1974 SWB "Clifford" goes to Oklahoma

[baclay9]

Made some progress today. Got the frame repair done on both sides and got the notches installed on the drivers side.

[baclay9]

Made a little more headway. I think I may have to jack the cab up 4" or so to get the front crossmember on. I wrestled with it for a good hour tonight by myself and couldn't get it to go. Just need a little more room to install it.

[Cherub]

lookin good.

[screaminchevypickup]

Looking good..

[SCOTI]

I/We like progress....

BTW.... I call Shotgun!

[baclay9]

Got a little further today. Finally won the battle with the front crossmember. Had to unbolt the cab and jack it up in the back to get clearance. Got the axle set in and centered up where it goes. In my haste I forgot to cut off the old axle saddles and shock mounts. Hopefully I will be able to get that done without moving the axle too much. I will be able to mock the rest of it up next week maybe. This is the back pretty well as low as it will go. Only about 1/4" off the bump stops.



This is the front aired all the way out, sitting on the crossmember. It won't be able to sit this low however. I want to run stock inner fenders and my vintage air lines get into the tire anyway. Besides, the rear won't go that low anyway...

[baclay9]

...

[Pro Performance]

Making some good progress! I really like this kit for the square bodies.

[54Caddy]

updates?? so with this kit the new saddles need to be welded in??

[baclay9]

Yes, you have to weld new saddles onto the axle. Unless you pick up an earlier axle I suppose.

I actually went over to weld them on today but couldn't get comfortable enough on where the pinion angle needed to be set to weld them. I read too many conflicting opinions. I am going to call Porterbuilt for some advice tomorrow. I figure they do it all the time.

With my truck at ride height the trans output shaft is at 4 deg down, I was thinking my rear pinion needed to be 2 deg up but just not sure enough to strike an arch.

[lolife99]

I've always thought if the trans was 4 degrees down,... the pinion needed to be 4 degrees up.

[baclay9]

That was actually my first thought, but someone told me I should set it at 2 deg up so when you accelerate it will roll up the extra 1-2 deg. IDK, which is why I didn't pull the trigger.

[lolife99]

I thought the rearend's pinion "rolling up" was more of a leaf spring thing.
I'll be following along to see what Porterbuilt suggests.

[bluex]

Originally Posted by lolife99

I thought the rearend's pinion "rolling up" was more of a leaf spring thing.
I'll be following along to see what Porterbuilt suggests.

I'm interested to see what they say as well. I don't see how it roll up with a trailing arm setup but I'm far from a suspension expert.

I'll be using a 72 axle with mine so hopefully it will be correct as is...

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by lolife99

I thought the rearend's pinion "rolling up" was more of a leaf spring thing.
I'll be following along to see what Porterbuilt suggests.

Correct. 4-bar & truck arm set-ups don't move around nearly as much. Even stock power doesn't move it much on leafs.... it's the big HP/TQ drivetrains that can move things.

[54Caddy]

interesting some an early 6 lug trailing arm rear end with some 5 lug conversion axles and you have a narrower rear end then the stock width wonder how much difference on each side it is compare to the 73 on up rear end

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by 54Caddy

interesting some an early 6 lug trailing arm rear end with some 5 lug conversion axles and you have a narrower rear end then the stock width wonder how much difference on each side it is compare to the 73 on up rear end

Pre-70 = 62"
71-87 = 63.5"
88-98 = 65"

All lengths approximate. Also... truck arm pads are the same distance apart regardless of housing width.

[54Caddy]

not bad gain a little clearance then, guess I wont be selling off the old rear end I have sitting around then ahaha.

[baclay9]

OK, talked to Nathan a little bit ago and he lined me out. If my trans is pointing down @ 4 deg, I need to point my pinion up at 3 deg. He said you dont want it to be perfectly straight or the needle bearings in the u joints will no properly lubricate and wiil cause premature failure or the u joints. He said the 1 deg difference will accomplish that.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by baclay9

OK, talked to Nathan a little bit ago and he lined me out. If my trans is pointing down @ 4 deg, I need to point my pinion up at 3 deg. He said you dont want it to be perfectly straight or the needle bearings in the u joints will no properly lubricate and wiil cause premature failure or the u joints. He said the 1 deg difference will accomplish that.

I think that's how I set my 64 up: driveline down @ 3°; pinion up @ 2° (PB truck-arms). I know my dually is set up w/the main/front shaft @ 3.5° so I set the pinion up @ 2.5° (4-bar).

[aggie91]

Originally Posted by baclay9

Aggie91, I will probably end up doing the power rack on mine one day. Please let me know how you like it.

Scoti, What do you mean by an instagram link? Not sure what that is.

Originally Posted by aggie91

I have always liked this truck since Scoti had it even though I have never seen it in person.

You have done the exact front kit set up I did for my son's truck. The only thing different is the brakes and I raised the stock crosmember in the frame 1.5" and added No Limit's Power Rack conversion. I have not installed the Sway bar yet. My end link spaces are MUCH longer then the ones in your photos. I hope to get it installed some time this week. I will post of pictures on his build thread when we get it done.

baclay - we got it all set up with the PB sway bar, forward arms and the No Limit power rack. IMO, that is a great set up. The truck drove great and handled well. The steering was tight and the feedback was good. The swaybar made a huge imporvement in handling since we had the bags in front. I am going to be trying a similar set up in my '65, but using 3/4T springs instead of bags. I hope to have it together to enjoy this spring and summer.

How is your truck coming along? Do you have it on the road yet?

[baclay9]

Haven't got much done on the truck. I did get the axle saddles welded on. I only like drilling the holes to mount the front crossmember. Finally did get a shop of my own put up. Still have quite a bit to do. Electric, walls, and framing up the restroom but it is getting there.

[BigMike608]

nice shop!

[SCOTI]

Nice... What size?

[Low Elco]

Great, like the truck envy wasn't enough. Nice place!