LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by hotrodhomi

let me know the BS on the wheels. They would look good on my impala.

Will do! We just back last night from a 4 day trip to Disney Land for my son's 3rd B-day so let me get straightened out and I will get you the info, but you are first in line if you want them.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[love my 72]

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

I might have a slightly used C4 DM as well on the cheap

Kevin
LFD Inc.

If the price is with in my DM piggy bank id be interested! PM me the details

[CheyenneShop]

Originally Posted by NTR72GMC

So will it be like an avalanche with the bed attached to the cab or a crew cab with a gap between the cab and the bed?

this could be your plate - AVALOHO!

Kevin - I have no idea how you do it my brother, but your amazing. Your brain must NEVER stop!

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by hotrodhomi

let me know the BS on the wheels. They would look good on my impala.

The rears are 22x9 with a 5.25 BS and the fronts are 20x8.5 with a 4.75 BS.
Tires are 305/40 R22 114V and 275/45 R20 110V, zero miles as the stickers are still on the tread. I think I was into them for about $2300 and the tires are from Americas tire and have the replacement warrantee. Looking for $1500 or BO for them.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rokcrln]

Buy the whole project with out motor and trans or Accuair system.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/c...uct=4652&cat=8

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[68jewel]

OMG!!!!!!!!!! I don't believe you are selling it Kevin. Hell of a build and worth every penny. I understand priorities first though, especially family. You should have no problem selling this.

[Rokcrln]

Just so we are clear! Everything you see in the build thread is included- minus motor and trans and any computer related items as well as I removed the entire AccuAir system for my sons truck.

So you are getting the complete 4 DOOR body and front sheet metal. Body is rust free and in really good over all shape. The rear doors need fabrication if you continue with my plan and the tail light area on the drivers side was cut out. Comes with front, middle and rear seats from a 2003 style tahoe and they are all mounted and braced. The front and rear suspension is all in but needs shock mounts made for the front and rear. The rear suspension links are made out of light material for mock up and now need to be copied in stronger material but all the joints and ends are their. It has a clean Ca. title in my name and is currently on Non-operations status.

So for you 6k you get new rims and tires ($2200), front drop member ($1400), 96 C4 front suspension ($1000), rear 96 C4 suspension "Dana 44" ($2500) plus body frame and way too many hours to even think of listing.

Yes I am smoking crack so jump on this before I seek help

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[m6z]

Do yo take credit card? I wish I had the cash for this. Hell its prob. allready sold....

[Frizzle Fry]

Someone is going to get a SMOKING f'n deal!!!

[kev2809]

looks like its sold..

i sure hope the new owner can continue a build thread on it, i would like to see it rolling under its own power!

[Rokcrln]

SOLD!

Yep it is sold and paid for. The new owner will be picking it up next Wednesday with his builder who is also a Lazze Metal Shaping grad. I have a good feeling that this build will carry on and turn out just as nice if not better then my plans. So stay tuned for more from a fellow board member!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[VA72C10]

cool. Hoped I could scoop it up but glad it went to a forum member and someone who will take it to completion!!!

[classicchev]

Looks like someone with some talent will be finishing this one.
Looking forward to seeing this in magazines..

Darren

[Rokcrln]

Tahoe left last night with it's new owner and his builder. Man I have so much more room in my yard and parts house!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[classicchev]

Almost!!!!

[ksbrktracer]

I am so sad.....I feel like we have lost a family member........ )-:

[kvn1011]

Do u know if they will have a build thread? If so can you point us to it thanks!
PS you still RoK!
Posted via Mobile Device

[C10_ustacould]

What ever happened to this one? Was it finished?

[classicchev]

Sold before I could buy it to a guy in Seattle. Tried buying it, trading if or it with no success

Not sure of the progress
Posted via Mobile Device

[ccreddell]

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

Well my next customer just left for Mexico so it will be another 2 weeks before we can sit down and go over his builds start. So I guess that means I get two more weeks on the Tahoe. I just sold my 63 GMC SWB so now I have the play money to get my EFI Harness, drive by wire pedal and tack module, Mass air censor and get my computer re-flashed

I will pull the Tahoe back in the shop Saturday and start mock up on the C4 rear end. I got my mock up 22" rims and 30" tires today for $28 I will finish up the mounting bracket for the new diff cover once I have it placed in the frame and know just what I will need. Who knows I may end up not needing anything but the factory one depending on how much my floor needs to raise up to clear everything.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

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Originally Posted by Rokcrln

This is going to work out slicker then I thought. I figure I will only need to raise the floor about 3-4" max. This means allot more head room for the rear row of seats. So far I have only mocked up the IRS unit in the chassis and I will start building the new frame section in the morning.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

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Here you can see the floor will be just over the top of the diff. I will need to complete the new diff cover for this to work out just right.

