$3,000 driver build

[Oldtruckfanatic]

Thats sweet. I use dom tubing and tig weld threaded tube adapters into it because I cant thread the tubing.

[Mikeeal33]

Haha I'm the exact opposite I have no means of welding.

[Xeen]

That's interesting that you chose to bolt the trac bar bracket inside the trailing arm I haven't seen it done that way before.
I like seeing how peoples minds work when they are solving mechanical and engineering problems.
CPP took a completely different approach and created a U shaped bracket that surrounds the trailing arm so that the U-Bolt secures it thus there are no extra bolts required.
Both methods are completely valid but what it proves is there is always more than one way to do something to achieve the same result.
A creative approach to solve a problem, I like it!

[BigDaddyV]

Awesome work! I really like the track bar! Thanks for looking thru my build. I have more to add soon.

[Average Joe]

Cool build!

[Mikeeal33]

Thanks guys.




Grumby runs extremely well, kinda like a Chevy V8 with 47K on it haha. Once I get my radiator, tidy up the plug wire situation and a few other little things I'll post a picture of the engine.

My plan is, (if the correct radiator ever shows up) to drive it as-is for the rest of the summer, work out any kinks yadda yadda. Then come winter time rip it all apart, clean it up, paint the frame and repair/finish the body and bag the front. I have a bunch more pics of what I did with the front end for now (drop spindles and 1 1/4 coils cut off and prepped the a-arms for bags). If anyone would like me to post that kind of stuff just let me know.

[Mikeeal33]

I'll have to find the thread where dude sanded and buffed down the turn markers so they sat more flush with the body, I think I'm gonna try to do that but I might buy new ones first.

[tommyd241]

The more pictures the better! Nice score!

[Mikeeal33]

Thanks brutha will do.

[hanly2]

Yeah, would love to see how you prepped the arms for the bags. The stance you have there is perfect. is that with the rear aired up or empty?

[Mikeeal33]

I will post some more pics asap, this damn work thing is getting in the way.

Those last two pics are with the notches resting on the top of the axle, (fully aired out) I've driven it like that though and it actually rides smooth on nice road obviously. I need to do something about my exhaust though cause aired out it's about 1/2" off the ground haha:



That would suck to rip it off when driving.

[hanly2]

I wonder how much lower it would go if the notch was bigger and you let it all the way down.

[Xeen]

To solve the exhaust ground clearance issue you can cut a 4" hole in the trailing arm crossmember on both sides then weld in a 1" section of 4" pipe for strength that way you can run your exhaust pipe through the holes and problem solved.

[Mikeeal33]

hanly it wouldn't go much lower at all. The bags get sandwiched between the trailing arm and frame. I think the average collapsed bag is around 3" so that's the closest you'd be able to get the two together. Any lower and you'd have to relocate the bag with different trailing arms, or backhalf, or 4 link etc.

Brian I've seen holes in the crossmember, I'm not opposed to it but I don't think I need to, yet. For now I just need a smaller muffler. Does anyone have any suggestions for a muffler that's smaller than the stock one but wont be too loud?

[Xeen]

Originally Posted by Mikeeal33

Does anyone have any suggestions for a muffler that's smaller than the stock one but wont be too loud?

Most guys have the mufflers positioned just behind the bed header panel on either side of the driveshaft which allows them to use the rectangular shaped mufflers and they are up and out of the way.

[Mikeeal33]

You're right, I'm gonna have to drill a hole. I think I have that size hole saw here.

[Xeen]

Originally Posted by Mikeeal33

You're right, I'm gonna have to drill a hole. I think I have that size hole saw here.

You will have to first tack weld a thin square plate to the opposite side of the crossmember because your hole saw needs that center guide hole to stay centered and on track or you will destroy your hole saw.

[Mikeeal33]

Do you think the pipe welded in is really necessary? That just adds to the list of stuff I CAN'T do myself!

[Xeen]

On a 4" hole it is large enough that it needs to be reinforced.
If you do a 3" hole instead you probably don't need to reinforce it.

[Mikeeal33]

I'm gonna pull the bed back off and evaluate. It needs to get done before I really start to drive it. Plus I need to take a little bit more out of the notch I put in the bed too, its still hitting the differential.

[Mikeeal33]

Originally Posted by hanly2

Yeah, would love to see how you prepped the arms for the bags.

hanly all I did was remove the steering/bump stop and grinded smooth:



New ball joints:



And the infamous stock ball joint removal, whatever it takes to get those unholy bastards out:



Drop spindles too:



None of it is pretty at the moment. At this point I'm only after function, I want to make sure everything is gonna work and ride good then I'll worry about sprucing it up a bit. I replaced the tie rods too and got new shocks.

[BigDaddyV]

Well done!

[Mikeeal33]

Thank you buddy.

[Xeen]

When I removed the lower ball joints on mine I took a 1 pound hand sledge and hit it until it gave which is a lot of fun but that isn't the proper method at all.
There is a ball joint removal tool you can borrow from O'reillys that will do the job in minutes without all the destruction and noise.

[Mikeeal33]

LOL yeah I tried beating on mine too, you can see in the one pic that I got the pin to come out but the base was stuck, so I got the correct tool: