norms 55 chevy pu build

[washington blue]

I put a new filter and fluid in the trans and a new rear seal too.

[washington blue]

Been working on dings, dents, and gaps so nothing worth photographing. I have found that on my passenger door there is a rubber strip half way down the door going from front to back inside the door. Kind of a anti- movement/rattle thing I believe, it is mounted to an inch wide channel bar. This causes a very slight curvature to the door skin from front to rear. The driver door does not have the rubber and the door is straight from front to back. The driver door has the channel bar just no rubber. I assume the rubber just fell out of the driver door. Does this rubber strip cause fit tight enough to cause a slight curvature to the door, and where can I get new ones? Thanks, norm

[washington blue]

found some round baler belting that worked for my missing door spacer rubber. Been busy lately boxing the frame.

[washington blue]

Using 3/16 stuff to box the frame with. Going to use something a little heavier when I start the rear-end frame work. How far up into the frame do I dare cut for this pipe I will C the frame with? Yes I will box this area once the C is in place with more 3/16 stuff.

[joedoh]

I love your truck and your perseverance!

Originally Posted by washington blue

Using 3/16 stuff to box the frame with. Going to use something a little heavier when I start the rear-end frame work. How far up into the frame do I dare cut for this pipe I will C the frame with? Yes I will box this area once the C is in place with more 3/16 stuff.

how big is the wall on that pipe? jeezealou!

I wouldnt go any more than half the width of the frame or half the diameter of the pipe, whichever comes first. using a flip kit is going to drop you a metric ton so you will need a notch but depending on your rear tires you may not need a huge one. I see guys put in HUGE notches then realize it isnt needed.

one great way to figure it out is take the diameter of your rear tire, divide it in half, add half the axle tube back and that is the very most your frame will clear. then if you know how high off the ground your frame will be at ride height, you know your notch size.

[washington blue]

Thanks Joedoh, the wall thickness is 1/2 inch on this pipe and it is slightly larger than the 96 Ford explorer rearend I have. I think I will go ahead and get the rearend mounted first then see how much clearance I have to the frame. First I am going to check the pivot points on the ends of the springs for wear.

[washington blue]

the springs on this thing have 8 leaves on each side. I am thinking about taking off the bottom leaf which is about 12 inches long and the 4th leaf up from the bottom. The 3rd leaf up from the bottom has that neat clamp attached to it with the bolt crossing the top spring and I'd like to save that one. I don't know if removing 2 is enough, or too much, or not enough. I guess time will tell.

[dsraven]

maybe just wanna lose the bottom leaf and see how it sits. remember the new front springs will settle over time so think about possibly doing some rear spring work a couple of times to get get it right. in the end, since the truck isn't stock anymore, you may need to swap out the springs with, say, s10 springs or something other than stock. along with the spring hangers. if the stock springs are in good shape and the hangers/pins are also good, then decide how much you need to drop and modify the spring pack or the height of the hangers?

[washington blue]

thanks, this is good advice. The spring hangers are perfect, they were greased a lot and show no wear. I will save the leaves in case I need one. there is slight wear where the ends of the leaves rub against the longer spring above. You can see in the pictures where I did some grinding to lessen the wear edge.

[dsraven]

if youre gonna C notch I recommend to brace the frame to connect the front to the rear before you cut. this should eliminate the frame "springing" and being outta whack when it's all done.

[washington blue]

Thanks that is excellent advice, I had not thought of that. I will definitely think this over and come up with something. Very glad you said that.

[washington blue]

I got the rear end mostly mounted, I still need to have U bolts made, and I need to drill some holes in the perches. The perches are wider than the Chevy springs and I want the U bolts right next to the springs so I am going to drill 4 holes in the perches.

[washington blue]

My junkyard wheels are going to hit the box when it is on. I need to figure out a way to space them out about 3/4 inch to roll it around in the shop. I really don't want to put on bling wheels until after I paint it because they will get filthy by the time it's done. Possibly just washers on the studs since the studs are 11/8 long, depends on the thickness of the aluminum I guess. Update- - - I found some 1 inch wheel spacers on E-bay for $28 bucks so I ordered them which should just about center the shop wheels.

[washington blue]

Drilled holes in the spring perches since they are too wide for the springs. Now the U bolts drop through the holes and I can clamp everything once I make some plates for under the springs.

[washington blue]

I carefully cut the old perch from the old rearend and mated it to the Explorer perch so I have a perch 4 inches wide. This is why I had to drill holes for the U bolts as the springs are 2 inches wide and I wanted the U bolts snug against them. I also did not want to lose the cool brake line mount for the caliper hoses and this way I did not. One side of the added perch was welded to the ford perch and the other side was welded to the axle tube. This minimizes any chance for warpage of the tube.

[washington blue]

Finished bolting up the rearend. With my weight on the rear of the frame I have about 2 inches of clearance. About 21/2 without. I have been tossing around the idea of possibly mini tubbing the box side in a couple inches, does anyone know who makes good ones and where they are sold?

[joedoh]

for tubs I have had luck buying one trailer fender at tractor supply, then cutting it in half to make two tubs. I take the piece I cut out of the sidewall and tack weld it into the fender, closing it out.

IMG_6890 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


make sure you dont buy the GALVANIZED tubs, welding on galvanized is a good way to get sick.


2" clearance to the axle isnt enough, you will bang the frame just driving regular, better stick to the plan of a small notch.

[washington blue]

Looks good, i can't decide if I'm going to do it or not. I would gain about 2 inches of tire width without moving the springs. Not sure if it's worth it. In post 137 you can see the max width tire I could use without, about 8 inch tread width.

[washington blue]

Got the C stuff welded up. this gives me about 2 inches more travel room.

[washington blue]

I'm going to make a couple more boxing plates to finish it.

[washington blue]

I am going to have to figure out something different with this brake line as it sends the hose directly towards the frame.

[joedoh]

notches look good, definitely box them.

Originally Posted by washington blue

Looks good, i can't decide if I'm going to do it or not. I would gain about 2 inches of tire width without moving the springs. Not sure if it's worth it. In post 137 you can see the max width tire I could use without, about 8 inch tread width.

8 inches is 200mm, so you are saying the widest tire you can run is a 205?

[washington blue]

these junk yard tires fit very nicely. They leave me about 1 inch clearance on each side.

[joedoh]

thats a relief, 235 plus an inch on both sides is 285mm, so you have plenty of room without tubs

[washington blue]

I was kinda thinking that wider tires might give it a cooler "look" but I am not going to move the springs so I would gain about 2 inches so I think I will not do it.