"Lock Jaw" the 1979 Stepside

[warrpath4x4]

My wife and I sat down over the weekend and went over some planning for the future. Our son is in his freshman year, financially were on track to have everything paid off (except the house) around the time he graduates. Then we plan on moving out of Washington (probably back to Wyoming). The stepside is going to be our main camping, hunting, fishing rig but in the mean time I need to build and clear out some projects, so the suburban is going to be for sale, I have two XJ's to build into one, a samurai to finish, and a CJ6 to build (and keep).

went out the last couple nights after work and pulled the front clip off it.

I started to roll the Dana 60 under it but it was getting dark and dinner was ready. I am just gonna bolt the 60 to the leaf springs that are in it, ratchet strap the 14 bolt to the rear frame so it "rolls" and I can get it back up in front of the shop to be closer to the grinder so I can move the rear leaf spring hangers for the 64's and remove the front spring hangers and body mount for the DIY4X A-Bomb.

 

[warrpath4x4]

went out tonight and rolled the 14 bolt out of the shop, which sounds easy but not when you have to Austin Powers it sideways to get it out the door.

then got the front sitting on the Dana 60

twice the steering boxes means better steering right?

Unfortunately that is probably the last i will work on it this week as tonight is Scouts, tomorrow is theater then Friday after work we go camping.

 

[folkenheath]

twice the steering boxes means better steering right?

Its even better with dual leaf spring clamps.

 

[warrpath4x4]

Well I didn't think I was going to have any time to work on it still this week but ended up with an extra 30 minutes last night so I rolled the 14 bolt out to the truck and got it under and strapped to the frame.

wonder if i can hand crank it lol

I want to say it will steer worse now with half the steering boxes but should steer better with one actually hooked up

I have 2 new (to me) tires coming today, 70% tread government sell offs, they are a different tread but I think better design (BFG Baja TA). One of mine has a really bad wear pattern so I will replace it, I need to find a spare wheel but im not going to use a hummer beadlock as a spare wheel, theres no real reason that the spare has to match the others and no reason to haul that much extra weight.

 

[warrpath4x4]

Weekend plans turned to crap so ended up only camping friday night and coming home saturday. Sunday morning we volunteered as traffic control for a car show, then came home and closed the pool for the season, cleaned the chimney and the stove, and pulled the window A/C units.

Then got the truck moved to in front of the shop

Now I can start removing the fuel tanks, suspension brackets, and rear bumper/hitch that is bolted and welded to the frame. I have a new blazer tank that I am going to install, just need to make sure I can fit it in without interference from the axle housing

 

[warrpath4x4]

Todays update

fuel tanks are out

rear bumper is off

started removing brackets and cutting the welds on the hitch

Originally I was going to put 64" springs and a shackle flip in it but I was looking at it yesterday and want to keep it low, so I think i might go with the 64's but keep the stock bracketry.

and heres the tires, they are in pretty good shape and were cheap but shipping was not.

 

[warrpath4x4]

I need some decision making help. I have 64 inch springs and I have 56 inch springs I can use. I want to try to keep this around a 2-3 inch lift, from what i have read 56 inch will basically keep it about stock but i have some other springs I can mix in to make a bastard pack. Ive read 64 inch springs comes out to about a 4 inch lift which wouldnt be ideal but I can manage. with 56 inch springs I just have to move the rear spring hanger back 4 inches and with 64 inch springs I have to move the front 6 inches and the rear 6 inches (if my thinking is correct) which is going to put my rear hanger at the very end of the frame.

Which might also interfere with moving the rear cross member to put the blazer tank in and interfere with any bumper mounts (which would be custom built anyways)

But I did get the rear hangers removed and the hitch (which ended up bending the bottom of the passenger frame rail removing it)

 

[83ChevyK5Blazer]

I ran 90's f150 2wd springs on my k5, they are 57 inches long and have a good spring rate, and I left the hangers in the stock spot with a shackle flip and 6 inch shackle.

 

[warrpath4x4]

Just a little bit of cleaning last night, sanded the dirt and surface rust off the frame and put some primer down

brushed on some paint, and no I didnt do anything to the inside of the frame rails, I didnt want to mess with the brake lines and wiring.

