'72 K5 - Greg's @MightAsWellK5 Build

[Greg72]

Imagine how nice its going to be when you're done with the cage, suspension, brackets, etc, etc, that require so much thought and time. Getting back to some of those easier tasks that give a little more instant gratification is going to feel like Xmas. I know when I'm stuck on something and need a breather, I go work on my 67 C10. I does have air bags and a few other mods, but all-in-all, its stock and cake to work on. I could rip the whole truck apart in an hour if I wanted.

Looking good as always.

Yeah, for sure.... it's going to feel good to get back to "simple" stuff like sheetmetal repair, or fabbing up small parts to address all the I.O.U.s I've written to myself over the last few years during this extended "mock up" phase of the build.

By the end of the summer, I'd love to build a wooden 4-post lift in my garage that would allow me to raise the body up off the frame and store it into the rafters... then I could do a lot of the finish work on the frame, crossmembers and rollcage/structural parts.... adding brake lines, and other frame-mounted stuff that is a lot simpler without the body in the way.

If nothing else, it will be good to get the rolling chassis sandblasted and into Zinc Chromate so that I don't have to look at all the flash rust anymore....

-G

 

[chulisohombre]

Good work Greg. Keep the pics coming. Great update.

 

[Greg72]

2015.06.03 - UPDATE! - CHOPPING CONCRETE, PART 2...!!!!


Does anyone here remember when I was building my front suspension and doing all the cycling tests? I tried to do the one-wheel-up, one-wheel-down articulation tests and found out that my concrete floor was in the way on the "droop" side...so I could never get the full 14" of travel out of the struts.

Well, as it turns out... when you try to do that same test with an even LONGER 16" strut, the concrete is STILL IN THE WAY!!!


Here's how it all went down last night (pun intended)


Since the parts had been built last night and were all finish-sanded and shaped perfectly, it didn't take long to assemble the lower strut hanger to the axle and tack the upper "crescent" plates to the hoops above.

I used a long piece of Allthread run through both DOM sleeves as a platform for my digital level. This allowed me to confirm that the holes were nice and level and flat before I burned them in... This whole process went quickly, since I was able to transfer most of the measurements and positioning of parts from the completed PS stuff.

A few bolts through the strut eyes, and it was time to pull the jackstands and let this thing cycle and droop! I pulled the DS wheel/tire off and let the axle go as far down as it would go....

I put the jack under the PS of the axle and kept pressure on the underside of the axletube so that it would stay fully-stuffed on that side...

Here's how it looked from the back (fully stuffed on PS, 12" droop on DS):

....and here's a shot showing how the clearances looked on the drooping side:

Admittedly, I'm still 4" away from my "fully articulated" travel, and I know that clearances can change pretty dramatically in those last few inches when the axle REALLY starts to angle-over to one side. But for now, I am cautiously optimistic about the amount of clearance between the tire and the strut body (especially compared to last time!) and also the clearance of the upper link mount to the newly built framerails (this was also a MAJOR interference point last time around!)...

I don't think I will really bother renting a jackhammer to check those last few inches of droop. My guess is that I'll just use my cherry picker to lift up the entire back end of the truck instead..... it will be a good strength test for my new framerail design anyway.


-G

 

[folkenheath]

How hard is it to unbolt the portal assembly from that side?

 

[chevyfumes]

Awesomer....

 

[Greg72]

How hard is it to unbolt the portal assembly from that side?

8 bolts and 1 hernia.....



I've done it several times, and in fact that was what I ended up doing to finally get my 14" travel up front.

How are you feeling about the upper strut mount overall, strengthwise? It seems like it's legit with a little bit of gusseting...




-G

 

[folkenheath]

2015.06.03 - UPDATE! - CHOPPING CONCRETE, PART 2...!!!!

-G

8 bolts and 1 hernia.....



I've done it several times, and in fact that was what I ended up doing to finally get my 14" travel up front.

How are you feeling about the upper strut mount overall, strengthwise? It seems like it's legit with a little bit of gusseting...

-G

I think it's looking pretty good, except I might want that rear side brace in the above picture to have more angle so it connects to the lower window tube right below the shock tubes. Right now the shock tubes connect to an unsupported part of the window tube.

I also might put 2 braces between the two shock tubes, although thats not completely necessary since the shocks will bolt to both tubes.

 

[Greg72]

I think it's looking pretty good, except I might want that rear side brace in the above picture to have more angle so it connects to the lower window tube right below the shock tubes. Right now the shock tubes connect to an unsupported part of the window tube.

I also might put 2 braces between the two shock tubes, although thats not completely necessary since the shocks will bolt to both tubes.

I'm guessing you mean something like the red tube in this drawing?

That was already part of my plan... mostly because it then creates a nice triangular area that I can plate-in and put some flared speed holes!!! I was thinking of a similar treatment across the top "spine" of those two strut bars.... basically a long ~ 1.5" wide strip of sheetmetal welded between them and filled with cute 1" flared holes!!!


