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'83 K5 6.2L Diesel 64" rear springs. 3/4 ton axles. rear discs. Boring but works!

Overview Gallery Discussion
In general "wheel travel" is measured straight up and down or from full droop to full stuff. Think about desert guys jumping a truck and taking it from full droop in the air to full bottom out on a landing. There really isn't a good measurement for "flex" or articulation but I can see from the pics the front is pretty stiff and the rear is moving pretty good.
Other than continuing to address durability concerns, I'd say a Grizzly/Detroit should be your next addition. Bumpers come up pretty quick right after that as well as the front springs to get it riding better. Seems like it never ends but there's lots to do with the truck at every stage.

I'm sure I was the guy you talked to at the show. I'm glad to see it's working good for you. There are a lot of myths about springs and shackles and I like helping people avoid the big money and performance sucking holes.
 
That looks like a nice rig, I really like the proportions. good job man.

Edit: Noticed you said those fronts are new? What are they? I bet when the break in they will loosen up..
 
Stephen said:
In general "wheel travel" is measured straight up and down or from full droop to full stuff. Think about desert guys jumping a truck and taking it from full droop in the air to full bottom out on a landing. There really isn't a good measurement for "flex" or articulation but I can see from the pics the front is pretty stiff and the rear is moving pretty good.
Other than continuing to address durability concerns, I'd say a Grizzly/Detroit should be your next addition. Bumpers come up pretty quick right after that as well as the front springs to get it riding better. Seems like it never ends but there's lots to do with the truck at every stage.

I'm sure I was the guy you talked to at the show. I'm glad to see it's working good for you. There are a lot of myths about springs and shackles and I like helping people avoid the big money and performance sucking holes.
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Yeah I was pretty much trying to get some travel measurements so I can get rear shock mounts fabbed up and also some bumpstops. I will take it to work and use the forklift to flex it for final fitment when I build my rear mounts. Bumpers will come next so I can get it inspected and registered. I really appreciate the advice from someone as well known in the industry as you. I really like the products you sell and will definitely be using more of them.
 
sreidmx said:
That looks like a nice rig, I really like the proportions. good job man.

Edit: Noticed you said those fronts are new? What are they? I bet when the break in they will loosen up..
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Thanks i love square body chevys. It needs to have some rake to it though. The tires are only on 7" wide wheels but i plan on doing some diy style beadlocks to widen them out and prob rear 1 1/2" wheel spacers to get rear track width to match the front. Fronts are 6" lift tuff country ez ride for a '69 3/4 ton suburban. They only have 3 leaves I believe. They are also shorter than 73-91 front springs but will work for now to get me going.
 
Oh now I get the comment about longer springs. Good thing you moved the shackle forward some to adjust for it.
 
sreidmx said:
Oh now I get the comment about longer springs. Good thing you moved the shackle forward some to adjust for it.
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Yeah I went off a 52" spring swap tech article for reference on moving the shackle hanger so that in the future if I do a 52" spring swap I have that part done.
http://coloradok5.com/52inchspringswap.shtml
intro.jpg

rearhanger_boltedon.jpg
 
Alright, so here's the build plan for now.
Not so distant future(before spring hits)
-Fab some rear shock mounts. Going to outboard them as far as possible for stability and better ride. Either off the u-bolt plate or if I can fit them I'll do the lower tabs between the spring and brakes. Uppers will be homemade shock towers on the outside of the frame going through the floor behind the rear seat. I have some 12" travel shocks. I will close them in so I can limit dust and exh fumes in the cab. Need to do some more measuring and stuff.
-Fab bump stop mounts for the rear. I have 4 1/2" poly bump stops from Energy Suspension.
-Install longer front bump stops. I've got some rear ones off an '06 F550 I think will work.
-Install an adjustable proportioning valve in rear brake circuit to get them dialed in.
-The exh dumps right in front of rear axle currently with no mufflers so it's way loud and stinky. For now I plan on getting a Summit Racing exh builder kit and fabbing my own 2 into 1 setup and running it out the pass rear.
-Do something about bumpers, cracked windshield, and other safety inspection/maintenance items so I can register it and start using it as my daily driver.
-Turn it into a six seater.
 
