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

[mrk5]

rear suspension/axle

I decided on a simple solution for the rear suspension to compensate for the shorter spring hangers. Instead of messing with brackets I'm just going to run lift blocks with the 4" lift springs I picked up a couple of months ago. That's not to say I don't want to redo the brackets but at this point I want to get the truck on the road and do some trail running before Blazer Bash. I reminded myself I don't have to do 10yrs of building/modifying in 4 months. I can save some projects for down the road.

I started out with cutting unwanted brackets off the axle from the General.

The middle bracket was for a limit strap that I haven't needed for a couple of years now since I did the SYE. the bracket on the axle tube was for a traction bar. I'm planning to run DIY4x's Wraptor setup.

Pulled out the axle that was in the '89.

And removed all of the suspension stuff.

Not to mention the twisted up bumper and the tow hitch. The bumper was only held on with 2 bolts. There were supposed to be 4, but one side was missing the second bolt entirely and the second bolt on the opposite side was complete loose.

Something that has come up a few times now, several things would have been easier if I had already installed the 1" body lift. This time it was accessing the nut on the front spring bolt. It takes a 7/8" wrench which was just a bit too long to fit under the bed. I had to buy a cheap wrench and cut the box end off.

The 'new' lift springs had degree shims, but I didn't need them because the lift blocks I got are tapered.

Trick I learned in the Navy; if you need to clamp down on something smooth, used sandpaper under the the vice grip jaws so you done mar up the surface. Plus you don't need to put them on especially tight because the sandpaper helps the vice grips grip.

In the end, this is all the further I got come about 11pm.

First the new spring eye bolts I got were about 1/2" too short; that's what I get for guessing. Second, the new ubolts I had made at the local shop were bent with too small a radius. I should have checked them closer. So I wasn't able to bolt the axle in. Frustrating to be so close but not quite able to finish.

 

[kgblazerfive]

wack the ubolts on the floor on the bend it will open them up a bit. Unless they bent like 2.5 and you need 3.5

 

[mrk5]

I didn't put a tape measure on them but relative to the original they are a good 1/2" off. A tried using a c-clamp to fix them but it was too far to go.

 

[sweetk30]

3 3/8 round tube for 14ff ubolts.

if legs only are to tight then yes wack the bent end hard to open them up .

 

[mrk5]

No its the U part. By the time you get them on far enough for the spring plates the top is spread about 4.5" apart.

 

[sweetk30]

yep bent wrong size.

 

[mrk5]

At least you confirmed for me I had it right. My father-in-law picked them up for me and I just gave him a drawing for them to use. I had 3-3/8" on the inside diameter and I was afraid I gave them the wrong size. I will have to get an exact measurement when I get back to the shop tomorrow to see how far off they are. I haven't had them screw up before so I'm not sure how good they'll be about it. I hope they don't try and put it off on me.

 

[mrk5]

It was warm enough today for the service trucks to go out and work so I was able to get a full side picture with the suspension all installed.

This is not actual ride height yet. I've got a 1" body lift to install and the height of the jackstands is set for 31" tires not the 37's that will be on there.

I took some pictures of the rear spring hangers for reference in regards to the difference in 2wd vs 4wd.

These are the front hanger:

I have a regular cab K30 also. The rear hangers have been removed for a shackle flip, but here's a pic of the front hanger to compare to the above photos:

These are the factory rear hangers on the 2wd:

You will remember I couldn't finish the rear axle install this weekend because of the wrong bolts. The problems with the ubolts did not end there. So the first set was bent on too small of a diameter. The next attempt I ended up with 2 that were just right and then 2 that were 9/16" instead of 5/8". So on the third trip I finally had 4 ubolts made the way I asked. Now the real comedy of the deal is that I probably had them made too long! It looks like by the time I put the full 150ft-lbs of torque on them I'm going to run out of thread. So I decided the easiest, cheapest fix was to get a 5/8"-18 NF die for $6. I'll cut about another 1" of threads on the ubolts. Good grief, who'd of thought it would be this difficult.:damnit:

For future reference the spring eye and shackle eye bolts were all 9/16"x4.5". I replaced all of them with grade 8 bolts and pinch-lock, all-metal lock nuts. FYI total cost on the 6 bolts, 6 nuts, and 12 washers was $9.60 from a local supply place.

 

[cybrfire]

If they are a rolled thread, that probably won't work very well for you. Watch out for that. If you are that close, there are other ways to correct the situation.

 

[mrk5]

Yeah they are. Didn't know that's what it's called but the threaded area is a little bit larger diameter than the unthreaded portion. I ended up okay. I had just like one thread below the plate; just enough to catch with my fingernail.

I didn't have a stupid handle for a 1.5" round die anyway.

 

[82355]

I usually use a socket instead of the handle, but my large dies are Matco, and they are hex shaped instead of round.

Martin

 

[mrk5]

If I would have been thinking I would have gotten a hex shaped die. I thought the exact same thing, I could have used a socket.

 

[mrk5]

I didn't get as much done this weekend as I would have liked. Damn brake lines enough to piss off the pope!

