85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab

[Mattman2010]

So I have not been messing with this truck, been getting back to the ol grind after breaking my ankle. Been working on the k10 to get it where I want it for now and been cleaning out 30+ years of stuff out of the shop to make more room for my projects, have a ton of scrap to haul off so that will be nice to have the extra money.

I did some swapping of tires I had laying around to see what I wanted to do with this truck. Looks like I will be running 2 inches of lift in the front (Rear sets 4 inches higher right now) and will be running 285/75r16's. I have a line on 4 used ones for right now which will all go on the back. I have some 33's on some 16.5 wheels that I will run for now till I get a D60 to throw under the front and I will find some more 285/75r16s for the front then.

Truck as it has sat for the past couple months.


As you can see I have my 33's bolted to the front right now just to see what kind of clearances I would need. 2 inches should give me the correct lift needed to run the tires I want, and will still keep my truck low enough so I can pull a gooseneck and be able to load stuff into the bed of the truck. Hopefully it will find its way back into the shop soon.

[Dieselwrencher]

Looking good man! I really like the look of a wide front SRW wheel on a DRW truck with a SRW hub. Keep at it man!

[Mattman2010]

I'm actually starting to dig that look as well. The only thing is they don't make a wheel that is srw that looks like the drw. I like matching wheels. Plus those wheels on the front are a 16.5x12 wheel and 16.5 tires are expensive if you find them. But it does look mean with the extra wide tire on the front. I'm keeping at it, I've had a ton of motivation lately, but you know what my hold up is
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[Dieselwrencher]

Use eagle alloy aluminum round 8 hole wheels in the front and their drw aluminum round 8 hole wheel in the rear and they will be really close to matching that way.

[Mattman2010]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Use eagle alloy aluminum round 8 hole wheels in the front and their drw aluminum round 8 hole wheel in the rear and they will be really close to matching that way.

We will see what happens. I can get a dodge DRW d60 when ever I want, but I probably wont get that till after I get the truck running with what its got under it.

[Mattman2010]

So I was browsing craigslist the just the other day and came across a guy selling a 4 inch lift kit with shocks and all for $250. I was just going to go with a 2 inch lift for the truck but with the price of the 4 inch lift kit I could not pass it up.

Brand new kit, never opened


So I got to work and in about 30 mins I was able to get the springs installed.


Front sits about 6 inches higher than it did before, the rear needs to come up but I am not going to worry about that till I get the drivetrain in to see how it sets and then adjust the rear from there. I really like how high the truck sets, i just hope the 33's im going to run dont look to small.

[1985-GMC]

Well maybe mine is a 4"

Originally Posted by Mattman2010

Front sits about 6 inches higher than it did before, the rear needs to come up but I am not going to worry about that till I get the drivetrain in to see how it sets and then adjust the rear from there. I really like how high the truck sets, i just hope the 33's im going to run dont look to small.

...

[Mattman2010]

What was it suppose to be?
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[1985-GMC]

It was supposed to be a 4" but everyone said it kinda looks like a 6" (including me).

[Mattman2010]

Originally Posted by 1985-GMC

It was supposed to be a 4" but everyone said it kinda looks like a 6" (including me).

Yeah I am almost starting to think it may be a 6 on my truck too. My dad and I both stood on the front of the frame and jumped on it and it does not move much at all, but between us we are only about a 1/3 of the weight of the motor so I am sure the motor will lower it just a little bit and over time it will settle some.

[kikkegek]

1985-GMc: what diud you use to paint the axles?

[1985-GMC]

Rustoleum red primer then scuffed and sprayed Rustoleum gloss black. You reduce it with acetone and add an enamel hardener for a much nicer/ tougher finish.

[Dieselwrencher]

Both your guys's springs look like 6" lift springs to me. Usually 4" springs don't have that much arch to them. My Longhorn has 4" rough country springs on it and they aren't arched nearly as much as your guys's. (Even with no engine in the truck)

Looking good Matt!

[Mattman2010]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Both your guys's springs look like 6" lift springs to me. Usually 4" springs don't have that much arch to them. My Longhorn has 4" rough country springs on it and they aren't arched nearly as much as your guys's. (Even with no engine in the truck)

Looking good Matt!

yeah im starting to think it might be 6 inch springs too, maybe they mixed them up when they got shipped to the guy i bought them from, oh well more lift for me! I think the back might need to go up 4 inches so once I get the motor in I might see about doing a poor mans shackle flip.

Ryan is it saturday yet? Im pumped to no end right now to get that dang motor in here.

[Mattman2010]

So I picked up some 285/75r16s for cheap and started mounting them.





Need 1.25" or 1.5" spacers for the rear.

Was taking one tire off the rim and found out it had a tube in it. Started looking at the valve stem and found a wallowed out hole.


So I welded it up and will drill a new one for it soon.


So that's all I have for updates. Gotta figure out how much the front is going to drop with the weight of the motor, transmission and transfercase so that I can figure out how much the rear needs to come up.
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[y5mgisi]

Looks good man! Keep it up!

[Mattman2010]

Thanks man, I will keep it up. Im ready for this thing to be running, Ive had a lot of motivation for some reason recently but there is nothing wrong with that!

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice work on the wheel repair.

[Mattman2010]

Thanks bud.
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[1985-GMC]

Those tires look pretty beefy back there! I hope you plan on getting steel spacers for it, I would get 2" so you have room to grow...

BTW that wasn't a wallowed out hole, the older budd wheels have the oval hole like that. All of mine were like that and it was fun finding 6 new valve stems like that while in town one day. Good job on closing it up though, I came real close to doing that to mine.

[Mattman2010]

Originally Posted by 1985-GMC

Those tires look pretty beefy back there! I hope you plan on getting steel spacers for it, I would get 2" so you have room to grow...

BTW that wasn't a wallowed out hole, the older budd wheels have the oval hole like that. All of mine were like that and it was fun finding 6 new valve stems like that while in town one day. Good job on closing it up though, I came real close to doing that to mine.

Well for the spacers I have to run a hub centric spacer so that the outside wheel is centered. The only ones I found where 2" and made of steel. They were like $350 a pair tho.

As for the wallowed out hole I am 100% sure that it was wallowed out. For some reason that wheel has a good amount of rust around that area. You can tell something had rubbed on the edges because they where not flat, they tapered to kind of a point on the inside. All my other wheels have a standard size truck valve stem that uses a 5/8 hole on the wheel.
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[1985-GMC]

That wheel was rusted real bad because of water setting in between it and the tube for (who knows how many years) and they put a tube in it because they couldn't find any of those style valve stems. Ask me how I know...

[Mattman2010]

Originally Posted by 1985-GMC

That wheel was rusted real bad because of water setting in between it and the tube for (who knows how many years) and they put a tube in it because they couldn't find any of those style valve stems. Ask me how I know...

Well fine mr. Smarty pants just playing man. It makes sense but all my other wheels have the standard 5/8s valve stem so idk, maybe that wheel is older or something, I know that the truck sat with that tube in it for 10 years or so. Need to find me some 16.5s!
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[Mattman2010]

This is what it is looking like with 285/75/r16s on the rear and 33x12.5s on the front. I have decided that I am going to box the front part of the frame to the back of the cab. I am doing this because at some point I plan on having more hp and tq so by doing so it will cause less tear on the frame and I have also noticed that the frame does flex quite a bit the way it is. I am not off roading with this truck so limiting the frame movement will not really hurt the truck in any sort of way.

[Dieselwrencher]

Good idea, it's looking good!