Project: Custom 71 4x4 hotrod

[silver7]

Received my last couple of powder coated parts back from 'Unique Coatings' today so I was able to get my front springs installed on the frame. Looks good.

Also received my dana 44 spanner wrench today which I'll need to get my steering knuckle with new ball joints fastened to the dana 44 yoke. Let me tell you - it was a tough little SOG to find. I will use it to remove those 'plugs' aka yoke upper ball stud adjusting sleeve so I can install new ones.

[silver7]

Although I've been quiet lately I've been working hard so I have a few updates.

Minus pressing in wheel studs, 12 bolt is together and ready to go with new Moser alloy steel axles. Have 3 leaf springs installed but had to special order 2ea 9/16" grade 8 leaf spring bolts for the last rear spring. When they arrive this week I get my other rear spring installed and mount this thing.

Now I get to rebuild the front hubs. There are a lot of small parts on those so I'm not looking forward to it.

But once I finish that I can get my chassis mounted on some wheels. I was able to find a guy in Colorado selling a nearly new set of KMC Diesel XD 20" black rims at a good price. I hope to receive these by early next week.

[silver7]

Finally got my rear end and rear springs installed. My 8 year old son is in awe of the truck's transformation so far. He has begun to ask questions about it so I'm hoping he may get interested in it at some point. Shifting to the Dana 44 now.

Also bought the 20" KMC Diesel XDs I referred to above. They will be here next week!

[fencepost]

Starting to take shape now

[sdailey]

Looking good Shawn. Keep up the good work.

[silver7]

Thanks guys.

Received the KMC XD Diesel rims I bought off a guy on Craigslist this week. As you can see he did a great job packaging them and more importantly they look fantastic!

[Dieselwrencher]

Very nice!

[silver7]

My front end is installed and my rims and tires mounted and ready to install. It looks mean as hell.

Still need to rebuild the front hubs and replace my front axle U-joints. Also need to switch out my Dana diff cover since the tie rod is hitting it at the outer turn radius.

[Dieselwrencher]

The red adds a nice touch. Well done!

[nickp51chevy]

You got one hell-of-a project going on. Looks great.

[swamp rat]

Thumbs up from me too!

[1985-GMC]

Nice project! I meant to subscribe to this one a long time ago but I must have forgot.

[my67chevytruck]

very nice progress! looks great!

[silver7]

Thanks fellas. I'd have the tires mounted in the back but I forgot to order my lug nuts. And to make matters worse, I could not find black locking lugs (my wheels are black). So I had to my some chrome locking Gorilla lugs to go with my black chrome regular lugs. My buddy is going to powder coat them for me so I can have matching black locking lugs and keep my weels secure as well as locking good.

[silver7]

Drove up to Winston-Salem today to have them bend me a replacement U-bolt to replace the cheap Rough Country set I bought. The darn nut with the plastic piece bound up on the friggin U-bolt. Had to cut it off. Never Rough Country again. In my defense I bought it out of convenience but you know what they say, "You get what you pay for." Rough Country U-bolt set was about $28 versus a set of Superlift or Skyjacker will run you near $50.

Auto Spring in Winston-Salem was awesome. It was lunch time when I got there but they hooked me up on the spot. $10 min and $9 later I had a new U-bolt and 8 replacement grade 8 nuts and washers. Got them on tonight and started installing my shocks. That red is really rocking next to the speedway black! Lug nuts should arrive tomorrow - I hope. . .

[VA72C10]

sounds good....pictures are always good

[silver7]

Put in a lot of time in the garage but had more trouble than progress.

Started getting the rear shocks mounted but realized the powder coating closed my space between them so I need to do some minor mods to the rubber insert at each end of the shock to bring it closer to the mounting tab.

Also discovered my old hub don't take the inner or outer bearings/races I ordered from LMC. Can anyone ID either of these for me? The old one came off a Dana 44.

The other issue I ran into this weekend was Summit/Superlift sent me some wrong shocks. Now I get to call them and sort out which one is correct and which one goes back for replacement.

[dlhughes2005]

awesome build! keep up the great work...........and pics!

[SWB4x4]

Originally Posted by silver7

Put in a lot of time in the garage but had more trouble than progress.

Started getting the rear shocks mounted but realized the powder coating closed my space between them so I need to do some minor mods to the rubber insert at each end of the shock to bring it closer to the mounting tab.

