Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Wow what a difference those don't even look like the same wheels.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

We tried to do that on yeller, the plating shop burned down...the day we dropped our parts off.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

awesome job, i really enjoy the depth you go to in your threads.

that's what we are here for on these boards, to share info and ideas!

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Great job, when you're healed back up, do mine next? :mm:

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Wheels look great!

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Oh my, from the looks of this, I see the painting operation coming soon.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

I got burns from all the hand sanding I did repairing my rally wheels.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Well I think that they are just too nice for you to put on a truck. Better just send them my way for safe keeping. lol. JK. They look really nice. Hats off to you for putting in the time to make them look like that. Might have to send you mine.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

I've been a bit under the weather but I'm still trying to accomplish something every day. So, this morning I cleared out a spot on the shop floor, put down blankets and cardboard and spooned the tires onto the wheels. They're not terribly hard to do, but as I get older, it becomes less pleasant. Yes, I'm that cheap. I won't pay a tire store to do what I can do myself.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...psacf81728.jpg

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps1aaedfae.jpg

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps7545b514.jpg

The tires are BF Goodrich Commercial TA 10 ply truck tires. I'm still saving to buy the last two tires as well as four new center caps and some new chrome lugnut covers.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Lookin pretty good! What size tire did you say you went with. 235/85's?

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Those look sooo good. You have put a lot of hard work into those wheels and it shows. How will you balance them?

Yeah, I could definitely learn a thing or two from you. Was all of that sanding by hand?

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Yes. 235/85-16. They're 340 dollars delivered per pair. I bought them in two batches so far. Every time I get 350 dollars truck money I buy another pair.

I'm also looking at about 90 dollars for center caps and 20-30 for new chrome lugnut covers.

I'll keep plugging along till I get the money to go further.

I have this decal on the tailgate of my little stepside that describes my life....

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...16f28f1147.jpg

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

When I mounted the tires I lined up the paint dot with the valve stems. That gets them towards being balanced already. I'll probably take the truck to a good tire shop like Discount Tire and pay them to do the final balance. I use a small town tire shop ordinarily and they're in the habit of working on agricultural tires and other things. They're not really particular enough with stuff to trust with my wheels.

I used an electric DA sander to do the 80, 180, 220, and 320 stages. After that I got a big rubber tub with some water in it, put down heavy blankets in the living room, stole every one of my wife's ghetto towels and wet sanded 600, 1000, 1200, 1500, and 2000 grit while sitting on the floor watching TV in the evenings.

She was patient with me wet sanding in the living room floor and I got to endure watching Dancing With the Stars, Faceoff, The Voice and other similar horrible chick TV shows.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

You do realize you didn't have to sit in front of the tv to do this task (especially when that programming was active).
The good thing is I'm no longer concerned about your love of Urban Cowboy chic.....

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

A little bit of geek tech here....

When I pulled the new 14 bolt rearend apart, one of the brakes was soaked in gear oil. The seal had been leaking a while. So, once I got it all cleaned up, I looked closely at the surface where the seal rides and it was rough and grooved. The problem is, this is the main housing of the rearend here so there's no replacing it.

So, Speedi-Sleeve to the rescue. This is probably old news to most of y'all but maybe it will help someone who hasn't dealt with this stuff before.

Rough surface where the seal rides. This is after I've already polished it up with crocus cloth.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...psf8d1b649.jpg


Speedi-Sleeve. Not cheap at 21 dollars each, but what else are you gonna do ?

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...pse1d89e9d.jpg

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps987082b2.jpg

This is the Speedi-Sleeve held up into place. We're gonna drive it on over the axle stub to sit where the seal rides. This gives us a nice new smooth surface for the seal to bear upon. Notice the Speedi-Sleeve is belled out on the end. That give you something to drive against to tap it into place. Notice the little groove around the sleeve near where it flares out, this is important later.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...psa8f54a13.jpg

I used a piece of 3 inch exhaust tubing I had in the shop as a driver. Its the right size to bear against the drive bell on the Speedi-Sleeve.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...pse69c597e.jpg

Tap, tap, tap with a mallet to drive the sleeve all the way up onto the housing.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps2294b71c.jpg

Now, you have to remove the bell part once you have the sleeve driven into place. The manufacturer made a groove around the sleeve where the bell meets it to allow the thin steel to tear away.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...psa0e5cca0.jpg

Right about here is where I went back into the house with blood running down my arm and dripping off my elbow. Snap to it wife, bandage this sh1t up. No pictures of that part. Suffice to say, that sliver of steel is damn sharp and I have a filleted index finger.

The final product once the drive flange has been removed with side cutters. A nice smooth seal surface.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps067cf07c.jpg

There is much discussion about putting some sort of sealer beneath the sleeve before you drive it into place. I never have and have always been successful with stopping the leaks. Right or wrong, I install them dry.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Speedi-sleeve for the win!!! I had to put one on my balancer a couple years ago, bad groove...well preserved underside of my truck. I like that drive flange on there, that is a well designed part.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

That is pretty cool. I had never seen that before. Thanks for putting it up.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Thats a new one for me too ,thanks Tex .

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Roy and Flashed, I'm glad you enjoyed the geek tech. They make Speedi-Sleeves for most any application where a seal rides on a machined surface. I found the part number for these on Pirate 4x4 then looked them up and ordered from Rockauto. They were 51 dollars for a pair of them delivered.

I've just been unmotivated today. But I can't sleep at night if I don't make some measurable progress so I chose an unpleasant task and dove in this afternoon for a few hours.

