55.2-59 1959 Fleetside Short Bed Project

[BAM55]

Go check out the h.a.m.b board and see if you can find info on this. They do a lot of traditional rodding over there and someone may know something.

[dsraven]

how low are you trying to go? you don't wanna drop it too much with a sold axle or it will be bottoming out all the time. what about a smaller diameter tire?

[dsraven]

got some pics with the wheels on and the new front axle stuff? too late already, thr truck is dissassembled into boxes now? lol.

[BLAC]

a 6.0 LS followed me home

[dsraven]

mom, it followed me home. can I keep it?
darn 6.0's, they think they own the place, lol.
nice snag. trans too?

[BAM55]

Nice, now if only I can get one to follow me home.

[BLAC]

Haha I was looking online REALLY frequently and when I saw the add go up for this one I snagged it before it was even an hour old just gotta set up some alerts, good deals don't last long in our neck of the woods!

Question for y'all, I didn't buy the trans the guy had with it so I'm still looking... I have my eyes on a TR6060 from a 2011 Camaro with 25k miles on it... anyone ran one of these transmissions?

[DA68]

Lookin’ good, man. Where did you find that front axle? I’m getting ready to send mine to Sid’s to get stretched, but thought I’d ask.

[BLAC]

Originally Posted by DA68

Lookin’ good, man. Where did you find that front axle? I’m getting ready to send mine to Sid’s to get stretched, but thought I’d ask.

I actually got really lucky and found it second hand but seemingly unused. Its made by CPP.

A guy had a shop install it then decide to go IFS, I'm not sure he even drove on it since the brake pads and rotors are unscuffed

[wally_245]

Nice truck, definitely subscribing. I work in Culver (across from the giant hole in the ground that used to be Culver Studios).

[BLAC]

Originally Posted by wally_245

Nice truck, definitely subscribing. I work in Culver (across from the giant hole in the ground that used to be Culver Studios).

Awesome, you are just a couple blocks from me. Ill have updates soon =)

[Mains52]

Sweet Truck. Coming along nicely!!

[FAKKY]

In for a penny :0
Nice truck.

What was the 6.0 out of ? Year etc.

I wonder if you could "shorten" the front leaf hangers by an inch to drop it further making the body closer to the ground.

[BLAC]

Originally Posted by FAKKY

In for a penny :0
Nice truck.

What was the 6.0 out of ? Year etc.

I wonder if you could "shorten" the front leaf hangers by an inch to drop it further making the body closer to the ground.

Thanks! the motor is from a 2002 Denali

[BLAC]

getting ready to mock up mounts for the motor and trans (I bought a 6-speed TR6060 from a 2011 Camaro SS)


Got the inner cab corner shaped and welded up, then coated in rust encapsulator


Outer cab corner cut, shaped and ready for welding


The corner I bought was too thick through this area in the door jam so I took a slice out of it and patched it in.

[Dan in Pasadena]

I would also say if you want to get lower to wait til the engine, trans and all fluids are in it - then drive a bit to let everything settle.

If it's STILL too tall for you skip all the shenanigans with flipping the main leaf or screwing with the spring mounting pad and just go with Posie's Super Sliders. They offer up to 3" lowering (I think) BUT remember that dimension is from original stock height and your stock springs have ALREADY settled inches since new.

Having said all this, why go through all this work and expense and later lose it all by switching to IFS? I was going to do exactly the same you're doing until I realized the cost of the dropped straight axle, Super Sliders and power steering kit would almost be the same as a good quality IFS kit.

PS: My engine is an LQ4. Is yours or an LQ9? Mine's from a 2011 (if I remember right) N Series Isuzu delivery van and has the 4l85e trans behind it.

[BLAC]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

I would also say if you want to get lower to wait til the engine, trans and all fluids are in it - then drive a bit to let everything settle.

If it's STILL too tall for you skip all the shenanigans with flipping the main leaf or screwing with the spring mounting pad and just go with Posie's Super Sliders. They offer up to 3" lowering (I think) BUT remember that dimension is from original stock height and your stock springs have ALREADY settled inches since new.

Having said all this, why go through all this work and expense and later lose it all by switching to IFS? I was going to do exactly the same you're doing until I realized the cost of the dropped straight axle, Super Sliders and power steering kit would almost be the same as a good quality IFS kit.

PS: My engine is an LQ4. Is yours or an LQ9? Mine's from a 2011 (if I remember right) N Series Isuzu delivery van and has the 4l85e trans behind it.

I am definitely going to wait to do anything until I get the motor and trans in the truck and everything is settled.

I was going to just jump into the IFS but I got a practically brand new CPP dropped axel, disk brake conversion, power steering box, new leafs, shocks, and all hardware for $550. I just couldn't pass on the deal.

Mine is an lq4, but the only difference is the pistons and i'm going to do a forged rotating assembly anyway

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by BLAC

I am definitely going to wait to do anything until I get the motor and trans in the truck and everything is settled.

I was going to just jump into the IFS but I got a practically brand new CPP dropped axel, disk brake conversion, power steering box, new leafs, shocks, and all hardware for $550. I just couldn't pass on the deal.

Mine is an lq4, but the only difference is the pistons and i'm going to do a forged rotating assembly anyway

In hindsight I'd consider using the dropped axle unless you're going for a show truck. Different opinion but I'll be in ordinary deriving the nee components, modern gas shock will make it drive away better than the original straight axle.

Question: Why screw with the rotating assembly? Do you plan to go to forced induction later? Otherwise you don't need it. The LS's are very very robust as they come from the factory.

[BLAC]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

In hindsight I'd consider using the dropped axle unless you're going for a show truck. Different opinion but I'll be in ordinary deriving the nee components, modern gas shock will make it drive away better than the original straight axle.

Question: Why screw with the rotating assembly? Do you plan to go to forced induction later? Otherwise you don't need it. The LS's are very very robust as they come from the factory.

I’m eventually going to have the truck on airbags. I don’t think it will necessarily be a ‘show truck’ but I build show bikes and will be using the truck to move bikes and parts, setting the truck on the ground to load up motorcycles will be really nice, and it will be fun to play with

I’m building a forced induction motor, I’m lookin for it to be able to safely make about 1,000hp but I’m looking to only run about 700hp on the street on a very conservative/bullet proof tune. I’m looking at turbo options now, not sure if I’m going to run a single (like a s480) or a dual set up...

[jeffs56]

Any update on your truck. Curious if you got your dropped axle going?

[jeffs56]

Any update on your truck. Curious if you got your dropped axle going?

[BLAC]

Hello everyone! It has been a year since my last post but I have some big updates...

I decided to go all in and take this truck down to the frame rails:


I went with Scott's SuperSlam IFS:


Before putting in the cross member I squared and boxed the whole front end:


I measured out the stock center line and decided to move the centerline forward just over 1.5":


The install went really smooth, the hardest and most time consuming part was blasting out all the damn stock cross member rivets


I got the adjustable Ride Tech / Fox shocks as well:


Cab Back on and ready to place the 6.0 LS:


This MIGHT be low enough...

[BLAC]

GTO manifolds on and engine ready to be mocked in:


Like a glove:


I made templates for motor mounts:



A little metal finishing and tacked in:


I clearanced the drivers side to clear the steering shaft:


Motor and front end installed. Time for a drink. (Don't mind the quarantine mustache haha)

[Rickysnickers]

Impressive work

[dsraven]

nice fab work. smoooooth.
are you not installing any shock absorbing material in the engine mounts then?