Post by metalman on Aug 11, 2009 0:32:47 GMT -5
this is my 1982 shortbed pick up.....It is an on-going project, and i need to drive it every day for work, so i can't really have it off the road for more than a day or two at a time.......first thing i did was replace a rotten section of the frame. First i should let you know that this truck sat in some dude's backyard for 11 years rusting, so everything was a fight!.....first i removed the box, 6 of the 8 bolts broke and the other 2 took forever to get off....whining the whole way.....wd40 didn't really help this time! next i removed the gas tank......and what do ya know 4 of the 6 bolts broke, then i made a cardboard template of the frame sections i wanted replaced, and took it down to a shop to have them plasma cut out the pieces i needed. I replaced the lower three sides of the frame from midway down the cab to about 8 inches past the rear spring hangers.......where they always rust out.couple hours later my pieces were ready and i got them all for 50 bucks including labour, I'd have cut them myself but all i have is a zipcut and it takes too long to get a nice radius.Next i removed the box mounts,rear cab mounts and crossmember above the t-case, all with a zipcut. Then i traced my pieces onto the rotten frame with a sharpie, and cut them out.....i took the line off to give me a nice little gap to ensure good penetration with my welds, especially since i was using a small welder, the lincoln 110 volt buzz box with a gas kit, it took a long time to do all of the welding with that little thing, and i kept blowing breakers....at one time i was switching beetween 3 different breakers!I should note that i had jacks supporting the weight of the truck the whole time so that my frame dimensions wouldn't change, i also had welded in a temporary crossmember to keep the width the same........then i had to get the truck back on the road right away and i didn't have time to fix everything i wanted to like broken bolts, etc. next time though!....i am going to swap some longer softer rear springs into it next maybe this weekend, and i'll be more prepared for this, i'll get lots of detailed pics too, so keep checking back as i'll update this thread as i go......sorry for the crappy pics but all i had was a cell phone cam.....anywho....till next time,wish me luck!
original frame...
cutting /grinding rear cab mount
almost finished product........ran outta gas for the welder, so i kinda had to scab the box mounts back on.....i will replace them eventually though as they are rotten too!
OK. so , i did the rear springs this weekend, and i still got lots to do as there wasn't much time with kids, family barbeques and all.....but i managed to log a little shop time.here's the update!
before the swap.......
i swapped in a set of 56" long springs from a 1985 or so chev s10, the stock toy ones were 48" if i remember correctly,this worked really well because everything is similar...same width springs and shackles,.....not much difference at all, i used the s10 shackles.in the s10 design, the springs mount under the axle and the u bolts wrap around the top of the axletube, this worked perfectly for a u bolt flip kit for my truck....awesome! saved a couple more inches of ground clearance!I think that the shock mounts will even work....haven't got that far yet though.I started by removing the original springs.....i just cut everything that i could because i managed to save the s10 hardware. Then i started figuring out the distances and wheel base measurements,it took a little figuring with the compression and rebound of the new spring, i ended up removing the s10 overload and adding the two thinner leafs from the toyota spring pack,for a total of 5 thin leafs.I had to move the front spring mount forward about 3 -1/2 inches to get the full travel out of the spring without having the shackle limit the upward travel.it moved the axle forward about an inch at ride height which isn't a big deal to me.I could have drilled new centre pin holes in the springs to correct this but i didn't have time for that.
leafs removed....
stock spring mounts removed....
new springs at full rebound....(note:i hadn't modified the spring packs yet at this point)
new springs with the weight of the truck on them....
and after....
I couldn't even find the new limit with my crappy little ramp.......i'll find out soon though!....i am also goona have to get wider wheels because the back tire starts rubbing the frame in this pic, limits the suspension a little!Now i just have to fabricate some nice spring hangers and borrow the welder from my work to weld 'em on and i'm good!.....I used a little 70 amp stick welder and 1/16 rod for now but it didn't work very well,hence the nasty welds,really! i am a good welder,just need some decent equipment thats all.you'll see in later postsoh yah....i'm also goona have to make some small wedges to tilt the axle up too......new, softer springs plus increased driveline angle equals......vibration!....one last finished ride height pic
.....tks for the interest, later! ok, another update......so, on my first drive,i broke the crappy welds on one of the spring hangers.......whoopsy!...so i broke the other side too, and then ratchett strapped the front of the springs to the frame,then my truck and i limped home with our tail beetween our legs
.oh well, all you can do is the best you can with what you've got,right?, it is hard trying to build a truck without all of the right tools.The next day i took the little 220 mig home from work for the night and made some real spring hangers, i borrowed an angle grinder from a friend and got an idea of what i wanted to do, so away i went.on my last cut the little grinder that i borrowed pretty much blew up....luckily i have a good neighbor who let me borrow his.it took me about 3-1/2 hrs from start to finish to fabricate and install the hangers,as well as locate the axle all over again!
parts cut.... 
outside weld......
inside weld......
welded......................
holes laid out..........
hangers done.......now to weld them on.....
all done!..............the only thing i had to pay for during this entire spring swap was some cutting discs......other than that,just time! it went well though and i am happy with the job i did................next?
??maybe build a new box??!!any ideas for a cool box that still looks sorta factory??i was thinking stepside maybe,but using the stock box parts,what do ya think?flatdecks are a pet-peeve of mine so that's not goona happen,thanks for your input/opinions.....later! {edit} Removed thumbnail code so pics would show up larger. DP
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