I'd showed pictures of my underbed conduit earlier. Today I finished all of that by bolting it to the bed structure, putting split loom on all the wires and running the wires through the conduit on both sides. I have all of the front bed and headache rack lights fully wired, soldered, heat shrunk, and loomed with the extra length hanging out at the back of the bed to be tied in to the rear bed harness.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...psa12140c5.jpg

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...psdac08768.jpg

I'd bought all of that split loom at Delcity when I ordered my wiring supplies. It worked out real well. A pair of wires gathered together in the split loom and then slid through the conduit makes a pretty bombproof setup. I won't worry about wiring issues ever again.

After looking at the pictures, I can see I need to pressure wash under my bed again. That scaly looking stuff is pretty much all mud. The bed only has a bit of superficial surface rust here and there. Certainly nothing to need addressing for another 30 years or so.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Something else I just thought of when looking at the pictures.

In this picture, you can clearly see the difference between a dually and a cab and chassis truck. Mine is a cab and chassis truck and its drastically narrower than a normal dually. In the picture you can see that the rearend is so narrow that you can't fit your hand between the tire sidewall and the leaf springs. On a dually, you'd be closer to fitting your head in there than your hand.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...psdac08768.jpg

So, you can see that even though they each have four rear wheels, one truck is like a foot and a half narrower than the other. I like skinny butts so I chose to build a C&C.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

I spent the day reading this thread, between various calls for lunch and some card playing with my girls. I've enjoyed every minute of it and your attention to detail has inspired me to do the same with my build. I often get the "it's good enough" comment from people and need to shrug it off and do it like it's supposed to be done. Thanks for your continuing inspiration.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

To me, its only "good enough" when I stand in the bathroom at night brushing my teeth and I can look myself in the mirror and say without a doubt that I couldn't have possibly done it any better than I did that day.

I'm sure there's plenty of folks say unflattering things about me behind my back over the way I do things. But, I sleep well at night knowing I gave it all I could on every step of a job.

The way I see it, you're the guy writing the checks (financially and blood, sweat, and tears) on your project. Therefore, the only person you have to please is yourself. I always said as soon as someone else starts paying for it, I will start to worry about their opinion.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

That's a good at it... I will keep that in mind.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Last update for the weekend.

My wife read through my build thread this evening. All 13 pages of it. She wanted to get an idea of how much work I've put into this truck. If you remember a few pages ago I mentioned her making me new decals. She had forgotten about her offer to do that for me.

So after she read this thread start to finish she went into the other room and got to work. .

I think she absolutely killed on these things. I couldn't be happier with them. And I'm not just saying that in case she reads this. Over the top good work.

Old...

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps46ecfb66.jpg

The ones she made for me...

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps756aa0db.jpg

She's got that sign cutter stuff figured out.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

She did an excellent job on the stickers. Well done to you both.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Thank you. I'll pass on the compliment to her.

You really got to be cool when using software and sign making equipment to copy a logo like this. I don't imagine Alcoa will sick their lawyers on us for cutting four decals, but some companies like Harley Davidson and Monster and Coca-Cola love to seek out and threaten folks for doing it. I figure they'd be flattered that I thought so much of their wheels that I'd dedicate the time and effort to restoring them. Its not like I'm sticking Alcoa decals on a set of cheaper Chinese Eagle Alloy brand copies and trying to pass them off as something they're not.

Again, thank you. I'll tell the wife she did good.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Oh man. I wish I had the capability to do stickers like that.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Yes ,your wife is quite talented .

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Very nice, it appears the new ones are die-cut decals rather than stickers like the old ones? Looks great!

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

My wife's equipment is a big vinyl cutter and not a printer. She made the decals by cutting black, red, and blue decal parts and combined them. It's not ideal like a printed sticker, but we had to work with the limitations of our resources. And it just used a few square inches of various scrap vinyl so no money outlay.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Stickers look killer!

That's my standard response to snotty comments (constructive criticism from experienced sources is welcomed and needed, but not snotty comments) " Did you write the check? Then you opinion doesn't really matter, does it?" I always say this pleasantly. I'm a people pleaser.

This is why I won't be a car show judge. I've had a couple offers recently, one quite flattering, but I spent several years QC'ing the end of the line at 40+ car a day auction and high end bodyshop and am literally trained to pick cars apart to the nth degree. who wants to be that kinda prick to someone's pride and joy? Sorry, you hit a nerve.

That being said, I greatly enjoy your builds and what you've been doing to the 'ol hay hauler here. Please continue and tell Momma she gots mad skillz!

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

That's what I was meaning by die-cut, I think that method is a nice subtle touch and looks better than the printed Alcoa sticker, though I'd imagine you would have to be more careful when polishing in the future, though replacements should be easy for you! :chevy:

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Yeah great job on the decals. The details always make the project just that much better.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Yooz guys are very flattering with your comments. I appreciate each and every one of them.

I just got a voicemail from Arrow Plating. My parts are ready and the cost is 25 dollars. I'm stuck at work right now but I will pick them up tomorrow on my way home.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

I cannot think of a better way to finish off those wheels. That looks amazing! I think her stickers look better than the factory ones, the factory ones have that square ridge around the border while her's are just there and perfect looking.

Between your hard work and her skill that truck is going to be great looking.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Kevin,
Just....wow!
Very nice work!!
I just read start to finish.
keep it up!

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Joe Rutherford, I thought you'd been eaten by a bear. Haven't heard from you in a long time. Hope your better half and kids are doing well.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

As promised, freshly plated lugnuts, wheel studs, diff cover bolts, brake backplate bolts, and axle bolts.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps733ea24e.jpg

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

Wheels turned out killer. Thanks for the info on coating the housing. I might just do like you did an coat everything except the housing. I might just wind up painting it all due to cost though.

Re: The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build
 

That hardware is very impressive!