Project: Thrice

[J.Vale' Se' Diez]

Hello to all, Ive been a member for a while and after reading some great project builds its finally time to post one of my own. My "obsesion" with classic trucks began a few years ago with a 57 3100 shortbed. While most of my coworkers were going out and buying new trucks I figured I would get someting with character. My original plans were to "rat rod" it and have it running within 6 months. Little did I know, I started taking it apart and as always, taking one thing off led to another until I was down to the bare frame. So then began the frame off restoration. Come 4 months later my son was born and that project took a back seat. 6 months after that I bought my first house. Knowing that I was going to need a truck for my many home depot runs and not to mention moving all of our stuff to the new house, I convinced my wife that we needed another truck. It didnt take long to find one I liked, a 68 C20 looongbed. After settling in and the major house projects out of the way, I was faced with selling the c20 (which needed more work than I was willing to invest) and focusing all my attention back to my 57. Finally woke up one morning and posted it up on CList, much to my wife's surprise it sold quick (2 days) and I was able to make a decent profit. Being truckless proved to be a hassle so the search for Thrice began. Really wanting a shortbed kept me squandering the internet for 2 months, until........................., i came across a bagged, notched, and shaved 72 c10 looongbed. So after buying and cruising it all summer to satisfy my itch I am now ready to dig into it and fix some of the issues Ive been wanting to address.
First on the list is to make it safe and reliable, most of my attention will be going into the suspension, seeing as the PO didnt really care about safety(i'll get to that in a moment). The few cosmetic issues it has will be addressed at a later time. To date the only thing i've had to replace has been the starter, so mechanically all is sound. Electrically i've had to replace a couple fuses, i've already found a few cut wires that are taped off. Im not too sure if they are still live but another issue is this guy had a fuel hose and a 8ga power line going thru a hole in the bed with no rubber grommet. Dont get me wrong, im no profesional master mechanic/ custom builder but one thing I have learned in my time is common sense goes a looooong way.

So as I stated before the suspension is horrible. Ive never owned a bagged truck before but the ones I have drove didnt feel like driving on the moon or some desolate part of the desert. Im hoping new shocks will remedy this.
It has leaf springs and blocks in the back with the bags over the axle. The u bolts are slightly angled and loose. Upon further inspection it seems as though when the axle was relocated over the springs the welds from the prior pads were not ground off so as to not interfere with the bolts. And all but 2 leafs were removed to achieve the slammed stance.
It takes 5-10min to get enough pressure in the tank to get the front up. This is with 1/2" line and 2 Viar compressors. The valves are currently plumbed right into the tank so I am considering relocating them closer to the front bags, mounting them right below the doors on the frame just aft of the front cab mounts. As I understand this will get the air to bags quicker.
I dont see a drain anywhere on the system for water so I am thinking this possibly could be the cause of one of the compressors not working. It does not matter if one or both compressors are running it still takes the same amount of time for the pressure to go up.
All bags are currently 2 ply. I was told I should run 4 ply up front for safety reasons. Im considering Slams if I do upgrade.
Some of the valves seem to stick at times, wont open or close when they are activated. What type of maintenance would you guys reccomend.
The rear airlines are also 1/2" so the bed goes up extremely quick. Considering down grading to 3/8" lines.
Another valve issue is when I dump or fill the rear, the front bags seem to lose air as well.

So this is my preliminary list of concerns. I appreciate any advice or opinions you guys have on this build so let em fly. Lastly what are your recomendations on an online source for air suspension parts(hose, fittings, bags), anyone ever order thru mcmaster carr?

Standby for pics as I am still figuring out how to post them on here. Until then, stay frosty.

[J.Vale' Se' Diez]

Been a while but ive been extremely busy with family, work, and the holidays. Not to mention I barely figured out how to post pictures. So here they are....

[J.Vale' Se' Diez]

And here are a couple of my sons trike and wagon I restored. This little project took me almost two months worth of weekends to finish, but in the end well worth it. He's still too small to reach the pedals but that doesnt stop him from trying.

[67c10rustbuket]

Cool truck! I used to have some of those wheels (supremes) on an Impala. On your problems I had similar troubles with a truck I bought. It was a combination of rusty water in the valves due to a lack of a water trap/drain on the tank and some really crappy wiring. Im guessing they have all 8 valves ground wires twisted together and gounded to the tank with some tiny wire or something similar. I would redo the wiring first and they used to sell rebuild kits for those valves, they get a little leaky when you shoot rusty water through them. I mean the valves leak air up or down when they should be closed.

[J.Vale' Se' Diez]

67c10... I believe you are correct on the valves leaking and working intermittently. I have added a drain to the tank and redone some of the wiring. Ive also added some check valves to the fill lines for the front. Seems to be woking good so far. Thanks for the knowledge.



So after my mad rush trying to get most of everything back on to make it to the CPP cruise last month, I have finally been able to drive it the last few weeks after 4 months. Everything was working great until this last weekend. Like I had mentioned before the 444c compressors were taking a little long to fill the 5 gal tank. Well they finally had it. So sometime this week I will be calling Viar to see about a possible rebuild or maybe an upgrade(any suggestions).
Either way the suspension feels better than it was. And I still have to mount my rear shocks.
Trying to get everything wrapped up before summer so i can put the bed back on and maybe some paint.

[J.Vale' Se' Diez]

Here are some shots I took last month

[J.Vale' Se' Diez]

These are the most current. (anyone know what kind of wheels these are? I traded a paintball gun for them)

[67cheby]

looking good