Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Ryan, what kind of steering arm do you have on your jeep? The one I got from DieselWrencher didnt come with any kind of new cap or anything. To make it work I put a spacer in the cap that was the same height of the steering arm. If I put a block under the steering arm I am not sure what I would do for the cap.

As of right now I am keeping everything I have. The tailgate band might get painted black and stuck back on. And I am not sure what door pannels I am going to use right now.

Work on the truck some more today. Started out with a cardboard template of the cross member and finally made it into steel.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps05ed8000.jpg

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps69539ca8.jpg

Also went ahead and cut the cross members that my goose neck will be mounted to.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...psffc53c5c.jpg

I think I am going to go ahead and box the frame all the way to the back once I get the cross members for the goose neck and also figure out how im going to mount my fuel tank in the rear, probably going to use some 2x4x1/4 to make cross members for the fuel tank. Might as well go with the beef on this truck.

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

If you get the two burb or blazer (I think they are the same) rear cross members you could cut them to width and weld them in once its all boxed.

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Why use small stock cross members when I can add beef? :lol: There might even be a 1/4" skid plate lol

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Oh I just mean use those for holding the tank, I would still do cross members like what you have for your gooseneck.

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Hitch looks nice. Only mod I think I would make would be to turn the outer tube 90 degrees so the hole goes side to side. That way you could weld the pin onto a rod to run out to the framerail. That way you dont have to crawl under to take the ball out.

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

That's the plan, I just had it like that so it wouldn't fall. My plan is to make it work just like a b&w just a lot more beef added to it
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Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Cross members look good!

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

I thought it would fit over the stock cap as well, but it wouldn't. Ive been thinking about making a new cab that I would just weld to the arm and also have the arm machined with tapers and get some arp studs.
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Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

That may be what was intended. high country machine built or still builds an arm that has a machined weld on cap for the spring. i had forgotten about that until you mentioned it. i have one somewhere that i had before i built the springless caps for the jeep.

that may be what you have, a arm that needed a cap. if you make a cap, be sure to get it very close in depth to the stock stamped one. the tension on that spring is what holds the knuckle together and if it is too loose, its easy to get some wicked deathwobble.

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Yeah I have thought about cutting the stock one down 1" because I dont really like the spacer in the spring. I have not really fully figured out how I am going to do this. Id hate to buy a new arm to make it work.

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Well got the engine cross member done and got it bolted in today.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...psf20891ae.jpg

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps8bf208b1.jpg

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps60d627d9.jpg

The sleeves for the bolts are longer on the drivers side to get the mounting plate back behind the motor mount bolt so that I can remove the mounts without having to remove the cross member.

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Looking good man!

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Looks great Matt, that should do it!

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

that is a clean looking crossmember. did you get heavy enough material for the sleeves?!? damn!

now, please tell me you are grinding the edge of the frame tabs clean?

Ryan

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Haha yeah the tube is heavier than I wanted. I asked you what size and dieselwrencher bought it for me but got 1/4 inch wall... Lol but it works and fits with my 1/4" theme I seem to be going with haha.

Yes the brackets will be cleaned up. I will do that when I tear it all down to paint the frame because I also want to shape them some more to not have the sharp corners. Don't worry it will be cleaned up more lol.
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Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Today I decided to put the bed on to get the height of my home built gooseneck hitch. Well my uncle took the tractor to a field to grab some hay and I needed it so I drove my fourwheeler with a trailer over to the field so I could get the tractor. Being the only one around sucks at times so this is what I had to do to bring the tractor to the shop.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps6bc74b44.jpg

Needed a way to get back to the truck so I pulled the fourwheeler behind it :lol:

After that I went ahead and put the bed on.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps0bd0cebd.jpg

Right now the bedside is 5 foot tall. I hope that the front will be able to fit a 37" tire so that I wont have to lift it anymore.

Then I cut a hole in the floor and stuck my 2.5" receiver into the hole and clamped it to the front cross member of my gooseneck hitch.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps0ca2105b.jpg

and here it is with the B&W ball installed.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...pseb2fb00f.jpg

Once I get the receiver welded to the front cross member I will install the rear cross member and weld it all up and then figure out a release mech for the ball so I can pull it out when I dont need it.

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Hey, you lost your chickens that were in your trailer! :lol:

Nice work. For the release mech, just get a long hitch pin and a spring. add a bracket to your hitch and set it up so that the spring holds pressure on the hitch pin to keep it in the ball. Then on the bracket on the side of the frame cut a hole and get some smooth 1/4" meound stock and make a handle for it. Pull the handle out and mark where the handle is out side your gn bracket. Weld another piece on top of the rod there and that will be your stop for when you pull it out. The GN bracket will hold your hitch pin out so you can remove your ball.

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

I would try to move the ball up so the square part of the ball sits flush with the tube. The trailer hitch will be a little close to the bed like that and once you get a little dirt & water down in there it will make it hard to get the ball out especially if it sits a while

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Thanks man, yeah we talked about doing it that way. I think I'm going to try that method. We will see what I come up with.

Already done! Forgot to take a picture of that.
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Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

did i catch a meo in there?

i also recommend that you have the ball sit on something and the pin just hold it in, like the B&W does. that way the pin isnt holding the weight of the trailer up, its actually sitting on the hitch. that will help keep the hole int he rec. tube from egging out.

looks good!

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Good point, I forgot about that little detail. :lol:

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Hmm, I didn't really think of that but one of our B&W hitches doesn't have a stop; the ball will slide all the way through...

