10 year project should have been 6

80BrownK10 · Jan 24, 2020

If you lower it and put a trailer hitch on it won't it be dragging ass and scraping and hitting the ground when you actually pull a trailer?

Reinovator · Jan 25, 2020

80BrownK10 said:
If you lower it and put a trailer hitch on it won't it be dragging ass and scraping and hitting the ground when you actually pull a trailer?

Not any more then your average full size car. I'm not lowering it as far as some would think. right now there is about 4 inches of travel from center to the frame bumper stops, so I have a little to play with any more then that and frame cut which I want to avoid.

80BrownK10 · Jan 25, 2020

That four inches to bump stops is your suspension travel that's what I am getting at. If you lower it half of that then you have two inches of suspension travel before your frame is sitting on the axle. Two inch sagg from a trailer is not that much, unless your planning on just pulling like a lawnmower or ATV small trailer?.

Reinovator · Jan 26, 2020

80BrownK10 said:
That four inches to bump stops is your suspension travel that's what I am getting at. If you lower it half of that then you have two inches of suspension travel before your frame is sitting on the axle. Two inch sagg from a trailer is not that much, unless your planning on just pulling like a lawnmower or ATV small trailer?.

A smaller bump stop is an easy fix, longer shackles and smaller bump stops, Air shocks help some for ride comfort, but not for everything. drop spindles, or lowing control arms for the front this I do have. still deciding for the rear the 4 link with air bags would be easiest but not the least expensive. I will have to see what the boss will allow me this year. her daily driver is getting old. This is one way that is fairy easy. for the rear. Example Only.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fit-Chevy-...293237?hash=item4436456375:g:87oAAOSwrhNcakqh

Reinovator · Jan 26, 2020

80BrownK10 said:
That four inches to bump stops is your suspension travel that's what I am getting at. If you lower it half of that then you have two inches of suspension travel before your frame is sitting on the axle. Two inch sagg from a trailer is not that much, unless your planning on just pulling like a lawnmower or ATV small trailer?.

And you are correct 1 to 2 inches is a average drop when adding a trailer for some trucks but spring drop is also progressive for some suspension, this means 200 lb tongue weight or 500 lb tongue weight will cause the same drop. ( not all trucks this has just been my experience I have only owned 23 trucks most were chevy's some 5 fords and one datsun 620 no dodges except one dodge class A motorhome.) By the way I am a I-Car certified Frame man. this may or may not impress but it did me I stayed awake through the process. here is another way to help you understand Travel etc. * remember in the diagram the line on the bottom that all measurements are taken from is not ground it is called a Datum line, an imaginary plane where measurements are taken from. some times it is equal to ground. it's an engineering base line. http://www.chuckschevytruckpages.com/framespecs.html

idahovette · Jan 26, 2020

I'm not.

RecklessWOT · Jan 26, 2020

Why the suburban body on the truck frame? What happened to the frame that suburban body came off of? I'm asking because I assume there is some advantage to using the truck frame, otherwise it would have made way more sense to just start with a whole suburban (frame and all), then just weld the doors and windows up.

Have you considered just stretching the body a bit rather than shortening the frame? Since you already had it all cut up and welded it seems like it would have been easy to just add a few inches where the rear doors used to be.

Oh and if you're ditching the tailgate and switching to barn doors I'd be interested in the guts from the tailgate. Really the whole tailgate would be awesome but shipping from AZ would be insane lol

Octane · Jan 26, 2020

I like it better than an old hearse with the windows sealed up on it.

