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73 K20....crossmember time

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GWeakland620 said:
Any pictures of the new trim job?
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I worked on it a bit. Its still not perfect but im not done with it yet. Next time i trim the fenders ill just have them water jetted lol.





Still needs to be rounded more at the top but i taper it at the bottom.



I also cut the inner fender some. not sure where to go with it at the moment. Ill either hammer it back and attach it or cut off the lower portion seen here...

 
skunked said:
how did the axle and spring swap go?
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I wish i could say well. As usual im fighting 30 year old hardware. I have the old rear end out and im glad i took it out, I didnt need a socket to get the u bolt nuts off...they were finger tight. :doah:

I then rounded over the fitting on the brake line on the frame which didnt allow me to get it out so i literally had to sawzall the the hard line. So i bent up new hard line which i really need to do over becuase its a bit long.

After i got through that mess i started working on getting the leaf springs out which unbolted easy from the shackle hanger. Then i started unbolting the pivot bolts for the leaf springs and conveniently there stuck in the leaf spring. Ive completely soaked everything in aerokroil with no success. Ive beat, pried and tried every trick in the book. So i took the sawzall to the bolt in between the bushing and the mount. Got one side cut off and the other side wont cut because the metal bushing is spinning around the bolt and i cant get it away from it. So at this point i have 4 hours invested in cutting one leaf spring off.

I have been drilling myself into the ground trying to make this happen and im sort of at my wits end. It doesnt help not having the right equipment either. I really need a welder at the least. Im going to cut the head of the bolt off tonight and whatever else gets in my way. Stuff like this really sets me back. Im hoping to hit this thing with vengence tonight.

Other than that i got nice new brake lines from summit (Earls!) and the axle is prepped/ready to go in. Hopefully ill get through this and get going on my shackle flip. I know once i get all this old bull**** off everything else will go smooth.
 
Those setbacks bring the suck.

Pivot bolt is the front bolt on the rear spring right? Sawzaw should fit in there no? If not cut the bolt head off and get a punch with a BFH. IIRC mine were a bitch too.
 
skunked said:
Those setbacks bring the suck.

Pivot bolt is the front bolt on the rear spring right? Sawzaw should fit in there no? If not cut the bolt head off and get a punch with a BFH. IIRC mine were a bitch too.
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Yeah correct. The metal bushing on that side is acting like a roller so it wont cut and i cant move it. Im cutting the head off for sure. What an adventure. I live for the day when all the hardware is new on this truck. Its easy to bolt stuff up but this crap takes forever. I have to drop the tank for the shackle flip...that should be interesting but luckily i only have a 1/4 tank.
 
wetoolowdingbangow said:
Yeah correct. The metal bushing on that side is acting like a roller so it wont cut and i cant move it. Im cutting the head off for sure. What an adventure. I live for the day when all the hardware is new on this truck. Its easy to bolt stuff up but this crap takes forever. I have to drop the tank for the shackle flip...that should be interesting but luckily i only have a 1/4 tank.
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cut it and beat it with a punch and BFH. That should do the trick.

and I hear ya on the new hardware, it does make things much easier.
 
skunked said:
cut it and beat it with a punch and BFH. That should do the trick.

and I hear ya on the new hardware, it does make things much easier.
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Thats the plan. Hopefully it comes out today. Other than that the plan is to run the junker shocks in the stock position for a few weeks. I want to get this rear end/ brake/ shackle flip thing done for a next weekend (18th) trip to hollister for the day. I think its do-able! Once this axle swap is done i can turn my attention to the much needed hydro assist and sliders.
 
Small update. Im in the middle of the full float swap right now which includes zero rates, 56s, disc brake swap and a shackle flip. Hopefully ill be finished by this weekend.

Got all my brake parts in early this week. Earl makes some pretty nice lines!



K20 front calipers. They were loaded except pads for $35 a piece.



I cut off all the old stuff off my 14 bolt...spring perches and what not.





Primered it up



Slapped paint on it but after it dried you can see theres still a layer of road grime on it. The axle will come back out in few weeks so i said to hell with it. The 56's need to be cleaned up as well but thats happening soon. I used the DIY4x zero rates as opposed to Ez inches and i was a little upset they didnt come with center pins or bolts. Just means i had to source it somewhere else instead of being included like ORD's :confused:



After sawzalling the hard brake line off from rounding over the fittings...i was on my way. I didnt even need a socket to get the u bolt nuts off. They were finger tight at most so id say it was a good time to swap all this old stuff out.





