71 C30 dually restoration

[no moa]

interesting choice for wheels and tires, can't wait to see the finished product.

[70c10stepside]

This is awesome!

[gwars1306]

what years caddy eldo and should i go with the caddy rotors as well?

[a_barth]

Use the K20 rotors and 76-78 eldo calipers. They bolt on just like the k10/k20 front calipers but are emergency brake equipped, you just have to make sure to get the hardware kit.

P.S. when you buy pads make sure that you get semi-metallic, i didnt pay attention when i bought mine and they gave me some organic pads that look like pressed particle board.

[ZUBZ]

Damn man love this truck, I so love dually's....

I am def subscribing to this thread...

Sorry to hijack but do you know if one can get these truck style wheels you have up front in 6 x 6.5 lug versions and 18inch ? I love those wheels...

[superduty_59]

Nice! Almost reminds me of the 67 on Fast and Furious 5.

[7dee2]

Originally Posted by superduty_59

Nice! Almost reminds me of the 67 on Fast and Furious 5.

Your right superduty_59 but it was F&F 4!

Here's a You Tube link to Fast & Furious 4: '67 Chevy Truck

Fast & Furious 4: '67 Chevy Truck -...

[UncleMatt]

Anyone know where I can get a set of '71 or '72 front rotors, 1 ton 2wd? The wagner part number is BD60442. Advance Auto, Napa and the GM dealer all say they can't get them. It's like they exist but nobody makes them anymore or something. I tried rotors from a '77 and they are about a 1/4 inch too thick. I suppose my only other option would be to find a donor front end and switch everything over. It would be so much nicer to just replace my rotors though as I have all the other new parts. All help is greatly appreciated.

[gwars1306]

TRY WAGNER #BD60258 $30 EACH
Posted via Mobile Device

[UncleMatt]

Originally Posted by gwars1306

TRY WAGNER #BD60258 $30 EACH
Posted via Mobile Device

Those ones are for a non dually I believe. I need the ones that are much wider. They look like this.

[moose1008]

before going with the eldo caddy calipers check out pirite4x4.com. they say the caddy calipers are hard to bleed and you have to readjust the parking brake alot to keep it working. I used diy4x adaptor and the front 3/4ton calipers & rotors on my 86 k30. using a line lock set up for my e-brake.

[RatRod68]

Originally Posted by moose1008

before going with the eldo caddy calipers check out pirite4x4.com. they say the caddy calipers are hard to bleed and you have to readjust the parking brake alot to keep it working. I used diy4x adaptor and the front 3/4ton calipers & rotors on my 86 k30. using a line lock set up for my e-brake.

I have eldorado calipers on my Explorer and they work fine

[UncleMatt]

Sorry guys no progress lately. I've been getting the runaround from a local scrap yard that had a set of spindles for me. They've been telling me they are going to pull them for me for me for the last 2 weeks. I got sick of waiting when the other day I backed the truck out of the shop and thought It could sit lower. I ended up ordering 3" drop spindles from airbagit.com. I should get them in about a week or so. Then I'll be posting my results. And I have some other big new in the powerplant department. But that's a story for another day.

[Vova]

Going to be sick.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Merl's chevy]

That truck is sick. Keep post pics.
Posted via Mobile Device

[UncleMatt]

Anybody know how to determine how long my 4 link bars should be?

I'm building a parallel 4 link with a panhard bar. My rear semi bags will mount just behind the axel. I've looked at a few calculators but they're way too confusing. Can I just pick a length where they mount easiest and go or am I asking for trouble? My rear tires are huge so I know I need about 10 inches of separation from the top and bottom bars but as far as length goes I'm not sure. Seems like a lot of people say as long as you can fit, Is that really true or is there a good way to determine the optimal length? Any advise is greatly appreciated.

[a_barth]

Longer bars will allow for more travel up and down but I feel that getting them the same length is more important. Equal length will allow the axle to travel up and down without rotating and changing pinion angle. Unequal length bars will cause the pinion angle to change thoughout the axle's travel.

