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2004 Silverado Crew Cab Solid Axle Swap (LLY with ZF 6 speed)
- Thread starter r3dd0g
- Start date
Thanks for the kind words everyone!
Another Friday night, another trip out to the Gila. I forgot to grab a shot with camp set up, so here's a shot from this morning just before we headed home to work on the Silverado.
I'm avoiding tearing apart the front end for a couple weeks, I've got plans next weekend so I don't want the truck to be on jackstands for that long. That being said, we still have a lot of stuff to do. We started off by pulling the stock front bumper.
Then we mounted up the new HammerHead bumper, installed the winch and LEDs.
It sticks out a bit more than I thought it was going to. That's what I get for buying something off the shelf instead of fabbing it myself.
We finished up by re-mounting the factory receiver on the back. I may modify it later for better clearance, but it will work for now (sorry no picture).
Another Friday night, another trip out to the Gila. I forgot to grab a shot with camp set up, so here's a shot from this morning just before we headed home to work on the Silverado.
I'm avoiding tearing apart the front end for a couple weeks, I've got plans next weekend so I don't want the truck to be on jackstands for that long. That being said, we still have a lot of stuff to do. We started off by pulling the stock front bumper.
Then we mounted up the new HammerHead bumper, installed the winch and LEDs.
It sticks out a bit more than I thought it was going to. That's what I get for buying something off the shelf instead of fabbing it myself.
We finished up by re-mounting the factory receiver on the back. I may modify it later for better clearance, but it will work for now (sorry no picture).
Today was mostly little things. When I was under the truck I saw that the carrier bearing on the rear driveshaft needed replaced (rubber was shot) and the rear output on the t-case was leaking. Unfortunately the stuff I ordered from Amazon was wrong because the manual trans truck is different...
The correct parts were ordered (once we figured out what they were) and we moved on to finishing up some other minor things. New braided brake lines were installed in the rear to accommodate the lift and to replace the 13yo rubber lines at the calipers. Then we just finished up all the wiring we hadn't gotten to yet. The new rear bumper has extra LED reverse lights in it so we hooked those up and the LED license plate lights. I also relocated the trailer plug to the hole in the bumper that was for the spare tire winch and we put in an air chuck under the trailer plug. Nothing too exciting, but here's a picture anyways.
The correct parts were ordered (once we figured out what they were) and we moved on to finishing up some other minor things. New braided brake lines were installed in the rear to accommodate the lift and to replace the 13yo rubber lines at the calipers. Then we just finished up all the wiring we hadn't gotten to yet. The new rear bumper has extra LED reverse lights in it so we hooked those up and the LED license plate lights. I also relocated the trailer plug to the hole in the bumper that was for the spare tire winch and we put in an air chuck under the trailer plug. Nothing too exciting, but here's a picture anyways.
This is a boring post, but progress is progress. I got all the correct parts and fully rebuilt my rear driveshaft and reinstalled it.
We had a lot going on this weekend, but still managed to get out Friday night for camping. We just headed out to Saguaro Lake this time since it's about 30 minutes closer than our spot on the Gila.
We were busy after camping until after noon on Sunday, but we did manage to pick up the hubs and do some work on the axle assembly. We had to notch the hubs a bit to get the studs into the tighter 8x6.5" lug pattern.
Then we put everything together, new ProForged tie rod ends, new rotors and calipers and EBC green stuff brake pads.
We'll probably start stripping the IFS stuff off during the week to prep for next weekend. Hopefully a week from now the Silverado will have a solid front axle under it.
We were busy after camping until after noon on Sunday, but we did manage to pick up the hubs and do some work on the axle assembly. We had to notch the hubs a bit to get the studs into the tighter 8x6.5" lug pattern.
Then we put everything together, new ProForged tie rod ends, new rotors and calipers and EBC green stuff brake pads.
We'll probably start stripping the IFS stuff off during the week to prep for next weekend. Hopefully a week from now the Silverado will have a solid front axle under it.
Nice work!
Have you used the EBC's before? I've been eyeing them @ Summit, was curious if you had first-hand experience.
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I have not, but I've heard good things about them so I figured I'd give them a try. I normally run Porterfield R4-S pads in just about everything, but they weren't available for the Silverado. I had Hawks on there before, but they were pretty much gone from towing. The EBCs are a little easier to find and have great reviews and were available for the Dana and the AAM .
We officially passed the point of no return tonight, the plasma cutter came out... Here's what I started with.
I pulled off everything I could easily.
But I needed more room for a pitman arm puller so I broke out the plasma and cut off the front crossmember.
My puller still doesn't fit, so I'll have to figure something out to get the stock arm off so I can pull out the rest of the steering.
There's quite a bit more brackets to plasma off, I'm hoping to have it cleaned up and ready to go tomorrow night, but we'll see. I didn't get as far as I wanted to tonight.
I pulled off everything I could easily.
But I needed more room for a pitman arm puller so I broke out the plasma and cut off the front crossmember.
My puller still doesn't fit, so I'll have to figure something out to get the stock arm off so I can pull out the rest of the steering.
There's quite a bit more brackets to plasma off, I'm hoping to have it cleaned up and ready to go tomorrow night, but we'll see. I didn't get as far as I wanted to tonight.
