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

Started out with 2wd TBI350 with SM465 to current 4wd with 454, 700r4, NP241
Overview Gallery Discussion
mrk5 said:
I've been having intermittent trouble with my passenger hub not engaging. Pulled it apart and found this:

20150822_191719.jpg


Broken spring that pushes the inner gear out engage the hub. Luckily I have a replacement you see in the background. I am curious why it broke tho.
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Thats a first for me Scott. Without something pinching that spring. When you clean it up, any chomp marks?
 
Nothing obvious. I'm wondering if it was a snag or just fatigued. When I had it all done I spun the tire and didn't hear anything.
 
Well if it does happen again this will be an interesting conversation
 
I've still gotta pull the hub off to repack the bearings before Blazer Bash. I figured I would take a closer look when I do that. I do have Stage 8 spindle nuts instead of factory so that could be a source of the problem. However they've been in there at least 5 years, so that seems an unlikely source.
 
I'm glad that wasn't the reason for my spring to be broken. That would be a lot more expensive!
 
I finally retired the 8yr-old Doetsch Tech shocks. Haven't had to do anything with them that entire time but the spherical ends are worn out and the mag-chloride has taken its toll on the finish of the bodies. Plus the crewcab is a lighter truck than the K5 I bought the shocks for and I have softer springs.

I pickup a couple Bilstein 7100 remote reservoir shocks, for the front only for now. I went with the heaviest off the shelf valving they have 320/80. Had a hell of a time figuring where to mount the reservoirs.

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Just couldn't seem to get it where I was happy.

Won't have a good chance to really test them out until Blazer Bash.
 
How much travel do those shocks have? Any idea what the overall height they are when extended?
 
GWeakland620 said:
How much travel do those shocks have? Any idea what the overall height they are when extended?
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These are 14" travel, 35.2" long at full extension. I have about 7.5" of shock exposed. That gives me just 6.5" droop which should be enough length with some to spare. I don't need 7.5" up travel because the bump stops only allow about 3". That's where it ended up because the old shocks were 15" travel. I had the compression/extension balance right where I wanted it for those shocks.

I'm a little concerned about not having enough droop travel so I will run a limit strap to be safe for now. Once I get some testing done on the trail or RTI ramp I may redo the axle mounts to shorten the compression travel and gain extension if I'm constantly hitting the limit strap.
 
miniwally said:
You need to adjust your steering stops. Got strike marks on the inside of the axle shaft yoke.

:whistle:
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I'll have to double check that. I feel like if they're just touching enough to scrape paint that's perfect. Need to see if the marks are going deeper than that. I remember spending a lot of time setting those up ahead of time, but that was also with the axle sitting on jack stands. Probably getting some additional push with the weight and "power" of the motor.
 
GWeakland620 said:
What shock setup are you running in the rear?

Do you have 52's up front?
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I have the ORD springs in the front, so they are factory length plus a little due to the lift. They are 4" springs.

The rear has 15" Doetsch shocks like I had in the front.

20130823_143821.jpg


Not the best set up. Would prefer vertical over the axle but I want to keep them out of the bed. I may explore some other options in the future. Ultimately the truck will get air bag assist in the rear, so I think this shock setup will work okay along with bags. It works okay now for that matter. I think I could get some better body roll control if they were vertical tho.

I was originally running the Doetsch shocks with 52" front springs in my K5. You can see my article here: http://coloradok5.com/custom-doetsch-tech-shock-install.shtml Don't follow my example for the shock brackets in that article tho. I ended up needing to modify them to C around the frame after the first set caused cracks around the mounting holes. Either fit them around the frame in a C and/or use a cross bar between the tops. Otherwise they worked great.
 
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mrk5 said:
I'll have to double check that. I feel like if they're just touching enough to scrape paint that's perfect. Need to see if the marks are going deeper than that. I remember spending a lot of time setting those up ahead of time, but that was also with the axle sitting on jack stands. Probably getting some additional push with the weight and "power" of the motor.
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I've found that the stops wear a little bit over time so they allow the strike marks your seeing. I agree that there is touching a tiny bit and then there's breaking sh!t touching.

At one time the front driveshaft of the buggy rubbed on the shirt linkage of the transmission. It only rubbed the paint off, never touched the metal. That was a fun clearance to explain that it was just fine.
 
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