[RatRod68]

Originally Posted by UncleMatt

Anybody know how to determine how long my 4 link bars should be?

I'm building a parallel 4 link with a panhard bar. My rear semi bags will mount just behind the axel. I've looked at a few calculators but they're way too confusing. Can I just pick a length where they mount easiest and go or am I asking for trouble? My rear tires are huge so I know I need about 10 inches of separation from the top and bottom bars but as far as length goes I'm not sure. Seems like a lot of people say as long as you can fit, Is that really true or is there a good way to determine the optimal length? Any advise is greatly appreciated.

I'm running a very similar setup in my explorer. I have a parallel 4 link with leafs, rather than coils and a track bar. I have the same amount of seperation, at 10". All 4 links are the same length, which means the mounts had to be brought out from the frame. As far as length, I don't know off hand, but if interested i can measure them. The ride is excellent with no axle wrap and extremely little binding that you would get with just a single trackbar. The amount of travel will increase the more you extend the arms, but I don't see why you would need very long arms due to how low the truck is. The only reason you would want to go with longer arms is if you wanted to lay it out. You would need the longer arms to tuck the axle (travel that was spoke about in the post above me) higher into the cargo/bed area

[emilio impala]

Wow! Que linda! Saludos!

[DUTCHMAN]

any updates or new pics??

[UncleMatt]

Ok, it's been a while and time for an update. I've been madly working on winterizing my shop and getting things ready to work in cold weather. Who wants to work without walls and heat... not me. I also was helping a friend put a notch in his 69 short bed. That's all finished up now and the last few days i've finally been making some progress on the '71. Although I wanted to build my 4 link next I've been waiting now 8 weeks for suspension bushings to come that are still on the way from Thorbros, Quality Air Ride or Suicide Doors or whatever you call them these days. I talked to them yesterday and it seems my order was never placed Anyway, hopefully they come soon and I can build the 4 link. In the mean time I've been working on prepping my frame.

I've decided to box my frame and use the back half of it as an air take. If I enclose from just behind the rear cab mounts to the begging of the frame notch as an air tank it will give me about 10-15 gallons of air depending on how I do my cross members.

I stripped out the rear end and started grinding, air chiseling and pounding out rivets. Man was that a chore! Then came the welding. Only 114 holes to fill! I started making plugs for the holes at first but in the end I found it much easier to fill the holes with weld. I used a coper pipe hammed flat and placed on the back of the hole to keep the welds from shooting through as I built up the sides and closed them in. It worked great. I welded the outside of the frame first. Then I also did the inside. Ground down my welds on the outside and touched them up. It took me a while, quite a bit of gas and wire but they are all welded in now.

After I finish welding in my notch in I'll box the frame and check for leaks. I'm pretty excited to have a trick air tank hidden in the frame. Especially with my plans for a flat bed. My frame easily visible.

Here's some of my progress.

This is the swiss cheese that I started with.


Rear end and cross members stripped out.


The big hole left in the center here is the factory hole behind the leaf spring mount. It's made to let all the gunk pass through and not get caught in the frame and create a moisture trap. But it still had a bit too much of the metal eaten away so I had to cut out the surrounding area back to wear the metal was nice and thick and patch it in.


The hole.


My patch cut from the cross member that I ripped out.

[UncleMatt]

mocked up.


welded in.


ground down and smoothed.

Tomorrow I'm working on turning some 3"x5" rectangular tubing into a step notch. Pics to some soon.

[mr mike]

Hear is a teaser but he will post more later.

Posted via Mobile Device

[502ms]

Beautiful!
Laying frame?
Posted via Mobile Device

[UncleMatt]

Originally Posted by 502ms

Beautiful!
Laying frame?
Posted via Mobile Device

Not laying frame. I'm not gonna get quite that low. Probably another 6 inches or so from my latest pics is where the lowest will be once I bag the front. That is until I see it down that low and decide I just have to go lower. Which is quite possible of course.