80BrownK10 · Jan 26, 2020

Reinovator said:
And you are correct 1 to 2 inches is a average drop when adding a trailer for some trucks but spring drop is also progressive for some suspension, this means 200 lb tongue weight or 500 lb tongue weight will cause the same drop. ( not all trucks this has just been my experience I have only owned 23 trucks most were chevy's some 5 fords and one datsun 620 no dodges except one dodge class A motorhome.) By the way I am a I-Car certified Frame man. this may or may not impress but it did me I stayed awake through the process. here is another way to help you understand Travel etc. * remember in the diagram the line on the bottom that all measurements are taken from is not ground it is called a Datum line, an imaginary plane where measurements are taken from. some times it is equal to ground. it's an engineering base line. http://www.chuckschevytruckpages.com/framespecs.html

Oh I understand this, I also understand progressive springs etc. It's just a lot of time I have more than 2 inches sagg in the rear of my truck when trailering. Esp if I fill the bed and tow, headlights point to the sky. I get within a few inches of the bump stops when I load my truck with wood and I have a lifted K10.

I just couldn't loose the utility of my truck.

Reinovator · Jan 26, 2020

RecklessWOT said:
Why the suburban body on the truck frame? What happened to the frame that suburban body came off of? I'm asking because I assume there is some advantage to using the truck frame, otherwise it would have made way more sense to just start with a whole suburban (frame and all), then just weld the doors and windows up.

Have you considered just stretching the body a bit rather than shortening the frame? Since you already had it all cut up and welded it seems like it would have been easy to just add a few inches where the rear doors used to be.

Oh and if you're ditching the tailgate and switching to barn doors I'd be interested in the guts from the tailgate. Really the whole tailgate would be awesome but shipping from AZ would be insane lol

Good questions.
Answer to first is I had a great truck Rusty Cab. I bought some parts from a body shop for my my suburban, Rear end included for $200. They wanted the frame and my old rear end ( stupid 10 bolt car rear end with 6 lug axles) as part of the deal, so I ended up with a body with no rust. my one ton dually was my work truck and I wanted to have a hot rod. and some thing to do between semesters and my down time. and I had a good frame. The Boss my wife liked the Idea. I also have a son that is autistic so he needed 24 / 7 attention.

Answer to the 2ed part, this gets weird the first gen square body Pickup has a longer wheel base then the suburban I think it's between 3.5 and 4 inches longer. but a suburban body and frame is about 6 inches longer then a Pickup, I was scratching my head on this one too it's also narrower. so I added 6 inches to the frame and put the suburban fuel tank in the back. I can post pictures is you want. so as it sits the wheel well looks wrong. I need to move the opening to the back of the truck 3.5 inches approximately no biggy on the passenger side on the drives side the spare tire well will show so I may raise it up in side enough to clear the opening.

as to the last question I'm going to barn doors because the tailgate is a pain in the ass 3 reasons the floor and body supports in that area are rusted and I'm getting tired of the readjusting everything all the time. 2 the guts work but the guide wheels on the power window are flattening out and I don't want to mess with it along with the tailgate assist spring keeps screwing up too rusted I'm tired of patching it. 3 A friend that owed me a favor had a body with some doors screwed up doors I had a set from my old suburban. So I cut a foot of the suburban my friend had, with a good floor and that is what I have.

I'm the guy that people bring all the hard case jobs to. I'm not the best by any means I make things work if possible, with the least amount of money, if possible I don't cut corners
but I will work around them. don't ask about the Suzuki samurai with the1986 buick V6 th350 and stock running gear POS that I had to make run. Some people don't listen.

I hope this answers your questions.

Reinovator · Jan 27, 2020

80BrownK10 said:
Oh I understand this, I also understand progressive springs etc. It's just a lot of time I have more than 2 inches sagg in the rear of my truck when trailering. Esp if I fill the bed and tow headlights point to the sky. I get within a few inches of the bump stops when I load my truck with wood and I ha e a lifted K10.

I just couldn't loose the utility of my truck.

I have had that problem too. But this is more of a hot rod then pickup and if the need arises Air bags are my next step added to the suspension if I stay with leaf springs, since I can't work full time for a while. may be have to take early retirement. Money is getting more hard to find.
I have tried Air shocks in the past but they are only good for ride enhancement meaning it will help take the slosh out maybe add 100lb of weight ability but don't count on it. air bags are the way to go. there are so many different sizes, it hard to choose.

