My 1975 Project FrankenTruck

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by NeoJuice

Had a little time on the weekend to work on the truck. Jacked up the truck from the cross member and positioned my crip blocks under the frame. Had to do a little modification to each crib block do to the frame being different on each side (e-brake bracket on the drivers side and some bolts on the passenger side) but over all turned out pretty good and rock solid safe. I also put one of the front tires under the cross member for extra safety.

Starting out on the passenger side things don't look to bad. Tons of old grease on the zerk fittings, mud and every bushing is shot. I'm not to worried because everything will be replaced with new parts.

Can someone tell me about he shock bolt? Never seen anything like that before. It must be removed from the inside.

Seen more than a few shock studs like that. Like you mentioned, it gets removed by removing the nut on the inside of the frame rail.

[NeoJuice]

Thanks SCOTI. I figured that was the case.

[NeoJuice]

Had a bit of time on Saturday, so I started tearing down the front end. Friday night, I soaked everything with PB Blaster knowing it was going to put up a fight. The caliper bolts were stubborn but eventually came out, the calipers came off with a little persuasion thanks to the rust. Once the caps, pins, and nuts were off, I noticed there wasn’t much grease in the bearings. I also pulled the backing plates to clean and paint them.

The rubber gaskets actually look to be in decent shape, but I’m trying to track down new ones. From what I found, they’re AC Delco part #15699959. I called around to a few parts stores, but none of them carry it. I’m going to check with my local Chevy dealer next. RockAuto has them for $1.60 each, but shipping is $20!

Do you know if the gasket is absolutely necessary if I can’t find replacements or is it something I could make myself?

[SCOTI]

Those seals help keep moisture & debris out of the bearing cage so they serve a purpose. I'd replace them if possible but not @ $20 shipping for a $2 part. Instead, I'd try & find some sort of similar size flat rubber washer or seal. Try McMaster Carr....

[NeoJuice]

I'll see if I can pull them off gently and save them. Called my local chevy dealer and no local dealer stocks them. He can get them but they were $5.20/each and I had to order 10 so $52. I was like WHAT!!! lol. They would also be ordered out of the US and he cant order 10 and sell me two because he wouldn't be able to sell them he said.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by NeoJuice

I'll see if I can pull them off gently and save them. Called my local chevy dealer and no local dealer stocks them. He can get them but they were $5.20/each and I had to order 10 so $52. I was like WHAT!!! lol. They would also be ordered out of the US and he cant order 10 and sell me two because he wouldn't be able to sell them he said.

Have you checked local sources?
Summit Racing/mail order?

[NeoJuice]

Had a bit of time yesterday to tinker with the truck. Since it was such a nice day, I pulled my brand new brake drums out of their boxes, gave them a good spray with brake cleaner, and once they were dry, coated them with VHT clear caliper paint. I really like how the grey finish turned out it looks almost black in the photos because of the sunshine.

I also broke out the wire wheel and started cleaning up the passenger side backing plate. Managed to save the rubber seal by carefully working it loose with a razor blade. Once I get the other backing plate cleaned up they will be painted black. Still have a little cleanup to do on the seal area but it's almost there.

I'll get better picture of the drum color once I get them on the truck.

[NeoJuice]

Not much got done on the truck this weekend. But on Saturday morning I had some time to run out to 'The Drop Shop' and pickup my new MaxTrac 2.5" drop spindles and Maxtrac 2" drop springs.

There a Canadian company and only 30 minutes from where I live. If anyone is interested there website is https://thedropshop.ca/ and found there prices pretty reasonable compared to other retailers and they have local pick-up.

[NeoJuice]

Hope everyone has a great Christmas break and a Happy New Year. I had two weeks off during the Christmas break but didn't get much done on the truck as I was hoping. Between hosting family and friends multiple times over the break it didn't leave much garage time for me. Plus it was bitterly cold out over the break so working in the garage was not the top priority in sub -20 Celsius weather. My garage is drywalled and insolated but not heated. I do have a heater which takes away the chill but the cold still comes up through your feet through the floor.

