SportChicken gets its Wings!...help!

[cstanley]

well, almost...I spent the entire holiday weekend under the 'cheicken trying to put my Tuff Country 4" lift on. I thought I'd warm up by doing the rear first. after 6 hours of frozen bolts and a little help from mapp gas torch, the axle was down and the suspension removed. reassembly went much better.

on to the front! what a bear! axle came down without a problem, as did the springs. shocks were a pain... then i twisted the brake lines into little bits...i wasn't really planning on that, and upon inspection they would've twisted apart even if i had been able to see the fitting. oh well, moving on. Now i can't get the blasted steering arm off! tried every tool i had (limited, you understand.) even the stinking pickle forks i had to run out and buy. nothing! so, i assembled everything with the new parts, sans raised steering arm and front brakes. and that's how she sits... i don't know what to do now...

i'm gonna post for help in the suspension section...

this project was a bear for one person...

[vtblazer]

Go buy a puller maybe...?

35 year old trucks will do that to ya.

Glad you had a good weekend though.

[1969K10]

Hang in there! That was quite the task for 1 person to tackle by yourself!! Soak that arm down good with a penetrator, & get a puller for it. You probably needed new brake lines anyway, so think of it as knowing the job will be done right when you get finished.

Good luck!

[jcfoote60]

Yes get a puller for the steering arm, here's my story. I had intended on getting a new steering box anyway so at this point I decided to tap it off from above downward with a hammer. The arm wasn't that hard to pop off actually. I then ordered my new gear box, it came and then I returned my old one for a core charge refund.....I get this call and the guy said he could only give me partial refund because the input splined shaft that held the steering arm had been bent slightly and was no longer any good! I could only assume this was from me hammering the arm off instead of using a puller. So moral of the story is if you have problems with your steering or have leaks in your gear box around the shaft, you might have done what I did. Hopefully you won't have any problems, it sure does pay to have the right tool for the job though.

[cstanley]

thanks... after using the brilliant search function, i came up with a number of discussions detailing the removal. seems to need a good pounding on a large socket placed over each stud. there are some cone-shaped spacers in there. we'll give it a try tonight.

what about brake lines? would i be better off just fabbing my own to fit?

thanks!

[Mike C]

Go ahead and order some new spacers....

Heat. Pound. Heat. Pound. Repeat this over and over. After a couple of heat cycles you can use a chisel on the tapered cones. Just watch out for threads. I think an air hammer with both a hammer head and a chisel is how I got mine off.

[LUV2XCLR8]

Looking good, what size rubber you gonna run w/ that lift?

[69TowRig]

Almost looks like you'll have to drive out from under there with the small tires so you don't clip off the windshield!

Looks like good progress, I am thinking I will just go with a 2" for extra height and getting rid of sagging springs and worn out bushings.

[cstanley]

Originally Posted by LUV2XCLR8

Looking good, what size rubber you gonna run w/ that lift?

i kinda liked the OE hubcaps...

prolly just the recommended 33 x 12.5's, but not too aggressive...

[cstanley]

Originally Posted by 69TowRig

Almost looks like you'll have to drive out from under there with the small tires so you don't clip off the windshield!

Looks like good progress, I am thinking I will just go with a 2" for extra height and getting rid of sagging springs and worn out bushings.

yeah, it's barely gonna fit. i might have to let some air out of the tires.

in retrospect, i prolly would've done a 2" lift. with my sagging suspension (i didn't know how much) my 4" lift is actually almost 6"

[hgs_notes]

Napa, and probably others, sell brake lines made of a special steel that is corrosion resistant and and you can bend with your hands without kinking it. Excellent stuff. Price wasn't that much different either.

Love those graphics.

Speaking of which, did GMC's have these style graphics available? I can't remember ver seeing one. Just Blazers.

[jaros44sr]

Nice truck, glad your lift came off (almost) without a hitch, another set of hands would've been helpful...

I think the 33's will look real good on it, keep up the good work. J.

[RANDY COX]

Very nice indeed,

[1969k10stepside]

Originally Posted by cstanley

in retrospect, i prolly would've done a 2" lift. with my sagging suspension (i didn't know how much) my 4" lift is actually almost 6"

The more you drive it and when the top is on...it will go down.My lift kit that was suppose to be a 6" lift was nearly a 8" lift when I first put it on.Now it has settled down with the weight of the truck body back down to a 6" lift.Drive the K5 some,put the top back on if you have to...the springs will settle in.

[cstanley]

well, i've been working late the past few nights, so very little progress has been made. i just hope i don't get saggy butt with these new springs...

[1972 Banana]

recomend loking for the pre bent original style brake lines from LMC or the like. They look better and you will CUSS a lot less installing them.Someone bent their own on my truck and it looks like crap. trying to bend your own is a lot harder than you would think. not to mention the price is not too bad.

[69TowRig]

I bought two standard-length lines from the parts store for the rear axle and bent them into shape pretty easily. The long-side line I bought was just slightly longer than necessary, so some creative routing took up the slack. Otherwise I would go with pre-bent lines just because good flaring tools will run you nearly $100 (I know I have a KD Tools one). The cheapy flaring tool from the auto parts store is a complete waste of money.

[cstanley]

woo hoo!
got that steering arm off with ease! 12lb sledge to the side/front of the arm had it off after about 5 swings!

then i fabbed up some new sections of brake line and put on new front brake hoses.

see the results below!

and one gratuitous shot of my best friend...
c

[1969k10stepside]

Now it definitely needs some bigger tires

[Blazer1970]

Originally Posted by cstanley

woo hoo!
got that steering arm off with ease! 12lb sledge to the side/front of the arm had it off after about 5 swings!

c

[vtblazer]

Originally Posted by cstanley

i just hope i don't get saggy butt with these new springs...

Looks good in the pics.

No saggy butt.