With a little patience and practice, only your imagination is holding you back... oh and like most of us, maybe your pocket book.


KILLER thread!

 

Yep with the 2011, 6R140 Torqshift 6 speed, and 6.7. My shift points are all screwed up now with the 5r110. Towing to Texas and back was hell with the RPM gaps and converter not locking up under 1900 RPM. One stretch at like 3 AM I forgot to have set tow haul back on after a top off and I fought the up shifts for half an hour before realizing why it kept shifting into 5th so early. lol

Thanks man. I'm big on the reality that no one knows everything. I've done some things that amaze myself, but major body work, electrical, and gears are not my strong suit. lol



Thank you. Still not a big dollar guy like some of the high rollers that just have a shop build their stuff, but I spend it when I can. lol

 

I had a 1983 Crew Cab Short Bed Dodge W350 SRW that I wanted to give the business to! But someone offered me more money that I could turn down... So oh well, like I have learned over the years, there is always another project.Right now the barn/garage I'm building is gobbling up ALL my free resources. Then the wife wants an addition on the house. And then I can get back to my project trucks. So, maybe next winter. But this sure lit a fire under me to get back on one!

 

FINALLY, ME TIME! lol

So getting back to finishing up boxing in the rear I started by ordering the B&W Gooseneck hitch. The only one they have that works with the narrow frame width is their Universal kit. Designed to drill and mount from the top down. screw that! So as I looked at it where it lay on the frame is on the front portion of the bed frame that turns down. As I started to lay it out and figure out how to make side plates and L brackets to bolt it to the frame like their Spec fit designs I then realized that I can't do all this now and then order the Kelderman Air ride 4 link kit later. It all has to be engineered and integrated from the beginning. The side brackets are going to have to be built off the Kelderman air bag side brackets. So I ordered up the bumper and tow hitch in the mean time until I can swing the $5k for the Kelderman kit. Nice thing is the frame width being the same as the 2005 F550 Cab and Chassis I can just order modern upfit parts for the 2005 and newer F550 Chassis and modify as needed. I knew the Curt Class 5HD hitch was going to probably be too low and was right. It is low by 3", so I will have to modify that as well, but overall I'm very happy and excited as everything is laying out tight but promising. LMC was where I got the step bumper and brackets. Found some some guys are running a bumper from a company FEY but it doesn't have as many mounting options and some are having to modify them to get a better fit and finish. Only thing I had to do was notch of the forward most bolt hole to clear my F550 leaf mount brackets. I love the rear light options from LMC and plan to replace them with LED units down the road.











And some 6.7 P-Pump short block **** under wraps still from Jefferson State Diesel!

 

Solid update. Glad to see you are still at it.

I have projects taking a similar amount of time.

 

Thanks me too. Funny how we always say it'll just take a couple months. lol
Only time I ever met my deadline was when I had a shop and a team of people to build a rock buggy in 30 days.

 

That is going to be a beast when completed! Great to see you still at it.

 

Me too! I'm pretty freaking motivated!

 

So last night we modified and squared up the Curt Class 5 XD Hitch Receiver. Wound up having to take 3" off the top. I knew that it was going to be low due to being made for the F550 Chassis, but I wasn't about to reinvent the wheel when the frame width was exactly the same. So the new mounting plate will have 4 bolts instead of just 3, larger hardware, 3 gussets instead of 2, and we will make new side plate brackets to integrate between the frame to hitch transition. Came out perfect clearing the rear bumper at 1/2". I like how it is tucked up under as I use the B&W Pintle/Ball adjustable drop receivers due to their versatility. They have so much adjustment that I've used them all the way from my 2013 Ram with 4" of lift on 40"s down to my daughter's stock 2016 GMC Canyon. lol They come out quite a bit further than conventional off the shelf hitches.

Just got off the phone with Kelderman and the 4 Link kit is in the works.

 

As the saying goes 2 steps forward 3 steps back. So I ordered the Kelderman Air Suspension kit hoping that it would need little modification since the frame widths are the same. WRONG. lol So the entire top section was removed which I was counting on. The frame arch is way off so the bottom will come off as well. Buckets/Air Spring Mounts will have to moved 2" inward. As a consequence the rear will have to also go up 3". Not the end of the world since I had it so low. I'd love to keep it that tight, but even at 3" it will be what will appear like a mile lower than anything else running 35" tires. HEll maybe I can find bags 3" shorter. Going to be a lot of work dissecting the lower brackets but to do it right we are even going to cut off the leaf spring perches and move them in 2" as well. Only new plate that will have to be made is the lower main plate that everything bolts to. Clearance will be tight on the sway bar but it is what it is to not run wheel spacers. Here's some pics:

 

Amazing work. And confusing to me since I'm not familiar with hardly any of the specific years, suspensions, and so on. But super cool to follow

 

Thank you. Still helps the motivation.

 

It's really awesome seeing someone I use keldermans stuff on huere! I live not even 10 minutes away from them and see their rigs all the time in town! I would evenentuly like to put a set of 05+ axles in my 95 f150 with bags on all 4 corners! Keep up the awesome work! I'm impressed to say the least!

 

Outstanding job!

 

So finally got plates all cut and needed material to start mocking in my new lower plates. Pacific Fab as usual did an awesome job making the new plates from my template. My darn band saw bearings took a poop so next week I'll be able to finish up fabricating new link buckets and bolt it all up. Everything is so tight it's like fitting a square peg in a round hole. lol