Anyway, from my last update on 11-10-2025 where I had the both front suspension stripped down to the spindles I was able to get the passenger side sway bar off & shock off. The tie rod end popped off pretty easy with the pickle fork but the upper/lower ball joint was a bit of a pain. I tried to break them loose the day before but my arm was getting soar from whacking on the pickle fork and spindle to try and break them loose. So I soaked the upper/lower ball joint down with penetrating spray and left it over night. I went back at it again but this time decided to use the pitman arm pickle fork which is fatter. I gave them maybe 10-15 wacks each on the upper/lower and they popped free. Now that the ball joints were broke free I got my jack under the lower ball joint and jacked it up to remove the nuts. Once the nuts were removed I lowered everything down slowly to remove the spindle and spring using a pry-bar to push the lower control arm down to get the spring out.

I have a question for the people out there. I will be rebuilding the lower control arm with new bushings and lower ball joint. I found this video online where he recommends removing the bump stop all together. If you recall I will be using a new 2.5" drop spindles and 2" drop springs.

In the YouTube video time mark 6 min - 10 minutes he talks about removing the bump stop all together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM5rf09-_ag&t=2287s

In another video I found on YouTube the guy said that he just cuts down the rubber bump stop to about 3/4" but different from the link above in he removes it all together.

I will be installing brand new upper control arms from Dorman which come with a new upper ball joint and upper bump stop. Thoughts?

[NeoJuice]

Here is a link to the other video. He talks about it at the 50 minutes mark.

https://youtu.be/NQz32sSl_tU?si=GIGSMlGdGyJh66cY

[SCOTI]

It's a personal call. Some just trim the bump stop down & others will go w/no stop at all....

If you're the 'throw caution to the wind kind of guy' you can knock it off & run nothing.

If you're a safety fist when on the road, then trimming the factory rubber is the way to go.

You could also remove the bump stop base/stand & mount the factory height bumper to the flat surface of the a-arm as an in-between solution. This would allow increased travel before making contact w/the stock height rubber bumper. If/when it does make contact, it's a factory calculated/spec'd rubber stop.

** If the factory bump stop base is removed, the 'steering stop' portion should be left in place or a different steering stop put into place (for safety).

[NeoJuice]

I don't like the idea of removing the bump stop/steering stop from the lower control arm entirely. I'm a safety kind of guy so I will do what the guy says in the second video and trim down the rubber bump stop down to 1/2 to 3/4" so at least something is there. Might have to buy new ones cause I haven't really looked on how good of shape the one's are on the lower control arm as of yet.

I'm not sure what other people are doing regarding this but I definitely don't want to bottom out metal on metal. Anyone else have any input?

Does anything need to be done with the upper control arm and it's bump stop. Image is from the Dorman site.

[SCOTI]

Depending on tire sizes, even a <5" drop can make contact with the top of the inner fender well so that's a bump stop in itself. Unless the truck sat in an atmosphere regulated container, the lower bump stops have almost 40yr old rubber exposed to breakdown. Just replace them.

The bump stop under the upper arm just limits droop. No real need to mod them.

[NeoJuice]

Thanks for the info SCOTI. No modification needed to the upper arm. Its a shame they don't make the lower arms anymore. It would save allot of hassle rebuilding them.

[NeoJuice]

Had a little time on the weekend to work on the front end again. Continuing on with the passenger side I was able to get the upper control arm off (one shim in the rear and four shims on the front). I was able to get the cotter pins removed and bolts loosened on the passenger side tie rod end and idler arm. I used the pickle fork to get the tie rod end separated which was really stuck but it finally broke loose.

I had to do quite a bit of scraping and cleaning to remove the built-up grease and dirt so I could access the lower control arm U-bolts. Before loosening them I read online that it’s a good idea to loosen the cross-shaft bolts first since the cross-shaft is locked into the guide pin and doing this makes things easier later on for bushing replacement. After that I loosened the U-bolts and dropped the lower control arm down. I’ll likely reuse the U-bolts after cleaning them up, as they’re probably made of stronger steel than most replacement hardware now a days.

