LockDoc's "Low Budget", "Low Maintenance" Project Thread

[loudchevy]

Putting it to work, love it.

[Racer2172]

Nice build just read thru it all today. Killer dually with modern power

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by loudchevy

Putting it to work, love it.

Thanks Scott.

Originally Posted by Racer2172

Nice build just read thru it all today. Killer dually with modern power

Thanks. That's a lot of reading. Appreciate you taking the time to do that.....

LockDoc

[LockDoc]

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I had to go to town to run some errands so I stopped off at the local grain elevator and weighed the Dually. I figured it would weigh a little more than that with the 8.1 big block, Allison transmission, and '67 dually rear axle.

That's with my 160# butt in it So 5100# empty.

LockDoc
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[CG]

Everything about your build is awesome! You really have that "can do" do attitude about life, too bad you cant bottle that and sell it. Id take a case.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by CG

Everything about your build is awesome! You really have that "can do" do attitude about life, too bad you cant bottle that and sell it. Id take a case.

Thanks Mark. I have never been afraid to try new things and I never say I can't do something until I prove to myself that I can't. (that has happened a few times by the way.. )

I will work on the bottling idea but I think that would be covered by the last sentence above.

LockDoc

[LockDoc]

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Well, things have finally settled down around here after the holidays so I am going to try and get the rear wheel tubs roughed in. I had the rounded side of the tubs temporarily bolted in after I cut them apart, so I removed them today. I have this old junky Blue pair of wheel tubs that I will cut my filler strips out of. I am going to cut them 5" wide to start with. I have some patch work to do on the front and back of both of them but that shouldn't be too bad. I will start on that tomorrow.

LockDoc

[Dieselwrencher]

Wow Leon, I'm kind of surprised it's that light as well. I remember my orange truck was 6240 with no rear bumper, me in it, boxed frame, 5.9 Cummins, D60 front, D80 rear, NV4500 with a 241DHD, no front drive shaft. I couldn't believe it was so light. It's around 7200 these days with the auto/np205 and the steel bumpers.

I hope you, Pat, and the family had a very Merry Christmas and a great new year.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Wow Leon, I'm kind of surprised it's that light as well. I remember my orange truck was 6240 with no rear bumper, me in it, boxed frame, 5.9 Cummins, D60 front, D80 rear, NV4500 with a 241DHD, no front drive shaft. I couldn't believe it was so light. It's around 7200 these days with the auto/np205 and the steel bumpers.

I hope you, Pat, and the family had a very Merry Christmas and a great new year.

Thanks Ryan. The holidays were pretty quiet around here this year, but without incident....

I was surprised about the weight too. I figure the elevator scales should be pretty accurate as often as they are tested.

[LockDoc]

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No work on the wheel tubs. The new tires came in for the front so I took all 6 wheels off of the truck and took them down to the local body/tire shop to have the new front tires installed and all six of them balanced. That made short work of 4 $100 bills. Now I can call the alignment shop and see when I can get it in there. He is usually a couple of weeks out but we will see.

I ordered new springs for the front through O'Reilly's. I ordered them for an '82 1 ton Scotsdale truck. By my research it looks like it should raise the front about 2". I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that. It may be a while before I get them installed but I will report back on it when I do.

LockDoc

[LockDoc]

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I finally had a chance to work on the truck a little bit.

We have been inundated with snow and cold weather. I couldn't even get out of my drive for 2 days. I finally had to call a local guy to bring his big end loader out to open up my main drive.

Anyway, I installed one of the new springs yesterday and I missed my estimate about how much they would raise the front of the truck.. I said 2" in the post above, and without any driving or settling time yet, the drivers side is about 4" higher. You can see the difference in the two pictures below.

Not sure how it will sit until I can get it outside and drive it some. It looks like it pretty much evened it up but it is quite a bit higher in the front. We will see how it rides compared to before. I hope to get the passengers side in tomorrow.
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[zicc1835]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

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I finally had a chance to work on the truck a little bit.

We have been inundated with snow and cold weather. I couldn't even get out of my drive for 2 days. I finally had to call a local guy to bring his big end loader out to open up my main drive.

Anyway, I installed one of the new springs yesterday and I missed my estimate about how much they would raise the front of the truck.. I said 2" in the post above, and without any driving or settling time yet, the drivers side is about 4" higher. You can see the difference in the two pictures below.

Not sure how it will sit until I can get it outside and drive it some. It looks like it pretty much evened it up but it is quite a bit higher in the front. We will see how it rides compared to before. I hope to get the passengers side in tomorrow.
.

