'85 M1009 - The "Escalade"

[Lotsa_Faith]

I bought this truck with the help of my dad when I was 15 years old for $1500 bucks. Mods since then have been a 4" lift, new 355 small block with a cam thats way too big (had a 305 when I bought it), pulled tranny and transfer cases for swap/rebuild, 14 bolt rear axle w/4.10 gears, and diff combos of 33" tires/black wagon wheels over the years. Blew the tranny in 2005, and its pretty much been sitting ever since. Last weekend I was home and began cleaning the storage stuff out of it to pull it out of the parentals garage and get it on a trailer to get it back to San Angelo. Of course, in the middle of all of my thinking of how to get this 2 1/2 ton beast up on the trailer, I failed to even think of getting a new battery and trying to start it and simply drive onto the trailer..... :bang: more on that later....
Pulled out of the garage and ready to be put on the trailer...4" lift and 31" rollers look awesome!

Pulling the front end up with the Hi-lift....took forever and all the tension on those chains made me nervous...

So, I had to go inside and recruit the "little" brothers to come help me out...one is a Junior in hs and is 6'1", 280ish, and the other is a Freshman and 6'1" 195.....pops did a good job working the steering wheel and throwing it into park when we needed a break

Safe and sound in the driveway in Angelo...replaced a rubber fuel line, a little gas and new battery and drove it off the trailer...shoulda thought of that before! 31's on the front and my newly acquired H2 rims with 37" Mud Grapplers...picked up some 37" boggers last weekend that will be going on after I paint the H2's black

Plans for now are:

-14 bolt rear 4.56's and Detroit locker/d44 front 4.56 and a mini spool I bought off of obijuan a while back
-CV driveshaft I somehow found on craigslist for 100 bucks
-Revive the old paint job with some Rustoleum camo rattle cans

At the moment I have the front axle out of it, and today I will be swappin my hubs over to the 44 and installing it, then hopefully doing the rear this weekend if I can get it up into the truck to take it to West TX Offroad to have the perches moved.

Also, have a bunch of parts that need gone if anyones interested...the grapplers, 10 bolt front, 3 15x10 rockcrawler 6 lug rims, 4 15x10 8 lug rockcrawlers, etc

 

[chalet2506]

Are you going to trim up that nice sheetmetal to fit the boggers?

 

[63chevyll]

nice start,

gotta love over cammed small blocks, but does it run good?

 

[Lotsa_Faith]

I don't really want to cut into it much, I'm thinking I'm gonna add zero rates front and rear, that way I can cut less than I'll need to now!

And 63chev, it used to run pretty good, the cam is so big though that It doesnt get enough vaccum for the brakes really so they're kind of hard. Plan on going with something different around summertime possibly.

 

[GMC1977]

Just run a vaccum resivor. I just installed one on my buddies monte carlo not long ago and it made a BIG difference.

 

[Lotsa_Faith]

Good call on the reservoir, I'll have to look into that!

I actually am doing a trade with a guy here in town now that will def work to my advantage - My old 10 bolt front, empty d44 front w/knuckles, and my 14 bolt FF in exchange for him moving my spring perches on the CUCV 14 bolt, helping me swap the rear axles out at his shop, and also gonna go through/tune my motor for me and diagnose the ticking!

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Use the zero rates to move the front axle forward an inch or so. Will help with the rubbing issues against the rear of the wheel well opening.

 

[Lotsa_Faith]

Welp just put the front axle in and noticed my passenger side spring has a leaf broken in the middle and needs to be replaced. Probably gonna go 6" and get a 2" block for the rear. Does anyone know if the Superduty shocks will still work with a 6" lift?

 

[chalet2506]

1st post - looks like the ford shocks have about 6" more travel than a 4" lift chevy shock. I think you'd be fine.

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255835&highlight=super+duty

 

[obijuan]

dang that is nice!!! i really like it!

doesnt that thing have or should have hydroboost brakes?

 

[Lotsa_Faith]

Not sure on the hydroboost Matt, I'm still trying to learn more about this truck...all I cared about in hs was a lift and big tires!

Got some 6" springs and 2" blocks comin on Monday, I ought to go play the lottery bc I keep getting extremely lucky on trade deals and craigslist!

The CV shaft has been lengthened for a lifted truck, so with that combined with the longer pinion on the 14 bolt I'm not worried about fitment issues. I am a little worried about the stock front shaft with 6" of lift, any thoughts?

