98 k2500. SAS'd and bobbed.

[4door99]

Thanks. The terminals are super cheap to buy and easy to re pin the connector. The connectors aren’t expensive either but the junk yard is cheaper.


Today progress was made. Shock towers are done. Brake line tabs are done, and the front crossmember has been clearances so the springs don’t hit when they compress. I remembered I had some GM bumpstops on the shelf so I figured I would use those. they are for the rear of a gmt800 truck and are super cheap to buy. I want to make a 1” tall mount for them. They are 3.5” tall but compress down almost all the way. At ride height I should have 3.5” before I contact them.

View attachment 274514

View attachment 274515

Bump stops are a great idea. I like your shock mounts. Also, the 3/4 ton frame is so much different than my 1/2 ton. You have a lot more clearance for the steering shaft. The 1/2 ton frame is more flat. This is an issue I have now with my Tahoe that I didn’t have with my 3/4 suburban, the steering arm hitting the frame. Bump stops would help but I really need to notch the frame.

 

[GWeakland620]

What travel shock are you running?

 

[TreeFarm]

Bump stops are a great idea. I like your shock mounts. Also, the 3/4 ton frame is so much different than my 1/2 ton. You have a lot more clearance for the steering shaft. The 1/2 ton frame is more flat. This is an issue I have now with my Tahoe that I didn’t have with my 3/4 suburban, the steering arm hitting the frame. Bump stops would help but I really need to notch the frame.

Is there really that much difference? Ive never compared them but considering how light duty these front suspension components are I didn't think there would be much difference. I dont know what drop my pitman arm is, I just reused the one from the other truck. The shock mounts are regular old ford towers I cut down and welded to the top of the frame. Gives me 5.5" of exposed shaft on 12" shocks at ride height.

What travel shock are you running?

12" currently

 

[GWeakland620]

Is there really that much difference? Ive never compared them but considering how light duty these front suspension components are I didn't think there would be much difference. I dont know what drop my pitman arm is, I just reused the one from the other truck. The shock mounts are regular old ford towers I cut down and welded to the top of the frame. Gives me 5.5" of exposed shaft on 12" shocks at ride height.




12" currently

Nice! I'm running 10's on mine, but I don't have as much lift on mine.

Making an order for Alcan front springs hopefully this week, so maybe I can enjoy the Bilsteins like they should be...

 

[TreeFarm]

Nice! I'm running 10's on mine, but I don't have as much lift on mine.

Making an order for Alcan front springs hopefully this week, so maybe I can enjoy the Bilsteins like they should be...

Nice. I’ll have to keep an eye on your thread for those springs. I didn’t mind the ez rides in the other truck so hopefully they will be fine in this one.

I don’t know if I will ever use all of the 12s but they aren’t any more expensive than other shocks. I have some 10” from the old truck I can swap in if need be. Drooping out the front end with just the weight of the axle I have 4” of shaft left in the shock. So with bump stops and the weight of the rig I may get use the rest. It’s all about tire clearance really.

 

[GWeakland620]

Nice. I’ll have to keep an eye on your thread for those springs. I didn’t mind the ez rides in the other truck so hopefully they will be fine in this one.

I don’t know if I will ever use all of the 12s but they aren’t any more expensive than other shocks. I have some 10” from the old truck I can swap in if need be. Drooping out the front end with just the weight of the axle I have 4” of shaft left in the shock. So with bump stops and the weight of the rig I may get use the rest. It’s all about tire clearance really.

I think my EZ ride front springs would have been tolerable if they weren't the HD EZ rides. I should have gone with the lower rated 2" and I thing it would have rode better, but I'm sick of guessing which is why I am going the Alcan route now.

Once those are on, I can mess with bump stops.

 

[TreeFarm]

I think my EZ ride front springs would have been tolerable if they weren't the HD EZ rides. I should have gone with the lower rated 2" and I thing it would have rode better, but I'm sick of guessing which is why I am going the Alcan route now.

Once those are on, I can mess with bump stops.

I kind of wish I would have gone with my gut and gotten 2” springs rather than the 3” ones. They would have been better fit off the green truck and now for this one haha. Oh well I can always buy a pair later if I don’t like it at 3”.

