Re: 49 ls1
 

That's not bad.. But that is a lot of gas!

Re: 49 ls1
 

Thanks Bubba. got more pics tonight, left side is buttoned up, just need to finish cleaning up my welds. My Air ride stuff came today, so I'm itchin' to get to the chassis.

Re: 49 ls1
 

As promised, here are pics of the drivers side. Just need to do some grinding tomorrow. Then I need to build the brackets for my vintage AC (ordered a Gen II Compaq mock up case), build a brace for my steering column, and finalize a few remaining items inside the firewall. Then I can start welding the dash in.

Re: 49 ls1
 

Looks good Chris, you and the family have a Great Christmas...Jim

Re: 49 ls1
 

A very Merry Christmas to you as well Jim!

Re: 49 ls1
 

Lookie what got for Christmas, a new Lawnmower! :lol: This is pre-bags. took the springs out to decide where I want it to sit aired out. boards are about 2" off the ground, and I think I'm gonna be happy with that. Any lower and I'll be concerned about my oil pan, it's 2" off the ground as well. Ride height will be in the 4.5-5" neighborhood. Looking like I'm headed to Kansas tomorrow to pick up a rolling frame for my buddies 31 sedan, probably won't get much done till Friday.

Re: 49 ls1
 

That will look good sitting low.

Re: 49 ls1
 

Looking good Chris...Jim

Re: 49 ls1
 

thanks guys. Having self doubt about the aired out clearance. I'm thinking I'd better decide on a tire size (overall height in front) before I set the min height. right now I have an inch and a half clearance between the oil pan and the ground. with 27" total tire height. If I use a shorter tire, my pan may wind up in the ground. I was looking at H3 pans, they advertise as shorter, but no one provides any actual measurements.

Re: 49 ls1
 

I've got the H3 (AKA Muscle Car) pan, what do you need/want to know?

Here is the depth vs. the tranny pan on the 4L60:
http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/a...p/DSCN2578.jpg

Side pic:
http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/a...-11-50_626.jpg

Re: 49 ls1
 

Hey Chris, go to thread #518233, page 1 has a link to all the LS pans. I don't know how to attach the link...Jim

Re: 49 ls1
 

think this site may have what you want http://www.stevesnovasite.com/forums...d.php?t=208618

Re: 49 ls1
 

sarge, yeah tire size is key. Im running a 26" tall 14" bias white wall. couldn't start till I had them. So are you running bag cups up front? you could run a taller cup which should restrict how far down it will go up front, then set the back up however you want to level it out. Aired out I'm 4" off ground with no weight on the frame, thinking about 3.5-3.75" when I load it up. With this distance it allows me to keep important things up a little higher. That lets my body set about 3" off frame, but I'm running s10 frame. The nice thing about these trucks is the stock channel it has with the rockers hanging down over frame. From my experience I don't like the frame being less than 6-7" off ground at ride height, running boards obviously lower. So to me, its not always about laying frame esp with trucks, they are a bit more forgiving with that. I'd take advantage of that and just keep frame up a little higher aired out. Nice thing is you got your boys truck to reference, as do I.

Re: 49 ls1
 

Wow, lots of information in those links. Looks like the Hummer pan is the way to go. That one will suck the pan up 1/2" above the crossmember. Thanks all!

Re: 49 ls1
 

Ok, so first let me backtrack a little to cover what I've got to work with. 4 2600lb bags, 2 V-air 480C compressors, 5 gallon tank, avs 9 toggle switch, and 8 1/2" npt solenoids. I was told by a good friend of mine that 2600lb bags and this setup were the way to go.

Re: 49 ls1
 

I plan to set up my air manifolds this way, on each side, to eliminate air lines crossing over the exhaust and driveshaft. I've also seen them set up as individual pairs for each corner. Does anyone have any recommendation as to which way works better? Or is it merely a personal preference.

Re: 49 ls1
 

So here's my progress for today. I made plates for the top and bottom of each front airbag. The lowers I welded into the A frame to give me a flat surface, and stiffen it up a little.

My plan on the front tires is P215/45R17, which measure at 24". Since I've got 27" tall tires on it now, I'll build it 1.5" higher than final ride height, and I should be good to go.

The last pic is the mocked up setup. Tomorrow morning I'm going over to a buddies shop to slip roll some 1/8" plate to make those upper plates into "cans". (I know I can buy "cans", but I can't stand buying something I can build myself). Then I'll pull it all apart, make some gussets for my upper cans, and seam everything back together. I should be about ready to put the front end together at that point. When I tear it down to paint the frame I'll put new ball joints and bushings in it.

Quick question, does anyone use a front sway bar with bags? It seems like it shouldn't be needed with the 8 solenoid setup, but I thought I'd ask.

