Re: New teritory for me. Need some help :(
Rede, I am going to take a moment here and pick your plans apart a little bit.
You sound very eager, and there is nothing wrong with that, but for a minute you should take a step back and determine if this truck is right for you.
Here are some things to consider, 1. It has mismatched tires/wheels front to rear, from what I gather the truck is a 1/2 ton with 38's very very bad combination. Expecially once you add the extra 300 or so lbs that 454 is going to put over your front axle. That Dana 44 is going to be very very short lived.
You are planning on using this truck as a driver, it sounds to me though like it has had some unknown work done on it, now granted I am not sure what kind of condition the truck is in because I have not seen it, but the warning signs of a cobbled togeather truck are there.
As well with a 6" lift, 38's wont fit with out some trimming or a body lift.
The Vortec Big Block is a good motor, but here is the issue with what you are wanting to do, the engine has non adjustable valvetrain, and for what you are wanting to do, you will have to do the conversion.
You can get conversion studs that are 3/8" on one side, and 7/16" on the other easy enough, and then you will need a set of rocker arms.
As well the Vortec has injector problems and you will want to upgrade them. The parts will cost you about 760.00
Going to the larger cam is also going to cause issues with your computer. you will need to have it tuned.
In your position I think your best bet would be to find a good running driving 4x4 pickup that has been well maintained, see if you can find a 1 ton, there are plenty out there, also you can get a dually and convert it to single rear wheel.
I started out doing what you are wanting to, it led to a lot of broken 1/2 ton parts, you can still break the 1 ton parts, but not as fast or as often.
I bet you can find a nice 1 ton pickup for less than 5 grand that runs good enough to drive, that will have a good body, in which is worth putting your time and money into.
If I was in your shoes, that is what id do, then id take that 454, get it rebuilt, get the adjustable valvetrain put in it, and then id put it in the truck and have it all tuned up. This would leave you with a very nice truck that got somwhat reasonable gas mileage.
When it comes to lifting your truck, you need to check out Off Road Design and DIY4X, they have the shackle reversal kits, and you can see how much the stuff costs.
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