Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Very cool! Stainless? Weld bead looks a goldish color?

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Slick mount job!

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Excellent work as always Vic. I must have read wrong earlier when I thought you were making bushings for your U-bolts. :dohh:
I just saw the picture and it looked like a U-bolt hole.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Hey, John. Filler rod is silicon bronze. I like to use it when I need to minimize the distortion or draw. It's not quite as sturdy as a steel alloy, but there should be very little tension or shear on the parts, mainly compression.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Thanks, Mike, I figured that might be what got you off track. All three holes do look the same in the stock trailing arms.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Thanks, guys. Engine swap is looking good, Chip! I don't have a Hurco, but if you need something whittled out quickly when the crazy train starts barreling down the tracks, just let me know.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Thanks, I appreciate it. I couldn't begin to pay you back as it is!

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Installed the bags temporarily in the rear and set it back on the ground. Front is shaping up to be a tester. Right off hand, it looks like the 7" OD bags are too big for the space. AZ Performance sells that size with their kits, but it really looks like 6" would be a better choice. It also appears that the bolt-on, stock style sway bar is going to have to be converted to a link setup. I think I can cut the ends, drill and tap them and mount heim joint links to a relocated boss on the A-arm. Removing the pad where the sway bar mounts would free up some space and make it more feasible to run the 7" bags. There's still the problem with the upper mounting plates though. Right now it looks like they locate the bag too far to the rear for my custom A-arms and will rub. I need to call Travis tomorrow and see what he recommends. Nobody said it would be easy.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

You already know this, I'm sure, but everything I've seen saysgo big as you can on the bags. Doesn't someone sell a "cup kit" that you could use to clearance/reinforce the arms? 'Course, a chunk of 8" pipe and one of your plates, plasma plasma bang bang, you're there.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

I've run into a problem with the lower control arms. The PO had installed a set of tubular arms with dropped pockets to lower the front end statically. They allow about a 2" drop with a stock height spring. When I talked to Travis at AZ Performance this morning, he said that style control arm doesn't work well with air bags. He also strongly urged me to find a way to use the 7" bags as anything smaller would compromise ride quality and limit the range of the front suspension.

:waah:

I could tell before I even removed the first control arm that it would take a lot of re-engineering to fit the bags in the existing arms. Upon removal, I could see that the existing spring retainer isn't centered. I'm guessing the a-arm was built to add additional caster. That might be one possible reason the spring isn't more centrally located. Regardless, in order to make this work, I'd have to shift the lower and upper bag mounts about 1.25" forward of the factory spring centerline.

Travis said the bags and mounts are really meant for a stock lower control arm. So, the hunt is on.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Well, hell. I was at the yards today, coulda got ya a buncha them. Anything I can do, lemme know.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Coming tomorrow Vic... Can't wait to see this truck... do you need anything from Classic Parts?.. I will be there in the morning...

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

You could go with Porterbuilt arms! I'm running their lowers with a 1" forward offset. The set moves the wheels forward in the wheel opening by an inch if you do both upper and lower, but about 1/2"-3/4" with just the lowers. Stock arms would be cheaper though.

I'd send you mine, but one is beat up. If you feel like straightening one of the bushing mounts, and replacing the ball joints/bushings, I'll let you have them for the cost of shipping. Let me know if you're interested and I'll take some pics.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Way cool, looking forward to it, Dan. I'm good right now on Classic's stuff. However, I'm sure I'll think of something the moment you get here. ;)

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

I will keep you posted when we are actually at CPA.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Thanks for the offer, Duane. There's a specialty yard over in Lenexa that keeps tons of the stuff. Just need to get off my butt and go over there. As heavy as the arms are, they can be expensive to ship. Plus, it's useful to wait just a bit sometimes. Never know when someone local will pop up and holler, "I got some that were just rebuilt!" The sad part is I let a completely rebuilt, powder coated set of uppers and lowers go for cheap at a swap meet about a year ago. Being a neat freak, anti-hoarder has it's drawbacks.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Vic,
I have a set of lower control arms for a drum brake front end, sont know if these will help, but I'm willing to give them to you if you want them......

I only have the lowers, I can shot blast these and powder coat them black for you as well.......
let me know.
Ben

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Thanks, Ben, the lower arms are all I need. I started modifying the DJM arms that came off of it yesterday to see if I can make them work. I think it may be possible. However, I'll PM you if these don't work out and arrange to get yours. Should know something today. Thanks again!

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

No Worries Vic!
have a great Day!
Ben:metal:

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Vic you could just make a new set and sell those. :lol:
No but seriously you will figure it out, I wouldn't stress over it too much. :metal:

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

I finally got to meet Vic and his Bride Kathy Yesterday... what a wonderful couple... They made my wife and I feel like old friends... Now for the truck.. Guys if you haven't seen Vic's work in person you truly don't know how AWESOME this truck is... Picture really do not do this truck Justice...

His other project is just as awesome...

