Welcome Home, Gentleman Jim

[80SPORT]

The GJ trucks are always interesting ....I think they were the only square bodies that came fully optioned as a package....buckets/tach/tilt/sport rear bumper/air (PW and PDL were not available in 76).
Not sure if the unique bed rails were standard on all GJ's.

You have an unusual truck for not too much money....have fun with it

[swissarmychainsaw]

@Brockwaykid -- I found a dash bezel on ebay for $250 buy it now. Too much? Seems that the tiger wood grain is not repop'd!

@gonecountry -- I'm going to take off the wheel tomorrow and have a look at what is in there. I'll take some pics and post what I find.
With the sway bar potentially bent, the bracket definietly bent and possibly a bent control arm...I'm thinking someone hit a curb or something.
We're going to find out!

@nheller76 -- That looks interesting and I'm definitely going to give it a go! Thanks for the tip!

@80SPORT -- I'm not sure about the bedrails, but as I was cleaning out all the junk the PO left in the bed tonight, I noticed that there are holes where it looked like bed rails might have been (on top of the bed sides)

[Katrina/10]

The sway bar can take a good hit and not bend. Once you take it off you can set it on something flat and see. I think all the Jims had bed rails originally.

[swissarmychainsaw]

Well the short version is that the Front Passenger side bracket that
holds the sway bar is badly bent. We knew that.


The sway bar itself seems fine.




Yoink


Being a grown up is fun! Air tools rock! (Thanks Keith!)


Here is the bad news, look closely and see that this bracket is riveted on.
That will be fun getting that off. We'll see if the auto parts guy has new
ones. I might just bend it back with "The Great Persuader" (4 ft. crow bar)


Nothing will stop penetrating oil


You can see how badly it all lined up


This truck could probably use some fresh grease:



Parked Nose down hill and this was on the driveway:


Spare tire goes...where, again?


But the tranny did not leak in this position!


Cleaned all that mess out of the bed last night (wife is happy, or should
I say "no longer as sad")LOL


Can't wait to get it all working:


OK that's it for now! Off to the parts store to see what I can get.
Test drive it without the sway bar, see how it does. If you don't hear back tell my family I loved them!

Thanks for all the comments and good thoughts! I'm having fun!
--Nick

[Tx Firefighter]

I had the same thing on my dually. Somebody runs off into a ditch and the yay-hoo with the chain hooks it to the sway bar mount to pull him out.



The bracket is a dealer item. No sweat to get one, they are still very much a valid stocking part. You can see the part number in these pictures. Give it to your dealer parts guy and he will fix you up.





I did new bushings at the same time since mine were smoked from being out of kilter for so long.










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[8lugnutz]

Swissarmychainsaw, sent you a PM.

[swissarmychainsaw]

Originally Posted by 8lugnutz

Swissarmychainsaw, sent you a PM.

8Lug, I own you a beer, man! Several! Thanks a bunch!

[8lugnutz]

[Brockwaykid]

Originally Posted by swissarmychainsaw

@Brockwaykid -- I found a dash bezel on ebay for $250 buy it now. Too much? Seems that the tiger wood grain is not repop'd!

i would get a bezel from LMC, and buy a woodgrain inlay from them to put in it. not sure if its the tiger one...
Posted via Mobile Device

[gonecountry]

Originally Posted by swissarmychainsaw

In this pic the tie rod dont really look as bent as it did in the others. How's it look to you in person? Have any pics of it lookin straight on from the front?

I'd say the damage to the sway bar brackets was from pulling it out, but if you think she's been into the curb or ditch before a trip to an alignment rack might be a good idea. A good alignment man should be able to pick up bent control arms etc. that we might not see with the naked eye.

By the way nice lookin truck Ive never seen or heard of a GJ untill I came on here Maybe the were never available in Canada

[swissarmychainsaw]

@TXFire -- Thanks for all that infor and for posting those pics. Your sway bar looks brand new (or did you hammer-rite it?)
I'm totally jealous of your completely dry rack and pitman arm (that's next on my todo list).
You inspired me to do (almost) exactly what you did.

@Brockwaykid -- A very dear (new) freind found a bezel here in the classifieds! Next time I'm in Tejas, beers are on me, 8lugnutz !

@gonecountry -- The tie rod end does not look bent at all to me, once I had the wheel off and could eyeball it pretty good. It looked bent in the pictures for sure and that got my mind working too hard.

This one shows it's pretty straight.


So I drove the truck without the sway bar, and it was *better. Not OMG better, but better.
One thing that TXFirefighter showed me in his pics was that he has grease
nipples on all of the joints of his steering system.

Look at the upper right is that a drag link? Idler arm?
Look how dry that thing looks. No grease nipple! I don't get it. Are you
supposed to take it apart and grease it?



OK so I went shopping today. But first let me introduce you to the little guy.
I was his age when I went with my Grandpa to pick up his brand new
1976 GMC Trailering Special (454), in powder blue. I remember standing
in the bed just barely being able to see over the top of the cab.
There it is, what stared all this nonsense! Now I'm trying to pass on the tradidtion.


