2004 Silverado Crew Cab Solid Axle Swap (LLY with ZF 6 speed)

[r3dd0g]

I got caught up in other stuff so I didn't make as much progress this week as I wanted to, but I did make some progress.

We yanked the rear axle out, pulled the carrier and pinion, drilled and tapped the housing and got an acceptable pattern. I still have my setup bearing on the pinion, so it needs to be disassembled and put together with the good bearing, but it's close to being ready to go back in.

It surprises me how much bigger everything is in the AAM 11.5 compared to the 10.5.

We also got the tires mounted up.

Then we took a break to do some camping and wheeling.

 

[Chevy305]

Love the wheels and tires

 

[r3dd0g]

I got the gears and locker finished up.

Now I need to put it back under the truck. I've changed my mind on the rear suspension, I'm going to order the 4" lift Deaver springs for it and install 1-2" lowering shackles so I can level it out (the SFA kit is a 3" lift).

 

[Babaganoosh]

The deavers will be nice to compliment the coil overs, what kind of rear shock you going with?

 

[r3dd0g]

I'll probably do a 2.5" King

 

[Babaganoosh]

I'll probably do a 2.5" King

Any special mounting? I want to do a similar setup and I think we are looking for close to the same results.

 

[r3dd0g]

I need to wait and figure out what will fit and what my range of motion is. I'm hoping for something close to stock mounting.

 

[r3dd0g]

We put the axle back under the Silverado tonight. No lift in the rear yet, but we went ahead and bolted the new tires and wheels up.

I ordered the new leaf springs for the rear and the lowering shackles today. Once I get those in and installed I can figure out brake lines and shocks in the rear.

This weekend I think I'll work on modifying the crossmember to work with the ZF trans.

 

[Truckman4life]

Just an FYI for a fellow ZF6 Duramax guy, there's a Facebook page I'm on and I guess a guy on there is going to be building a metal version of the clutch pedal assembly. Not sure if it's just the older ones like mine or all of them but apparently GM no longer sells them and they are made of plastic and when yours breaks then you are pretty much screwed according to all the guys on that page. I haven't researched anything on this it's just something that popped up in my notifications so I have been watching it.

 

[r3dd0g]

Thanks for the heads up. Mine is starting to make noise, but it's probably just the bushing. I have the South Bend dual disk clutch so it's a bit heavier than stock, but not too bad.

 

[Truckman4life]

Yeah I have no I idea if mine is aftermarket or ever been replaced. It's got 175,000 miles so I'm hoping it got a clutch at some point.

 

[r3dd0g]

I ended up swapping because the dual mass flywheel died, you can see in this picture that the bolts don't line up with the access holes anymore.

That's why I upgraded to this noisy thing:

Thanks for reminding me about my clutch pedal though. I went ahead and ordered a new pivot bushing for it.

 

[Chevy305]

Do all GMT800 trucks 1500/2500 gas/diesel use the same clutch pedal assembly?

 

[r3dd0g]

I did a tiny bit of research and it looks like the clutch for the 5 speed (NV4500) is available, but not the 6 speed. I'm not sure why they would be different though.

 

[Truckman4life]

Yeah all of the stuff I saw says the 1/2 ton is a different pedal assembly. I'll be watching what the guy that is gonna build a metal one comes up with. What were the symptoms when your dual mass flywheel started to die?

 

[r3dd0g]

As you can imagine, when the flywheel isn't centered anymore it shakes like a bitch.

 

[r3dd0g]

Shawn dropped the axle off today! I'll start cleaning it up and getting it ready to install this weekend.

 

[GWeakland620]

Those Super 60's are just massive. You don't know how big they are until they are right in front of you. The inner C's are large enough to accept a 1550 u-joint, that's just insane!

 

[JoshHefnerX]

They look pretty chunky

 

[r3dd0g]

Technically, this isn't a super 60. It's off an F350 SuperDoody so it's just the regular 60. However, the '05 and up 60's are beefier than the old ones and I'm not 100% sure what all the differences are. Some sites say they're all super 60s, but they aren't. It's a pain to find parts for them and hopefully the parts I ordered are right...