On Saturday May 8th 2004 Casey and I started rounding up the parts for this truck. We had purchased the hangers for the front springs, since we would be converting from 2 wheel to 4 wheel drive.Left, a donor truck gave up this 3/4 ton, Corporate 14 bolt rear axle, with a 3.73 ratio. You can see the narrowed Dana 60, with its giant Mickeys, that we removed, behind the 3/4 ton.
Below, the front axle was donated from a parted out truck. It is a
1/2 ton Dana 44 axle. The gears are 3.08 ratio, and it has 6 bolt wheel attachment. So we will have to change the gears and brake systems to match the 8 bolt 3/4 ton rear. On these older axles its only a matter of changing parts from the spindle out to bring the 1/2 ton up to 3/4 ton brakes. I can't remember but I think they would both have been rated at 3500 lbs.
By Sunday night we had a bare frame laying upside down in the shop. The frame was originally a 2 wheel drive, 1/2 ton, long box, from a 1973 style truck. We have purchased a few hard parts that I did not have laying around. All 4 of the front spring hangers and U-bolt plates for attaching the axle to the springs, the salvage yard only charged $40.00 for that pile of parts.
35" tall tires and barely enough lift to make it fit. The front suspension has 3" blocks under the front spring hangers, and 3" longer shackles.
You can see the steps that were removed from the frame when it was shortened. I think the engine will have to be lowered in the frame an inch or so. It definetly needs to move rearward.
As of Sunday night May 16th we have the front suspension mounted, the rear is bolted on but will be removed for a final prep. The cab is mounted to the stock 1955/6 cab mounts that were installed on the later frame. We have ordered patch panels for lower cab corners, front fender rear 1/2s, and front fender "eye brows". There is a huge disparity in prices for those patch panels, if you surf long enough you can find pieces for 1/2 the price.
Well finally back to work on this truck. I used 1" plate to lower the steering box. I dropped it 2" and of course the plate moved it outboard 1". The drag link looks pretty close to parallel and horizontal now. Probably a better way to do this would be roll the steering box 90°, so the pitman shaft was pointing toward the tire, similar to a 70-90? Dodge. That would take all the stress of the angled pitman out. How many fo these 1968-198? trucks have you seen with a cracked frame just behind the steering box? Well the new brackets also extend out on the frame for a broader base to help stop the cracking, too.