One thing I picked up is this, because you can't fit three people in a truck with bucket seats:


Now don't all rush at once asking for the seats and console, I'm going
to recover them and keep them with the truck. Those bucket seats are NOT
comfortable.

And following TxFireFighter's advice, I got new bushings and hardware (was
on the fence about replacing the bolts).
And my local salvage yard or sorts "Vintage Chevy Truck" in Fremont had
all this stuff Including what I REALLY needed which were the Front mounting
brackets (no photo). Used but perfect.

So next up I need to get those brakets off. It looks like they were riveted and maybe even had a weld spot on it!
Time for the angle grinder. And safety glasses!

Oh and before I sign off for the night, I wanted to mention:
After driving the truck with out the sway bar, I still feel like it's not right. The steering box is leaking, so I might just put a rebuilt one in.
Local autoparts has one for $120 but it looks like you need a puller.
I wonder if it's worth replacing all the bushings in the steering while
I'm doing this.
I want the truck to run/stop/steer *safely. Right now the steering feels
kind of borderline. I want to take the slop out of it, and get rid of the
slightly sticky feeling.
(anyone got a link on how do to *that job?)

PS - I looked all over for the adjuster mentioned by nheller76 but I have a suspicion that my 75 does not have this (?) anyone do this?

Thanks!
Nick

[eckchevytruck]

Good find I have been lookinf for one my self. can you take a pic of the brakets that hold the bucket seats in. Thanks and once again nice find!

[Tx Firefighter]

Nick,

I powdercoated the sway bar to get that finish. Kind of a goofy waste of effort I'm sure since its under my truck that only gets driven a few hundred miles per year when I need a bale of hay.

As far as the grease zerks, a couple of things. My truck has different control arms than yours since its a heavy duty 1 ton. My control arm bushings are greasable whereas yours will be rubber and not greasable. But, on things like the idler arm and stuff, its all a function of the quality of parts. High quality replacement parts like Moog and other are greasable whereas cheaper brands, or stock ones, are usually sealed. The idea there is that the grease built into the joint when its assembled is good enough to last for the life of the part. I don't buy into that idea myself and always seek out the best replacement components and grease them well and often.

When building trucks, the part of the process that I enjoy most is rebuilding front suspensions. It's very therapeutic to me to remove old sloppy low quality parts and replace them with super premium parts that I know will last as long as I live. If you invest in all premium quality components, you can sleep at night knowing you'll never live long enough to have to change them again. It's not terribly cheap, but so very rewarding. Once finished, it gives you a glimpse of what these trucks drove like when they were brand new.
Posted via Mobile Device

[swissarmychainsaw]

TXFF -- I relate to what you say, and appreciate the posts you put up! You do nice work, and it's great to see it. Thanks for sharing.

I have thought about painting or powder-coating "every I have fixed" just so you can see it clearly. If I access to a soda/bead blaster and a place to powdercoat I would do it too! It looks SO nice when done. Just keep doing it.

You have convinced me to doing a front end rebuild on "The 'Gent".
It steers SO bad I feel like it's a safety issue. So...

*) Powersteering gear box: Rebuild or Replace with a rebuilt unit? O'reillys has rebuilt ones for $124. My time is a bit limited so I might just replace.
*) What else should I re-do while I'm in there? Power steering lines?
*) Bushings?

Other than not having zirc fittings is there a reason to replace stuff like the idler arm, pitman, tie rods???

What about ball joints?

Oh man ... Shipwrights Disease!

--Nick

[izzy_Britton]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

I had the same thing on my dually. Somebody runs off into a ditch and the yay-hoo with the chain hooks it to the sway bar mount to pull him out.

I had to laugh. I have been driving tow truck for almost 10 years. I am one of those so called yay-hoo's with the chain hooks that you speak so highly about. but i have to ask... is he who stuffed his truck in a ditch a yay-hoo or he who comes to the rescue a yay-hoo?

just giving you a bad time brother.

I do have a serious question tho.

what designates a gentlemen jim as such? the black and yellow(ish) paint scheme and all the options?

I recently seen one of these at the local pick a part yard, it was pretty well picked a part. and i seen a beu something or other a while back too. but they are not the year range for the interchange parts i was seeking so never really gave another look. I guess they are pretty special huh?

-Izzy

[swissarmychainsaw]

Today I went out to look some more at the steering. Here's a quick video of the symptom:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/y7V_dibDIc0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Then I tried tightening down the 4 bolts that hold the steering gear to the frame (one was finger tight). I thought that would help, then I found this
(which I could not really see while in there. The camera caught most of the bad stuff).

On the left is the steering gear:


This one seems broken all the way though:




More evidence of "repair"



What now? I'm pretty freakin bummed out. It's been a fun ONE WEEK with this truck! LOL

HELP!

[Katrina/10]

Take all that stuff off and weld it up!

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Ok can you weld? You will need more than a small mig.

