I'm sorry to hear about your father. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. My father was a firm believer in the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" mantra. He probably felt the same way about 2wd trucks. This is the first one I know of him ever purchasing and he bought it to pull a 26ft camper to the mountains every summer. Once he sold the camper he couldn't wait to turn it into a 4x4. I don't think I mentioned it earlier but my dad was 5'2" tall and always pictured this truck with a minimum of 4" of lift. I always teased him and told him I would mount a rope ladder to the rocker panel for him to use to climb in and out of it.

 

Hahaha, that's awesome. I'm rushing to get mine done while I can, my dad loved car's and trucks, but three kids kinda put that on the back burner for him, other than necessities.

What are your plans?

 

My plans right now are to put it back like it would have rolled off the assembly line if it were a factory 4x4 until I have the extra money to do it like he wanted. I would like to add 6" of suspension lift, a 429 conversion, redwood bed floors with rollbar and of course bigger rubbers filling the fender wells.

 

Is it possible to change the title of a thread once it has been started?

 

Yes, just edit your first post. When the edit box comes up, you'll be able to edit the title at the top

 

Thanks for the info! I have a few questions regarding some parts I need to order for the truck, etc bit I will ask those tomorrow. Goodnight all! 4 am comes way to early.

 

I was looking at ordering an Energy Suspension Master Kit to replace all the suspension bushings and body mounts. I know this next part is a real noob question.....How do I tell if I need the 2 degree, 4 degree, or 7 degree offset bushings? Do the black (graphite impregnated) bushings outlast the red (non impregnated) bushings?

Thanks in advance for the input.

 

Yep. But be aware, there's a time-out on editing your posts ... after, I think 30 days, you'll be stuck with whatever's there and unable to edit it.

 

Stock uses 2 degree, lifts use 4 and 7 degree to regain caster.

The black are less prone to squeeking than the red

 

Body dimensions-
Upon reassembly, leave the fasteners loose for final adjustment. Try to make everything "line up" as best you can.
By "loose" i mean snug tight, not wallering around.

 

Thanks for the info! I am a total noob when it comes to 4 wheel drive as this will be the first one I have tackled alone. I used red on my 76 DD work truck, I believe that may be what is causing my squeaks.

So are the 4° for a 4 in lift and the 7° for a 6 in lift or is it just whichever one it takes to get the caster back to the correct position?

Thanks again for all the information, patience, and support. Some of the other forums online are full of trolls.

 

Thanks for the input. That is the procedure I used the first time reassembling the truck and the dimensions above are what I ended up with. I was just wanting some dimensions from an unassembled original or a restored version for notes to see how close I actually was. I know that no 2 trucks will be exactly the same due to age, wear, and sag of body parts and mounts. I can just be OCD sometimes.

 

I'm not sure if there's a hard and fast rule on what to use when. I do know at some point of lift, dropping the ends of the radius arms or making them longer will become necessary, to get the springs to sit straight, for rise quality, and articulation. Usually lifts include their own radius arm bushings.

If you lube poly bushings well before installing, they usually don't squeak badly, but they are kind of famous for it.

 

Thanks again for the helpful insight. I have a few more items to purchase before really tearing into her. I have to get new paint guns after my brand new hvlp set was stolen along with most of my air tools and other hand tools that weren't bolted down. I plan on picking up a cheap siphon feed gun for shooting some primer as I work on the body panels. I guess I will have to order my painting supplies online since none of the part stores carry any of types of paint other than rattle cans. The nearest automotive paint supply shop is 50 miles away and getting the free time to swoing by is almost impossible.

 

The Harbor Freight "purple" gun works well at a good cost, they sell tips for it too.

For paint, Summit Racing sells a variety of good paints, in single and two stage variety.