I think I managed to get he thing to sit pretty level with my spring hanger placement on the rear and these 3” springs up front. I have the big leaf pack put back so it’s not like I couldn’t pull a leaf or two to settle the back down a bit if I went to 2” ones up front

 

[TreeFarm]

My paint showed up. FS 30118 field drab canned by Rapco. My original plan was rustoleum Dark taupe but given how annoying it is to get my hands on since it’s only sold at home depot for some reason, my store only ever has 2 or 3 cans in stock. That mixed with that it’s sometimes a pain to get to dry and cure correctly I decided to do something else. Going with a federal standard color means I’ll always be able to get my hands on it down the road, it will dry super hard, be abrasion resistant, and easy to touch up.

I got the idea from a guy I follow on Instagram

 

[Abusfullofnuns]

Alright, i was loosely followimg along, but now I'm subscribing.

 

[TreeFarm]

Alright, i was loosely followimg along, but now I'm subscribing.

Tan/Brown is the best color for trucks. I don’t blame you haha.

I spent the day doing some easy work. I got the AC system built. New condenser, dryer, orifice tube, and some custom hoses. My new condensor doesn’t match the old one. It’s about half as thick, it is the only one I can find though so hopefully it works well. I got to use my new bead lock fitting crimper. Im waiting on some Oil to change out whats left in the compressor. Since most of the system is new I'm going to toss a new charge in the compressor and call it good.

Does anyone know if the brakes from a ribbed 98 14 bolt will work on the earlier model? Both axles are drum behind hub setups. My plan is to toss the rear axle out of my green truck in this one with some new perches. They use different E brake cable setups. I was thinking of just pulling the compete brakes off of the later model axle and putting it on the early axle to save from having to adapt the cable systems together.

Another idea is to just pull the pinion support and carrier out of my early axle and set it up in the late axle. Then I wouldn't have to do perches or brakes, just set up gears...

 

[obijuank5]

Tan is not my first choice but either way it's a nice truck.
I would swap gears way before all that other mess.

 

[TreeFarm]

Tan is not my first choice but either way it's a nice truck.
I would swap gears way before all that other mess.

I just remembered the newer axle has metric studs. so I would still be pulling hubs and swapping studs at the very least.

 

[TreeFarm]

Got the rear axle swapped in last night. Still haven’t burned in the perches yet. I’m waiting on my drive shafts to double check angles before I weld it for good. Ride height is damn near spot on. It’s about 1/2” higher in the rear right now. Toss in a few hundred lbs of fuel and bumper and it should even out nicely. I should be able to pick up my shafts from Tom woods tomorrow.

 

[GWeakland620]

That's looking really good dude!!!

 

[78K30]

Do you find yourself just sitting in the garage staring at it? I would if that was in my driveway!

 

[4door99]

Do you find yourself just sitting in the garage staring at it? I would if that was in my driveway!

I do that with mine! And mine is not near as impressive.

 

[TreeFarm]

That's looking really good dude!!!

Thanks man. Every time I make another big step I get even more motivated to get it done, it just looks so badass

Do you find yourself just sitting in the garage staring at it? I would if that was in my driveway!

Id say its a 3 to 1 ratio. For every 3 hours of work I spend 1 staring at it. Laying on my back admiring its underside, walking around it in circles, sitting in the seat making vroom noises. Considering on average I put about 4 hours into it most days I do a lot of sitting around.

I do that with mine! And mine is not near as impressive.

I don't know if mine is any better, yours looks pretty damn sweet. Plus it drives and wheels.

 

[TreeFarm]

Super productive day today. Spent 8 hours in the garage so far. I managed to roll the truck out, it fits under the door so that’s awesome. I swapped the 98 backing plates onto the rear axle in the truck so I can use the stock e brake cable setup. Pulled the bed off and rolled it back into the garage.

The gas tank is mounted now. The round tube supports the top of the tank and is going to be the upper shock mounts. I also drilled and tapped the axle to put the vent in the tube rather than the hosing. Hopefully that will keep it from puking out the vent on long drives.

 

[TreeFarm]

Oh and I picked up my drive shafts from Tom woods yesterday

 

[skunked]

Gotta love the increased frame width on the GMT400 so you can fit the shocks between the tank and frame.

Truck looks bad ass