LFD's low buck truck build!

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by kevncar

Rokcrln...what do you do for a living? Just curious from the 3am job site visit and plan review comment. I draw framing plans and shop drawings for structural steel buildings for a living.

I am a Superintendent for a steel framming Co. We do steel studs instead of wood and mostly for Comercial and State jobs. I do most of our plan review and half of the structural drawings before they head off to our Enginier for his stamp. I also get to do all the hiring and firing, deal with Inspectors, Architects, Enginiers, the State, Owners and everyone else related to the project. If all goes right I will be handing the keys to the Co. vehical back over and start doing my own thing (Lewis Fabrication Design Inc.) full time here in the next year or so.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rokcrln]

We are in buisness now
Spent the day up in Santa Rosa getting the exhaust made at A1A Performance Mufflers. They did a fantastic job but he did complain about my exhaust manifolds, they are center dump rams horns and what a pain in the A$$ on a 2wd to get that first bend with the proper seal. So for everyone else try and get the rear dump truck rams horns it will go alot smoother

He did a 2.5" system out of the manifolds into a Flowmaster "Ypipe" and then into a 3" single in single out Flowmaster. I wanted it to exit out the back just in front of the bumper, Ya right With my flip kit, air bags, and the 25 gal rear tank their was no room to tuck it up over the rear end. I tell you if that tank was 1/4" bigger in any direction it would not have fit and it is so close to teh diff that I had to bend the weld seam to clear the cover. What we ended up doing is running it under the rear diff and it worked out great! It is still tucked up tight and since Gary is a pure surgon with his tube bender every clearance was addressed and fits perfect. He also used all the factory frame hanger mounts by taking some 1" x 1/8" flat stock and bent up mounts. He did add one mount to the rear off the side of the spring hanger to keep everything were it should be.

We tried a few mufflers untill I heard the sound I was looking for and let me tell you with a single 3" flowmaster system it sounds increadable. I got home and unloaded the truck and backed it into the drive way and forgot the side door to the house was open and my wife "WAS" sleeping When I came inside and saw that she was thinking I was ready for anything but what she did. Keep in mind she is 34 weeks pregnant and on bed rest. When I came in the she flipped out at how great it sounded and the smile on her face was ear to ear.
He charged me $300 for the entire system and we worked on it for a good 4-5 hours.

Kevin
LFD Inc.
$3884.45
107.5hrs

[Rokcrln]

It's a tow vehical after all this time!

I got home from the Exhaust shop and put the ball on th ehitch and hooked up the trailer and went for a test pull. It went great with an empty trailer and I could not even tell it was their. I still need to hook up the brake controller before any real work but I am on the way. I also went for just a test ride around town and on the freeway to see how things felt. Let me tell you the steering and brakes feel like nothing I have ever had in an old vehical and some new ones for that matter. Very tight and the brakes stop on a dime with very little effort. The power was just fine and it will lite them up if needed The ride was a bit rough, I think it is the shocks. I keeped the stock ones because they felt real good and stil had some room with the lowered set up. What I forgot is as they get a lot stiffer as they run tward teh bottom of their stroke so I think that is what is happening. I think I have a set in the attic from my ART kit that I never used on Slow Build so I will try them out and see what it does.

Also on my way home from Santa Rosa I finally stopped by a house I knew about to see if the 55 was for sale. I have seen this truck for as long as I can remember and it has never moved. It was so long ago that the tree you see now was not their I tanled with th eold lady who answered the door and she informed me that it would not be moving untill they had the money to fix it up. Her husband has had it since it was new back in high school and he will not part with it. Oh well had to try

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[LUV2XCLR8]

[RACINJASON22]

Time for a beer! And another pat on the back. from me also, I hope all goes well and you can hand over those keys and truck in the next yr. or so also.

That way we can see more of your quality workmanship come to life as "Low Buck" has.

Respectfully RJ22...

[Rokcrln]

You will be seeing alot more work but these keys are not leaving my pocket. Now when Slow Build is done that one will be getting sold to help fund my parts pile for the my 2WD blazer project.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[randomhero472]

looks awesome lewis, about time way to go man!