Also discovered my old hub don't take the inner or outer bearings/races I ordered from LMC. Can anyone ID either of these for me? The old one came off a Dana 44.

The other issue I ran into this weekend was Summit/Superlift sent me some wrong shocks. Now I get to call them and sort out which one is correct and which one goes back for replacement.

Awesome Build! frame is lookin BadArse! subscribed

[silver7]

Drunkbus gave me a good deal on a set of 72 blazer bubs and received these Friday. Also ordered a Dana 44 complete rebuild CD to help navigate the front hub/spindle assembly portion.

[silver7]

It's been crazy busy the past month but I've been able to do a little bit of work on the truck. Should be able to get busy now with the weather forcing us in the garage and my son's baseball team finishing their fall season.

Had my hub replacements and a small portion of my spindles powdercoated black. Also ordered new needle bearings, seals and studs for my spindle. Everything I read said guys had a lot of trouble getting the old spindle needle bearings out so I solicited the help of my buddy Ronny at R&B Machine Shop in High Point, NC. He had them out in about 5 min. I pressed the replacements in myself and they went in very easy. The problems came when I pressed the studs onto the knuckle and tried to align the spindle on the knuckle. After damaging a few stud threads I realized this wasn't the best way. I ended up having to remove the studs, align the steering knuckle holes with the sindle holes and press them in gently that way. Waiting on my replacement studs so I can finish the job.

Also lamented over whether to buy a new front axle or not. As with the majority of my fellow forum board buddies out there my front axle and u-joints were caked with 40 years on junk. In addition, I'm a stickler on safety so I felt buying a new one was the right thing to do. The problem is you can't buy a new axle set (4 pieces) from a known company for less than $450. Add in the new super U-joints ($300+) and you are pushing close to a $1K - money I wasn't expecting to spend. After the sting wore off a bit I decided to pull the trigger. A new lifetime warranty chomoly Yukon axle with super U-joints from Randy's Ring and Pinion should be here Monday. This will mean my entire front and rear ends will have new and stronger parts inside and out - pretty much the best $ can buy (Richmond, Moser and Yukon).

I was also trying to complete my rear disc brake conversion/installation when I discovered the rotor would not fit inside the calipers. My supplier thought he may have sent me the wrong pads (too thick) so he sent me some replacements. Unfortunately, these were only slightly thinner so no dice - again. I am waiting on a corrective action from my supplier but I think I was sent the wrong calipers because I do not see how the rotors can fit. My new slotted and drilled rotors are 1 1/4" thick just like other truck rotors so I think it has to be the calipers.

Recently I have been in discussions with Jody's Transmissions in PA about building me one of the new Advanced Adapter M22 Muncie 4 speeds. The attached photot is from a recent build he completed on a M22 Muncie for a 4x4. I was able to sell my auto tranny set-up to D. Passmore so this looks like the route I'll go. I know running a Muncie 4 speed on a 4x4 is a relatively uncommon approach on this forum board but I've done my research and I really excited about it. Apparently there is a local 4x4 club there who runs these with there custom set-ups with great success. As I learn more on this I'll post updates.

Hopefully I can have my front and rear ends back together within the week. I really want to start work on the engine soon so I can have it and the tranny on my frame early next year.

[Permafrost]

I've been following this build for quite some time now; even before I joined the forum. Lurking-no-longer, I do have to say what a fantastic build!
I like the idea of the M22-4x4, I'll be paying particular attention if you go that route....

.

[silver7]

Thanks Permafrost. I appreciate you subscribing to my thread. And glad to hear I'm not the only one who likes the direction this build is going.

[silver7]

I also received my new Warn premium locking hubs. Just couldn't bring myself to put the old set on it. Should add a nice touch when I get the front end together.

[silver7]

Hey fellas I need some help. As Conroe recommended I think with some of my highly visible bolts I want to go stainless. I am ready to start putting my steering stabilizer together and thought stainless U-bolts would be a nice touch. Do any of you know where I can buy some stainless U-bolts for it? The pic below shows how the shocks attach to the center axle housing bracket and two outside tie rod brackets. I need 4ea to fit over my 1 1/4" dia tie rod and 2ea to fit over my 2 3/4" dia axle housing. I think I found a company which will make them to order but not sure if they will do stainless, besides I'm sure a custom order will cost a lot more than a company out there who already makes these to stock or if there is a kit I can buy.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.