Slow moving, Mild Prerunner build

[(541)COLD_beer]

sexy tires

[85_C10_Sleeper]

I got the wheels cleaned up pretty good.. polished one a little bit, as you can see in the pictures. I just wanted to get them look halfway decent before i get my tires mounted later on today. They sat outside for a few years, so there oxidized and pitted, but they cleaned up real nice. Im pretty sure with some time and elbow grease i can get them looking allmost new again... best part about them though... got them for FREE!

Im getting them mounted and balanced at 8am today with Gorilla lugnuts, wheel locks, and valve stems! Super stoked!

[85_C10_Sleeper]

Originally Posted by (541)COLD_beer

sexy tires

thanks man!
Ive never seen these tires with a wheel that wasnt black... i hope it turns out looking good!

[project 67 sub]

are you going to reinforce the frame behind the steering box, just wondering as these frames are notorious for cracking and braking causing the frame rail to twist while turning the steering wheel do to oversized tires and/or non working power steering??? better safe than sorry thats why i am asking.

[85_C10_Sleeper]

I plan too, i need to get a new steering box anyway, so the plan was to go to a slighty shorter ratio on the box, and then reinforce that area.. to be honest with you, i plan on being old school and boxing the frame were ever i can. I just need some more skill with the tig welder and ill start on it.

but thanks for bringing this up! dont they make it a kit for doing that? its like a weld in plate? i think ive seen one before. but it might of been for a 4x4

[85_C10_Sleeper]

ill get better pictures up soon

[VegasBruce]

Looking good, tires and rims make a big difference.

[85_C10_Sleeper]

thanks man! its gunna look amazing when i get the front up 3-4 inches!

those tires BITE! major improvement on that one..

as far as getting the tires mounted and balanced... all the wheel weights fell off after i drove around the block once! no wiggles or wobbles so im not gunna worry about it. Drives straighter than before to be honest lol!

[79bonanza]

so when to get to see some action shots lol, cool build man

[project 67 sub]

yah, i believe jc whitney sells a reinforcement kit for that.

[85_C10_Sleeper]

Originally Posted by 79bonanza

so when to get to see some action shots lol, cool build man

took some video, dont wanna run it to hard till i get some suspension work done.

and ill look into the reinforcement kit, after i get some of the suspension stuff out of the way and rebuild my carb and get a new intake manifold, ill be looking at purchasing a mig welder. Im taking a tig class next winter though! but long story short... when i get a welder and get it dialed in is when ill start bracing the frame. Id love to get a tig welder (my mig skill is pretty sloppy... strong, but not so pretty.) but i just dont have the skill for it yet.

ill be taking some pictures with my camera this week, best case scenario is ill find a place to press those bushings in the lca's and start installing my front suspension parts, the tube uppers have delrin(delron... spelling?) bushings in them allready, so im not gunna bother changing those...

once again, ill keep you guys posted!

[79bonanza]

tig welding is easier than everyone makes it out to be, give your self a few hours of sticking the filler rod into the torch and then sticking the torch into the puddle and youll start laying some nice beads. its wierd but once you figure out how to hold everything and get a good speed goin it gets pretty easy.

[thirdstreettito]

Wheres the video!??

[project 67 sub]

x2

[VegasBruce]

Just a thought. Looking back through your specs, one thing I would change. With the front wheel spacers, your tires will probably hit the fenders at full stuff. I went with 7" wheels in the front with 33's they rubbed with 8" rims.

[85_C10_Sleeper]

yeah, i ditched the wheel spacer idea a while ago, just because there not worth the trouble.

Cool looking truck though!

and 79bonanza do you know of any good tig welding books? i went to a couple book stores today but i couldnt really find anything on it.

[79bonanza]

well i dont know any good books for welding but i was in a class for tig welding in school and after like 10 mintues of the teacher talking we were all out in the shop welding, not really to much to read unless your welding diffrent kinds of metal, id say the best way is to just jump right into it. maybe youtube video first so you know what its suppose to look like.

[Prerunner1982]

I may have missed it, but how did you say you were going to lift the rear... or are you going to lift the rear?

Good looking truck... I agree with reinforcing the frame around the steering box from personal experience.

I also don't think I would worry much about a 12bolt. Don't think it would be that much of a increase in strength.

[85_C10_Sleeper]

im not lifting the rear at all, i am pulling the overload though..

and about the 12 bolt, ive decided just to build a 10 because there more readily available in my area compared to the good 12s.

[79bonanza]

have you thought about running a 14 bolt semi floating, could keep it six lug and be alot stronger stock

[85_C10_Sleeper]

Mine is 5 on 5, and i might, Im a long ways away from building a new rear end. By the time i get around to building one i should have my tig welding down..

my plans for a 10 bolt would be:
30 spline axles, Detriot Locker, Braced cap, truss top and bottom, bolt on skid plate, and lucas 1 gear oil.

It would either be a 10 bolt, or a Ford 9 inch.

[79bonanza]

i was even thinking about the truck being a 5 lug dang im use to messing with 4x4's lol

[VegasBruce]

I would just use the 10 bolt as is, you can build a 12 bolt or even a 9" later.

[85_C10_Sleeper]

Im not sure what the breaking point of a 10 bolt is, alot of people say there decent and some say that i should get rid of it asap.

small update for today.. Intalled bilstien 5125 shocks in the rear and ordered tie rod dustboots, new U bolts for the rear, new Lower control arm U-bolts.

The bilstiens are amazing! huge difference over stock offroad, I was allways having problems with the rear end coming off the ground offroad, and the stock ones road TERRIBLE. Stock shocks were near blown, and so the bilstiens were a huge difference. truck has alot more travel in the rear now, and rides amazing on and offroad!

Still dont have my camera back. sorry for the delay on pictures!

[VegasBruce]

10 bolts are easy to find. With the 31's I wouldn't worry about it to much. Anything can break, it just depends on how hard you hammer it.