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All the way raised up.

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All the way down. Nate is doing the DropMember with 1" of frame clearance at full dump so I will have about 1.5 to 2" at the rockers.

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I will be doing a combination of tube and plate for the new frame section. These are 2" .120 wall tube.
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Originally Posted by Rokcrln

This would be so easy if it were a truck but since I want the most interior space possible so I am causing my self allot more work. I started with a 2" .120 wall round tube bent up to clear the half shaft and rolled them inward to limit the amount of floor I would need to remove. I am then using 3/16" plate to box in the tube in a way to not take up any axle clearance but at the same time it will form 3 structural Chanel's per side. At 1" over full dump I have a full 1/4" space between the half shaft and the notch. I will need to flip the toe in rod things so they enter the hubs from the bottom and not the top. So when I finish up the new rear diff cover I will lower the mount down to keep my toe in check. So it ended up that my frame notch is only 1 7/8" above the rear floor and this will end up with the floor only being raised up about 2 1/2" not bad for stuffing a 30" tire.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

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1/4" of clearance should be plenty between the half shaft and the notch. The bottom of the tube will be exposed when it is all said and done just in case it ever does make contact it will be smooth.

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Sorry for the bad lighting but you can still see how much room I will have for routing my exhaust right under the diff.

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This is just the start of the frame boxing, I have allot more to go and then a few hours of grinding to clean it all up. I will wait for the clean up work until after I pull the body off.

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The level is sitting on the floor in front and in the rear so you can see how little the notch really is.

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Originally Posted by Rokcrln

Things are starting to fall together. I had today off so I hit it hard in the shop and got allot done. I finished the notch plating and started doing my tubular cross member to hold the frame rails in place and give even more strength. When I started bracing the frame for cutting it I put 2 1 3/4" tubes tacked to the frame right at the C pillars and they sat on the ground to keep the frame from sagging. I set these tubes on an 1/8" plate and not right on the ground and today when I cut all the bracing loose I tapped out the 1/8" plates and the chassis did not drop at all. This tells me I had not flex or sag from the operation.

I started doing my tube work but I need a gas tank in place first before I can finish it up so I will get one in the morning. I will be boxing in the entire frame before I am done and I will build tubular cross members all the way up to the front DropMember and tie them in at that point. It will look really cool and make this chassis rigid as all heck. This in turn will make the suspension work like it should and keep all flex out of the equation.

I mocked up the rear floor and all the seats to just see how it all fit. All I can say is I like it!! I first set the second row seat in place and with it folded forward that gave me the placement of the front seats. This will be the location of the middle of the front seat travel so it will have 4" forward and aft of this point +-. Then I slid in one of the rear seats and with it almost up against the rear doors even I can fit in their with out much problem at all and I am 6'-0". I have good head room and my leg room is OK but I would not want a long trip back their. For kids it will be great and the second row seat has plenty of room for me even on a long trip.

So plans for tomorrow are to mount the gas tank, trim the rear floor section and if time allows I will start building the seat mounts Also I decided on putting the new rear floor in at 4" above stock. I could have done 3" but at 4" when the second row seats are down the floor is flush with the seats.

Also I will be ordering my rims in the morning, I am going with the Coy C5's in the Gun Metal Grey. 20x8.5" with 5 1/4" back spacing in the front and 22x9's with 5.5" back spacing in the rear. I could do the 5" back spacing with an 11" wide tire but I want to try and fit the 305/40-22's that are 12" wide.


Kevin
LFD Inc.

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Originally Posted by Rokcrln

Only thing left on the notch now are the diff mounts once I get my parts. I finished up the bracing with nothing fancy just a modified back bone style to give it more than needed rigidity. As I complete the rest of my frame boxing and tubular center section it will all tie into the rear section you see now. The main center section back bone will tie into the two top center tubes you see over the diff. This combined with everything else I will be doing should make for one very rigid frame.
I have the tank in Zinc Primmer waiting for its liner coat then off to the seat mounting.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

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Originally Posted by Rokcrln

So this weekend is the "Girls Weekend" so my wife is gone until noon on Sunday and guess what showed up Friday when I got home? Yep the parts I need to keep going on the rear suspension so whats a Dad to do with a 21month old while he is out in the shop? First thoughts were to let my Rotti play with him for the afternoon but I like my Dog too much to put him through that. Next thought is to load my son up with tons of sugar and add Rock Star to his bottle so after about 4hrs he will crash and give me a good 4hr nap so I can go out and play.

But I went for option #3, get up at 6am with him watch our Saturday morning car shows, have some breakfeast then head out to Sam's club for some shopping while Momma's gone so she won't have to do it Sunday when she gets back. Guess what that was enough for about a 2hr nap so I went out to the shop (were I have the baby monitor) and started on the rear 2 links that will hold the RE8 bags. I was also laying out my front 4 links as well as my diff mount links. I will get about a half day on Sunday to try and get the main diff cover mounts made and in once my Wife gets home.