Drill the ends of the cracks and stop them dead in thier tracks. Gouge the cracks with a grinding wheel at least 50% the thickness. Then fill front and back with weld.

It's pretty bad but it can be fixed but its prob gonna cost you a bit
Posted via Mobile Device

[MusicMan70]

I found this site as well. They list a kit for 2wd.

GU39001-2WD Fits '73 to '87 ('91) GM Fullsize 2WD Trucks $110

http://offroaddesign.com/catalog/steeringkit.htm

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by INSIDIOUS '86

Ok can you weld? You will need more than a small mig.

Drill the ends of the cracks and stop them dead in thier tracks. Gouge the cracks with a grinding wheel at least 50% the thickness. Then fill front and back with weld.

It's pretty bad but it can be fixed but its prob gonna cost you a bit
Posted via Mobile Device

Absolutely. This is a bump in the road but not a game changer.

Even if you can't weld, there are options...

-Get an angle grinder (even Harbor Freight 15 dollar one will do fine)
-Remove steering box, sway bar, and anything else in the way
-Degrease the frame thoroughly in the area
-Grind the cracks open to allow good weld penetration
-Call in a welder for hire. There's a bunch of them out there. Most mobile welders can sew those cracks up with 7018 rod so pretty you won't want to grind the welds off
-Reassemble

I'm guessing 200-250 dollars total including buying a grinder and grinding wheels, degreaser and scrub brushes, and paying the welder. Don't hire just any old welder though. If he's driving a clapped out rig, he's probably not top caliber. The guys driving 100k dollar rigs make 150 bucks an hour because they're worth it and you can stake your safety on the quality of welds they produce. And they don't build carports on the weekends out of bed of their clapped out pickup

Hire this guy....



Not this guy...




Anyone who tells you this isn't a good repair is wrong. Ships, bridges, buildings, everything is built with welds in similar situations.
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Posted via Mobile Device

[RPOZ11]

Originally Posted by swissarmychainsaw

Today I went out to look some more at the steering. Here's a quick video of the symptom:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/y7V_dibDIc0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Then I tried tightening down the 4 bolts that hold the steering gear to the frame (one was finger tight). I thought that would help, then I found this
(which I could not really see while in there. The camera caught most of the bad stuff).

On the left is the steering gear:


This one seems broken all the way though:




More evidence of "repair"



What now? I'm pretty freakin bummed out. It's been a fun ONE WEEK with this truck! LOL

HELP!

Sorry to see that on your truck.
I believe that I have a similar situation going on with mine.
When I get my truck back I will call a welder to do repairs on mine.

[f.monroe]

Originally Posted by eckchevytruck

Good find I have been lookinf for one my self. can you take a pic of the brakets that hold the bucket seats in. Thanks and once again nice find!

I like that avatar pic.
Frank
Posted via Mobile Device

[swissarmychainsaw]

Ok just bought a frame reinforcement bracket.

You can see in the pics above welds behind the steering gear, so this is going to be the second weld job on the frame. Let's make it the "LAST" one too, eh?

I know a really great welder but I'm not sure he's mobile, the idea of having someone come to where I have disassembled and cleaned the truck is pretty appealing.

Not sure how to embed the video here, but here is a link if you want to see the steering box
wiggle.
www.youtube.com/embed/y7V_dibDIc0

[swissarmychainsaw]

So...
I contacted a mobile welder who is $80 per hour with a 3 hour minimum=$240

This might work as my door at the hinge needs welding.

I also contacted a shop near by that does frame repair.
"Oh yeah we get a lot of those in here. The problem comes from putting on over sized tires."
I'm going in on Friday for a real estimate, but the over the phone quote was
"around $500, its a big job". They also mentioned the reinforcement bracket that I just ordered (a good sign in my mind).
But obviously that's crazy money. I'm assuming that means you drive your greasy POS in, they fix it and you drive it out again for that money.


Then the third guy ($20 per hour) says: No problem, its a small job.
You clean and prep and call me when you're ready: $40.

(instantly the TXfirefighter pic of the little truck came to mind)

Here's the steering brace I ordered:
http://offroaddesign.com/catalog/steeringkit.htm

It's hard for me to visualize where this goes.


I'm guessing that if this was up on a lift it would be easy. Should I remove the inner Fender well to get more access or what?

Seems like the hard part to get to is the inner (motor side) of the frame.
I'm assuming you would want to weld up both sides.

Thousand dollar truck huh? :rofl:

[Brockwaykid]

Originally Posted by izzy_Britton

I do have a serious question tho.

what designates a gentlemen jim as such? the black and yellow(ish) paint scheme and all the options?

I recently seen one of these at the local pick a part yard, it was pretty well picked a part. and i seen a beu something or other a while back too. but they are not the year range for the interchange parts i was seeking so never really gave another look. I guess they are pretty special huh?

-Izzy

a gentleman jim was basically as you put it, just a fully optioned truck with black and gold paint. the "beu" thing you saw was most likely a Beau james. blue GMC? if yes, then it was one. I think they are much harder to find than gentleman jim's. They both are pretty desireable....