Ugly truckling build

[Deuling]

Awesome work dude.

So I want to say if you are powder coating your frame, for the love of god please think of any and everything you can or ever will do to modify the frame before you do that.

Powder coat is bad ass, but once you break that seal its bubble city...

 

[RivMan]

Thanks Adam!

You make a great point about the powdercoat, and I’ve been putting a ton of thought into what the truck is going to be, and what it isn’t. My thoughts so far:

Going to stay leafs (if I go links, it’ll be on a new frame)
Going to stay 47’s up front
Going with 57’s in the rear (DIY4X Flip)
May go with DIY4X FUSH someday
Staying with stock shock locations
Going with ORD shock braces
May go air bumps someday (bolt brackets to stock locations)
Sticking with stock bumper mounts
Going to LS swap someday
Going with ORD BB crossmember
Want braces on steering
Will never tie cage into frame

So, to support those, the frame mods I plan to do are:

Install / test fit all steering braces
Install / test fit ORD crossmember
Remove FUSH, reinstall with bolts after PC (in case I want to upgrade later)
Remove all bump stop brackets, reinstall with bolts after PC
Remove rear shackle hangers, install Flip with bolts after PC
Drill / test fit ORD shock braces, install with bolts after PC
Drill out all line clamp holes / replace with through bolts
Test fit LS and accessories, modify frames as needed before PC

All bolt-on parts will be powdercoated separately, and assembled with new hardware when done.

Can you think of anything I’m missing?

Thanks!
-Rob

 

[6872xtc]

The FUSH from ORD is bigger and needs the main hole opened up. And it comes with 7/16" bolts.
That's all that I can see that you missed right now.

 

[RivMan]

Thanks man, I totally forgot about that!

Spent some time with the frame today.

Removed the rear axle, rear spring hanger, rear bump stops, all brake and fuel lines, and motor mounts. Also mocked up the Ford 57’s and zero flip. Looks like it’ll work in the stock location maybe? Shackle is about vertical at full droop. Should I move the hanger back?















Thanks!
-Rob

 

[RivMan]

Ordered up a bunch of parts, I've entered the "nickle and dime" portion of the project.

New inner fenders
New fuel tank
Fuel tank rubber pads
Fuel filter
Motor mounts
Headlight adjuster hardware
Radiator hoses
U-bolts / Spring hanger bolts
Master cylinder
Wheel cylinders
Calipers
Drum hardware

Should have the frame ready for PC this weekend, hopefully back in my hands for assembly by the end of the month.

-Rob

 

[brans87]

Awesome work dude.

So I want to say if you are powder coating your frame, for the love of god please think of any and everything you can or ever will do to modify the frame before you do that.

Powder coat is bad ass, but once you break that seal its bubble city...

Also thinking powder coat is over rated when building a off road truck. Black satin is so easy to touch up in a paint form vs powder coat.

 

[Vombrown]

There are some seriously great coatings out there nowadays that you can do and more importantly redo at home.

 

[brans87]

I learned the hard way!

 

[RivMan]

Thanks for the feedback on powdercoat, I think it’ll hold up for my applications though.

Got the frame finished, stripped and ready to go the powdercoater.



Started tearing into the rear axle to fix a leak, and replace the brakes.







Good thing I did. The side that wasn’t leaking had a dry bearing, and roached shaft.



The axle already had the bearing relocation “fix” installed, so now I’m looking for a new shaft.

Any recommendations for a good cheap 30 spline replacement? What years interchange?

Thanks
-Rob

 

[swettysblazer]

I may have a good one laying around.... If not, Yukon makes one and I could see if I could help you out. I believe its 88 and up....

 

[RivMan]

Cool, let me know!

Thanks
-Rob

 

[swettysblazer]

I'll check tonight for you

 

[RivMan]

It’s been a lost week due to the flu... Today I finally felt well enough to get out to the garage and do some work.

Picked up a Yukon replacement axle shaft. Was mispriced on amazon for $60 shipped, so I couldn’t really pass it up. Looks like the opposite side shaft was replaced at some point as well, doesn’t look original.



I also spent a couple hours cleaning up my factory original fuel lines. I’m shocked at how well these things cleaned up with some elbow grease.





Mocked up the fans on the core support, and drew some brackets up. Will fab these up later this week, then the core support’s ready for blast / powdercoat.



I also started collecting the next round of powder coating, and stopped by my uncles shop to see how the first batch was looking. Almost all blasted, waiting on the second batch before starting coating.





-Rob

 

[bix]

Awesome work so far. Crazy how clean that thing is... found a unicorn , glad one of your main goals is to keep it that way. Stoked to see more progress!

 

[RivMan]

Thanks man!

No huge progress this week, been fighting the Flu! I did get the frame and core support sent out for sandblasting / powdercoat, and I'll be bringing the last batch of parts to the shop soon!

I also finished cleaning up the rear axle, and will be painting it soon. Need to do some repair on the brake backing plates, one of them is dented up and torn a little. Should be able to clean it up / weld it back together before rebuilding the axle.

-Rob

 

[RivMan]

Still fighting off the flu, so no real updates on my end. All of my parts have been dropped off at the powdercoaters and sandblasted. I expect them to be coated and ready to go by next weekend.

Big news though, is the frame should be back today! The shop managed to knock it out yesterday, and will be delivering it this afternoon! Once the frame is back, I can start to bolt parts back together!

-Rob

 

[RivMan]

Preview.

It turned out pretty nice!













-Rob

 

[76zimmer]

Cherry!

 

[RivMan]

Got the frame in the garage, and installed the DIY4X Zero Flip, Ford 57’s, and DIY4X EZ Inch. I’m working on getting the rear ended cleaned up for POR15, and reassembly.

Should have the rest of my parts back from powdercoat next weekend.







-Rob

 

[6872xtc]

Looks great! You feeling better then?