I bought new bolts so that they would all match, I am weird like that. I got grade 8s also. Like $30 in bolts. I will be in this swap like $250. Re-arching the stockers and building them up was gonna be $400+.

Time to go, got a lot to git done tonight.

 

Well, I got her back on all fours last night around midnight-ish. it appears to sit just a tad higher in the rear so far. I have not put the bed back on yet, so it may be a tad low in the rear still. I like my trucks that way though. I am supposed to pick up the drive-line tonight. I am excited to see how she rides n drives.

next stop..........Dodge Saginaw steering box and cross over steering.......

Thanks 75F350........Yer a bad influence on this gear-headed Hillbilly.

 

Yes I am a bad influence. I will be posting a new topic and some new mods to red in just a bit.
I am so excited and have to ask for some pics. We need some pics Bubba, send us some pics. I am off of the Blackberry now, so I can see in detail.
I already know it looks good!

 

Ed, I helped him put the bed on last night, and it looks good. It is funny how the springs don't look that long on a chevy frame, but bolt them on an old highboy frame and they sure look outrageously long.

That guy he got the springs from might be getting some more business...

 

I cant wait for you guys to drive it and then put a large load on it. I know when the deck goes on and that gets all loaded up these springs will be nice and functional. The quality ride while empty, as well as the great off road performance will be something that everyone can enjoy.

 

Here she is in ready to go form....
http://pic.photobucket.com/spacer.gif

Here she is loaded to 8400 lbs GVW.....
http://pic.photobucket.com/spacer.gif

You will have to excuse the fuzzy pics, cell phone is the quickest/easiest way to get pics uploaded.

never mind, go to

HERE

maybe that will work

 

Let me help you out partner:

Look Ma, no blocks!:



Empty stance:



Loaded with way too much wood!:




After all is said and done, this is one upgrade that can carry its own weight. Nothing but benifits with this one.
Congrats, and welcome to the world of added payload and a plush ride. We can have our cake and eat it too.
Trucks dont have to ride like trucks. They can ride super nice. One by one, others will learn............

 

It does ride way smoother. I am happy with it. Now it just needs new shocks to control it better, kind of floats down the road like an old caddy. For the time and dollars involved, I would recommend this to anyone modifying their highboy. I am thinking about doing it to my short-box next. It could use some spring help in the rear.

Thank you for all your help. I can't believe how much of a difference it made.

 

I know the chevy I had rode really well, but when you hit a bump, it kind of went "sqquuuuiiiiiisssshhhh." Personally, I was running rancho RS 5000s, but I think these would be best with an adjustable shock that can firm up that ride in the rear when it is loaded, but still give that squishy feel when empty.

 

Shocks can really make a difference in ride quality, you get what you pay for here:



After being introduced to higher end shocks, there is no way I wil lever return to a non rebuildable shock.

 

That is like 5 months of project monies.

What does it cost to rebuild a set of those?

I may try the duffy 70/30s first, $120 for a set o four.

 

You are correct about the cheddar. These are a little spendy. I guess with the price of the shocks you mentioned above, you could buy roughly 12 shocks for the price of one King like this. So buying 4 of these is about equal to buying 48 regular shocks, so the budget has to be prepared. This I understand, believe me, I understand.
Re-building them is easy, they just require a nitrogen rig to charge them These run at 150 psi, and the blatter is sort of on the small side so having an accurate set up is probably the only critical part. The rest is just basic procedure for bleeding the air out of the oil in the shock. It can be a do it yourself job. The real nice part is that once you know how, you can re-valve them to dial in the ride to exactly your liking. Something that a non-rebuildable shock cant offer.

 

Any body build their own brackets for airbag over loads? I have a set of big truck bags that I built brackets for to install on my shortbox, but I never used them, I am considering using them on my '71 to keep it level with the sleds on-board. It would not take much to re-work the brackets to make them fit.

Whatta ya think? Only issue is gonna be air supply, I don't have on-board air on the '71 yet.

 

by the way, she rides real nice now.

 

Scott, We need to take a trip to Jalopy Jungle. I was over there last weekend, and I am pretty sure we could find the brackets and stuff to make you OBA for your truck. I was surprised at how cheap stuff was, too.