Smile when you say that. ;)

The two wheel drive Chevy trucks with their "flimsy car-like" suspension
sure enough handle better, there's no doubt about that. But it doesn't
take much to knock that flimsy sucker out of true. BTDT! :)

Stuff that the twin-I-beams wouldn't even notice. :)

I bought a Ford for myself and always asked for a Chevy at work. :)

Gelco would trade out the Chevy at 65,000 and the Fords had to go
110,000 before you'd get a new one. Gelco "knew" something. ;)

That was "about another year" and that extra year would really take its
toll on things like the seats etc. The old Fords looked and felt like crap! :/

"the death shakes" was common on the Fords as they got up there over
110,000 and funny thing was the dealerships would work on them over
and over trying to get rid of that and not fix it. That was about making
money on it tho. Because even this dumb ditch digger... fixed his own
-right- on the very first try. :) Easy and straight forward to fix.

Hey, we didn't take the Fords in for hardly any maintenance at all, so the
Ford dealerships had to find some way to make money off of Gelco. :)

The Chevy dealers were rakin' it in! LOL :)
There was always something broken on those dangged things. :/

I bought a Ford. :)

My brother (same year and everything) bought a GMC.

Like he sez... "it's not the same vehicle I bought since so much stuff has
been replaced LOL :)".

We both have about the same mileage and his has had easier use.

Alvin in AZ

 

True. These old trucks are work horses and I love um. I was just pointing out some basic "issues" with the suspension geometry. Those "issues" aren't near enough to make me buy something else though. I was trying to make a point along the lines of "it isn't perfect to start with - mess with it on the cheap, which not knowing enough about suspension geometry and things get scarry!"

As for aligning and adjusting these things when they are out of true - it's not rocket science working with our old I-beams, but it's more than many tire shop types can handle. Seeing as the caster is set/bent into the beam and radius arm and the camber is pretty much the same - you have to bend the I-bemas to align it. Most people don't know how to do it right or won't bother...

 

just messing around, man. things can get a little....cheap out here. but if its just gonna sit on you 'pappy's land for huntin, you really arnt gonna spend much.

 

And I am jealous of that as well. "Land" out here is a 1/2 acre - hahahaha In fact most places are 1/4 acre or less around me. Plus, when you guys get on the "freeway" or "highway" chances are you'll see 3 or 4 other cars (depending on where you live obviously), but out here my local "freeways" are 4+ lanes on EACH side and CONSTANTLY FILLED with cars. If I wasn't a surfer/beach bum I'd be tempted to leave

 

yeah, im pretty sure ill stay in the south. its a diffrent place to be sure. land is really starting to come back down to reasonable prices, it was getting out of hand when the housing market was up. now that its down people are starting to sell their land out in the sticks for cheap. sorry for getting off topic. back to cheap lifts, lets throw some hockey pucks in to the mix while we're at it.

 

This thread has gona all over the place in the last 4 or so posts. Sorry about that, but to me it won't be on track until some pics/proof of this I-beam flipping is shown...

 

well i got the pics, they will be on tonight or tomorrow in the AM depending on how fast my buddy sends them to me (used his camera) its a bumpside 2wd with a 3" body lift and flipped beams, he clears 38" ground hawgs up front. he drove this thing for 20 some odd years and will not hesitate to take it down the road today he says, it is possible.

 

alright, i have the pics, here ya go.

 

that is one pretty "ol'e flip". it brings back some good memories.one of the best things i've ever seen for mud boggin and even for runnin sand. i would however like clarification on something you said... "he will not hesitate to take it down the road" . you mean pavement or just messin' around. sweet pics nonetheless. thanks dude.

 

no problem man, happy to share the info, he drove it on the road for that long and he will still he said, its still tagged up. he was sayin that there was so much clearance up front that if he was already rolling he would hang and sometimes out do the 4wd's. his other truck he uses more, but it is not flipped like i thought, he has 1 ton springs and shocks with a body lift.

 

Well wholy crap - I guess it can work. That last pic is what I was looking for - to see how the clearance is on the cross member.

Now just to clarify some more. He un-bolted, flipped (upside down and pass to driver side) and bolted back in? No clearancing of the cross member needed? No bending the beams for camber/caster correction?

I'd love to see what the actual camber/caster numbers are on that thing. With the caster built into the beams it would seem that the caster on this would have to be angled forward which makes for a squirrelly ride.

It's kinda hard to see what the tires are doing in those pics.

 

How would you bleed the brakes with the bleeder screws pointing down now in stead of up to let the air out? I mean I guess if you don't undo them you wouldn't need to bleed them but still it makes me go hmmm??

 

I didn't even notice that. I figured they'd take the spindles off and flip them - but then I guess why do that extra work

1 other thing - not all of our beams had that kick in the end like those in the pic. If yours don't have that kick up (down in this case) you won't get near as much lift.

 

looks like you have to fab up some drop brakets for the radius arms and posibly longer arms.The radius arms on my 72 dont look like those.Those in the pic are forged,while mine are the cut and rolled flat plate.

 

Both the forged and the cut and rolled plate were stock. I can't remember what year they changed. Those mounts do look aftermarket though.

As for the beam brackets - they do look like drop ones made out of a 1/2" plate.