My daily driver/beater : How I turned lemons in lemonade

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by jhama78

Did you entertain the idea of a watts link to locate the rear axle before ya scrapped the two link? Looking forward to seeing progress on this thing.

While I get your logic..... it's like spending a dime to save a nickel.

TX....
Personally..... Even w/a 4-bar, you would have needed the shocks mounted so they could pivot side to side. Not that big of a deal IMO & the shocks still function @ less than the OE engineered angles (I set them up to be @ less than the OE angle they just pivot differently). Mine have about >3/8" of side shift total over approx ~4" of height change from ride height to fully compressed. I just set them so that @ full drop, they don't interfere w/anything or bind (worst case scenario).

Fab on . . .....

[Hankster]

Looks like its coming together. Can't wait to see it laid out.

[rusty76]

You know it's all a learning curve. I can't wait to see what you came up with. Either way still digging the build. Keep on keeping!

[mcbassin]

I thought this was a winter project?.... excellent jump start Kevin. Watch out you'll be done before winter

[killthewabbit]

Man, I love those Little Larrys valves. I found those when I was looking at bagging my old square.

Did I miss where you were putting the tank in the rear, behind the axle? Did you decide to put the compressors and tank there instead?

[jhama78]

Excuse my ignorance on the topic of aol suspension, but how is axle wrap with only two leaves in the rear spring pack?

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by jhama78

Excuse my ignorance on the topic of aol suspension, but how is axle wrap with only two leaves in the rear spring pack?

It's definitely worse vs the stock 5+ leaf pack. I wouldn't do it w/a big hp motor. Stock or mild it will be fine.

[jott_06]

If it makes you feel better about your AOL suspension, I bought my old Sonoma in 2008 with the airride already done. The only thing i ever touched on the truck was the body. The setup they had used only the main leaf and it was flipped upside down. It had Airlift 2600 bags directly over the axle. I had this truck untill 2011 and never had a spring break.

[rusty76]

Sometime in the future I hope to see some pics of your AOL setup if you don't mind. I can wait. I just am curious about how you went about it. I know it probably isn't nothing new but I'm curious really. Post up pics of your paint progress and what you have learned along the way. Several of us haven't pulled the trigger on a spray gun in a long time. I've sprayed race cars but they only had to look good from the stands...lol. Thanks.

[SCOTI]

Kevin..... Dont scrap the Billy Bars. I'll possibly take them off your hands to recoupe your investment.

[Just call me Sean]

Not sure if it has been discussed yet, but why not do a triangulated four link? Are there clearance issues?

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Just call me Sean

Not sure if it has been discussed yet, but why not do a triangulated four link? Are there clearance issues?

Budget & simple.....

[Low Elco]

There's another way to keep the rear located- anyone seen the Bearing and Slot method? I've seen it used in the front of street rods where space is tight. Seems like it'd be perfect for this application. Just throwing it out there, I'm a static guy myself.

[SkinnyG]

You mean like this?



A preliminary search didn't come up with much. Some FSAE projects utilizing it. I don't see why it wouldn't work, as long as the mounts are strong enough.

A panhard really needs to be completely horizontal at ride height, and as long as possible, to minimize change in lateral location.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by SkinnyG

A panhard really needs to be completely horizontal at ride height, and as long as possible, to minimize change in lateral location.

Yep. That's how I set my stuff up:

• As close to or just below axle C/L
• Parallel to the axle @ the targeted ride height
• As long as possible per packaging restrictions

On my duallys 4-bar, I get about .375" side shift @ 4-4.5" of axle travel (approx 26" bar). My 64 & old 68 have less lateral movement but their bar lengths are closer to 38"L.

I've never seen one of those 'bearing & slot' set-ups. I'm going to have to educate myself on their pros & cons.

[Low Elco]

Originally Posted by SkinnyG

You mean like this?



A preliminary search didn't come up with much. Some FSAE projects utilizing it. I don't see why it wouldn't work, as long as the mounts are strong enough.

