Build Thread - 1-ton Chevy Swap

[bobbywalter]

hes good to deal with....

 

[Will]

will, the shafts in stock configuration rarely break, no one says that that i know of... i only see hi-mile units break on lifted rigs.

I was messing with him. I knew he plowed commercially with it and everyone is always saying how weak the GM IFS trucks are. That setup is a very common plow truck around here--they pop out on the late fall and go back in the barn in the spring. I don't see lifted ones often though.

 

[JohnnyU]

I was messing with him. I knew he plowed commercially with it and everyone is always saying how weak the GM IFS trucks are. That setup is a very common plow truck around here--they pop out on the late fall and go back in the barn in the spring. I don't see lifted ones often though.

Even less with coil-sprung Dana 60's and 14FF's

 

[Explorin94]

It's an adjustable coil bucket, yes. It's circle track "technology", if you will.

Also some people call them "weight jackers".

 

[JohnnyU]

I made the passenger side coil bucket mounting plates and welded them to the bucket and then the assembly welded to the frame last night. Still have to burn in the driver side. I'm going to try to pick up tube today since I'm taking the afternoon off. Unfortunately I'm not going to be doing any work on the truck this afternoon though. I'll probably work on getting the axle brackets tacked in place Friday. I'd also like to start working on the new transmission cross member.

It''s pretty much a mirror image of the other side:

 

[JohnnyU]

I started making the new transmission cross member/link mount yesterday. It's about 50% finished at this point, I still have to add the other angled tube, transmission mounting flange, link mounts and some plating for rigidity.

Sorry about the less-than-great picture.

 

[JohnnyU]

The transmission cross member is about 80% finished. I probably bolted it up and took it out 15 time making sure everything fit right. I may still need to clearance part of it for the driveshaft, but we'll have to wait and see. 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.

 

[Boggin]

New to this thread, Coming along very nicely

 

[JohnnyU]

Transmission crossmember in place for measuring and positioning link brackets. I think I need a taller jack:

I got the spring mount/link brackets tacked to the axle this morning:

Then measured for and started fabricating the links:

I got one of the links primed and painted, the other will have additional tabs welded on for the top link to mount to. I''m waiting on another order of parts from Ballistic now.....

 

[Maverick]

I dig the crossmember, looks stout.

 

[Explorin94]

John if you need a hand with some of the heavy stuff give me a shout.

 

[KELLY88]

Cool build. I like the duct tape mock up.

 

[ZMan]

Transmission crossmember in place for measuring and positioning link brackets. I think I need a taller jack:

Damn son the last time I checked a 3 ton craftsman jack was only about $50-$70. I can't believe you're still using that puny thing.

 

[leumas12]

Hey dont know if you already said in a previous post but what type of rod did you use to weld your axle tubes to the housing? Im assuming it was with an arc welder? Did you do any pre/post heating to the housing? Thanks!

Sam

 

[JohnnyU]

I did quite a bit of research on this on several forums and other internet based sources. I also looked at a few texts that I had from back in school. After all that, I asked the guys at my welding supply store what they would do. It seemed to corroborate what I had researched. I heated the housing with a torch, you want to aim for between 120-450°C. I used this Copper-Tin alloy (ECuSn-A) rod:http://aeriform.com/browse/product.aspx?Msg=RecID&recIds=18280&WT.svl=18280

Ideally, you want it to cool slowly, but you can do that similarly by reheating it to a lower temperature several times. I've also read that you can just leave it to cool down after welding.