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Yeah Ive been trying to think of ideas on how to do this because I need some sort of stop for the ball so that I can put it in the hole and then latch it myself. I dont plan on keeping the ball in the flipped over position. I am going to have a tool box so ill just keep it in there. Seen people talk about them getting stuck to often. So whatever I do for a stop has to be able to let water and any kind of dirt from staying in the tube.

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Well today I went and picked up a 40 gallon fuel tank from a buddy with the stock cross members. It originally had the fill tube on the passenger side but I hate having to walk around the truck just to fill it up so I turned the tank around so that it would be on the driver side. I wanted to test fit it to get an idea of what I would have to do.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps50bace7f.jpg

Right now I am not going to mount the tank just yet. I need to finish up welding my gooseneck hitch in and then figure out a release mech for it. I plan on doing it like the B&W hitch setup. Once I get the hitch done I will weld all the nuts to the frame that hold all of my rear brackets to the frame, and then hopefully I can get my steel to finish boxing the rear of the frame. Once I have the frame boxed I am going to cut the fuel tank cross members and weld them to the boxed plate. This will allow for me to be able to not have to cut weird shapes into my box plates and it will look better when done. Still unsure how I am going to do a receiver hitch on the truck as of right now. I have one that works with this truck but eventually I am going to build bumpers for the truck and plan on building a receiver hitch into the bumper. So I dont want to weld this receiver to the frame. Might just have to weld some nuts in the frame to temp mount the receiver hitch I have and remove it once I build my bumpers (Want to get the truck running before I build the custom bumpers, but want to be able to pull a trailer if I have to)

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Glad to hear you are boxing the frame. thats what all the cool kids do anyhow. people who dont are just silly.

(hehehe)


here is a pic of what i did to prep for a reciever. i wishi had spaced the pattern out a little more, but i have an idea on what to do for that.

not exactly what you are working with, but the concept would be the same. similar to your front cross-member bolts

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l8...ruck/002-2.jpg

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Ryanroo, were you in to skate boarding before trucks? :lol:

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

color me stupid, i dont get it? :dum:

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Well you seem real good at skatin. :lol:

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

I get what you mean about boxing the frame, who wouldnt do that? :lol:

As for the receiver. The one I have bolts to the bottom of the frame. I think I am just going to weld some nuts inside the frame for that to mount for now. I plan on doing what you did with the bumper mounting holes. Im going to run a stock rear bumper for now. When I make my custom bumper my receiver will attach where the bumper attaches so sleeving that will make it really strong. As much as I would love to build the bumpers now I really need to get this thing going. I have a ton of money into this thing because I have changed my mind a lot on it, and it seems lately I could really use this truck :lol:

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

I shred man...

I hear what your saying about the money...

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Well I have been working on the latch system for the gn hitch. So far so good. I needed a long pin and I couldnt find a really long pin so I took two pins and welded them together. The weld does not have any kind of force on it other than when you pull on the pin to release the ball. So it should be good to go.

Here is the pin. It is two 5/8s hitch pins welded together. You can see the bracket that I made that the springs will push on to push the pin in. It also acts as the stop when the springs bottom out. I put a 5/8s shaft collar on the end of the springs to allow for the pin to be replaced if I ever need to replace it.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...psff90b8c1.jpg

Here is a video of how it works. I took it with my phone so sorry about the quality of it.
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps38aee415.jpg
It does not slide in and out as good as it should right now because I dont have the stopping plate mounted.

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

I got the handle started. As you can see I bent it into a U shape. The part that is not connected to the pin will be used to hold the pin out. It will get cut down and when the pin is push in all the way that part will set on top of he frame. When I pull the pin out I will turn the handle and use the frame to hold the pin out. I have to get the rear cross member welded in and then I will mount the stop for the pin.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...psab589258.jpg

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

...nice! I like it.

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Got the stopping plate and handle all done here is a video of how it works.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps321cd152.mp4
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Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Nice work!

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Well tonight I was going to start on welding all of the nuts for the bolts that hold on all of my rear suspension brackets but started looking at some things that i should probably get done before I start doing the boxing.

First off here is a picture of the steel that I will be using
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps2d7e5dd3.jpg

The first problem I noticed was one of the cross members in the truck. The way it is factory made is really going to make it hard to go about boxing in that part of the frame. So I am going to cut it out and replace it with some 2x1/4.
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps5913e360.jpg

I then also have to push my front rear spring hangers in toward the frame some. When I first mounted them they I did not notice that they where not flat against the frame and so I need to fix that and probably going to add 2 more bolts into the bracket to the frame.
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...psc83359c7.jpg

The last thing I need to do is add some support for the bottom of the shackle flip bracket to the bottom of the frame.
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...psf85b5c32.jpg

One step forward three steps back it seems. Just gotta keep plugging along!

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Well today I got the cross member cut out and got a new one tacked in place. I seemed to have forgoten to take pictures of it. I will tomorrow. I also added 2 more bolts to my front rear spring hangers and got them all pulled up tight to the frame so they are now correctly mounted. Should hopefully have all the templates I need made tomorrow so I can start cutting some steel!

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Here is a picture of the new cross member tacked into place.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps830137df.jpg

I was also able to make the templates for the steel for the rear part of the frame.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...pscec32b69.jpg

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

Well I started cutting out the steel for the rear. I hate using card board as templates as it flexes to much so when you transfer it to steel its usually to big. But it is probably better to have to grind it to fit so that it is a tighter fit.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps65c36941.jpg

Re: 85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab
 

hey you can come to my house and put a gooseneck hitch in my truck!!