Then I started changing bushing out in the springs.

 

[warrpath4x4]

The key component to changing leaf spring bushings... a ball joint press. Push the metal sleeve out (which half still had the bolt rusted in it), push, tear the rubber out, and air chisel the outer busing sleeve. Don't get me wrong, it still wasn't easy.

Unfortunately I wont be able to work on anything else till maybe Sunday afternoon or Monday night as the wife and I are headed to Salem Tomorrow after work.

 

[warrpath4x4]

So that took way longer than expected, I bought a bushing kit for the suspension, turns out only 2 bushings in the whole kit were right (and I had to modify those), so I had to order the correct ones and wait.

right now I just have one side of the springs mocked (bracket is clamped on) up as I was deciding if using the old brackets or doing a shackle flip was going to put me where I wanted, its definitely using the original brackets.

 

[warrpath4x4]

went out tonight after work and got the rear shackle mounts bolted on but I still have to add the bracing under the frame, to do that I have to remove the rear crossmember. The crossmember will be moved anyways to run the 31 gallon tank back there.

But its on all four for the first time in at least 8 months

 

[folkenheath]

So that took way longer than expected....

That happens most of the time. It's easy in our heads, but easy doesn't mean quick....

 

[warrpath4x4]

Finally got back out there last night to work on this after being sick for the better part of a week and missing my Veteran Overland Veterans Day camping trip.

After pulling the rear crossmember out I was able to bolt up the shackle hanger bottom support brackets. Now I need to drill the new holes and move the crossmember back further and it will be the rear mount for the gas tank.

I am not sure how much more I will get done on this before the weather really turns for winter. This weekend is camping with scouts, next weekend is a turkey shoot at our local shooting range, then Thanksgiving and we will be into colder and possibly wetter weather and working outside in the dark. Then it will be back to work on the samurai which "fits" in the shop space.

 

[warrpath4x4]

there are already holes on the passenger frame rail that almost all lined up

I was 2 bolts short of getting it all installed

here's how I transferred the holes for the driver side, tape and a ballpeen hammer

pulled the fuel tank out of the box, I knew the box was beat up but 3 out of the 4 corners are bent

guess I should have opened the box when I got it, not sure how or why they said its inaccurate but where im not using it in a stock application, I will just make it work.

tried to test fit the tank and this brake line bracket was in the way, ive seen people pivot it so I am trying that before fully moving it

It was pointing over this way more

 

[warrpath4x4]

Got the 31 gallon fuel tank installed

 

[warrpath4x4]

I am trying to push through the cold weather, or as much as I can before the really cold stuff shows up. Its hard though when theres 15 minutes of light after getting off work.

got the engine pulled, gonna clean it up and re-gasket most of it. Basically wanted it out of the way to change out the engine crossmember and install the A-Bomb winch mount.

Cant say ive ever seen a tag like this, thought it might have been a replacement engine

but the engine number comes back as a 77-79 2 or 4 bolt main and the trucks a 79

 

[warrpath4x4]

Saturday I hauled a friends new 64 F100 that he picked up and since I already had the trailer hooked up I loaded the stepside to run it down to the car wash.

Didn't really get much else done besides wash, unload, and put the front frame on jack stands to start the A-Bomb install before the winds picked up and blew 25-35mph gusting to 55.

 

[warrpath4x4]

It is unseasonably warm right now, almost 60 degrees in mid December is unheard of here. When I got off work yesterday I went and threw the new alternator in Bubba Gump and even though its warmer than usual its still dark at the normal time.

let there be light

sliced and air chiseled the rivets, smacked it with a hammer and it was not coming off, feeling around "am I missing a rivet?"

nope someone welded the brackets to the frame. well hopefully our next round of atmospheric river doesn't show up before I get off work today and I can finish removing these, prep the frame, and install the A-Bomb

 

[warrpath4x4]

Had a little bit of nice weather this morning till noonish when the clouds came out and the wind picked up again. Got the rest of the old core support/front spring brackets removed and installed the DIY4X A-Bomb system

You can see I also started removing the engine crossmember to install an ORD one.