If I were in your shoes I would look in to it I have seen many systems added to those monster fifth wheel rigs and with out them most trucks would bee whipping and dragging all over hell. Go to your local wrecking yard and check there there may be something there that you could get for a good price just to try out. and if you like it go for a new system I got a set off a ford for $50. big time over kill this set is for my 3/4 ton pickup.
Good luck

RecklessWOT · Jan 27, 2020

Reinovator said:
Good questions.
Answer to first is I had a great truck Rusty Cab. I bought some parts from a body shop for my my suburban, Rear end included for $200. They wanted the frame and my old rear end ( stupid 10 bolt car rear end with 6 lug axles) as part of the deal, so I ended up with a body with no rust. my one ton dually was my work truck and I wanted to have a hot rod. and some thing to do between semesters and my down time. and I had a good frame. The Boss my wife liked the Idea. I also have a son that is autistic so he needed 24 / 7 attention.

Answer to the 2ed part, this gets weird the first gen square body Pickup has a longer wheel base then the suburban I think it's between 3.5 and 4 inches longer. but a suburban body and frame is about 6 inches longer then a Pickup, I was scratching my head on this one too it's also narrower. so I added 6 inches to the frame and put the suburban fuel tank in the back. I can post pictures is you want. so as it sits the wheel well looks wrong. I need to move the opening to the back of the truck 3.5 inches approximately no biggy on the passenger side on the drives side the spare tire well will show so I may raise it up in side enough to clear the opening.

as to the last question I'm going to barn doors because the tailgate is a pain in the ass 3 reasons the floor and body supports in that area are rusted and I'm getting tired of the readjusting everything all the time. 2 the guts work but the guide wheels on the power window are flattening out and I don't want to mess with it along with the tailgate assist spring keeps screwing up too rusted I'm tired of patching it. 3 A friend that owed me a favor had a body with some doors screwed up doors I had a set from my old suburban. So I cut a foot of the suburban my friend had, with a good floor and that is what I have.

I'm the guy that people bring all the hard case jobs to. I'm not the best by any means I make things work if possible, with the least amount of money, if possible I don't cut corners
but I will work around them. don't ask about the Suzuki samurai with the1986 buick V6 th350 and stock running gear POS that I had to make run. Some people don't listen.

I hope this answers your questions.

Hah, that Samurai actually sounds like an awesome little rig. I bet it's unstoppable offroad.

But yeah I wasn't trying to poke fun, I literally was just curious, that all makes sense. I never knew about the wheelbase/frame length and width differences, I guess I never really thought about it and assumed they were just the exact same just with a closed in bed and different fuel tank location. Learn something new every day.

And I can totally see how the tailgate would be a pain with your current configuration, at first I assumed it did have barn doors and was actually surprised to see it had a tailgate with the welded doors/windows. For what I use my Suburban for I much prefer the gate, but in your case I would want doors too.

I'm serious though, I'd still take you up on the tailgate guts. My window mechanism is all in order, the rollers were gone and the glass seized up on the previous owner so he broke the glass trying to get the gate open (I bought it with a trash bag for a rear window). First thing I did before driving it home was replace the rear windshield. I made some modifications to replace the sliders with something more permanent. Almost lost a finger in the process, guillotined my left hand with the spring loaded window regulator and smashed the **** out of my ring finger, drove the truck severely overloaded cross country in a finger splint, was fun. It healed all messed up looking and it's really hard to get my wedding ring on and off now lol. Anyway when dude broke the window he must not have realized about the "window safety switch" or whatever you call it and tried to pry the tailgate open (from several angles), so the latches/handle/linkages are all bent to **** and barely work. I have to leave the inner panel unscrewed and pull on the linkages to get the gate open, but I still have to put the carpeted trim panel back on before closing the gate every time (which I have to slam hard as hell on one side) because that's what the inner gasket is attached to and it rattles/ leaks without it. I've messed with it a couple times over the years and made it worse, now I have to press in on the window when rolling it down or else it gets hung up on something in there, and sometimes the latch really doesn't want to open/close. Using the tailgate is often a 5 minute ordeal these days, very impractical. The torsion bar/hinges and window regulator which normally give everyone trouble are the only parts of mine that DO work lol. I'd need the linkage, latches, and handle.

