My 1999 C3500 Fleet DRW

[kashuenut]

Stamped 11k weight rated, i guess its rather rare. Inherited it after it had been sitting for a long time. 30,000 miles on the engine.
Had to do a full cooling system rebuild to get it going, new tires, and tune up pieces...but after that was able to haul =)

Preparing her now for her second voyage by doing a full front brake overhaul with suspension and steering. (all new to me). Working on getting the control arms out today, i hear the spring is a pain to get back in but i guess ill cross that bridge when i get there.

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[89RCLB]

Nice inheritance! That Buick looks pretty clean.

 

[Orpedcrow]

Sweet rig!!

Working on getting the control arms out today, i hear the spring is a pain to get back in but i guess ill cross that bridge when i get there.

Share your struggles with us

 

[kashuenut]

pic 1 is the cool rotors ive never seen before. actually like them

pic 2 i have a question about --- stock shocks are toast they dont extend, ect. My replacements are bilsteins 4600's and im wondering -- is the lack of that extra seat going to matter? also the stock shocks have a thicker piston...am i going to have issues here? Honestly id be happy if i got 20k miles out of the bilsteins and am on a tight budget (cant return them, would like to use if possible)...

Pic 3 is the broken sway bar bracket, one of a few problems ive encountered so far =)

 

[Orpedcrow]

is the lack of that extra seat going to matter? also the stock shocks have a thicker piston...am i going to have issues here?

The 4600 should have come with hardware. 2 dished washers, 2 rubber bushings and a lock nut. Similar to this…

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The lower washer will sit on that black clip or step and will retain the lower bushing. Which holds the end of the shock shaft to the frame/spring cup.

 

[EJ_74]

Nice! Always love to see the heavier duty trucks. What kind of engine you have in it?

 

[kashuenut]

Nice! Always love to see the heavier duty trucks. What kind of engine you have in it?

Its got the 5.7 engine, which i dunno. It works, it seemed easy to work on. When hauling a car uphill though its just slow, though feels solid.

 

[kashuenut]

So this wasn't fun...

Upper control arm.
First i tried a method i read about with a threaded rod and washers to spread the bushings out and push them through. I found a piece of scrap rod but i believe it wasnt thick enough as eventually the rod just collapsed. Also i dont know if i love this method with the potential to bend the arms out? Maybe.. Thicker Rod would probably work ( use 3/8ths)

So then im like, well ill take it to a buddies with a press. Everyone says this is the easy way....
well the arm wont fit in the press since the bushings press from the inside out...the shape of the arm wont let you get a flat pressing surface. Im not sure why no posts say this. Maybe there are other kinds of presses i dunno.

What i ended up using was a 3 claw clamper presser thing and a thick washer. Also drilling small holes in the already deteriorating rubber helped a lot. I popped off both washer sides with a couple big screw drivers and some pry action. They werent in there THAT tough, pretty easy once i just slowed down and did a little at a time. Took a few beers to get through it.

Next i tried getting the rivets out of the ball joint...managed to get one head popped off and from what i read a lot of people manage to punch these out but im not seeing any movement. Going to try drilling a smaller pilot hole through the rivet and punching again. If not then i drill the whole thing i guess.

Whole entire corner of the truck is disassembled. Today im going in with some wire wheels and brushes to clean the rust, then some fluid film, then reassembly.

Im very worried about getting the spring back in seated properly on the LCA as this looks like its gonna be really difficult to do

 

[zetabird]

im prolly gonna have to do all this to my 94... im not looking forward to it. you said yours was stamped 11k where did you find that at

 

[kashuenut]

progress so far...

holy crap those rivets were hard to get out. small pilot hole and the right bangers and hammers ...angle grinder to get the heads off...snapped bits, ect.