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'83 K10 SB "L1TSBFIBBC" build

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Thanks guys. I feel pretty grateful, especially for our precious daughter. I am thankful for everything and definitely don't have anything to complain about. Master cylinder is replaced and bled, ready for the dunes trip.
 
Good to see you're still around, Heath. Congrats on your daughter. Your life will never be the same and they don't stay little long. Take lots of pics and vids. Nice shop. I'm jealous!! :D
 
Thank you. Our new daughter Anna really enjoyed the dunes, as long as you didn't stop! The moment you stopped she would get upset but as long as you were cruising the dunes she was happy! :)

And I had a great time with everyone. I never did get to race Zim like I wanted to, the timing just never worked out, hopefully next time.

The truck ran great the whole time. The funny thing is at the end on sunday afternoon on my last cruise out of the dunes I look down and the engine is at 220, which is abnormal. So I stopped and let it cool at idle and realized that the smaller fan of the windstar dual fans had quit. But I was already out f the sand at that point and once you are on smooth road the single fan would keep up, so I headed home with one fan. This week I'll diagnose whether the fan motor went out or the relay is bad since they both have the same trigger from the EFI (I have one relay for each side).
 
Nice seeing you again heath. I forgot to ask how the Ballistic joints are holding up? They seem to be the best bet without spending major coin on EMF joints.
 
They are holding up fine, I got them because they are adjustable squeeze on the ball with the threaded collar. However, I have never had to adjust them because they are still tight. I would not get them again though, not because they are not good, but because the company itself has such horrible customer service and doesn't care about their customers. Real companies don't charge you weeks before they ship stuff and then tell you its on the way every time you call and then keep a 20% restocking fee when you cancel an order they never had in stock. :shame: So I basically can't stand ballistic fab. I would just get currie johnny joints next time, same thing they just use snap ring instead of a threaded collar and I think they are cheaper, still rebuildable with new inserts as well.
 
I've heard a lot of bad stuff about Ballistic Fab's customer service. I'm surprised they're still in business.
 
folkenheath said:
They are holding up fine, I got them because they are adjustable squeeze on the ball with the threaded collar. However, I have never had to adjust them because they are still tight. I would not get them again though, not because they are not good, but because the company itself has such horrible customer service and doesn't care about their customers. Real companies don't charge you weeks before they ship stuff and then tell you its on the way every time you call and then keep a 20% restocking fee when you cancel an order they never had in stock. :shame: So I basically can't stand ballistic fab. I would just get currie johnny joints next time, same thing they just use snap ring instead of a threaded collar and I think they are cheaper, still rebuildable with new inserts as well.
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Yah thats what would shy me away, its just the adjustably would be nice, but in all reality I would rather give currie my money. I just haven't seen a lot of people running the currie joints on fullsize rigs, mostly jeeps.

Curries are cheaper.
 
jekquistk5 said:
Yah thats what would shy me away, its just the adjustably would be nice, but in all reality I would rather give currie my money. I just haven't seen a lot of people running the currie joints on fullsize rigs, mostly jeeps.

Curries are cheaper.
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I thought I needed the adjustability, but after 3 or 4 years of occasional use they are still tight. So I guess my point is, the curries will probably be fine, and if they get loose after several years, put some new inserts in and they are good as new again. Currie does offer them in 7/8, 1, and 1 1/4" shanks too, so you have strength options.
 
Heath, what are you running for rear springs, how much travel? I will have 14 inches in the front and curious how your leaf springs compare to the front?

Love the bump and shock mounts also, that is what I will probably be planning on. :thumb:
 
Babaganoosh said:
Heath, what are you running for rear springs, how much travel? I will have 14 inches in the front and curious how your leaf springs compare to the front?

Love the bump and shock mounts also, that is what I will probably be planning on. :thumb:
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The rear springs are tuff country 2" lift 52" springs with an ORD 4" shackle flip and longer DIY4x shackles. The shocks are 12" travel FOA remote rezis, I will not buy FOA again because the design is good and the customer service is good but the quality control sucks and they leak, there is a reason they call them "Failed On Arrival".

Anyway, to make a long story short, my rear cannot keep up with the front at all, front is 14" travel and the rear has 12" shocks, but I think the springs only travel about 10". Anyway, small stuff is fine, but any large bumps or whoops and the rear bounces like tigger on winnie the pooh. It's still way better than the stock setup as far as ride goes, but not near as good as the front. Although Wade thinks that's primarily because I don't have any weight back there compared to the front, so maybe it would be better in a blazer.
 
I have a long bed truck and unsure what to do with the rear. I want it to keep up with the front and I want to keep the bed space.
 
"if you try to please everyone, no one will be happy"

Heath, didn't you plan on linking the rear after you bent the frame?
 
How so? I could use some Ord leads and do a cantilever shock setup, or link the back with coils and run the shock in the wheel tubs.
 
Babaganoosh said:
I have a long bed truck and unsure what to do with the rear. I want it to keep up with the front and I want to keep the bed space.
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That's definitely not an easy task.

y5mgisi said:
"if you try to please everyone, no one will be happy"

Heath, didn't you plan on linking the rear after you bent the frame?
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Yes I did plan to link the rear. I had plans to either stick some 18" shocks through the bed or I also had a plan to use a slightly angled 10" shock 1/3 of the way up the lower control arm to gain 50% more travel. It would require a beefy fabbed arm and links though to support the hits. I am not sure what I want to do at this point. Sometimes I love the truck the way it is, sometimes I wish it was a blazer, and sometimes I wish it was a tube chassis buggy. But no matter what I never dislike the big block and lockers. :D

Babaganoosh said:
How so? I could use some Ord leads and do a cantilever shock setup, or link the back with coils and run the shock in the wheel tubs.
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The main problem is weight balance. When I was talking with Wade in how he got his truck to handle so well (aside from the coilovers, bypasses, and air bumps in each corner), he told me he spent considerable effort balancing the weight front/rear. So the only way you are going to do that is to ADD a bunch of weight in the rear when you want to go fast over bumps/jumps. But you have to plan for this then and spring/valve it accordingly. You'd have to bolt the weight in or something. Then if you want to carry a load or work with the truck, remove the weight. So I could even remove the bed floor and go with 18" of travel back there and it would improve it, but it still may not be able to keep up with the front. I'd have to add a lot of weight to the rear, which would slow me down in the sand drags, something I don't like. :D To di it right the whole engine/trans/tcase would have to be shifted back toward the middle of the truck. Also, I have a somewhat lightweight truck with heavy axles. To handle better yet I would need lighter axles (unsprung weight) and a heavier truck. But then I may give up reliability with as much power as my BB has. Everything is a trade-off, everything.

Don't get me wrong, you can make it handle way better than stock leaf springs if you go coilovers and air bumps, but the back may never work as well as the front does with the same setup unless you balance the weight.
 
Very good point I know the rear won't be able to use the full amount of travel..
I just want it smother and be able to soak up the bumps. When I really start to play I'll unload the gear.

Sorry for the hijack
 
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