Anyway, cool project. Definitely not what I would do with my burb, but I can't say I don't dig it. Hope you find the time to finish it all up soon

Reinovator · Jan 28, 2020

RecklessWOT said:
Hah, that Samurai actually sounds like an awesome little rig. I bet it's unstoppable offroad.

But yeah I wasn't trying to poke fun, I literally was just curious, that all makes sense. I never knew about the wheelbase/frame length and width differences, I guess I never really thought about it and assumed they were just the exact same just with a closed in bed and different fuel tank location. Learn something new every day.

And I can totally see how the tailgate would be a pain with your current configuration, at first I assumed it did have barn doors and was actually surprised to see it had a tailgate with the welded doors/windows. For what I use my Suburban for I much prefer the gate, but in your case I would want doors too.

I'm serious though, I'd still take you up on the tailgate guts. My window mechanism is all in order, the rollers were gone and the glass seized up on the previous owner so he broke the glass trying to get the gate open (I bought it with a trash bag for a rear window). First thing I did before driving it home was replace the rear windshield. I made some modifications to replace the sliders with something more permanent. Almost lost a finger in the process, guillotined my left hand with the spring loaded window regulator and smashed the **** out of my ring finger, drove the truck severely overloaded cross country in a finger splint, was fun. It healed all messed up looking and it's really hard to get my wedding ring on and off now lol. Anyway when dude broke the window he must not have realized about the "window safety switch" or whatever you call it and tried to pry the tailgate open (from several angles), so the latches/handle/linkages are all bent to **** and barely work. I have to leave the inner panel unscrewed and pull on the linkages to get the gate open, but I still have to put the carpeted trim panel back on before closing the gate every time (which I have to slam hard as hell on one side) because that's what the inner gasket is attached to and it rattles/ leaks without it. I've messed with it a couple times over the years and made it worse, now I have to press in on the window when rolling it down or else it gets hung up on something in there, and sometimes the latch really doesn't want to open/close. Using the tailgate is often a 5 minute ordeal these days, very impractical. The torsion bar/hinges and window regulator which normally give everyone trouble are the only parts of mine that DO work lol. I'd need the linkage, latches, and handle.

Anyway, cool project. Definitely not what I would do with my burb, but I can't say I don't dig it. Hope you find the time to finish it all up soon

It may be a while before I can get to it, The Wife's car comes First. then I have a motor home body to strip down to frame. and int 10 days I have a 1965 GMC to put together engine to trans, automatic, convert steering column to an automatic, wiring etc, make run. this is all on trade he pays for parts ( 1968 El camino disassembled no engine or trans radiator, but it does have some SS parts, maybe, or a 75 camaro his choice) then maybe I can get back to the panel truck major stuff.
On the Samurai it was a scabbed togeather POS They By passed all the stock wiring Left it in ran new wire Two colors red and white for both Positve and negitive. put a Buss bar in and wired every thing from that.left out turn signals gauges and park lamps. I had to rewire the whole thing. color coded it but he waned cool toggle switches To start it and run the fuel pump fan water pump no room for a stock one, ignition switch. had the brake booster ran to the pcv valve basicly no brakes. radiator hoses were ran to 2.5 inch cooper pipe with no ridges to to keep the hoses on just clamps. heater hose for oil remote spin on filter( no room for the stock oil filter adapter). the list goes on. 55 mph at 5.5 k rpm was top speed and the gentleman that owned it incised on trying to go 65mph. Then got made at me because it over heated. the fan was a puller fan converted to a pusher.
And a junk transfercase that would pop in and out of 4wheel drive and or get stuck in 4 low(I think he was doing it) as I remember. this thing had some great promise but he wouldn't do it the right way. had to let him find some one else. What a Nightmare.