A panhard really needs to be completely horizontal at ride height, and as long as possible, to minimize change in lateral location.

Yup, that's pretty close. Thick steel plate with a wide sealed bearing in it bolted to the axle. Works pretty good, they say. Added plus, you could really put it anywhere you wanted on the axle housing, as long as it was plumb.

[Tx Firefighter]

Raised full up. That's about equivalent to 6 inch rear drop in that picture.



Down. I don't know, maybe 10 inch drop from stock height. Thereabouts.



One thing is for sure, it needs more Porterbuilt. I think once the front comes down 4 more inches or so that it will sit pretty low. I didn't want to lay frame. I can't get behind the safety aspect of that.

It all fit between the bed sides. Thankfully my calculations were right. There's about 1/2" to spare on each side.



Next I'll be building bed mounts and raised metal bed floor. This old bed is pretty rough. It's going to take some effort to get it sqaure and true, strong and straight. I foresee significant welding and sandblasting in my future.

Been doing bodywork like a mad man. I'm taking each piece to bare metal to start off with a clean slate. Epoxy primer, 2k primer, Lord Fusor seam sealer, lots of sanding. I'm not saying that I'm "the guy" but I'm killing the bodywork pretty freakin well. This modern body filler combined with a 12" Durablock and 80 grit PSA paper, you can get one straight in a hurry. This is so much better that the crap they had 20 years ago.

[Low Elco]

Same stuff I use. Lookin' good! Supension looks sano!

[Tx Firefighter]

Forgot to mention, on the body panels, I'm sanding/stripping the outsides and sandblasting the insides. That door pictured above, I just sandblasted the jamb and inside area to get nice bare metal to work from. Things like those louvered vents would be misery to sand clean. The sandblaster just gives shiny clean bare metal in no time.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

Forgot to mention, on the body panels, I'm sanding/stripping the outsides and sandblasting the insides. That door pictured above, I just sandblasted the jamb and inside area to get nice bare metal to work from. Things like those louvered vents would be misery to sand clean. The sandblaster just gives shiny clean bare metal in no time.

This is the same process I used on my truck throughout, best to keep the media blast away from big flat panels. Warping can become a nightmare in short order.

I had a question.
What did you do to address your pinion angle at ride position? I may have screwed the pooch on mine as I have definite vibration from 50 mph up.
What gears are you planning on running in this truck?
thanks,

[Tx Firefighter]

Mike,

I haven't set the pinion angle yet because I'm waiting on my dropmember. It will move the drivetrain up some so I need to get it installed and the drivetrain in final location before I set the angle and weld the saddles on. Currently I just eyeballed it close and tightened the u bolts. Once I do get everything in place, I'll set pinion angle at ride height and weld it there. My truck will be a "drive around low and air it out when parked" kind of truck so that should serve me well. If yours is off, you can cheaply and easily get pinion angle shims to install and adjust it up or down as needed.

The truck has a stock (worn out) 350, Turbo 350, and 3.08 geared 12 bolt in it. I'm no where near a hotrodder so the 3.08 suits me greatly as I mainly just drive down the highway minding my own business.

[Stoney]

Do you use paint stripper then blast, to help loosen the old paint?

[Tx Firefighter]

On the areas I blast, no. I just laid them on work stands and dusted the original paint and primer off with the blaster just takes a second and sure beats the beating of sanding areas like door jambs and inner fender panels.

On the outsides, I used stripper to remove the majority of the paint. Then pressure wash thoroughly to get all stripper residue off. Then an hour in the hades sun we have here to dry. After that sand with DA and 80 grit.

[rusty76]

The rear setup is looking good.

[Tx Firefighter]

Had to order a new tailgate. Mine is just too far gone to ever be nice. Dents and holes rusted through it.

I did step up with my big boy pants on though and bought a genuine GM approved, made in USA one from Mar-K. I'd rather be broke and have a made is USA part than save money and buy one made in Sum Flung Dung.