So here is what I got done with the rear links. They are 1.5" .250 wall DOM with 2" .250 wall DOM poly bushings. I put a 20* kick in the arms so at ride height they will be parallel with the ground so my bag sits flat. Then I kicked up the juice in the TIG welder and melted them in place. I will be drilling and tapping all the link joints with Zerk fitting as well as putting groves in the bushings to allow grease to get to the main shaft sleeve. Then I remembered a friend gave me a bunch of 1/2" grade 8+ shaft bolts from his old work that were used in hydro ram attachments so they should be plenty Strong for this and will look cool as well. Here are a few pics for now.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

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Originally Posted by Rokcrln

So once my Wife came home I had some time to go out and play abit. I got the rear end of my "6 link" bars finished up and was able to mock up one side to make sure it lined up with the stock C4 Mono leaf link, and it does

I also got the rear mount for the Diff made and installed but I still have a bit of welding to do once I pull it back out. Then it is off to get a run over the surface plate to make sure I won't get any leaks down the road. You can see the spacer I Tig'd to the out side of the diff mount and I have done this to all link mounts for added strength as well as to take up the extra 3/8" of length in the shoulder bolts I have.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

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Originally Posted by Rokcrln

I played a bit tonight with my rear link set up and made good progress. I finished the end of the first link and for not being a very good Tig welder I say it turned out well. Once I get my RE8's I can build the bag mounts and start on the shock mounts as well. I need to order a few Hiem joints for the track locater on the hubs but the last pic shows the direction I am going with it.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

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Originally Posted by Rokcrln

I was thinking the same thing as you Mike. The Vett's don't use anything but I was still thinking of using a piece of Hydro rubber hose about 1/8" longer then my ID opening between mounts.

Now for the fun part I get to spend most of tonight with the Plasma making all my parts and pieces for the other side so it all matches and still add 1 or 2 gussets to this rear mount. I hope to have my Re8's soon so I can start mocking up placement and ratios and see what is left for the shock placement.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

Well I think for sure today was the hardest day of this build so far, but I got it. I was working on the front 4 link bars for the C4 and had a heck of a time in trying to keep the bars low and still maintain the smallest amount of front to back wheel travel during the full range of up and down wheel travel. I started out with equal length bars and had them parallel to the frame and that gave me over 1 1/2" of front to back wheel travel through the 10" of travel. After allot of different set ups and allot of thinking I ended up with 30" top bars and 31 1/4" lower bars. They are parallel to the ground at ride height and during the full 10" of travel my front to back movement is less then 3/8" total. I have it set up for the wheel to be centered in the wheel well at full dump and at ride height it is back 5/16".

Here are a few shots with the laser set up for checking the final configuration. First shot is full stuff and the laser is dead center of the hub Axel nut. Next is ride height and a close up of the tape. Then the last hub shot is at full lift and it is once again perfectly centered. I still need to play with my track bars abit because I am getting a few degrees of tow change during full travel and I think I can get it all out with some more work. If I can get it to zero it will also decrees the 5/16" number a very small amount.

Kevin
LFD Inc.


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Originally Posted by Rokcrln

So in order to make it all work I had to bring the top bars into the floor by 2". This really won't be a problem because my seat mounts are just above this and will still allow for a sheet metal cover over the seat mounts and top bars and the seat will still lay forward and down flat like it should. I will make some simple covers to go over the bars but leave access for the bolt to be removed. The upper bar has to have a down ward bend to it in order to clear the rear floor step structure and also to keep the bar below the magic 2" floor #. I will bend this bar in my hydro bender but first I will sleeve the inside of the 1 1/4" tube with a .120 wall 1" on the inside then if I feel it is needed I will add a gusset blade to the bottom of the tube.

The lower links are parallel to the ground at ride height and are angled in to the frame about 3"+- at the leading end of the bars to minimize the front to back travel of the hub during the up and down travel. I have 10" of travel 5" each way from ride height and that should have the frame 1" off the ground with a 31" tall tire and 6" of frame clearance at ride height.


Kevin
LFD Inc.


