New life for an old GI, 1984 Chevy M1028

[kennyw]

I checked air air pressure on the tires and it was at 45 psi, so I went to the max of 50 psi on the rear and left the fonts at 45. Unlocked the hubs. The readjusted toe in to about 3/16" by tape measure.

The test drive was better. I'm still driving a lifted truck without a sway bar with a good size box on the bed. But closer to expectations now. My next step will be to remove the shelter to get some road time on it for a better shake down.

 

[mrk5]

Looks good!

 

[kennyw]

I had a shipment of paint stove today so I had to sand something down and try it out.

 

[kennyw]

Today I'm working out my shock mounting on the front.


I bought the set if 5100 Bilstien shocks from another forum member who bought them from ORD for a 4" lift. However, they are the 10.25" travel for extended shock mounts instead of 9.24" travel for factory mounts.

So, I ordered a set of Ford shock mounts... Then I start measuring and realize I would be fine with the 9.24" travel shocks and stock mounting points with these stiff Tuff Country springs.

 

[kennyw]

So I sit here debating ordering the shorter shocks vs using what I already have.

It would be less work but $250 more to get the shorter shocks (including tax and shipping) and i can recoup some of that selling the longer ones.

Alternatively, setting it up with extended mounts would leave the door open for other mods in the future without changing mounts and shocks but I cannot guarantee I will mount them at the correct height since I cannot measure it yet. I'm at 18.5" between stock mounts, static with weight on the front axle and mounting for the mid point of shock travel is only 2-5/8" above the factory upper mount at 21.125".


However, my up travel is 1" vs 2.125" travel down. So I may want 1/3 up vs 2/3 down travel. That would put my upper mount about 1" higher than stock, very much not worth the effort. At that point I can just mount them to the factory location because, despite them being too long, I still will not bottom them out.

So I'll order correct shocks and save the longer shocks and the extended mounts for later.

 

[kennyw]

While I'm waiting for shocks. I moved on to installing the Fluidamper and bolt on ORD steering brace. The transmission cooler lines end up right up against the steering brace, so I split an old piece of 3/8 rubber fuel line to act as a buffer.


And guard dog on duty.

 

[Chevy305]

I would have just put the longer shocks in the stock mounts and called it a day if they weren't going to bottom out.

 

[kennyw]

I would have just put the longer shocks in the stock mounts and called it a day if they weren't going to bottom out.

I considered that as well, but at the end of the day I'm sure it is possible to compress them a little more offroad that I could do in the shop. If this was going to be a pavement only truck, I would have done that.

 

[kennyw]

To finish off the night, I installed the new Jerry can mount and pulled the shelter off the truck so I can work on the shelter for a bit.

 

[82355]

Don’t you have a quad shock parts truck sitting around?

Cut the rivets off the upper auxiliary mounts and bolt them to your frame.

Martin

 

[kennyw]

Don’t you have a quad shock parts truck sitting around?

Cut the rivets off the upper auxiliary mounts and bolt them to your frame.

Martin

Not at the moment. I would have went that route if I did.

 

[kennyw]

New shocks arrived and installed on my lunch break. Then, i took it into town to run errands. I'm getting a random ticking noise that sounds like a rock in the brakes that is hard to hear over the motor. Speedometer is actually accurate at 55 mph, only +2 mph at 35 mph.

After work, I had my wide drive while I rode in the bed to listen for that noise. It didn't happen. Then I got in the cab and shared the pallet seat with Mariah and it happened just as we were ready to turn back into the driveway and immediately went away again. At least the dogs were happy.

 

[mrk5]

Last time I had a ticking noise from the wheel area it turned out to be loose lug nuts.

 

[kennyw]

This is like thinking out loud but getting something done at the same time.

 

[mrk5]

What in the world?! Is that the dash without any foam or vinyl on it?

 

[fastazz81]

Yes

 

[kennyw]

I like the way it turned out. I did cut out the center for the radio bracket mount and used that piece to fill the gap on the driver side so the white plastic didn't show through so easy.

 

[centexk5]

That turned out a lot cooler than I thought.

 

[kennyw]

After finishing the dash, I rechecked the lug nut torque and all was good. I did notice the driver side brake pads can rock back and forth slightly when rocking the wheel. The passenger side does not do that. The sound was very similar to the noise I'm chasing as well. I'll have to take out apart and look at it closer.

Then, I moved on to replacing the leaking oil cooler hoses. I had a set laying around from a previous build that had low miles on them. I've probably been lugging that set of hoses around for the last 20 years. Everything went well with that other than the o-rings were missing so I re-used the ones from the bad hoses. Unfortunately, they didn't survive the test drive. They are discontinued from GM and I did not find any from traditional parts houses so I resorted to ebay. I found old stock on there, but it is hard to tell if people are selling the original package of 5 or selling one o-ring out of the package.

 

[mrk5]

When I first got my Dana 60 it was missing the little anti rattle clips on the ends of the pads. I didn't know they were a thing until someone pointed it out to me. Are yours missing?