Re: 49 ls1
 

sarge, looking good. Sway bar, yes those are recommended as well as shocks. but if worst case atleast run shocks. As for the valves, looks like they just plumbed two valves with one fill line. Issue I see with that is slower fill rate (isn't always a bad thing tho) but if you blow a line or lose a valve, both bags are affected. I'd run each bag off of 4 ports on a tank with 8 valves. for the dump valves, not sure if you are familiar with dump controls or not, you can buy them and most of them are adjustable, so you can control how long it takes to air out. or you can use a bolt and drill a small hole in it. they help keep the valve clean too.

Re: 49 ls1
 

front end is looking good...Jim

Re: 49 ls1
 

Thanks Jim and 99. I was planning on running shocks front and rear. I guess I'll see how well I can work that sway bar back into the suspension.

Re: 49 ls1
 

I've got a TCI frt susp, 4 bar rear with no bags. I would like to find frt and rear sway bars to adapt to mine. Keep this build going, love what you've done so far.

Re: 49 ls1
 

Thanks vht. I've done a bunch of research, and have a friend who has air bagged tons of vehicles, so I'm not going in totally blind.

Here's what I got done today. I slip rolled a chunk of 1/8" flat steel (LOTS OF WORK!) to an 8" circle. then took it home, and cut it in half and played with my "cans" till I liked the way they fit into the frame (They double as the "bottom stops" for my suspension travel).

Then my problem was that the bolts and air fittings were inside the frame. bent up some 1/8" to reverse cut it into the frame so I could access the hardware, and welded it in. Once I was happy with the left side, I moved on to the right.

Re: 49 ls1
 

Here's the left and right sides, all finished up. I have some welding to do on the underside of the frame tomorrow, and then final suspension travel test. I got my Bushed D.O.M. ends for my rear links from the brown truck fellow today, so next week I'll tear my hair out calculating the triangulated 4 link setup!

I also got my 65 Mustang tank on Friday, so that will be part of next weeks thrash as well.

Re: 49 ls1
 

Super nice work on the front suspension man. I really like the plates around the bags as the botton limit. Sweet!

Re: 49 ls1
 

Thanks brother. I've been following your Chassis build as well. That is one hell of an undertaking!

Re: 49 ls1
 

Chris, very nice work on the front pieces...Jim

Re: 49 ls1
 

Thanks, a lot of work but a lot of fun too. Made a ton of progress tonight too!

Re: 49 ls1
 

I'll check it out today Josh. Thanks Jim

Re: 49 ls1
 

looking good, nice progress.

Re: 49 ls1
 

Thanks 99, you get that dash and T-shirt yet?

Re: 49 ls1
 

I'm sure it showed up, I just haven't been in pittsburgh. been up north with my fam till after new years. can't wait thanks.

Re: 49 ls1
 

Oh yeah, that's right. Sorry brother, forgot. Have a great new year!

Re: 49 ls1
 

Here's today's progress. I actually got more done than expected for once!

Front suspension is finished up. full suspension travel with no bag contact. finished welding up the bottom side of the frame around my bag "cans", and added some gussets to the top plates to make sure they didn't flex over time.

The last pic is at ride height (+ 1.5" to account for the shorter tires I'll be running later). Running boards are 6.5" off the ground, so about 5" with the shorter tires. Exactly the ride height of my kids truck.

Re: 49 ls1
 

I also got my links built for the rear end. Tube is 1 5/8" 1/4 wall. The bushed ends came from WFO concepts. They are a 4wd place, but I used the small ends for Jeep upper links. These bushed DOM tube ends usually cost $14-16ea. But, I set up a business acct. and got all 8 for $82 including the $15 shipping.... Nice deal! They are normally $10ea from WFO.

Yup, that's my crappy Harbor freight tube notcher... But it's built like 5 rock crawler roll cages, and still works a hell of a lot better than a grinder!

All 4 links are 24" from bolt center to bolt center. Tomorrow I'll start making all the tabs, and putting it together.

Re: 49 ls1
 

Very impressive! Looking really great.

Re: 49 ls1
 

plowing right along. I wanted to build my link set up, do to time and no 220 welder at the time and getting a good deal on a ridetech bolt up kit, I went that route. Its def worth doing yourself, esp if you got the means. One little touch you could add if you haven't thought so already, is some zerk fittings, make your life easier for greasing them bushings. Can't hate the freight either, some stuff is worth it, some isn't of course. All is looking awesome.

Re: 49 ls1
 

Chris, looks great, can't wait for more tomorrow...Jim

Re: 49 ls1
 

Thanks all, I've built a couple of rock crawler setups, but they were longer arms, with Heim joints, set up for LOTS of articulation. Never built a hot rod setup before. Good point on the grease fittings. I think I'll stop by the parts store today and pick some up!

Re: 49 ls1
 

So I made up for getting extra done, by getting very little done yesterday. :waah: Here's current progress. My plasma burned up the last tip, so I've been cutting all my 1/4" tabs with a 3.5" cutoff. Sucks!

Re: 49 ls1
 

So I end today with the lower links installed. Tomorrow I have to cut all 8 upper link tabs, and do some crossmember hassle. The Crossmember will interfere with the existing one (back of the cab area), so I'll have to get creative with some stuff, and re-structure whatever needs to be cut.