'89 R3500 Crew Cab 2wd to 4wd conversion & beyond

[454Sub]

Thinking out loud, but I doubt you will remove that crossbar much, and mounting the rezzy to it does seem like a good idea, but when you do go to remove it, thats just one more thing you have to do. I know, lazy, but any event I see that being removed, I doubt your going to be in a sort of mood to fiddle with other stuff. As manifold leaks, valve cover leaks, pushrod/lifter issues, ect all bring the suck. But, Im just being lazy out loud.

 

[mrk5]

I actually have thought about that. Really I need to get my pump in there and see if it'll all line up right and it may not work out any way. My other thought was a bracket off the intake or exhaust manifold.

 

[454Sub]

I ran mine to the core support on the side of the radiator. I used above ground clear pool hose so I don't even have to open the cap to see fluid levels. Works great, and doesn't look terrible either.

 

[mrk5]

I had a wider radiator in the General. It was the type used for the diesels. So it wouldn't give me a place to mount off the core support. I'm leaning towards putting the same radiator in the crew cab because it's new and I have no idea the condition of the one in there now.

In the General it was mounted with a bracket off the brake booster. It was border line too far away, so I'm trying to improve that. I have a PSC pump and they recommend having less than 18" between reservoir & pump.

 

[454Sub]

Mine is mounted just to the driverside of the radiator. I use a large by huge 4 core in mine. Its right above the charcoal canistor. Im guessing, but I think I have maybe 12in of hose, give or take a bit. But, if your radiator is bigger than that yours isnt messing around. I cant remember what mine is for anymore, I just remember asking for the biggest one they offer and I had to custom hammer the mounts to get it to fit. Sure made the windstar fan install a PITA as I had to flip them upside down to clear the belt and whatnot.

This year Im doing a 3 link with coilovers when I add my doubler and Dana 60 and I too am planning on building a similar crossbar thing. My frame has flex like a slinky.

 

[mrk5]

The diesel radiators are actually about 6" wider, not necessarily thicker. If you look at your core support and the spot where the bracket bolts to the core support up top on the driver side, about 6" to the right is another pair of mounting holes, that's where the bracket goes for the diesel radiator.

 

[mrk5]

Did some minor work this weekend. Installed a new steering wheel:

I like the smaller diameter steering wheels. Ran one for years in the General, but I wanted to do the wood rim this time so I splurged a little.

I also went to the pick-n-pull on my usual treasure hunt. Found a burb with perfect, blue interior. That's the direction I'm heading with the crewcab. I pulled the entire passenger side rear door. The one in the crewcab was missing the door panel and some of the door lock linkage. Decided it would be easier to just install a new door.

This is an example of the state of the interior in the crewcab as I got it.

I also pulled the other 3 door panels. The only "bad" thing thing is that apparently the previous owner of the burb loved Armor All. Damn those panels are like covered in very slick slime.

I also pulled a rear sliding window, but didn't get that installed. The windshield needs replaced yet. I'm going to pull the glass and then paint the interior of the cab all white.

I also started working on the rear bumper. We plan to pull a small camper trailer plus the occasional utility trailer. So I need to have a hitch. I tried to sell the one that came on the truck, but decided I could just as easily modify it. I wanted to move the receiver up and in.

I started out thinking I would go to a lot of work modifying the existing side brackets. Then it occurred to me it would be simpler to just drill new mounting holes for the cross bar.

I marked out the mounting holes where I wanted them. Then bolted the brackets together and drilled both at the same time so the holes would line up.

When I was cleaning the hitch up, I found this:

I guess I broke the rules. (look at the warning at the bottom of the label)

Here you can see the difference in the locations for the cross bar.

I cut the ends off the bracket that were sticking out past the cross bar. And painted it.

I left the parts of the bracket hanging down below the cross bar for now. I'm kinda thinking I may use them to tie together with the bumper. Or I may just cut them down after the fact.

 

[mrk5]

Need some help/opinions on how to mount my rear shocks. My original plan was to mount them angle off the front of the axle similar to what ORD did with their suburban.

My 2 goals are to not penetrate the bed and to put the shocks in their most effective position.

In order to mount them like the pictures above I was going to put the axle tabs perpendicular to the axle but I realized there's a problem with that. I have this style of shock eye:

That spherical rod end will allow at most 15° angle. I ran the truck up the RTI ramp and figured out the axle ends up at nearly 30°.

So that means I would need to figure out how to mount the tabs parallel to the axle. But rotated down on the front of the axle to allow the shock to angle forward. Visualizing this in my head the axle tabs seem very complicated I'm I'm not certain I wouldn't still have trouble with the angle at the rod end as the axle articulates.

So the only alternatives I see are to compromise on my goals. Run the shocks straight up into the bed like I did on the K5 with the same mounting tabs I had on the spring plates. Advantage being that the shocks are mounted in their most effective position. Disadvantage is that I can't load a sheet of plywood or other 4'x8' material.