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No going back!
That is a scary step, but once the initial "Oh crap" moment wears off, you know it's GO TIME!!!
What's the plan with that upgraded steering you got there?
It's for sale. It needs new heims and tie rod ends though. The knuckles are bored out to use standard 1 ton TREs so those go with the tie rods.
A friend of mine used to work for Chassis Tech and had designed the kit for them, but I don't think they ever ended up selling it commercially. I've had it on there for 5 years or so with no issues.
A friend of mine used to work for Chassis Tech and had designed the kit for them, but I don't think they ever ended up selling it commercially. I've had it on there for 5 years or so with no issues.
I finished removing the rest of the IFS garbage and broke out the plasma cutter again. I figured out why I couldn't get the pitman arm puller on as well, there was a little rubber sleeve that was supposed to be pushed up inside the steering box that had slid down making the shaft too thick for the puller to fit around... I pushed it back up and managed to pull the arm off.
Here's the huge pile of parts that were removed (the front fell off).
Tomorrow I'll start grinding and cleaning so I can weld the side plates on and get the axle located.
Here's the huge pile of parts that were removed (the front fell off).
Tomorrow I'll start grinding and cleaning so I can weld the side plates on and get the axle located.
The front fell off lol
There's much more exciting updates now! Lot's of cool progress, it should be drivable tomorrow.
I was warned about the frame coating being difficult to remove so I tried aircraft remover. It worked great, spray it on, wait a few minutes, scrape off the majority of the stuff, reapply and wipe off with paper towels. Only took about 30 minutes to clean both sides!
After all the aircrafts were removed, I cleaned up the frame with a 7" cutoff wheel and a few 4.5" flapper disks. Ready to start putting on the new stuff!
After talking to WFO I decided to go ahead and get their steering box brace. It's a nice unit and restores some of the strength lost when you cut out the front crossmember. The dropped pitman arm from their 6" lift kit is also pictured, it's necessary since I went with the 6" kit track bar.
The brace even has a spot to put the 4wd actuator so you don't get a CEL.
The next step was to clamp and tack weld in the frame plates.
I had to slowly work around the plates switching sides and taking brakes to prevent warping, and killed time by installing the shock mounts and track bar mount. Here's the money shot with everything welded in place.
I welded the brake line brackets on and sprayed everything I could hit with a nice coat of paint.
To prep for tomorrow, I welded in the tube adapters for the links and adjusted them to the recommended length according to the directions and put the rod ends into the track bar and tie rod ends into the drag link and adjusted according to the directions.
Tomorrow morning we'll stick the axle under the truck, bolt up the links, set the caster and tack the mounts in place, cycle the suspension to make sure I get the axle where I want it, then weld in the bump stops.
Then I'll tear everything apart, finish welding and paint the links and put the whole thing back together. I'm guessing I'll be able to have the links painted and drying by lunch time and the truck will be driving before I have to work tomorrow night (5ish). I'll still have a pile of little things to finish up, but it will be mostly done and drivable!
I was warned about the frame coating being difficult to remove so I tried aircraft remover. It worked great, spray it on, wait a few minutes, scrape off the majority of the stuff, reapply and wipe off with paper towels. Only took about 30 minutes to clean both sides!
After all the aircrafts were removed, I cleaned up the frame with a 7" cutoff wheel and a few 4.5" flapper disks. Ready to start putting on the new stuff!
After talking to WFO I decided to go ahead and get their steering box brace. It's a nice unit and restores some of the strength lost when you cut out the front crossmember. The dropped pitman arm from their 6" lift kit is also pictured, it's necessary since I went with the 6" kit track bar.
The brace even has a spot to put the 4wd actuator so you don't get a CEL.
The next step was to clamp and tack weld in the frame plates.
I had to slowly work around the plates switching sides and taking brakes to prevent warping, and killed time by installing the shock mounts and track bar mount. Here's the money shot with everything welded in place.
I welded the brake line brackets on and sprayed everything I could hit with a nice coat of paint.
To prep for tomorrow, I welded in the tube adapters for the links and adjusted them to the recommended length according to the directions and put the rod ends into the track bar and tie rod ends into the drag link and adjusted according to the directions.
Tomorrow morning we'll stick the axle under the truck, bolt up the links, set the caster and tack the mounts in place, cycle the suspension to make sure I get the axle where I want it, then weld in the bump stops.
Then I'll tear everything apart, finish welding and paint the links and put the whole thing back together. I'm guessing I'll be able to have the links painted and drying by lunch time and the truck will be driving before I have to work tomorrow night (5ish). I'll still have a pile of little things to finish up, but it will be mostly done and drivable!
only thing I would do is coat the hiem threads and tube adaptors with a good coat of copper anti-sieze . . .
I know your in dry west coast but I had a set of crossover steering /high steer ends get frozen up tight just sitting in storage for a few years . . I even greased them threads for storage / mockup back then . now its only the good stuff.
I know your in dry west coast but I had a set of crossover steering /high steer ends get frozen up tight just sitting in storage for a few years . . I even greased them threads for storage / mockup back then . now its only the good stuff.
They're already coated with anti-sieze.
The steering is sold, I'm sure I can sell the shafts, not sure about anything else.