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Originally Posted by Rokcrln

I know not much but it was my evenings work all the same. I finished welding the bars and added a small brace to the two bent arms. Here is a pic of the section I cut out for the poly end to weld to so you can see what is on the inside. The sleeve runs from the ploy end to 4" back from the rod end. Combined it is just over .250 thick and I will add 4 plug welds on each side of the bend to lock it all into one piece. I am waiting on 3 new threaded ends that I should have on Tuesday so I can finish up these bars and start on the toe in/out bars on the diff cover.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

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Originally Posted by Rokcrln

So now that UPS found my house I can have fun again. I finished and installed the forward 4 link bars and now I am working on the toe in/out bars. Right now at ride height the tire is parallel with the center of the chassis and at full dump (tire up) it is out of parallel 3/4" toed in and 1/4" at full lift. So with it being uneven it gives me a place to start mapping out the arc of motion to figure out whats next. In the morning I will make a new temp mounting plate with several adjustment holes so I can go side to side and up and down as well am setting the plate farther forward then needed so I can shim the link out for added adjustment. Then once I get the right spot to keep the tire parallel during the 10" of travel I will make a new plate with mounting holes for both bars and finish up the final bars and move on to the air bag mounts.

Kevin
LFD Inc.


This is just an over all view of the rear set up with approximate location of the passenger side bar on the rear link.

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Shot of the tire centered at full dump with a 31" mock up tire. This will set the frame about 1" off the ground to match the C4 Drop Member that Nate is building for me.

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Next 2 shots just show how much floor space is saved by using an IRS for this kind of set up. Both shots are at full dump and you can see the axle is above the top of frame. If this was a solid axle the frame notch would need to be much larder and the center diff would be about 8" higher. I think over all my floor is about 8-10" lower than a similarly slammed Burb.

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Originally Posted by Rokcrln

I thought the front 4 link was a tough task to figure out, well it was but this was no simple task to say the least. I still have a very small amount of fine tuning before I make the final mounts and links but I am so close. Then it will be on to the bag mounts once my rear rims show up. I have almost no room left and I think I will be putting a slight curved notch (about 1") into the sides of the frame to make it all work. But that is for another day

What made this part tough is the Axel half shaft has its own arc of travel and the lower link just under the half shaft has its own as well as it not being parallel with the half shaft front to back. Then the front 4 link bars put their own curve to things. The stock toe in bars were much longer then what I ended up with but the stock set up was only set up for about 3" of travel and I am doing over 10". So I started with the stock length on the bars and I just moved them down an equal amount that I lowered the end link at the hub thinking this would be close. Well it was not even close to working so the fun began and this is what I ended up with. Right now it would be just fine as is but I think I can get it just a bit closer. I have 1/4" of toe in movement right now but I want to try and keep it under 1/8" even know the 1/4" it has only comes into play when the Tahoe is lifted over 7" and below that it is well with in tolerance.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

I will do some kind of mount for the two link ends that looks good and be functional for my exhaust hangers to mount to it as well. I figure this area under the diff should be a good place for the 3" dual exhaust to run to the rear. I think the exhaust will be the simplest part of this build since my drive train does not move around like a solid Axel set up does.

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Originally Posted by Rokcrln

I had some time to kill tonight so I started on the toe in brace. For doing it by hand I think it turned out fairly well. The double shear plate will have the oval like my logo has then it gets buried by a gas tank and set 1" off the ground so no one will ever see it, time well spent

Kevin
LFD Inc.

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OK, so I just wanted to say that you do amazing work-that, and I needed all these posts next to each other so I didnt have to jump back and forth between 10 different pages. Now all I need to do is get a C4 rear end and fire up the torch!

[Rokcrln]

Or up-grade and go to the C5 set up! Seems like years ago when I did this work. I am currently in Las Vegas at the SEMA show seeing lots of great new rides and products. The best thing that I have seen so far is the amazing number of rides with accuair's bag set up sliding them right down to mother earth where they should be.

That aside for now my new project is a custom designed (by LFD) 30's 3 window coupe and in this one I am running all 2005 C5 running gear with the 6spd trans-axel but running a 4-cam all alum motor. i do not think I would ever fight a C4 set up (except Nate's C4 drop member) into another ride again. The C5 rear is just such a simple well designed set up that it is a no brainer.

Sorry if this post is off a bit I just spent the last few hours at a private party at Cabo Wabo and I am seeing a bit more than 1 right now.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[classicchev]

Man, can someone delete this entire thread??? Every time I just get the Tahoe off my mi d someone brings it up to the top and reminds me that I should have just bought the damn thing!!!!!!

Now I have to kick myself I The ass for a while again, thanks!!!

[ccreddell]

I agree that the C5 setup would not only be easier to mount, it would also put some weight in the rear where it's needed. My problem is the torque tube. I found one custom install over the years (in a 'Cuda, no less), and they made adapters to run regular u-joints and a driveshaft. But I can't find anything commercially to compensate or replace having to section the torque tube. C5 rear ends are cheaper than C4s a lot of times, and you get a T-56, so it would be great if one could figure out how to make them work easily.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Kevin are you still posting build threads somewhere? I really miss reading your posts and the info you provide..

[thelonerife]

X2!