Front suspension 2.0

[bggrnchvy]

Well it's no secret I've been collecting parts for a while to go away with the leaves on the front of my truck. After getting some steel from the relatives for Xmas I've got 95% of the parts I need and am comfortable starting the build. Unfortunatly instead of being on holiday from work and school, like the rest of my company, I got assigned to emergency projects and get to work this week and next so progress will not be nearly as quick as I was hoping.

The Parts -


2 - 2.5" Sway-A-Way Race Runner reservoir 14" travel coilovers, with dual rate kits.
2 - 2.0 Fox 4" air bumps.
4 - JMX-16 FK chromoly 3 peice rod ends with tube. adapters, high misalignment spacers, jam nuts and bolts.
4 - 3.0 Ballistic Fab flex joints with 1-1/4" welded studs, tube adapters, jam nuts and bolts.
2 - 2.0 long style air bump cans
2 - 2-1/4"OD x .375" wall x 36" lengths of 1020 DOM tube for lower links.
2 - 2"OD x .250" x 36" lengths of 1020 DOM tube for the upper links. Overkill, I know, I wanted something more like .134" or .188" wall but I couldn't easily find it in short lengths.
Jason old ORU sway bar and end links with heims.


2 - Parts Mike springless D60 knuckle caps with hardware.

Slew of brackets to make the process and quick as possible, there are some others in another box.




7.6ci/rev load reactive orbital valve with mounting plate and short steering shaft. I mounted the two using 3/8" SHCS. Not pictured is the anti-kickback valve to prevent pump damage from tire side heavy input.

The current plan is to pick up a 20ton HF press tomorrow at lunch, drill out the brackets to 3/4" tomorrow evening and weld washers to the 1/4" bracket holes, order the F911 bolts for the c/o's and get the tube for the truss backbone.

Hopefully I'll get to the steel yard on Thursday's lunch to get some 1/8" plate for the truss plating and draw up the truss plans with dimensions.

Thats about as far as I have gotten, need to get to the truck to the scales this weekend for c/o spring rates so I can order the coils as well.

[silverado_nolan]

wow that will be an awesome build!.... I new it took alot... but thats a lot more than I thought....



it wouldnt take as much as this to coil spring a samurai? would it?








I cant wait for the build

[nebraskaz71]

Make it a kit and i'll buy one ;)

[bggrnchvy]

Originally Posted by silverado_nolan

wow that will be an awesome build!.... I new it took alot... but thats a lot more than I thought....



it wouldnt take as much as this to coil spring a samurai? would it?








I cant wait for the build

Basically, yes, if you want to do a triangulated 4 link. You can use smaller shocks, air shocks or just standalone 3" c/o springs. Don't have to run hydraulic bumpstops and you can run smaller joints and tube as a result of the lower weight and power, but the amount of parts is almost the exact same.

[bggrnchvy]

I got my washers and bolts in. I welded up the coilover shock mounts with the supporting washers to add some surface area for the bolts to ride on so I don't ever hurt the hole even with proper bolt torque.



F911 bolts, 'grade 9' if you will. The company gives them a special stamp:

And you have to love the extra tall hex head:

[Koots]

By the looks of it, this will be an awesome build!
Especially with 14"s of travel

What spring rate are you going with on the front?

Are you gonna keep the same setup in the rear? or is there plans for that as well?

Keep us posted every step of the way!

[ZachSB3]

cool upgrade, ill be keepin an eye on this thread. awesome grade 9 bolts.

[bggrnchvy]

Oh boy, lots of work ahead of me.


That would be one of the 2 studs that act as a u-bolt on my D60. Notice anything wrong?

Oh and the press got painted and rollers:

[ryanroo]

looks like someones steering is putting a little stress on some studs or maybe the flex...

why is it that i never see action photos of this rigs, only "look at my truck torn apart in the driveway" pics? :)

[badbowtie_907]

No action shots? Havnt you seen the insane flex pics???