Dan

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Hey Dan, thanks for the comps! You all can drop by anytime if you're gonna say nice stuff. ;)
We really enjoyed your visit as well. Hope you got all your errand running done, sounded like you had a full schedule. Looking forward to seeing the "Class Act" come together.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

I think I've come up with a solution to the control arm situation. It finally occurred to me that the key to making this work had to start with the position of the airbag in the lower control arm. Get it where you want it, then reinstall the control arm and mark where the top lands on the upper plate. Remove the plate and relocate the hole pattern as needed. There's a ton of room where the coil spring goes up thru the crossmember, so I can't see there being any interference with the bolt heads or the 90* air fitting.

So I removed the bottom spring retainer cup, cut off the ledge where the sway bar bolted up and removed one of the reinforcement bars that was in the way. I'll relocate it so I have plenty of clearance around the entire bag. I'll also build a 1.25" spacer to weld on the bottom plate, then mill a window below it for access to the mounting bolts.

After cleaning up the surrounding area, I mocked up the bag where it would sit if I were to mount it in the stock location. You can see from the photo it's hard up against the tubing. So I'll move it over and toward the ball joint slightly. That will give me plenty of clearance all around. When Dan was here yesterday he told me about a guy who had a bag blow out going down the road at highway speed. Truck immediately went down all the way and suffered major damage before it stopped. I don't need anything like that to happen, so I'm going to do whatever's necessary to insure none of the bags is even close to rubbing on anything.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Man that sounds like a great solution...

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Seems like that'll work! Thanks again, the pan fit awesome!

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Attaboy Vic I knew you would getrdone.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Vic,
Looks Great! Glad you sorted it out!
Ben

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Woke up this morning with big plans for the day. Get the lower control arms ready for the mounting brackets, fabricate the brackets out of some 14ga SS tube I've had for-ever, revise the rear mounts to eliminate the angle iron and set them up like the ones you can buy. Just a little laundry list that seemed very do-able while drinking a cup of coffee and reading the paper. As the day progressed, however, reality set in and what I actually got done pales in comparison to the wish list. I did get the SS tube cut and turned to length as well as slots milled in the ones for the rear to allow the air line connections. I also welded a reinforcing tube back in the first control arm and began cutting on the second one. The rest of the day was spent yakking on the phone and staring into space (planning). Ahhh, there's always tomorrow...

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Ain't retirement great?

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Nice work again Vic:metal:

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

I think I'm putting in more hours now than I ever did while working. :waah:
Thanks Jay.

I've spent the last coupla three days doing mid-course corrections. Wasn't happy with some of my previous efforts so I started over. The reinforcing tube I removed and reconfigured turned out to be unnecessary. So I cut out the tube I scabbed on and replaced it with a chromoly tube in the original location. The spacers I built move the bags up enough away from those tubes that they won't rub. Had I left the spacers out, there would have been an interference issue, but that's not the case now.

Also the more I looked at the rear spacers, the less I liked the angle iron. Angle has it's uses, but this was a bit crude, so I cut them out and revised the spacer to be more like the ones I saw for sale on a couple of sites. The main difference was that I put a cap on the top of mine with a captive nut welded in instead of a stud coming up thru the middle. Put a couple of access holes in the cap so I can attach the fasteners to the top of the bag.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

I also got the upper plates trimmed, re-drilled and mounted to the front crossmember. I now need to put some access holes in the bottom plates of the lower control arms. I noticed something when marking the locations of the lower spacers. Both control arms are stamped with the end of the coil spring groove facing toward the oil pan. So on one side, there's a nice flat surface where the spacer seats. On the other side, however, part of the spacer perimeter will cross the groove. It will only be unsupported for a couple of inches, so it shouldn't matter.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Nice work as always Vic...

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Nice work Vic, I always like to see your work. It always looks brand new when your done.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

School is in session! :)

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Looks good! Always enjoy seeing Innovation in Action!

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

We had company from Houston, TX and Jeff City, MO at the house yesterday, so all I did was show off stuff. ;) But today, I finished up a couple of things I've been doing in background, then got busy and put access holes in the lower control arms and tack welded the bottom spacer in. Attached the bag to the spacer and reinstalled the control arm. With the suspension set at the approximate ride height, the bag should extend to approximately 5.5" - 6" when inflated. The advertised range is 2.7" to 12" but the tech at Slam said they work best in the 5" to 8" range. It's really hard to know what I'll end up with, but I think I have enough adjustment to arrive at a decent height and stance.

I was pleased with the clearance between the bag and the lower control arms. The bag sits forward of where it probably would have if I'd used the stock or purpose built arms from Porterbuilt. I don't think it will make a big difference in the leverage the bag has on the crossmember, however, I'm open to suggestions or honest critique. This is my first airbag rodeo, so I got nuthin' to go on.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Looks good to me Vic, I'm no rocket scientist but I wouldn't think it would cause a problem.
The bag angle is static so all that matters is the lower arm.
The upper mount really has no bearing as long as the bag is perfectly vertical and from what I can see it is.
At least that's what makes sense to me.
P.S. Is there any interference from the tie rods?

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Looks fine, as long as the bag's supported by good meat on both ends and nothing rubs, especially at full compression. Seems to be all good sir, roll on!

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Nice and tidy and well thought out!