85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab

[jltait]

Matt,
sounds like a good plan!
JLT

[Mattman2010]

So I got the axles all back together and decided to put them under the frame, and put the drive shaft in there to check the angle. I dont have an angle finder but i think that i probably need to find a shim to put under the rear axle. The next thing i am going to do is put the front ubolts on and then drop the engine/tranny/t-case and see what i have for stuff. I dont have rear ubolts yet as I need to figure out what kinda shim i need.

[jltait]

Matt,
I am sure you are correct about needing a shim. By the looks of the pictures the front mount of the Rear leaf springs was moved down some while the rear mount stayed in the stock location albeit the 4x4 mount in lieu of the 2wd mount. However both the front and rear of the rear leaf springs have been changed to 4x4 mounts so the difference (or the amount of shim) should be equal to the angle that the rear leaf front mount moved down. The springs should be 56" so if it moved down 2" you should be able to calculate the angel the RR leaf spring changed and get a shim from DIY4x to shim up the pinion that amount. If you have an email address send it to me, I have a driveshaft setup guide in pdf I can send to you.
JLT

[Mattman2010]

pm sent

[Mattman2010]

So this morning I got the engine/tranny all mounted up into the frame. And i set the driveshaft in there to see what it would kind of look like.

Rear


Carrier Bearing


Tranny


And Tranny Mount




I am afraid to put bushings between the transfercase mount because i think it would be to high. Does anyone know if someones makes doughnut bushings that would fit around a bolt that i could smash between the transfercase and the mount?

Matt

[1985-GMC]

Nope Its not going to work, You need a NV4500!

[Mattman2010]

Im trying to find one!

[Mattman2010]

I started to paint the frame on sunday and got a coat of paint on the frame and rear axle, I then ran out of paint. I am hoping to get another coat of paint on stuff tomorrow and start to get the frame all bolted back together and get everything figured out.

As for the transmission I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted to go with. The TH400 is going to cost me more than I want to to get it behind that 6.2, so I decided that I was going to go manual, but couldnt find a NV4500 that kept me in budget. I will be getting a SM465/NP205 to put into this truck. Hoping to go pick it up this weekend.

I plan on running a hydro clutch in this truck so that later down the road when I cant afford a NV4500 i just have to adapt it to the slave cylinder on the nv4500. The SM465 is not a hydro bell housing, but I got an idea from this and so I think I am going to try to make something like this.



Matt

[jltait]

Matt,
That looks like a really good Idea, I have also seen kit that replace the front bearing retainer with one similar to what is on the nv4500's with internal slave. Not sure I have seen them for a SM465 though? I think the the one's I saw were for Muncie's and pricey to boot.
JLT

[Mattman2010]

I like the idea of having an external slave and just using stock SM465 parts. The idea of the bracket is a good one, but i want to make one stronger so that i know it wont bend and cause me to loose my clutch.

[Mattman2010]

Got a second coat of paint on some stuff. Still need to sand blast some stuff and then start mounting the axles and figure out the rest of the drive train.

Front axle


Front Springs


Rear Srings


Rear Axle


Frame

[justpball]

frame looks great!

[Mattman2010]

Thanks Justpball!

Well today it is raining so I am not sure that i will be able to sand blast anything, I am going to wire wheel some things to kind of keep me going. So not much more before I get the axles underneath the frame. once the axles are under the frame and I have the engine/tranny/tcase in i need to figure out what kind of shims i need and then I should basically just start putting things back together, but with some modifications!

[1985-GMC]

Everything looks good matt! I guess you use a camera phone also.

[Mattman2010]

Yes I do, the mother does not want me to get her camera dirty! haha

[jltait]

Matt,
Looking good!!

[Mattman2010]

Thanks JLT!

The paint is not drying, I painted it in 60 degree weather, and that night it got down to about 30 and has been 30 or below sense. Sucks because i was hoping to get my front axle under the frame for the last time.

[Mattman2010]

Paint is still drying. I just got home with a SM465/NP205 so that should do for the tranny for now!

[jltait]

Congrats on scoring the SM465/np205! should be a great combo for you.
JLT

[Mattman2010]

The thing that sucks about having to buy this one is the fact that I already have that combo but 2nd gear is messed up on it and the guy I bought this new one from wouldn't seperate the combo!
Posted via Mobile Device

[GmtGmt]

so the Dana 44 would work with the 70? what about the hubs? i want to convert mine to 4x4 but its not easy to find a Dana 60 front axle

[Mattman2010]

Originally Posted by GmtGmt

so the Dana 44 would work with the 70? what about the hubs? i want to convert mine to 4x4 but its not easy to find a Dana 60 front axle

As long as the gear ratio and tire diameter are the same you and run any combo of axles you want. I will just be running 3/4 ton wheels on the front, I will not have the dually wheels on the dana 44. My dually wheels are 16" and my 3/4 ton wheels are 16" as well so I will just buy the same tire and it will work.

I am running a Dana 44 because I can pick them up for about $100 where as a Dana 60 is about $500+ and I'm on a budget! At some point I might upgrade to a Dana 60, but I have seen 1 ton trucks with Dana 44's under them with just regular 3/4 ton wheels and I didn't think they looked bad.

[Mattman2010]

Well i got the rest of the suspension brackets painted and took my SM465/NP205 combo apart and then bolted my NP205 from my k20 and my bell housing from my k20 to the new transmission. Need to power wash that and then get it painted. Should be getting a hydro clutch this week so that I can also try to make up a bracket to get that all hooked up. I still need to figure out what shims I need for the rear to get my axle at the right angle.

Matt

[Mattman2010]

So yesterday was a really nice day and so I put as much stuff back together as I could. I got the front axle and rear axle installed (Need to replace the rear ubots) and also got the 6.2/SM465/NP205 into the frame and started looking at options for mounting the SM465/NP205 to the frame. I am going to go with the cross member out of my k20 that mounts to the bottom of the frame, I am mounting it to the bottom of the frame to drop the transmission/tcase down about 2 inches to get a better angle for the drive line. I am also going to be dropping the carrier bearing down 2 inches which I think gets rid of my pinion angle problem. I plan on taking the frame up to the local drive line shop and see if they think that will work, and also have them cut down the first part of the 2 piece rear drive shaft.

[Mattman2010]

Friday I got the rear drive shaft cut down, i also ordered some new rear ubolts so I can get the rear axle fully installed. Droping the Transmission 2 inches and the carrier bearing 2.5 inches did the trick of fixing all of my angles in the drive line. I removed the 6.2/SM465/NP205 for hopefully the last time! I got the tranny/tcase ready to paint. I need to install new front steel lines and mount the engine cross member and then the drive train will be ready to go back in. I need to get the gas out of the tanks and clean and paint them and then finish up a few things on the frame and then it will be time for body!

I am having a hard time finding ujoint straps for my dana 44, I took the dana 44 out of my k20 about 3 months ago and have lost my straps and its hard to find some new ones.