rigs when I get a chance - just wanted to get something posted quickly.

[DMANbluesfreak]

Here’s Pictures of mgrohe’s truck:

[DMANbluesfreak]

And MSF's truck (who doesn't frequent Pirate). mikesofunny on IG.

[DMANbluesfreak]

A friend from KC's Suburban frame w/ CC Body.










Sadly stuck on the trans crossmember and folded it back pretty bad, pushing the engine's harmonic balancer into the front crossmember, ending his day.

[DMANbluesfreak]

Ex 2006 TTC truggy. Owned by our friend Matt and improved in many ways, IMO. Very few pics because most of the stuff I got was video because it's just so gnarly to listen to.






The bachelor and best man have rigs under the knife, so the best man bought a $1400 jeep to tide him over. They beat the piss out of this thing, that poor D35/D30. Transmission ultimately shit the bed in a mud hole.

[DMANbluesfreak]

The whole group. I was 2wd at this point, just after my centering stud sheared

[73SII]

Awesome updates! And congrats on the feature in 4WOR. Your truck has really come together, the cage turned out super nice.

I need to get out to Full Size Invasion next year. Looks like a blast.

[oober]

Nice! cool pics.

Sounds like you have it tuned in pretty well other than the front driveshaft.

[DMANbluesfreak]

Originally Posted by 73SII

Awesome updates! And congrats on the feature in 4WOR. Your truck has really come together, the cage turned out super nice.

I need to get out to Full Size Invasion next year. Looks like a blast.

Thanks man. FSI was a blast and I definitely recommend going!! There were a lot of square bodies, but very few, if any, 67-72 trucks.

Originally Posted by oober

Nice! cool pics.

Sounds like you have it tuned in pretty well other than the front driveshaft.

I really thought this last shaft would be the last one I ever bought. Hopefully this next modification is the last time I have to lol.

[Cameron3]

Truck looks great! Ive read this thread about 7 times through now, looking for research.

I have a dead ringer of Grohe's truck, just in almost stock form, and been debating on a build very similar to yours and his on that. Really interested in your EcoBox/205 setup, thats a very nice setup.

[DMANbluesfreak]

We're both pretty happy with the setups. The only struggle will be finding an affordable narrow perch width (78/79) Ford axle if you want to stay driver drop.

What about the doubler setup would you like to know?

[Cameron3]

Originally Posted by DMANbluesfreak

We're both pretty happy with the setups. The only struggle will be finding an affordable narrow perch width (78/79) Ford axle if you want to stay driver drop.

What about the doubler setup would you like to know?

What is the overall length of the setup, and how it compares to the 241?

Other than that, interested in possibly pursuing it

The availability of the axle is concerning, especially since I am not quite ready to get cutting. The 205 would allow my to run a passenger side/Chevy D60 as needed as well, which I had thought of in looking at everything.

[DMANbluesfreak]

If you consider the length of the slip yoke on the 241, the doubler is actually a bit shorter for the rear driveline. However, the front output is for sure further back than it is on the 241. I would plan on modifying both shafts when adding a doubler. Eliminating the slip yoke on the rear will definitely mean you need a slip rear shaft too.







Running a Chevy 205 is definitely an option and allows you to run a pass drop axle, which are much more common!

[crashnzuk]

Very cool set up, been following along for a while. What's the specs on that CJ7, got any pics of it? I like how low it is with 40"s??
Travis..