Update, the plans have changed and instead of doing the whole leaf spring setup I decided to find a super duty dana 60 and do a coil spring setup so first half is gonna be garbage basically...
I've got a 99 suburban 2500 with the 454 and I love it but only thing is the ifs, yes it's probably more comfy than a solid axle but I this the 2500s should have a solid axle. It kinda doesnt make sence for me and also idk if it's only on mine or most of these trucks but mines got the keys cranked about 2 inches and the CV axles constantly keep popping, and I mean they'll pop every other week, I pretty something was up with the diff tho. Anyways I've got a dana 44 hp from a 78 f250 laying around so that gonna go in and later on when I can afford and find a dana 60 I'll but that in but for now the 44 will have to do. Speaking of, I'm going with a leaf spring setup because I cant afford so to a trailing arm setup or 4 Link, so itll have to do for now.
First things first I had to jack the truck up, this usually wont be a problem but my driveway isnt paved so it's just dirt, and it rains quite often. So I just put some concrete blocks under the 6 ton stands and had the jack to support it sorry safely, I also had 2 of my old wheels and tires under the truck with big blocks of wood on top. I really turned want this thing to fall. Once that was all good I got to work on the driver side suspension, I just unbolted everything instead of cutting g them off because I really didn't want to use up all the gas on my torch but I did still had to cut the back bracket and bolt on the lower control arm because the diff was in the way and I couldn't get the bolt out, and for the torsion key I just used the impact on the and got the bolt all the way out, and there's a little piece that the bolt threads onto but the suspension was still under tension, once jacked up the suspension and and then removed everything the upper control arm wasn't pushing on the bump stop anymore the the suspention dropped down and turn the key up allowing me to get the locking thread thing out, here comes another problem, the key was rusted on to the torsion bar and I couldn't get it out so my only option was to cut the crossbar so I could the the key to slide out with the bar I mean it's not like I'm donna use it, i dont have any pics of this so take my word for it. With that the driver side was off
I was gonna go to the other side the next day but that morning harbor freight decided to recall there jack stands because of a design flaw that could may the stand fail at random and mine had the same part number so I have to leave the truck supported my the blocks of wood and tires and go turn in the the Jack stands, do now's its really really sketchy... a few days past and harbor freight still haven't had nre jack stands yet so I got impatient and decided fuck it I'm just gonna remove it, so I did exactly that, rame process as the other side.
Here is the brake caliper fron the 44 and I checked for leaks and pushed the piston back un, everything checks out but here's the problem. The brake hoses, the brake fluid bolt on the on the Ford is smaller than the one the the bolt on the chevy so I'm thing i can just tap a bigger diameter thread on the caliper so the gm bolt will go on and I can use the stock gm brake lines and stuff
I just got the drilled knuckle back and installed, I also taped the brake line bolt to a smaller size so that itll fit the dana 44 brake line ( I'm using the suburban brake line bolt so I can use the stock brake lines and not have to make new lines for now)
I just got lower control arm brackets cut off, driveshaft is off, sway bar is off, and the idler arm and the drag link is off. I also took off the bumber so that I can get to the front of the frame easier
got a rectangular tubing welded between the frames in the front so that I can cut off the cross member which might have be supporting the frame rails for I dont want to take any chances
You need to get the top of the knuckle machined flat where the arm bolts to it. If you just bolt to the as-cast surface it'll never clamp right and you'll likely break studs or at best never be able to keep it tight.
Thanks for the info, idk if I can afford to get it machined flat but I'm not planning on using the dana 44 for long it's more of a mock up for a 4 link d60 later, but what if I weld it on to the knuckle, will it hold long enough?
Got this thing welded on the front, my welder was acting up and the back side was hard to get to but its strong and that's all that matter, pretty ugly tho but that's just cause the wind was blowing in my face and also the sun was in my eyes.
What is going to keep those plates from folding like swiss cheese when the axle gets side loaded? This is kind of sketchy looking right now. Are you planning to add more bracing?
Support in between the plates will jeep that from happe
Support between the plates as well as behind them will keep them from swaying but I can do that wet because I need to get the axle in its place to mock up the rear shackle locations
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