[ryanroo]

i have seen the pics, i always give kyle **** because he is always working on that thing
Ryan

[bggrnchvy]

Originally Posted by ryanroo

looks like someones steering is putting a little stress on some studs or maybe the flex...

why is it that i never see action photos of this rigs, only "look at my truck torn apart in the driveway" pics? :)

I'm never satisfied, it sucks.

Front suspension and brackets are gone.


Need to clean it all up and make a for sale thread eventually.

Tomorrow it's plasma time for all the axle and frame rail brackets.

[FrostBite]

Looks really good. Will you be able to reuse your front driveshaft, or will it not have enough slip travel with the new suspension?

[Drisco Z71]

looking better and better

[bggrnchvy]

Originally Posted by FrostBite

Looks really good. Will you be able to reuse your front driveshaft, or will it not have enough slip travel with the new suspension?

Suprisingly enough even with more travel the new suspension won't use as much driveshaft slip as a result of the arc of travel being in sync with the driveshaft this time.

Driverside frame rail and the axle met the plasma today. GM really didn't ever want the shock mount coming off, it was a real pain even with a plasma, cutoff wheel, sawzall and a sledge.



Painted up the springless arm caps.




And best of all I cleaned the garage up quite a bit so I can have a clean floor and some room.


Tomorrow the passenger side will be done, both sides will be smoothed and plated in with 1/4" on the recessed section to recieve the shock hoops. Hopefully I can clean the axle too and start the link truss.

[bggrnchvy]

The parents are going through everything they have stored so the driveway is full of cardboard boxes and plasma and sparks from grinding/sanding would not mix well so I was resigned to ther things. Why not put on the springless arm caps?

I took off the driver spring cap.

Pulled the nylon race, formed washer and spring.

Cleaned out the old grease around the king and in the kingpin.

Greased the new bushing.

Installed the studs by double nutting and putting some locktite on the threads. I bottomed the threads onto the shoulder as per the directions.

All four installed ready for the cap.

I slipped in the thick washer that distributes the preload to the bushing.

I installed the cap with some gentle massaging from the deadblow hammer and then torqued the tapered nuts to 100ft/lbs.

Then I installed the preload screw, I set the knuckle preload to 25lbs and installed the jam nut at 45ft/lbs and zerk fitting.

I repeated the process on the other side as well.

And tada, no more mechanical steering arm or spring preloaded knuckles.

[ryanroo]

excellent choice of welding hoods. what filter do you have? mine is a 9002x and i love it. i think i am going to have to replace the filter in the future as it has been heavily abused, and will not lighten properly...
Ryan

[bggrnchvy]

Originally Posted by ryanroo

excellent choice of welding hoods. what filter do you have? mine is a 9002x and i love it. i think i am going to have to replace the filter in the future as it has been heavily abused, and will not lighten properly...
Ryan

I wish I had a 9002x series hood, I cheaped out when I bought my MM175 and just got the utility. The smaller veiw port and lack of dark to light delay are really getting annoying. Most of all my outside protection plate is burned and spotted so my visibility is really sucking lately. Speaking of which I'll order a new package of them tonight just to make life easier.

[bggrnchvy]

It's been raining for the last 1/2 week or so, 5"s I think I heard or so. Anyways, the result is not a whole lot of progress. I also started school again Monday so there goes another large chunk of time each week.

I took some of my brackets to work today as our drill press needs a new set of belts and I needed to open up the 9/16" holes to 3/4" for the larger joints I have. Folling that I welded on the thick, unfinished 3/4" washers I bought and also welded on the supplied ramps for the frame side lower mounts.



Test fitting one of the JMX16's.



I also welded wahers onto the axle side uppers.



No they aren't the best welds:shrug:

[FrostBite]

I assume the washers are just for extra strength around the bolt holes?

And how long do you expect to have the truck down this time around?