I did get all of the suspension and ubolts torqued down. Looks like the factory rear driveshaft will have plenty length to work until I get the trans and tcase in. Cut the 1350 yoke off the axle end so I can weld on at 1410 version.

Of course then I realize this shaft is 3.5" not the 3" I thought it would be. So my weld-yoke isn't the right size.

Got the rear calipers bolted back on so I could route the brakelines on the axle. I've learned to take a little more time and actually grease the bolt and spacer like you're supposed to. I've had a caliper lockup because I didn't.

Grease goes on the end of the bolt where it penetrates the other side of the caliper, too.

I also learned a lesson on one of my other trucks, not to just let the brakeline "hang out" without support. The line flopped around enough that it eventually cracked and started leaking. So I tapped a hole in perch to bolt down a clamp for the line.

You can see in the first picture it was a bit of a pain. There's a broken tap in the hole next to the one with the full tap in. I also broke a bit in the other side.

That's all the further I got. I started trying to crack the brake lines loose from the old stuff. I didn't have any damn luck. Every time I have to mess with brake lines it's like no wrench fits the flare nut just right and rounds it off. I tried spraying them down with penetrating fluid. The front lines were pretty caked with grime, so the fluid may not have gotten through where it needed to be.

Do tubing wrenches help that much? What damn size would the flare nuts be on an '89. Seemed like 7/16" fit best but still rounded off. Even tried some metric sizes. I hate putting vice grips on these because then they really get messed up.

Is it possible to cut the existing end off and splice in a new one with compression fittings or something similar?

 

[y5mgisi]

Tubing wrenches work really well! Without them it's usually vice grips for me which isa not cool.

 

[dremu]

Second heartfelt YES for flare nut wrenches, tube wrenches, whatever you call the 4.25-sided variety (sample pic of the teh interwebs)

These things geeently grab the nuts and apply enough force to pop them loose without crapping up the sides like a regular, two-sided wrench will.

I just have Craftsman sets of SAE and metric, and they've done me well.

-- A

 

[mrk5]

I may give those a try then. I've been thinking about getting one for my power steering lines which would be 16mm + 18mm. Am I correct about these being 7/16" flare nuts on the bake lines? I thought they might be metric but they seemed further off than the 7/16" was.

 

[dremu]

I may give those a try then. I've been thinking about getting one for my power steering lines which would be 16mm + 18mm. Am I correct about these being 7/16" flare nuts on the bake lines? I thought they might be metric but they seemed further off than the 7/16" was.

I've been able to do the power steering lines with the regular wrenches. I find it's just the smaller sizes that give me grief.

My sets have four wrenches, i.e. eight sizes ... huh, how about this?

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-9-pc...ockType=G1&PDP_REDIRECT=false&s_tnt=39869:4:0

That should cover the bases, both SAE and metric. (Though they won't do the PS lines, again, I find the regular wrenches do those just fine.)

Harbor Freight has sets that go smaller (to 1/4" instead of 3/8", 6mm instead of 9mm) but they just look ... cheap.

As for sizing, I seem to recall 3/8" heads on the 3/16" brake line for the rears. Front might be 7/16" on 1/4" line. Later trucks may use metric; I seem to remember one set of calipers having 10mm bleeders, for instance, but dang if I can remember which truck. Anyway, IMO, for forty bucks, get the set and you're covered... but then I'm a tool whore

-- A

 

[mrk5]

I have a hard time passing up an opportunity to buy tools, so I did buy an SAE set. And as I mentioned the power steering fittings (every time I mess with them I wish I had a flare nut wrench for them) I also purchased a single metric 16mm/18mm wrench for that purpose as well. The local supplier we use sells SK as their premium brand so that's what I got.

The flare nut wrenches made a big difference. Where I thought the nut seemed to be 7/16" with regular open end wrench (no metric size fit correctly) the 3/8" flare nut wrench fit perfectly.

Here is what the front brake line setup looks like:

Didn't think to get a picture of the line outside the frame. This is the best I can find cropping another photo.

I cut the brake hose back far enough to allow a deep socket to engage the flats on the portion of the hose protruding outside the frame. I left the flare nut wrench on the line inside the frame and hit the socket with the impact.

Unfortunately the other side (the one pictured) is still going to be a fight because the flare nut got rounded off a little with the open end wrench. It's rounded off enough I couldn't get the flare nut wrench on it. I'm hoping I can use a hammer to get it on and in the process restore the flats on the flare nut a little.

 

[dremu]

Unfortunately the other side (the one pictured) is still going to be a fight because the flare nut got rounded off a little with the open end wrench. It's rounded off enough I couldn't get the flare nut wrench on it. I'm hoping I can use a hammer to get it on and in the process restore the flats on the flare nut a little.

Maybe hit the offending nut with a file too, to put the head back to hex-ish so you can get the wrench on?

I know that these ideas are always easier than reality 'cuz getting a tool in there is invariably a PITA

-- A

 

[mrk5]

I think I can get a small file on it. The 2wd has a much deeper frame which adds to the difficulty of course.