Tell me what you think: MY RIG

[69_chevy]

Just thought i'd throw some stats out on the rig im buildin, and see what erry body would say, think, or recommend.

1969 Chevy K20

Converted to a 1983 10 bolt front, 4.10's with 1979 14 bolt FF, Disc rear setup.

1974 BBC Bored 30 over, heads milled 0.020, cleaned up, roller rockers, Comp 270H X-treme cam, 9.5:1 Pistons, machine shop cc'd heads and stated actual comp ratio to be 10.2:1, rpm air gap intake, mech sec Q-jet cleaned up and jetted.

SM465 mated to 203/205 from 74 1/2 ton, with Jed's 205 adapter, streched 3.5 inches. (to make front driveshaft longer). Willwood hyd setup, and 12 centerforce clutch.

12" superlift softys, with all new spring hangers in front lowered 1.5 inches, and moved forward 4.5 inches all made from 3/8 plate, and braced anywhere possible, front shackles moved to match, and remade from 3/8 plate, all grade 8 bolts.

Rear springs custom 56"ers, approx 4" lift, all new mounts and spring hangers made from 3/8 plate. 4" block, with shackled ladderbar with 10000lb hiems.

No body lift.

engine lowered 1.5 inches into frame to better driveline angles.

39.5 bogros.

I dont know what to do about shocks, and i plan on doing some mild ramping. any suggestions about shocks would help.

 

[BranndonC]

you do only mud? why 12+ inches of lift? why not larger tires? and all that power and tires with a 10 bolt front... it wont last for ever..

 

[4xcrazy]

 

[69_chevy]

why...

Im sure i'll get swamped saying this, but the reason i run a 10 bolt front, is beacuse, the front of the truck is going to be heavy enough, and when you consider the inital investment of the D60 front, i could buy 5 maybe even 6, 10 bolt fronts. Sometimes you can get them for a bill or so when you're lucky, but with the D60 you're gonna pay upscales of a grand for a good one, that somebody hasnt recovered from the titanic in decent shape, and then on top of that, : D60 rotors = 65 dollars, 10 bolt rotors = 22 dollars, D60 Calipers 50 = dollars, 10 bolt calipers = 15 dollars, etc etc etc.....But the most impressive of all : D60 alxe shafts = Approx 2.8 million dollar each, 10 bolt axle shafts = about 20 dollars each... So i could effectively break about 140000 10 bolt axles and still come out money ahead... .


NO but really im just not really a big fan of the D60 fronts, i know most people think they're like finding a pot of gold, but they're WAY heavier, and WAY less clearance, and WAY more expensive.

But as for the main purpose of the truck, it will see lots of mud, yes, lots. But we did one truck similar to this and put it on a flex ramp, an still got about 43 inches straight up from the ground to the bottom of the tire and the other 3 were still firmly planted.? Im not a big fan of the sawzall body lift and like to keep my fenders intact for the most part, yet keep my tires free of cuts from them...

More critisim welcome, please tell me what you think, im looking for any suggestions here, the trucks still a frame with some axles hanging on it so im just checkin to see what i can improve as i go......

 

[Greg72]

Im sure i'll get swamped saying this, but the reason i run a 10 bolt front, is beacuse, the front of the truck is going to be heavy enough, and when you consider the inital investment of the D60 front, i could buy 5 maybe even 6, 10 bolt fronts. Sometimes you can get them for a bill or so when you're lucky, but with the D60 you're gonna pay upscales of a grand for a good one, that somebody hasnt recovered from the titanic in decent shape, and then on top of that, : D60 rotors = 65 dollars, 10 bolt rotors = 22 dollars, D60 Calipers 50 = dollars, 10 bolt calipers = 15 dollars, etc etc etc.....But the most impressive of all : D60 alxe shafts = Approx 2.8 million dollar each, 10 bolt axle shafts = about 20 dollars each... So i could effectively break about 140000 10 bolt axles and still come out money ahead... .


NO but really im just not really a big fan of the D60 fronts, i know most people think they're like finding a pot of gold, but they're WAY heavier, and WAY less clearance, and WAY more expensive.

But as for the main purpose of the truck, it will see lots of mud, yes, lots. But we did one truck similar to this and put it on a flex ramp, an still got about 43 inches straight up from the ground to the bottom of the tire and the other 3 were still firmly planted.? Im not a big fan of the sawzall body lift and like to keep my fenders intact for the most part, yet keep my tires free of cuts from them...

More critisim welcome, please tell me what you think, im looking for any suggestions here, the trucks still a frame with some axles hanging on it so im just checkin to see what i can improve as i go......

That's an interesting bit o' logic you got there!

You'll find that this site is heavily biased toward trail riding / rock crawling, so the things that immediately throw up flags to people around here are the use of lift springs in excess of 4" or 6", and anything less than a D60 front as the tire size exceeds 36" in diameter.

The tough part when wheeling in a remote area, is that most people won't want to carry those 140000 spare axles with them to do trail repairs with


Stiffly sprung trucks can typically work well as mud trucks (which explains the questions you've already seen) If you are really serious about flex, ask people to post up a few pics of what is possible. If you think that 12" springs flex well you'll be AMAZED what a softer, flatter spring is capable of.

 

[colbystephens]

NO but really im just not really a big fan of the D60 fronts, i know most people think they're like finding a pot of gold, but they're WAY heavier, and WAY less clearance, and WAY more expensive.

if you're concerned about clearance, why run a 14bff? seems to me that it would be better to run something that can handle the terrain than to end up x miles out somewhere away from a parts dealer and have no 4 wheel drive. i would highly doubt that you'd feel the added weight of the 60, and in terms of cost, i've seen them for as low as $500. looks like you went all out on everything else, why stop at the front end?

 

[colbystephens]

hmmm. i think that came across sounding kind of negative. i don't mean to. just trying to ask questions that would spur your thinking.

 

[Jagged]

We've all seen the lift argument on here for mud trucks. Mud trucks need the lift to keep the frame and body out of the muck. Dragging axles through the crap isn't a big deal, but an entire body will get you stuck.

 

[beater_k20]

when you consider the inital investment of the D60 front, i could buy 5 maybe even 6, 10 bolt fronts.

about the time you break #7, you'll start kicking yourself, wondering why you wasted all that money.

 

[atho]

bedford...ohio?

 

[daleearnhardt01]

A 10 bolt in the mud doesnt see the same things as a 10 bolt in the rocks does, so you can get by with one for a while longer