Yeah, his bumpers are pretty awesome.

Tell you what. I'll sell you his whole truck for $1000.

 

Well got the front end almost done now! I modified the front knuckles for strength and to get rid of the steering arm. Hoping they'll last awhile so I don't have to pop for a set of $1000 knuckles! One thing I've learned by doing this though is they need ALOT of preheat before you weld them!

What I started with

Patching the factory gusset back together with some 1/2 plate

I then took some 1/4 inch flat bar and tied the top and bottom king pins together

both sides

View from the front

And the finished product. They turned out really good. If anyone tries this you'll have to do some carefull cardboard work on the gussets, and clearance your brake calliper brackets a bit, but I think they turned out great!

I also built a better set of coil spacers, since the old ones were just temporary ones, and looked like hell! I decided to have them flair out an inch at the top because my springs pulled in and wanted to correct it. Now on to the front.

The front axle half done



finished, painted and reassembled, Now back in the truck.

before

And after

And the axle back under the truck. With the taller coil spacers, I really need to put some more lift in the rear, but I'm very happy with how everything is looking and working so far on my suspension. Hopefully soon I'll be flexing it!

 

Ummm, why didn't you put something across the top between the two pieces you added on? above where the spindle goes...... best thing to do with them before you weld them is toss them in the gas grill for quite a wile, than when your done, you have to toss them back in, and slowly let them cool... cant let them too fast.....

 

Sorry man...I dont like it. Everything else is **** except this ^^^ and the uber tiny exhaust pipe with all the time used to route through the frame. Thats going to choke the life out even a mild 460...thats whats going in there eventually right?


I <3 Carlene. Werent you supposed to bring me a prostitute home from Vegas?

 

Haven't been yet - don't go til mid April. Besides, why should I bring you anything after you neg rep'd me during your drunken stuper.

 

Nice work. Only thing I noticed was you welded the knuckles with hard wire mig. I was under the impression that they are made of cast steel hence the reason why they crack and a cast rod would of been better. I beefed mine up in the corners only with 1/4" plate gussets and welded with a high nickel rod with pre heat then just burried it in a bucket of dry sand to let it cool over the next 4 hours.
Just a little tip you obviuosly have a nice capable welder,with any regular steel that is not thin(under 1/4") I'd use a flux core co2 wire(lincon electric wire its a 71m) its much better for flexability and is a structural rated wire we use in our steel shop . Hard wire mig is for thin stuff like our handrails and would nver be accepted for heavy duty welding! Just keep a roll of it around and use a co2 argon mixed gas which is cheaper than straight argon anyway and use it for both. Im a welder so I do this all day. Hard wire works but just not as strong...
Anyways are you planning on running hydro assist? When I put mine in this is the reason why I beefed up the knuckles due to the extra strength in steering. Mine are holding up well after lots of pretty hardcore wheeling. I actually dont break anything these days now after wheelin its finally a really nice change. Good equipment and luck are in my favour I guess. Anyways again nice work .Love those bumpers. What are they made of 1/8, 3/16 plate?? I may have to make somethin like that when I get a chance. I know you mentioned it before but what is the paint you use on your bumpers

 

I couldn't tie the top and bottom gussets together because that would interfear with the king pins.


It's all good man, can't please everyone. The exhaust will be a single 3" once the 460 goes in, but it ain't too small. It's a single 2.5". and yea, it's a more then mild 460 going in it someday, but didn't need nice exhaust for a tired small block right now.


Funny you mentioned it because I welded it with .042 dual shield on straight CO2, preheated with ALOT of heat and let it cool down under a welding blanket. Sure doesn't look as good as hard wire, but it sure is ALOT stronger.
Planning on running hydro assist too, just haven't got there yet. That's good to know that your having good luck with your knuckles. I think I saw yours in an old post one time, and that gave me the idea of beafing up mine. The bumpers are actually SOLID 1/4". It is more then over kill, but had an alot of it at the time so made one for the front... and I needed more weight on the back tires so the back got 1/4" too. I painted them with hammer finish paint, and still happy with it.

 

Umm, yes you can put plate where I'm thinking, when your looking at the knuckle from the side when its on the truck. The part right above the spindle, and right below where the kingpin cap for the top goes. I'll see if I can find a pic..... I know I've seen gusset kits for the knuckle that included a piece for that spot.

 

I like it. Don't see what Alpha's problem is. Looks good. How much did you have to outboard the springs? Are they straight now? Looks a little bowed in the middle but that could be the picture. What are you using to retain the lower part of the coil?

 

Ol' Alpha has been around the block a couple times....


Blueoval,
you need to box the thing man. Those two pieces of 1/4" plate have no side to side (tire to tire) support and could fold over with any type of side loading.


Carlene,
I neg repped you? I blame it on Paul. I was too schwasted to be held accountable.

April is perfect...just in time for my b-day.

 

Your truck looks better and better all the time.
Now where's that paint job and 460? :P

I'd have to agree with Alpha though, you need to box it, or it could break with any force on the side.

 

I'm with mr alpha up there, box those spring perches so they don't fold over on you! Other than that, loooks good. Not a fan of the hole in the fame exhaust, but I think I said that already.

 

[quote=captain p4;8448402]I'm with mr alpha up there, box those spring perches so they don't fold over on you!quote]

Ok, I see that now. I stared at that picture trying to figure what it was. Somehow that didn't catch my eye. Are those keyed like Ballistics other brackets?

 

I don't think they're going to fold over since the centerline of the spring perch still rests within the two upright parts of the lower spring perch, but only time will tell there. I think I will box the front of it atleast though. Thanks for the heads up. I do realize that some people won't like the hole in the frame for my exhaust, but they've been doing it on hotrods for years now, and I like it since it's different. Sometimes it's better just to blaze new trails instead of following the same old ruts!

 

Cool rig either way man, not tryin to knock you down at all, just not a fan of the exhaust personally.