Next i tried to get the leaf spring pivot bolts out which ive mentioned was pure hell so lets just show the damage instead...







This also came in so i need to hurry up and order my ram

 
I'm pretty sure I received center pins with Kert's blocks :dunno:

WFO has them and they're notched which is nice. I actually just ordered 4 yesterday because the threads on mine are fubbard after removing the shims.
http://www.wfoconcepts.com/cr/Center-Pins/3225/4385

Only way to get a good looking paint job on the axle is to strip all that $hit off. Pressure washer, wire wheel, pressure wash again.
 
Aren't loaded calipers supposed to include the pads?

Also why paint the axle before welding on the new perches?
 
Chevy305 said:
Aren't loaded calipers supposed to include the pads?

Also why paint the axle before welding on the new perches?
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It's weird because some sites say loaded means with pads and other say unloaded doesn't come with the springs and bolts. I suppose there half loaded lol.

I have to put the axle under the truck on its own weight so I just figured I'd blow the paint off with a wheel when I'm ready to bolt it in. I could have waited to paint but didn't see the benefit.
 
skunked said:
I'm pretty sure I received center pins with Kert's blocks :dunno:

WFO has them and they're notched which is nice. I actually just ordered 4 yesterday because the threads on mine are fubbard after removing the shims.
http://www.wfoconcepts.com/cr/Center-Pins/3225/4385

Only way to get a good looking paint job on the axle is to strip all that $hit off. Pressure washer, wire wheel, pressure wash again.
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Yeah I didn't get anything. Hell I even requested a sticker and didn't get that.

Exactly. I know at some point this thing will get a locker, anti wrap and new shock mounts so it will be out again.
 
wetoolowdingbangow said:
Yeah I didn't get anything. Hell I even requested a sticker and didn't get that.

Exactly. I know at some point this thing will get a locker, anti wrap and new shock mounts so it will be out again.
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I think you order got messed up. I have a stack of stickers if you want some :D
 
skunked said:
I think you order got messed up. I have a stack of stickers if you want some :D
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I think so! Maybe i should call...

Ill take some stickers! lol

Im actually hunting around for someone to make a sticker 3 feet long for me. I live near Berkeley so the sticker i plan on putting on the tail gate will say: This machine kills hippies :thumb:
 
wetoolowdingbangow said:
I think so! Maybe i should call...

Ill take some stickers! lol

Im actually hunting around for someone to make a sticker 3 feet long for me. I live near Berkeley so the sticker i plan on putting on the tail gate will say: This machine kills hippies :thumb:
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I'd be worried about some wacko slashing your puurdy new tires though. I can't stand that area.
 
wetoolowdingbangow said:
I live near Berkeley so the sticker i plan on putting on the tail gate will say: This machine kills hippies :thumb:
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skunked said:
I'd be worried about some wacko slashing your puurdy new tires though. I can't stand that area.
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Do people in Berkeley even carry knives?

I have a license plate cover that reads "HIPPIE STOMPER", its going on the Burb when it gets going. We could roll together up to the new hipster place of choice park on either side of the Prius, get out, cut a tree down, let out a rebel yell and drink a beer on the hood. Should be fun.
 
Nope. I got pulled over once in Berkeley and a pocket knife is treated similarly to a RPG.

Im ready when you are! Yeah "peoples park" is an excellent choice for that, its the only place you can find hypodermic needles in the kids sand box.

Ive been thinking about getting into the diesel game so i can puff some smoke at the billy goat smelling hippies.

On a side note i got the other leaf spring off! Now i need to read up on how to lower the gas tank so i can get the shackle flip bolted on.
 
dremu said:
Scrap lumber and a jack. I love my ATV jack for this

http://www.harborfreight.com/1500-lb-capacity-atvmotorcycle-lift-61632.html

as it has a flat lifting surface, as opposed to trying to balance the tank on a bottle jack.

-- A
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Oh yeah thats a pretty good way of doing that! luckily my tank is near empty so i wont have to fight too much slosh force. I guess its just a few bolts and it comes down?

Im not sure what to do about the sender with the hard lines on it though. Dont want to break anything.
 
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