Project "River Truck" - CCLB 4x4

[arrover]

And here's a video that has more info on how I built them:

Build 1973-1987 Chevy/GMC Truck Front Shackle...

[y5mgisi]

Those are pretty awesome!

[91V3500]

I love the tow hooks!

[Low Elco]

Hmm... I dunno. Not beefy enough.

[Greenlee]

Nice job on the shackle mounts!

[arrover]

Thanks guys! I'm glad you like them. Sodell, yesterday I saw a $30 tailgate on craigslist off a '79....

[Sodell]

I saw that in Huntsville, I am going out of town tomorrow, hope I can pick it up next week...Thanks.. I am going through KC and I am going to stop by Classic Parts

[arrover]

Not much to report lately but I've been having fun with the truck. Drove it to an outdoor wedding where it got a lot of attention. Cut and split some wood the other day. These are the sort of outings that this truck is for.

[arrover]

So some bigger news.... Yesterday I ordered a 4" lift from Offroad Design. I'm pretty excited about it! I decided to pull the bed off so that the rear lift install will be a little easier but mainly because I've been needing to get access to the fuel lines near the tanks. They need to be replaced and it would be almost impossible to do with the bed on. I had never taken a bed off before but it's not a massive job. 8 bed bolts, a few electrical connections, rear axle breather tube, disconnect the fuel fillers from the bed and it comes off.

[arrover]

A few more...

[68Timber]

Cool! What tire did you pick?

[arrover]

Thanks! The truck has 33"s on it right now and I'm going to see how it looks after the lift. I think 35"s might be the ticket but I really don't want to spend $1000 on tires for this truck right now. I do have a set of very worn 35"s that I could swap on there so we'll see....

[y5mgisi]

Sweet! Did you go with custom ORD springs? Or the tuff countrys?

[arrover]

The custom ORD springs are a cool product but I didn't think they would be worth the money in my case since this truck will rarely be flexed out. Plus they are about twice as expensive. I went with the Tuff Country HDs because they are supposed to be for heavier trucks. Since this is a crew cab and has a 454, I thought the HDs would be better. Plus, there is a chance that I might swap in a cummins later on.

[y5mgisi]

Nice. I think thats the perfect choice for you!

[MTCK]

Cool truck. Are you using the shackle flip in the rear?

[arrover]

Thanks guys! Here is a run down of what I ordered:

4" Tuff Country HD springs for the front
Dana 60 U bolt kit
2" drop pitman arm
Tuff Country SX8000 shocks front and rear
ORD 4" 1-ton shackle flip for the rear
ORD greasable main eye kit for front of the front springs
ORD greasable heavy duty front shackles

I already have the ORD extended brake lines and also their weld in and bolt in steering box braces. I thought about doing the heave duty greasable rear shackles but I didn't want to spend another $200 right now. Shipping on everything was $133.

[southernboy1996]

Just read the whole thread and your doing a great job! And you did real well with this truck, not easy finding a truck like yours that hasn't been abused terribly. Keep it up!

[tip]

Originally Posted by arrover

Thanks guys! Here is a run down of what I ordered:

4" Tuff Country HD springs for the front
Dana 60 U bolt kit
2" drop pitman arm
Tuff Country SX8000 shocks front and rear
ORD 4" 1-ton shackle flip for the rear
ORD greasable main eye kit for front of the front springs
ORD greasable heavy duty front shackles

Nice! I'm researching suspension and am pretty much looking at the same setup from ORD. I'm gonna go with 3" HD front springs though, so I'll be interested to see how yours turn out.

[arrover]

I've been working on the truck quite a bit over the last few weeks. The lift progress has been much slower than I expected. Mainly because of rusted/seized fasteners. It's coming along though! I started on the rear of the truck first.

Here is a full parts list:
ORD 4" shackle flip brackets
ORD 4.5" Super Shackles
ORD greasable bolts and bushings for entire rear suspension
Replacement rear stock springs
New rear spring U-bolts
Tuff Country SX8000 shocks front and rear
Tuff Country HD 4" lift front replacement springs
New Dana 60 U-bolt kit
ORD greasable bolts/bushings for the front of the frontsprings
ORD heavy duty greasable front shackles
Skyjacker drop pitman arm
ORD extended braided stainless brake lines

Here are some picture's of most of the parts and the frame prep.

[arrover]

When I first went to trial fit the new shackle hangers, shackles, and old springs, they did not line up. Both rear spring eyes were to far towards the center of the truck. After a while I decided to cut the U-bolts so I could check the spring alignment more closely and that's when I found out there were 3 or 4 broken leaves in on spring pack. At that point I had to order new rear replacement springs. These should be stock replacements (or at least close) without any lift built in. It's tough to tell what weight rating springs actually came on your truck. If you ever have to do this, make sure and shop around. Lot's of places carry the same springs and the prices vary wildly. Make sure and check shipping also. I had a friend pick these up for me and saved $120 in shipping. Each spring was about $160 but there were places charging double that.

[arrover]

Here are a few shots of when I finally got everything back together. It looks good and I feel like its a pretty heavy duty suspension now.

[arrover]

This is the pile of dirt, rust, and metal shavings that came out of the truck during just the rear lift install. And then the pile of parts that I removed from the truck.

[arrover]

The first picture is of how low the truck was before. I really think the springs were sagged. And then a couple of pictures of the truck after the rear was lifted. I still have to tackle the front lift. The rear lift actually gave me 6.25" of lift even though it was supposed to be a 4". I think that is mostly due to the sagged old springs. Its possible that it might settle down some too. I was surprised buy how tall it is.

[arrover]

Here's a video that shows the rear lift installation. If you're interested or are thinking about doing a lift, I think it's worth a watch. There's a lot of good information in there that I had to learn along the way:

1973-1987 Chevy Truck: 4" ORD Lift Install -...