blazinzuk said:
My brother in law did years ago. Seat swaps are easy in blazers flat floor and stuff
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Yeah I didn't figure it would be too hard. I just need to get that extra third seat in front but I also want a seat that allows easy access to the back seat for doing up car seats. I figured those 60/40 extended cab seats would be good because they have to go forward for access to the back seats on those trucks. I haven't looked at very many of them and wasn't sure how they would work. It seems lots of people just throw in some better/newer buckets and just deal with climbing in the back seat. I may be able to just add the center jump seat part from a '99 and newer chevy truck with that option and keep my buckets for the flip forward pass seat.
 
Truckman4life said:
Has anyone out there swapped in a 60/40 front seat setup from an 88-98ish extended cab truck?
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I have. It was a very straight-forward swap. No modifying brackets, I simply drilled new holes in the floor (I did get to reuse one hole on the driver's side).

It's worth noting that my truck hasn't been on the road since then, and I have removed the 60% seat for ease of access to the tranny tunnel. And though I drilled the hole for the center seat belt, it still hasn't been installed. But I could go set it back in place and grab some pictures if you would like some.
 
And nice rig. This is pretty close to what my CUCV is turning into. Though I haven't decided what (if anything) I'm doing to the suspension yet. :thinking:

Also, the Goodwrench sticker on your engine indicates that you have a crate engine in there (not original). FWIW. :dunno:
 
campfire said:
And nice rig. This is pretty close to what my CUCV is turning into. Though I haven't decided what (if anything) I'm doing to the suspension yet. :thinking:

Also, the Goodwrench sticker on your engine indicates that you have a crate engine in there (not original). FWIW. :dunno:
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Cool good to know about the engine. I have a turbo 6.5l with mechanical injection pump i will eventually be rebuilding to go in the truck someday. Does the 60/40 bench offer decent access to the rear seat?
 
Truckman4life said:
Cool good to know about the engine. I have a turbo 6.5l with mechanical injection pump i will eventually be rebuilding to go in the truck someday. Does the 60/40 bench offer decent access to the rear seat?
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Remember that my rig has been off the road since before I did the seat swap. So my data consists of crawling around the truck fixing things (and the occasional trip around the yard). If you're used to pulling the seat forward and crawling behind it, the 60/40 is no worse. I consider it cramped for getting a big person back there, but I think that's SOP for a K5.

One thing I wish I had done is getting a set of seats that tilted back. Mine only tilt forward, so there is no reclining on long road trips.

My set came from a long-cab GMT400 truck, so I also have the rear seat (miniature bench that flips up and down). I was originally thinking I could use it in the rear, but it's full-width and won't fit between the wheel wells. There is actually room to mount it in the back if you wanted a 3-seat K5. But then you're down to just about zero cargo space. :dunno:
 
campfire said:
Remember that my rig has been off the road since before I did the seat swap. So my data consists of crawling around the truck fixing things (and the occasional trip around the yard). If you're used to pulling the seat forward and crawling behind it, the 60/40 is no worse. I consider it cramped for getting a big person back there, but I think that's SOP for a K5.

One thing I wish I had done is getting a set of seats that tilted back. Mine only tilt forward, so there is no reclining on long road trips.

My set came from a long-cab GMT400 truck, so I also have the rear seat (miniature bench that flips up and down). I was originally thinking I could use it in the rear, but it's full-width and won't fit between the wheel wells. There is actually room to mount it in the back if you wanted a 3-seat K5. But then you're down to just about zero cargo space. :dunno:
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Thanks for the info. Mines been off the road since I bought it in '07 just recently taking the kids on a few little test drives so not really used to the factory setup either. I guess I will be doing some more research and a little junkyard digging to find out what to run.
 
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