My 89 CC Dually: Double Wide

[SCOTI]

So this thing became a distraction in the midst of my 1964 swb 'Recycle' project when the motor locked up.

I had done exceptionally well not touching much on this thing after I bought to help maintain my focus (& cash stash) on my 64. It's a 100k mile truck originally from the left coast. Pretty clean truck but was kind of 'cowboy'd' which is a no-can-do for me.

Initially it was a stock 7.4l TBI/th400 w/some glasspacks, 1/4 sleeper shell + running boards, & 'Limited Edition' interior mood lights (including custom wiring hazards). I promised myself I would not touch the suspension until my 64 was done but there were some other priorities that needed correcting before I could drive it daily:

I yanked the mood lighting to minimize the wiring hazards.
The running boards & sleeper were nixed (TY Jon).
The glasspacks & cowboy exhaust tips were cut off as quickly as possible.
Rear aftermarket bumper was nixed for a Burb/Blazer sport model.
Front grille was swapped for a tweaked GMC unit....

[SCOTI]

That got me going initially. I purchased dropped spindles & a flip kit for it before it was officially mine knowing that the stuff would sit awhile before I would get around to installing it.

After driving it for about 6months, I started having issues w/water loss under certain conditions. I was trying to diagnose the issue when I ran out of time & the motor locked up. So despite my efforts..... the can of worms was inadvertantly opened.

[SCOTI]

Since the drivetrain was out to be rebuilt, there were only a few bolts in the way from yanking the OE x-member out & swapping in a notched unit in so the lowering commenced....

1.5" notched x-member
3" drop spindles
1-coil cut
Front end rebuild
Sway bar bushings swapped for Energy Suspension pols units
Bilstein shocks

[SCOTI]

It was around that time I came across a guy up north selling an old ART HD 4-bar set-up. It was missing items & was rough but the price was right & after research I knew tweaks would be needed before it would be installed so that I could optimize everything. The goal was 6/8-ish drop w/no bottoming out & improved ride quality w/o sacrificing the capacity.

I was working on it every chance I had but between 60-70hrs a week @ work, working weekends, and/or family obligations, fall soon became winter & the driveway thrash was hindered.

I was working on motor/transmission details & building the exhaust in the spring when my X turned my world upside down: "We are done. You need to move out". Obviously this tends to create a big ripple in one's 'mechanical momentum'.

So I had to relocate my possessions along w/my torn down dually.... my disassembled 67swb.... my 64.... & a 79 Malibu. This sort of killed my enthusiasm for a bit but I continued moving forward. I decided to upgrade to a GM based sepentine set-up that would be visually more appealing....

[Low Elco]

Yaay! A thread on the Dually we've all heard about! In like Flynn!

[SCOTI]

Once the accessories were worked out, the brackets had casting lines removed, they were DA'd as much as possible, & then PC'd. So the project was relocated & then all the various parts had to be re-organized to resume the build.

About that time I won a pair of Slosh Tubs so I started working on that install...

[SCOTI]

Cleaned & detailed the core support. Added a trans cooler. Relocated the auxillary cooling fan & made sure the trans & oil coolers were as symmetrical as visually possible while allow the most undisturbed airflow across the radiator & condensor....

[SCOTI]

The motor is the OE assembly bored .030 w/some cast flat-tops vs dished pistons, a mild towing/RV cam, aluminum Edel TBI intake, 1 3/4" full length headers, dual 3"SS head pipes & crossover through 3" in/out turbo style mufflers to SS 2.5" mandrel tailpipes. A Harris Perf custom chip is in place to help optimize the combo....

[SCOTI]

More exhaust/rear suspension shots. I wanted the exhaust all the way to the bumper; free-flowing, as quiet as possible, not be visible from under the truck, & look nice...
All goals accomplished.

[SCOTI]

Rear ART HD 4-bar w/some tweaks:

Re-made the front mounts to be parallel to rear end brackets & utilize spherical joints vs poly bushings or heims....
Re-located lower link pivot on rear end brackets to be equal to the uppers....
Fabbed my own upper bag mounts so the bags would be @ spec'd height @ my planned ride height....
Bulit an adjustable Panhard bar that was @ axle C/L vs the ART set-up above the differential....
Built rear shock mounts that optimized shock travel & angles; allow enough movement to accomodate the slight shift the Panhard bar allows during travel, & clear exhaust....

[SCOTI]

Installed the ECE hidden hitch from my old 68 & did the flip up license plate....
Mounted a couple 3gal air tanks, comps, & relays....
Routed air lines through heat shield & rubber hose into the cab area...

[SCOTI]

Fabbed hidden paddle valve brackets & air gauge panel that are out of view when desired. Swapped in some burb buckets w/console, then did Boom mat panel deadening, MLV sound barrier, & fresh carpet....

[SCOTI]

Front a-arms still need to be built for the bags so here's the current ride height (actually about 1" above in the pic)....

[SCOTI]

Other things done:

Porterbuilt step notches....
Relocated the batt under the pass seat floor....
Relocated the hood latch release....
Relocated the wiper washer bottle & pump....
Relocated the radiator over bottle....
Nixed the OE hood springs for Gas struts....
Raised the rear tubs in the bed....

And will soon be back on the bed floor. Center step notch area is built but not final fabbed/welded in.

[lolife99]

Everything looks great!!!

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Everything looks great!!!

Pics are deceiving.... It's low budget for sure .

[Jonboy]

Looks friggin' awesome, Scot!

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Jonboy

Looks friggin' awesome, Scot!

It's getting there. Front bumper was dropped off last week for re-chroming & N2Billet feels it will buff out nicely. It really needs a bath!

[bluex]

Nice, your work looks great as usual. Glad you made the thread finally, ive been curious how this truck had been doing. Sorry to hear about the bumps in the road along the way.

[Painter D]

Nice to see a build thread for this thing. I'll have to come check it out in person ometime.

[TheChief]

great build so far

[n2billet]

I've seen this in person and it's extremely well thought out.

[slimneverdies]

Nice build so far. With your bags located where they are would you be able to put 4 semi wheels back there without any rubbing? The porterbuilt notch you're going with, does it put the bags in the same place or inboard of the frame?

[JWall]

Everything looks very nice & well done!

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by slimneverdies

Nice build so far. With your bags located where they are would you be able to put 4 semi wheels back there without any rubbing? The porterbuilt notch you're going with, does it put the bags in the same place or inboard of the frame?

I don't know 100% if 4 semi wheels would not work w/my set-up. Most of them I see have the bags placed under or inside of the frame when going that route. I considered that but then where does the other important stuff like exhaust go? Stability & full exhaust were my priorities. The bags in the OE leaf position offered the best stability & made it much easier to fit the other stuff inside the rails & allow the exhaust to run all the way out back.

The Porterbuilt notch doesn't change the position of the frame rails. It slips over the existing rails for positioning, you tack it in, then weld the outside edges, cut the notch area out, clean the rails where they were cut so the 'caps' for the inside of the rails fits flush & then weld the caps on. I opted to build my own notch crossmember to tie the sides together simply because I already had the scrap material.