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by randomhero472

looks awesome lewis, about time way to go man!

About time Heck this has only been 4 months of side, side work time when a customers vehical was not being worked on or if I just needed a mental break. Now the chassie is completly rebuilt and ready to tear it up if I can find time to drive it.

I had about 30min in between paint cotes on the kids room and filled my stock gas cap hole with a gas cap

I did not want to leave it open and I also do not have the time right now to start any body work so this was a very simple option. I saw this on a post for gas tank delete or somthing like that but they used a thru bolt of some type to do it. I just cut off the very end nipple of the cap and welded on a small nut. I then drilled a hole in a scrap piece of 1/8" plate and used a short bolt and a jamb nut to hold it all in place. I think it looks good for what it is, nice and tight to the body and no bolt showing from the out side.

Kevin
LFD Inc.
$3884.45
108hrs

[Palf70Step]

I like that Kevin. In some ways I wish I would have thought/done something like that than the weld in a patch deal.

[68K20 x Drill]

Do NOT go to the 'Full Service' island, You might get a cabful!

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by 68K20 x Drill

Do NOT go to the 'Full Service' island, You might get a cabful!

Heck I might do that my self after a long day.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rokcrln]

Just an up date. I put on new shocks that were about 2" shorter then what was on their and now it rides pretty good for a 4.5/6.5" drop. The rear shocks were left over from an old build I had laying around but the fronts I had to buy. They were $51.95 for the set and they are a gas reflex adjust type of shock. They were the only ones in th ebook that had the right mount's, the right length and most important they were in stock
I really wanted to get this truck out on the road so I was willing to spend an extra few bucks to get them today and not next week. They took about 2hrs to get installed only because the old shocks were welded to teh frame bolt and did not want to come off.

So now for my first report on how we have done so far. We are up to $3936.40, about 110hrs and it is on the road and tearing it up around town. I have done about 40 miles so far, some freeway, back roads and in town driving. Let me tell you this is one of the nicest trucks (55-78) that I have driven. The steering is superb, very tight with no slop at all and as smooth as can be. The brakes now that is the best part. they are very easy to push and the responce is better than our 2007 SS trailblazer and that has 4 wheel disk and some of the latest technoligy as well. The motor runs great, very strong with great torque thanks to the single 3" exhaust. It is not a power house but for what this truck was built for it is all the motor I will need for now The ride height is just right for a multi use truck, low enough to look great and get alot of looks but not to low that you have to worrie about hitting parking stops or dragging on steep driveways. The ride is not as soft as a stock 30 year old truck but it is also not somthing that is going to bother you on long drives and it handles way better than stock.

So with that all said I could not be happier with the results this far. Once I do some towing I will report back and let you know how that goes. I also want to get the speedo checked and adjusted if needed as well as getting the tach working. I may drive it to work next week to see what kind of MPG I can get out of it.

So could I have saved more money on this build? Heck ya maybe even up to half of what I have spent so far. But remember this is a Low Buck build with an end result of having a great driving and a great looking truck that you can hop into and head out for a cross country trip but at the same time not spend 10 or 20K doing it. Yes if you were to figure in my labor we would be up about 10k or so but since I don't charge my self for work I am into it for $3936.40 This is also why I have been showing so many of the steps and what ever tricks I can to help you all out so you can see that alot of this you can do your self or with help of your friends. But if you need to pay to have some parts of it done than you will have a good idea of how long it should take for when you are getting prices for different work.

I almost forgot that I have had three people want to buy it and alot of people checking it out and giving thumbs up

Kevin
LFD Inc.
$3936.40
110hrs

[GREASEMONKEY72]

i like the gas cap idea, when i redo mine i plan on leaving the filler neck sticking out with the cap on just like it is now

and you better not sell that truck.........

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by GREASEMONKEY72

and you better not sell that truck.........