Only thing left to do is remove the idler arm and shock then its off to work on the drivers side. The brake line and caliper will be replaced on re-assembly. Once I disassemble the drivers side I'll drop down the sway bar as well to replace the bushings.

[SCOTI]

Progressing nicely.

[NeoJuice]

I had some time over the weekend on Saturday and Sunday to get a bit more work done on the front end. On Saturday, I removed the driver’s side sway bar and shock from the lower control arm. After that, I pulled the tie rod and center link and worked on breaking the upper and lower control arms free. The driver’s-side upper and lower ball joints separated much easier than the passenger side. That pretty much wrapped up Saturday’s progress.




Sunday afternoon, I had time to finish up the driver’s side. The first step was positioning a jack under the lower control arm and lifting it slightly to relieve the tension on the ball joint bolts. As many of you know once the cotter pins are removed you back the nuts off until they’re flush with the top of the joint. This gives the joint room to break free without sending anything flying(safety first). With the tension released I removed the nuts and slowly lowered the control arm to pull the spindle. Once the spindle was out and the arm fully released it was time to remove the spring. Using a pry bar to apply a little extra downward pressure on the lower control arm, I was able to get the spring out. Once again, the driver’s side came apart easier than the passenger side(go figure).

With the spring out, I moved on to the upper and lower control arms. On the upper control arm the front bolt came out easily but the rear bolt needed a heavy soaking with PB Blaster. While that was doing its things I also thoroughly soaked the lower control arm U-bolt hardware. After a short break, the upper rear bolt finally broke free with the impact gun. The front U-bolts on the lower control arm were a bit tricky but came out without too much trouble. The rear U-bolts were a pain due to their proximity to the frame and exhaust but I eventually got them out.

Next up will be removing the shocks on both sides, followed by the idler arm, pitman arm, and dropping the sway bar to fully tear everything down. The brake lines and calipers will be replaced once everything is reassembled. I’ve also lined up a shop to sandblast the lower control arms after I remove the bushings and ball joints. I’ll paint them when I get them back and clean up the frame and cross member and shoot them with a coat of paint as well. Overall, it took about 3.5-4 hours to get all of this done.

[NeoJuice]

Couple more.

[NeoJuice]

Couple updates since my last post. Got the pitman arm off. Had that puppy soaked in BP Blaster for a couple days. The nut came off just fine with my impact gun and I put my puller on there and tried to zip it off with my impact gun and it had troubles. That sucker was really stuck on the steering box.

Moved all my front end components onto my other workbench to keep things organized. I got the center link cleaned up with the wire wheel so that's ready for paint. Got all the front end parts I don't need together in a tub to go to the steel pile. Each side of the truck is pretty much torn apart and just needs some clean up and a coat of paint.

Started work on removing the rubber bushings on the passenger side. A drill and a hook tool made it not to bad of a job. The cross shaft will either be sand blasted or cleaned up with a wire wheel before paint.

Started work on trying to remove the bushing sleeve. I decided to try and attack it like I seen on a video on YouTube using normal hand tools. First cut a slit down the middle and used a hammer and chisel to try and shrink the center to try and loosen the bushing and hoped it would have popped out but it didn't. Banged on it more with the chisel and a center punch to try break it loose. This was taking up to much time so I soaked it down with PB Blaster and set it off to the side for now. Was trying to follow techniques in the following video.

https://youtu.be/fxQiQX7DpQY?si=jz9vHUAzvqpZ2lzT

Not wanting to waist anymore time I grabbed the drivers side control arm and got the drill and hook tool and got the rubber out. Decided to try and clean up the cross shaft with the wire wheel and it turned out pretty good so I'll probably just hit that with some paint instead of getting them sand blasted. I'll do the passenger side later on.

With some more banging and using the chisel and center punch it finally broke free. I'm sure the PB Blaster helped with some of the rust. So now only 3 more to go lol. Once the sleeves are out I'll take them over to my cousins place and he will press out the lower ball joints for me. I'll take them to be sand blasted then hit them with some paint. Once the paint has cured my cousin will press in the new lower ball joints and new bushings.

[NeoJuice]

more pictures.

[NeoJuice]

couple more.