Also, I had taken out the manual guts in the rear tailgate bc they were binding up IIRC, and replaced them with a power window out of a donor tailgate. Well, that one binds up too, so I need to go back to manual, I'm assuming LMC is the only way to go here? I also need to get the felt for the top of the gate and the runners that go in the top...if LMC's prices are the same that they used to be a few years ago, then I guess I'll just have to get an extra large tub of vasoline before I make the order...

 

[obijuan]

if you make it back down here ill trade you my nice power gate for your 8 lug 15s! lol


my front driveshaft with 6" worked ok when i ground out the stops within the CV. that got me a little bit more angle out of it, and i did not have the tcase lowered.

but when i put the zero rate it wouldnt fit anymore.

alternatively, my k30s shaft barely fits (waaaay extended) with flat front springs and a zero rate 1.5" forward.

 

[Lotsa_Faith]

Lol the 8 lugs are gone now, plus I think I want to go back to manual...makes no sense to put something electronic on a truck that has no a/c, no carpet, vynil seats, and no radio in it!

So I should be alright just by doing that then...I don't really flex at all, truck will be used almost exclusively in mud gettin to duck huntin spots.

 

[Lotsa_Faith]

I've gotten quite a bit done on it the past couple weeks...heres some crappy cell phone pics:
Rims and Boggers painted up ready to go...H2 rims on my '85 K5...I'm formal, but I like to party too.

Front 44 w/4.56 gears/spool cleaned up ready to go in:

d44 in, tires mounted...still need to install new brakelines, and swap rear axle for the one with the detroit in it.

Also had an incident last week where she slipped off the hi lifts while we were taking out the frt axle...nobody hurt besides my buddys knee that got sliced open a little (wouldnt say it was the worst thing that happened to him last week though, since he got married on saturday boy did I get an earful from the fiance!). The front passenger leaf spring did have one of the main leafs cracked though, so now I found some 6" springs for the front and 2" blocks for the rear, so it will be 2" higher than it sits in these pics by next weekend.

 

[NorCal_Chris]

thats why people always say a hi lift isnt for supporting a vehicle , gotta use jackstands. Its too easy for them to walk one way or another and slip off. Im sure there will be like 10 more responses with the same effect lol.

Truck looks good

 

[big dan]

hi-lift

I had a very good friend who was killed by a car that fell on him because he was only using a hi-lift to support it while changing rear springs. He and his brother were very close and his brother was the one that found him. Very sad story.

You should consider yourself lucky that no one was hurt and please do not ever work under a vehicle without proper support.

sweet blazer though. and I love the sound over cammed motors make but not very practical.

 

[Lotsa_Faith]

Yep it could have been worse, it was only lifted about 2" off of the axle, which was sitting on the ground with no wheels on it. Regardless, I'll be using jackstands/2x12's/railroad ties or whatever I need to next time I need to pull an axle out. Luckily, I'll be doing the rear axle at a buddy's shop using his lift!

 

[AJMBLAZER]

thats why people always say a hi lift isnt for supporting a vehicle , gotta use jackstands. Its too easy for them to walk one way or another and slip off. Im sure there will be like 10 more responses with the same effect lol.

Truck looks good

Hilifts suck.

 

[Lotsa_Faith]

they sure do, I'll never use one again unless I'm lifting ONE tire off the ground at a time!

Got out today and painted some of my 14 bolt before it goes under the truck next week. I used one of those cheap Husky hvlp spray guns that came in a kit I got a home depot...impact wrench, air ratchet, air grinder, and the spray gun for 79 bucks. I figure if they are crappy and break, then i have a 3 yr warranty so I can replace them. I was really impressed with the spray gun, it sprayed the black industrial enamel I got from sherwin williams about as evenly as it could be.

Tomorrow I will be painting my front and rear bumpers, grill guard, and the front grill with the tractor paint. Also thinking of painting the H2's with the same paint to give it the more glossy finish. I think that the flat paint job with glossy bumpers and wheels will look pretty good, anybody got any pics of trucks like this?

 

[Lotsa_Faith]

Well as of right now, both axles are in, I just need to redo the rear brakelines, replace front calipers, and bleed them again to get all the air out. Also, need to look at a tune up for the 350 that sat for 5 years, I plan on:

-Replacing spark plugs (AC Delco)
-Plug wires (? Any suggestions?)
-Fuel Filter
-Take off and clean up Holley carb with some carb cleaner

The carb is something I'm having problems deciding what to do with. Should I just replace it with a stock Q jet and have it rebuilt? From what I've read, the stocker will handle angles lots better than my holley, and will still flow more than enough for a small block. Is this what I should do?

Also, as for the e-brake, will my stock cables from my '85 work with a 14 bolt with the big drums out of an m1008? I still have mine hooked up and ziptied to the framerails from my first axle swap...