No plans of that at all. Get this I also have Slow Build that I have been working on for 8+yrs now and it is body dropped, bagged, 4wheel disk, 92 Vett LT1, 700R4 AOD, mini tubbed for 335/35/17's and still I like Low Buck alot more. Once Slow Build is finished it will get sold to start to fund my 2WD Blazer build and Low Buck will be towing (the blazer that is) it on the show circut when it is finished.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[RACINJASON22]

I stated that wrong in my last post I meant handing of your keys and company truck/vehical so you can persue your own goals not the keys to "Low Buck", NO NEVER would I suggest such a thing unless it were to hand them over to ME

Thanks for the update Kevin.

You know how I feel about your work. I love it. Everything on this build has been awesome so far.

BTW For anyone that has not read this entire build you should. It is a GR8 read

RJ22...

[randomhero472]

i know its lowbuck... but any plans on painting this thing? turned out great!

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by randomhero472

i know its lowbuck... but any plans on painting this thing? turned out great!

Yes it will be seeing paint but not right now. I have several body mods to do first and their is a customers vehical sitting in my shop right now waiting to get started on as soon as the baby's room is finished. But as soon as the room is done then I need to get A/C installed for Mama and little Taylor as soon as he pops out and that will be in teh next 3-6weeks so I am alittle short on time. My wiufe has Zumo doing some different renditions right now for my web site that she is building and depending how they turn out I will be able to show you the finished truck before it gets finished.

Stay tuned!

Also my Father in-law came over today to give us a hand around the house and I had him take Low Buck for a spin. His DD is one of two vehicals an 04 C5 vett or our 67 SS 396 Chevelle and after driving Low Buck he could not stop talking about how nice of a driving truck it is. This went on for the next 4-5 hours and he is not the type to do this so I think he liked it.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[texanidiot25]

Yay, its driving.




Thats all Ive got to say, great work... now do this to my truck, and Id love you forever... In a total-non-gay-man-to-man-truck kinda of way.

I may have missed this (sorry, its late..) but total, what did the whole bag suspension cost you, roughly.

[GREASEMONKEY72]

i love that truck to

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by texanidiot25

Yay, its driving.




Thats all Ive got to say, great work... now do this to my truck, and Id love you forever... In a total-non-gay-man-to-man-truck kinda of way.

I may have missed this (sorry, its late..) but total, what did the whole bag suspension cost you, roughly.

$3936.40 and 110hrs to date! Now the suspention is only bag over leaf in the rear and static up front if that is what you were asking about.

Well I felt like taking a chance so I hopped in Low Buck and headed off to work today for its first trip over 15 miles or so. My job site right now is 75 miles away and yes 75 back home I filled up as I left town and found I need to tweak the gas filler just a bit. It was dribbling back out some so I need to re angle the filler neck. I drove 65 +- the whole way and did not get on it unless Iwas getting on the freeway and it took 10 gal to fill her back up so that would be 15MPG But as the pump clicked off I heard that sound of water hitting the ground and guess what, the tank was leaking from the sending unit and it was not stopping It must have dumped 1/4 gal or better (must have filed the filler neck a bit ) and it was dripping right next to my hot exhaust and the puddle was flowing right up front under the truck! I jumped right in and took off and as soon as I was out on th estreet I nailed it and did not let off untill I was sure it was no longer over full. Not a good feeling at all. So now I will pull the bed and check out what is going on with the tank and re-do the filler neck as well. But on th ebright side since the truck did not do this this morning (I checked after I filled for any leaks) that tells me I put more fuel in this afternoon and that means I got better MPG than I thought

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[lytemup454]

so now how does the new two in to one piping help out with torq?

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by lytemup454

so now how does the new two in to one piping help out with torq?

It is great! I have not yet towed a full trailer but I think it will be just fine.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[GREASEMONKEY72]

howd she run when you got on it? you know to get rid of the overflow


i wish i got that much milage, if i figured it out right i get about 11 highway and 8 city, but i still LOVE drivin my truck

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by GREASEMONKEY72

howd she run when you got on it? you know to get rid of the overflow

Second gear scratch

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[GREASEMONKEY72]

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

Second gear scratch

Kevin
LFD Inc.

nice