But yea If you can wait I would be happy to sell it to you cheap Its not pretty. It was my daily driver for a while, my wife Totaled her SHO twice while I was building it. my stuff gets put on the back burnner.
She has gone throught an suburban an SHO a 2002 VW beetle 'Part my fault wouldn't listen to the tadle tail signs of timing belt slapping'. Now she has her convertible 2006 Sebring. and its acting up I hope it's just the fuel pump, intake maybe loose also needs new gaskets. I taught her to change the timing chain and oil pump, She did great, proud of her. Shes driving my 93 Lexus LS 400 needs a EGR exhaust tube.
Damn thanks for letting me vent I'm done. LOL. Oh and I broke my pelvis ATV 4 wheeling last year. on may 4th, staying home this year. and I don't drink. 31 years sober. I don't need to to get stupid Ideas. LOL

RecklessWOT · Jan 28, 2020

I know that feeling, I usually spend my time working on the wife's car first. Hah, I'm also working on getting sober myself. Mostly there, just gotta make it a "normal" thing and get past this stage where I'm telling myself not to drink all the time, I wish it just came natural.

Anyway yeah I don't mind waiting. As it stands the truck rarely gets driven, it's got issues and am waiting on warmer weather to swap in a crate motor. Something along the lines of head gasket/cracked head/block- there's air pumping its way into the cooling system, and as a result it doesn't run too awesome (though not as bad as you'd think). Not to interested in figuring out what the problem is, it's a 32 year old TBI 350 with 17x,*** miles that burns oil and now at this point it can **** itself, new engine it is. Preferably something that makes more than 205hp while I'm at it. At least I don't have to feel bad about neglecting it, since I know it's already screwed I don't mind driving it from time to time and letting it get worse. It's not boiling over or knocking, screw it I'm just gonna run it into the ground. I just want to have it reliable in time for when my DD takes a crap.

Reinovator · Jan 29, 2020

RecklessWOT said:
I know that feeling, I usually spend my time working on the wife's car first. Hah, I'm also working on getting sober myself. Mostly there, just gotta make it a "normal" thing and get past this stage where I'm telling myself not to drink all the time, I wish it just came natural.

Anyway yeah I don't mind waiting. As it stands the truck rarely gets driven, it's got issues and am waiting on warmer weather to swap in a crate motor. Something along the lines of head gasket/cracked head/block- there's air pumping its way into the cooling system, and as a result it doesn't run too awesome (though not as bad as you'd think). Not to interested in figuring out what the problem is, it's a 32 year old TBI 350 with 17x,*** miles that burns oil and now at this point it can **** itself, new engine it is. Preferably something that makes more than 205hp while I'm at it. At least I don't have to feel bad about neglecting it, since I know it's already screwed I don't mind driving it from time to time and letting it get worse. It's not boiling over or knocking, screw it I'm just gonna run it into the ground. I just want to have it reliable in time for when my DD takes a crap.

Life goes on, Oh and one day at a time with the drinking, But that my friend is another Form. Yea I pulled my 305 out of the panel truck a year and a half ago and put in what I thought would be a Nice 350 Ran Great, For a while. I went through it replaced the oil pump water pump checked the bearings Crank cam Connecting rods New seals New water pump, New distributor. Re-seated the valves, new seals, but I didn't put new nuts on the Rocker arms. Dummie.
Yep they worked loose, I'm hopping I didn't screw up the cam. But as Chevy's go, well,,,, and I develeped a leak in the tranz ARGH! I'll get to it but the wife's car comes first. or I'll go pull a 454 out of a motor home with tranz and stuff that in it. I may do that anyway I miss racing Big with blocks. Feeling the Body twist as you punch it. Like my Pick up does. mmmmm. Shivers.

10 year project should have been 6

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