Project: Plow Truck Turned Wheeler/Crawler

[JohnnyU]

Axle swaps aren't anything new, nor is most of the tech in my build. I took a different approach to this swap than most guys take, so I thought I'd post it here for others to see. Ken, you've probably already seen most of this elsewhere.

The truck is a 1991 Chevy 1/2 ton. I bought the truck shortly after my 16th birthday. I plowed snow with it, pulled trailers, and DD'ed it until May 2007. I had run various wheels and tires, installed a body lift, and done tons of other "mods" to it over the years, but it was still a a street truck. It had the solid body and frame, good v-8 and built auto trans that the Ranger only dreamed of, so it was deemed as a better platform to continue building from.

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I got an awesome deal (free) on a 14FF rear axle from a 1-ton dually.

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Tore it down and did some cleaning/rebuilding:

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MMM, full floating axle shafts.... Ø1.458" at the flange, Ø1.351" operating

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I decided the drums had to go, so I swapped on some disc brakes using caliper brackets from Ballistic.

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I bought a pair of diff covers (one for the front Kingpin 60 as well) from GreatLakeOffroad - Awesome Product!

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All cleaned up, painted and reassembled.

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I also welded the tubes to prevent them from inadvertently spinning under high-torque conditions. It's a common problem as the plug welds the factory uses are really not sufficient.

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Next, I pulled the truck into the garage and started tearing it down. First, Ipulled the old rear axle as well as the springs. I still had to remove the rivets that hold the shackle hangers to the frame.


Some stuff from Ballistic Fab.

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Out with the old: the ol' 10-bolt.

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Driver side spring out, passenger spring hanging by the shackle. (yes, the truck has developed the typical rear wheel well rot)

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Cut the rivets and removed the old shackle hangers:

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Bolted up the shackle flip kit from ORD, shackles and springs (for some reason, I still have multiple exhaust hangers from various different setups that I'd had on there over the years...)

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Bolted the axle up, installed the GLO differential cover, and replaced the stock u-joint with the conversion joint (NAPA P/N 447). Also started routing brake lines and breather lines:

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Here's how the truck sits on rims/tires:

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Got all new brake lines routed from the Master Cylinder to the proportioning valve and back to the rear axle. Also removed the stock proportioning valve and ABS module. I just need to pull the dash and remove the brake warning light. (yes, those are air horns....)

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Also got the electric fan mounted, just need to wire it up.

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I welded up the brackets from Ballistic, and added an additional brace between the link mounts to provide some additional support.

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Now onto the front axle.....
These are the hi-steer arm/springless kingpin caps from PartsMike

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Pile of parts:

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Pitman arm from WFO Concepts

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Tapped my Sagniaw box for hydro ram assist:

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Removed the IFS cross member, so I welded this tube in as a replacment front cross member

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I cut all the old brackets off the D60, cleaned up the tubes, removed the stock kingpin cap and steering arm and installed the spring-less cap and high-steer arm from PartsMike. I also started getting the coil bucket welded up and tacked to the frame. In addition to the perpendicular plates, I''m also going to weld a couple plates about 8" forward and behind the bucket, meeting tangentially in the middle, just to spread out the load a bit better. The top will also be plated.

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The passenger side is pretty much a mirror image of the other side:

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Beginnings of the new transmission/link crossmember:

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Here is the transmission cross member about 80% finished. I probably bolted it up and took it out 15 times making sure everything fit right. I also used the ever-so-exact method of mocking up the location of the links (duct tape), measuring the distance out from the center of the truck to the centerline of the links both at the axle and the cross member ends.

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Transmission crossmember in place for measuring and positioning link brackets.

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Spring mount/link brackets tacked to the axle:

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Then measured for and started fabricating the links:

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Tie-rod....

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Driver side upper and lower links hanging in the garage to dry:

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Frame end track bar mount, Like my love note?

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Axle end track bar mount. It's missing the axial brace tube section as well as some additional material around the bolt holes:

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Everything's welded to the axle and started priming the bare metal surfaces. I'm waiting until final assembly to bolt up the tie rod/drag link/track bar, etc.

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I picked up a hydraulic cylinder for the steering assist:

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And the aluminum oil pan to replace the rusty stamped steel OEM.

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I still have to add the tube clamp on the tie rod for the cylinder mount, as well as the other tab on the differential cover.

Shiniest thing on the whole truck:

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Bolted trans cross member in and bolted trans mount. Going to drill the other four holes to get it bolted in for "final assembly".

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[JohnnyU]

Slid the axle back under the truck and bolted everything back up.

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Truck is sitting on springs supporting it's own weight.

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I disassembled and clearanced a front drive shaft from an 89 Suburban. This shaft uses 1310 series joints, so I’d like to find a shaft from a late model Dodge HD truck. They have dual CV joints in a 1350 flavor.

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Well, the dumb thing ended up being a bit taller than I was really hoping for.... However, I can always pull the body lift off to lower it 3" if I feel that it's just too tall. I need to unload all the junk out of the back of the bed, but the rear end still sits about 2" lower than the front. Oh well, who cares, right?

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That was October, 2008.


I wheeled it a bit last fall before parking it over the winter (it's cold and snowy here, I hate the snow and cold anymore). I realized that I needed a softer spring and a lower profile to make this thing more stable. So I did some trimming, removed the body lift, moved the shackle hangers forward 2" for a better shackle angle and more rear movement, and trimmed the front spring (since I couldn't find one off the shelf that fit my specifications).

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Next came a pinion guard from Dan at Ruff Stuff, this thing is beefy.

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At the same time, I put together this Hi-lift jack mount and bumpstops:

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I vowed to stay out of the mud as much as possible from this point forward, it's just not worth the work of repacking everything, cleaning, etc. I like rocks and dry trails better. So about that front bumper...

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That pretty much brings things up to current (September 2010). Last trip out in Mid-August, the Ford Taurus fan failed and things started heating up rather quickly. I had to call it a day and loaded it back onthe trailer. I junked that e-fan and went back to the stock mechanical fan. I used the HD fan clutch from the 8600GVWR trucks, and it moves some serious air. I have a few more modifications in mind in the next few months, although I'd like to get a couple of them done before our next trip at the beginning of October.

 

[bigred92chev]

Thats sweet good job!

 

[silverado_06]

looks like an awesome build. where are you from anyway, seems like a really fermiliar truck.

 

[BHBurban]

Badass...

What parts/kit/donor did you use for the rear disc conversion?

 

[bobfig]

i just gotta say wow that truck is bad ass.

 

[Crash]

What's the specs & your opinion of those front coils.

 

[JohnnyU]

Thats sweet good job!

Thanks!

looks like an awesome build. where are you from anyway, seems like a really fermiliar truck.

North Central Illinois

Badass...

What parts/kit/donor did you use for the rear disc conversion?

1977 K20 front calipers, pads, and rotors.

i just gotta say wow that truck is bad ass.

Thanks!

What's the specs & your opinion of those front coils.

They are progressive rate coils from Tom's Bronco Parts, with 1.5 wraps removed from the "tender" spring.

 

[TIM GAINOUS]

fawk it! hey , we have talked on pirate b4, thanx for the thread. ltr,timbo.

 

[silver98z71]

Did you drill/tap your steering box assembled? Did you flush it with fluid before you re-installed it?