Or I could inboard the shocks which would allow me to keep the bed space clear. The down side is the shocks wouldn't be mounted in their optimal position.

For reference here's what the outer part of the rear axle looks like.

Yeah I know, holy lift block Batman. Future project like in a year or two will be to drop the 2wd hangers down to the 4wd hanger position and loose the block. But for now I have to settle for a more cost and time effective method of achieving nearly 9" of lift (4" lift springs and 5" blocks).

Anyway, I would appreciate ideas and/or feedback. Maybe I'm missing something obvious on mounting these shocks.

 

[Babaganoosh]

Cantilever shock setup, if and when I put the matching pair of springs in the rear this is what I'm doing.

 

[mrk5]

Interesting thought, I wonder if that is possible with these shocks. Meaning space wise as they are 20.5" fully compressed.

Since it's something you are looking at, do you have some good reference links?

 

[Babaganoosh]

I'll have to check my computer when I get home. You would end up with around 40 inches of shock travel lol

 

[mrk5]

Just figured out a negative tho, I'm 90% certain the paperwork for the Doetsch shocks says they have to be mounted vertically.

 

[Kay86K5]

For some reason I have not looked at your thread in a while (darn house projects keeping me too busy). Looking great Scott! You have made really good progress. I need to get up there and see it in person again. It's a little different now than the last time I was up there .

 

[mrk5]

Thanks. I was just thinking about trying to get the springs down to you after my vacation. I would love to be able to drive the crewcab down there.

I do think it's funny that's still not a 4wd yet. You'd think that would be a bit higher on the priority list.

 

[blazinzuk]

So with misalignments it will still only be 15*?

I mean realistically no matter where you mount them or how you mount them you will have to tilt the shock. Inboard affects the shock more cause you usually mount the shock way closer to the center of the axle.

More effective to tilt them forwards or backwards. Now in tilting them forwards or backwards you still lose effectiveness.

The real question is are those shocks revalveable? If so mounting position is less important because you can dial in more shock when needed.

If not then it may time to custom machine some super high clearance misalignments, mounted in a really wide shock eye. It also might be usefull to ( cover your ears) limit your travel to put your shock in the best position.

I don't like shocks in front of the axle. IMHO they get beat up. I had shocks mounted something similar to ORDs setup there for a while and I pitting a shock shaft in a single summer of wheeling. I was doing a ton of dunes and just general exploring that year so I put a ton of miles on dirt roads.

Would it be possible to limit up travel enough in the back to maintain a comfortable ride and allow you to mount the shock straight up and down?

 

[Kay86K5]

Thanks. I was just thinking about trying to get the springs down to you after my vacation. I would love to be able to drive the crewcab down there.

I do think it's funny that's still not a 4wd yet. You'd think that would be a bit higher on the priority list.

Haha, its all good. It's about having progress in the right direction with these things right

Just let me know what you are thinking with the springs. I pm'd you this morning too. We will be in contact

Keep it up!!

 

[mrk5]

So with misalignments it will still only be 15*?

I mean realistically no matter where you mount them or how you mount them you will have to tilt the shock. Inboard affects the shock more cause you usually mount the shock way closer to the center of the axle.

More effective to tilt them forwards or backwards. Now in tilting them forwards or backwards you still lose effectiveness.

The real question is are those shocks revalveable? If so mounting position is less important because you can dial in more shock when needed.

If not then it may time to custom machine some super high clearance misalignments, mounted in a really wide shock eye. It also might be usefull to ( cover your ears) limit your travel to put your shock in the best position.

I don't like shocks in front of the axle. IMHO they get beat up. I had shocks mounted something similar to ORDs setup there for a while and I pitting a shock shaft in a single summer of wheeling. I was doing a ton of dunes and just general exploring that year so I put a ton of miles on dirt roads.

Would it be possible to limit up travel enough in the back to maintain a comfortable ride and allow you to mount the shock straight up and down?

They are revalveable. Yes it would suck to have them get pitted up now after 7yrs of no damage.

Unfortunately high clearance misalignment spacers won't help. The angle is being limited by the rod end itself. I'll take a picture that may help illustrate better. It is the outside diameter of the "sphere" and size of the shock end piece that are limiting the angle.

As much as I hate to spend the money I may be better buying new, shorter shocks. I don't need 14" of travel for sure. Heck, on the RTI with the front fully articulated the rear spring is barely compressing. I have a feeling ride quality in the rear is going motivate me to do something about the blocks sooner rather than later. Might be just as well off to buy some standard shocks for 6" lift to run for now.

 

[blazinzuk]

Might be one of those things where it would be best to run a normal shock for now until you can get exactly what you want.

I never really thought about shocks alot until about 4 or 5 years ago. Now I think shocks are probably the most overlooked item on a truck build.

 

[y5mgisi]

I agree with the "for now" shock idea.

 

[mrk5]

Yeah I'm kinda all about just getting it on the road and the dirt to enjoy the summer. I have years ahead to perfect things.