-G

 

[folkenheath]

That would work too, I was thinking take the angled tube and make it shorter and steeper angle so it connects to the upper tube right where that red tube is. But your method would be fine too, just one more tube.

 

[blazinzuk]

I noticed on at least one side of your plate the hole is getting thin down towards the bottom I might do a weld washer on that side. More than likely it will be fine but weld washers are cheap and easy and it might prevent a future problem

 

[blazinzuk]

Oops I forget your probably welding that Dom sleeve in there aren't ya.

Never mind carry on

 

[blazinzuk]

Might need to take a scoop out of the mounting box for the strut. It looks close. Of course pics can be deceiving but like ya said stuff starts to move quicker the more droop you get

 

[Greg72]

I noticed on at least one side of your plate the hole is getting thin down towards the bottom I might do a weld washer on that side. More than likely it will be fine but weld washers are cheap and easy and it might prevent a future problem

I was noticing that too.

What's weird about building hangers for coilovers or struts is that the upper mount body is pretty thick in the areas that are close to the bolt hole... so you really can't put a lot of "meat" in that area or the shock body will hit/rub during articulation. I can't tell you how many times I've built a beefy bracket and just ended up trimming and trimming it to get the clearances I needed, until it was pretty puny looking in that area.

There are a couple of good things working in my favor (I think, check my logic):

1. The "thin" part of the bracket is only going to be loaded when the axle is drooped-out and pulling down... this would only happen when I was airborne, etc. The use of limit straps should help to keep the loads from pulling the strut out of those bracket holes.

2. The DOM slugs I'm using are going to be fully perimeter-welded (inside and outside) so even though the material at the bottom of the bracket is thin, in reality the strut is being hung there by the DOM sleeves themselves which are fully integrated into the beefier sections of the bracket.


That's my theory anyway.


-G

 

[Greg72]

Might need to take a scoop out of the mounting box for the strut. It looks close. Of course pics can be deceiving but like ya said stuff starts to move quicker the more droop you get

You may have misspoken about the strut hole, but you NAILED this one!!!

Yep, the chrome totally hit on the inside edge of the lower mounting bracket on the drooping side! What's funny is that I moved the Schrader valve out of that area (rotated it to face the tire side instead) so that I could beef up the bracket right in that spot, and it turns out that I had to make almost the exact same relief-cut for strut clearance anyway.


-G

 

[Greg72]

2015.06.03 - UPDATE! - THE WHOLE ENCHILADA !!!!

I did it!!!!

The 16" Full Bump/Full Droop was achieved last night with a little bit of clearancing around the lower strut hanger pocket!!!

I had to jack the truck up into the air and support it with jackstands to get enough droop to get the photos. With both tires mounted, I don't think my garage is tall enough to even flex this truck out now!!!


No Pics No Proof...

....and from another angle:

One of the things I was really concerned about during the last few weeks was whether I'd have enough clearance between the tire and the strut body under full bump/full droop scenarios. I was also nervous to find out if the massive frame modifications were going to be enough to keep the upper link mounts away from the frame when the axle was laying WAAAY over at an angle.

Last night I was able to finally take a big sigh of relief.

Rear view of "Full Bump" Side:

Different angle of the same area (From Above):

....and it was hard to really capture the effect in a photo, but the tire is ridiculously "kicked out" at a crazy angle under this full bump/droop combination. This is the best pic I have to show it..... the effect in person is really wild to look at!

I still have a LOT of cycling tests to do at some of the more "intermediate" positions, but I feel VERY confident that with the clearances I've got now there won't be any unresolvable clearance issues. Then I can burn-in all of those tack welds and pressurize the ORIs for good and this truck will FINALLY be sitting on it's own "springs" and under it's own weight (with no tricks like I did last fall) for the first time since about 2008.


-G

 

[chevyfumes]

Looks good.

 

[colbystephens]

Then I can burn-in all of those tack welds and pressurize the ORIs for good and this truck will FINALLY be sitting on it's own "springs" and under it's own weight (with no tricks like I did last fall) for the first time since about 2008.


-G

That'll be a VERY satisfying milestone. I'll do a west-coast toast over a glass of bourbon for ya when it happens.

 

[sreidmx]

Wow that's some flex! I get what your saying about cycling this 100x more to be sure. What a cool milestone, so are you shooting for bb16?

 

[Greg72]

Wow that's some flex! I get what your saying about cycling this 100x more to be sure. What a cool milestone, so are you shooting for bb16?

If I can get my Edelbrock carb tuned correctly by then..... j/k


BB2018 is my target. There is still an insane amount of work that still needs to be done, and I have no illusions that this truck is even CLOSE to being finished now.


-G

 

[folkenheath]

2015.06.03 - UPDATE! - THE WHOLE ENCHILADA !!!!

-G

Looks awesome Greg, nice work, it's a great feeling of accomplishment when you reach the point where you feel everything cycles the way you hoped it would, because as you found out, it takes quite a few tries to make that happen! nice job!

I do have one question, you probably have a reason, so what is the reason you can't bend the rear tube a little more than 90 degrees so the bottom lands right on the frame in this photo? Is it aesthetics?