If rides good it will look good …IMO

[LockDoc]

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Originally Posted by zicc1835

If rides good it will look good …IMO

Thanks,

Going to try and get the passengers side in today.

[raggedjim]

This thing is cool! Nice work, Rg

[Sheepdip]

I used an 86 cradle assembly on mine the spindle and rotor components, not the cradle itself, the front springs were about 1-1/2 to 2" taller, I reused my original springs as I did not want to change the ride height.

I'm assuming it may have raised it more than 2" as I found out when buying rotor pads it was considered "Heavy Duty" front end.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

This thing is cool! Nice work, Rg

Thanks Roger.
.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by Sheepdip

I used an 86 cradle assembly on mine the spindle and rotor components, not the cradle itself, the front springs were about 1-1/2 to 2" taller, I reused my original springs as I did not want to change the ride height.

I'm assuming it may have raised it more than 2" as I found out when buying rotor pads it was considered "Heavy Duty" front end.

Unfortunately I did not have enough clearance on the front bump stops because of the 8.1 big block engine. The original 3/4 ton springs were sagging a LOT.

I ordered the springs from O'Reilly's and they had three different choices, light duty, medium duty, and heavy duty. I chose the medium duty ones.

I got started on the passengers side today but I did not get it done. I will finish it up tomorrow.
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[LockDoc]

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Passengers side spring is in. Glad that is done.

You couldn't ask for it being more even. It ended up 37" to the top center of the wheel arch on both sides in the front and 38" in the rear. I'm just not sure if I want it that high.

I will try and get it outside in the next couple of days and take some pictures. I'm not sure about driving it yet. We have a lot of melting going on but there is still a lot of sand and salt mix on the roads....

[lil hoodlum]

Wow Leon, I think you did a fantastic job on your creation of a 67 C30! I wish I had the energy and drive that you have to do such creative work.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by lil hoodlum

Wow Leon, I think you did a fantastic job on your creation of a 67 C30! I wish I had the energy and drive that you have to do such creative work.

Thanks.

Pretty easy for me since I don't watch any TV, and I really like being outside.
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[MS66]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

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Passengers side spring is in. Glad that is done.

You couldn't ask for it being more even. It ended up 37" to the top center of the wheel arch on both sides in the front and 38" in the rear. I'm just not sure if I want it that high.

I will try and get it outside in the next couple of days and take some pictures. I'm not sure about driving it yet. We have a lot of melting going on but there is still a lot of sand and salt mix on the roads....

Looking good. Nice job!! I imagine it will settle at least an inch or more after a few good miles.

[Sheepdip]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

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Passengers side spring is in. Glad that is done.

You couldn't ask for it being more even. It ended up 37" to the top center of the wheel arch on both sides in the front and 38" in the rear. I'm just not sure if I want it that high.

I will try and get it outside in the next couple of days and take some pictures. I'm not sure about driving it yet. We have a lot of melting going on but there is still a lot of sand and salt mix on the roads....

I had a 70 Corvette years ago that the a previous owner for some reason put big block springs in the front, my alignment guy alerted me to the fact they were BB springs.

He ordered in the correct ones and RnR'd them. It still set about 1" high, but he explained they will settle in and they did. After a couple hundred miles they sat just about 1" lower.

[LockDoc]

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Originally Posted by MS66

Looking good. Nice job!! I imagine it will settle at least an inch or more after a few good miles.

Originally Posted by Sheepdip

I had a 70 Corvette years ago that the a previous owner for some reason put big block springs in the front, my alignment guy alerted me to the fact they were BB springs.

He ordered in the correct ones and RnR'd them. It still set about 1" high, but he explained they will settle in and they did. After a couple hundred miles they sat just about 1" lower.

Thanks guys.

I figured possibly 1 to 1 1/2 inches. I may try and get it out tomorrow. It is supposed to be a balmy 50º tomorrow, with sunshine.....

If I go West from my place on the paved road the salt and sand shouldn't be too bad.. I have about 3 miles of pavement West of me.
.

[LockDoc]

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I took the Dually for a short drive yesterday. It rides a little stiffer, which I expected, but it is still pretty decent. It rides better than the Blue '72 Dually, so that's a plus. The short ride only dropped it 1/2" but I could feel the springs settle in when I hit the bumps. I will drive it that way next spring and then decide if I want to leave it or drop the whole thing down a little.

If anyone has any comments on the stance either way, please post them up.

Thanks,
LockDoc

[72gmguy]

Nice job! I want one now. I like the way it sits the way it is. Looks like a great workhorse. Enjoy it!