5.0 swap and SAS "Half-Pint"

[Rooster]

Finished the power steering, it seems to be working just fine. No leaks. Getting pretty close to road-worthy. I’m hoping I can get it done by the end of the year. This is everything (I can think of) that still needs to be done before I can drive it:
Burn in track bar mounts
Steering shaft stabilizer
Put gears in front axle
Get driveshafts made
Front brakes
Front brake lines
Bleed brakes
Shock hoops
Rear shock mount
Shocks
Bump stops
Limit straps
Burn in spring perches
Gear oil
Torque suspension
Washers for radius arms
Fix heli-coil
Grease/torque radius arm caps
Grease steering
Replace fuel filler neck
Shifter boot
New headlights/ fix wiring
License plate lights

 

[Rooster]

Cut shock hoops to fit. My welder is out of commission with a bent liner, got one in the mail. The drivers side was pretty tricky to fit. Also got some bump stops in the mail

 

[Rooster]

Finally making some progress. I started the process of rebuilding the front axle. First step was to get a press. (Garage is a mess?)

After a lot of cleaning I put the axle together with set-up bearings. I had to make a tool to hold the yoke.

Took me multiple tries but I finally got a good contact pattern. Backlash is 8 thou.

Next step is to press on the new bearings and put the whole thing back together with seals. I’m waiting on a thrust washer, should be here Wednesday

 

[Rooster]

I pretty much followed this article step by step for the axle set up

Gettin the Gears Done

Introduction Setting up the axle’s ring and pinion gears – it’s one of those jobs that even the most experienced 4x4 builders approach with hesitation. There’s probably no other job performed on a 4x4 that carries more mystique than how to set up gears. Why does the job have the reputation it...

www.pirate4x4.com

 

[Rooster]

Got a winch! It’s a smittybilt, 12000 pounds

 

[Rooster]

Got track bar brackets and shock hoops welded on. One of my axle shafts was too rusty to use, I ordered one from rock auto, should be here Thursday. Then maybe the axle can go back in the truck for the last time

 

[Rooster]

The axle is done! Final pattern looks pretty good. The aftermarket hubs are a little off on the inside diameter, so the Warn hubs were difficult to get in, but they eventually fit and they work.

 

[Rooster]

I also painted the shock hoops and made a steering shaft stabilizer

 

[Rooster]

Got the axle under the truck. Been testing out the suspension without the springs to see how much travel/flex I’ll get. Without springs the axle flexes by a little over ten inches with the passenger side up, and fifteen with the drivers side up. That seems pretty good to me. I’m not sure what causes the difference between the sides. I’m hoping that once I put springs on it it’ll flex a little more on the passenger side, cause the spring will push down on the side that doesn’t have weight on it. As far as travel, it looks like the first point of contact is going to be the track bar touching the oil pan. By the time the suspension compresses that much, the coils will be pretty close to binding, so I think I’m good there. I’m not an engineer so I guess we’ll see!

 

[Rooster]

Put in springs today, hopefully for the last time. Here is the truck sitting on wheels again:

Also put on the brake calipers, and started working on mounting shocks

 

[Rooster]

I have working brakes! Made some little mounting brackets out of square tube. The little clips that hold the line in broke when I tried to put them on, so I used 5/8 nuts instead. It’s a bit overkill but they’re not going anywhere

 

[bobbywalter]

good work......



get the radimotatornator protector on there before you get too froggy with it.

 

[bobbywalter]

i prefer not to run the lines like that though.

 

[P93suafilo]

i prefer not to run the lines like that though.

Do you have an example of how to run them. I am going to be doing this same swap soon.

 

[bobbywalter]

flex down the center...... hardlined out to the normal caliper flex lines


or down the radius arms.


setup in the manner these are i have seen them fail many times from whip.