I just made the assumption since he left the drag link and box in place in the pics. Power steering would be nice on such a large vehicle. What's the GVW of that thing going to be when it's done?
I haven't got the old steering setup out of the truck yet, gotta pull the fender and the inner support to get in there. Took the fender off the truck today to get access to start mounting the steering box. What I need is someone local egging me on, it's been a few years and I'm getting burned out. If it were out in the open the linkage would be worth having. Heck, I've got enough parts and ideas now to make one heckuva custom scratch rod... Was thinking boat tail, make it a speedster, pontoon front fenders, skinny wheels and open engine bay with steam for propulsion. I just don't have the hours in the day. Gotta have power steering, this is the tow rig for my trailer and backing a trailer into a spot is hard enough. GVWR- 5950# when I weighed her for registration.
That's a pretty slick looking install. If you didn't know it wasn't supposed to be there, you'd think it was factory. Does that upper control arm run downhill at ride height? If not, it looks like it's going to interfere with the steering shaft. Might just be the angle of the photo though.
Steering column manufactured, turned the ends down in my lathe to fit SAE660 oilite impregnated brass bushings both ends. Collars on the way from McMaster Carr to hold the shaft in place. Aligned the bearings using the ø3/4 shaft and electrical tape wrapped to hold the column in the right place while welding
Had the pads tacked in place but was unhappy with their locations. Got some threaded rod to cut off small bits and used electrical tape to hold the spacers centered while welding. Just enough clearance between the steering shaft and the upper control arm. Steering shaft needs to be remade, it's about 2" too short (needs 38 OAL). Will cut the 2° taper, threads and the keyway next week. Then will double-D flat the end that goes to the U-joint.
Great Build!!!! Thought you would like to see what my buddy has in his rafters -- look at about the 38 sec mark. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uki344VRGDE
wow... cool build... After I get my van (55 chevy bread truck) done I would like to do a truck like yours.. really cool man!
Steering shaft completed and installed. Found an intermediate shaft from a Jeep Cherokee that was long enough and had two usable u-joints. Lower joint is common for the Chevy steering box. Upper U-joint interfaces with a ø3/4-30T spline from Boregeson, custom ordered at 42" OAL, cut down to about 39.5" OAL. Steering wheel interface is a 2° taper with a 3/16" key. Nut is 1/2-20 threaded at the shaft. All of the steering parts are traceable from a manufacturer for liability concerns. Best part is you turn the steering wheel and the wheels turn. Amazing.
Got new steering components installed this weekend. New lower control arms (as the bushings aren't sold separately and heck the ball joints come with) as well as new tie rod ends (inner and outer), adjuster sleeves and pitman arm. Made two alignment bars with appropriately spaced holes (6.5" apart) to allow me to do a reasonably good alignment job in the front using a tape measure. Set up with just a hair of toe in. Need to get the vehicle to ride height then double check the numbers to see if there is any bump steer to account for. At least it's close and the adjuster sleeves are balanced. Next up is figuring out how to attach the upper shock mounts. I'm thinking little bolt on towers. Gotta get the 10-lug adapters ordered for the front and the tires moved over onto the new Alcoa rims. Close to driving!
Picked up a pair of 8 to 10 lug adapters for the front from Fred at wheeladapter.com Fantastic guy- if you don't know about what he used to do have a look on his site. Adapters are much better made than the ones I got for the rear. Painted them blue as that's the only color I had on hand and didn't want to get rust. Then had to balance a rim to see how it is going to look......
Very nice build! We just got my Dad a 47 Dodge 1.5 ton truck. I remembered seeing your thread and how you went with the chevy 1 ton IFS. I think we're going to try to do the same thing. It will also have a 6bt for power. Very nice build!
I hate to say this, but the photo of the wheel mounted looks like the tires are oing to be outside of the fenders. You're not going to run them hanging WAY outside the fenders like that, are you?
The rim isn't bolted flat, it was hanging off a bit. Will have to take a better picture once I get tires mounted on the rims. I also have a set of shorter rotors from a SRW truck that I was planning to run. See page 10, post 198. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5758230&postcount=198 Issue is going to be steering box clearance for turn circle radius. I am unsure if I can find a set of 7.5" wide rims to run the 235/80R22.5 tires, and if I go with the 8.25's as you see in the pics the minimum tire width grows up to a 255.
Shoulda done this a while ago. KDP tap fabricated and installed. I've got a very early 6BT; the casting wasn't machined there the same way they were in the later ones so the chances of it falling out are less. I don't like taking chances though. Custom tab fabricated out of 18-ga stainless and bent to fit.
Picked up some 22.5 by 8.25" front rims a while ago. I'd still like to find some 7.5" wide Alcoas but for now these will have to work. Trick was finding the minimum sized tread that were listed for 8.25" wide rims. Turns out that's a 255/70R22.5 Tires were from a local guy, used Toyo's with recent date codes and plenty of tread for what I need. They will fill up the fenders better once I get the truck off jack stands! They don't stick out beyond the fender too far, need to verify that my calculations are correct in terms of turn circle.
Rode a little rough on the way to Friday night's local car show... Don't get me wrong, it's still better than the original springs- but I was chasing the truck down the road and the potholes made it worse. Couldn't figure it out til I crawled under to reset the toe. Turns out the springs that I got with the subframe are 2" lowering jobs. Fantastic for low riders, not so good for my application! Well, the front airbag project just took high priority. Luckily I have almost all the parts to fit the RE-7 bags to the front of the vehicle. They have internal bump stops so I can zip off the current bump stop towers. Guy that sold me the kit missed the ø5.5" tubing to make the custom spring adapters else I'd be cutting and welding right now instead of typing. I'm thinking to go a slightly different route though, and fit lower plates as they bolt in and make for a more secure mounting pad. All the airlines and adapters are DOT from McMaster-Carr. Gotta love their next day service shipped straight to your door! Can't wait til tomorrow...
You could have gotten a KDP tab from your local Cummins dealer for free or next to free. There's actually a part number for it. The tab you made will work great as well.
Air bags in! Ride is much improved. I don't like the alignment of the cups in the lower A-Arm. A set of flat lower plates are on the way but this gets the truck on the ground now.
I stand corrected! Must have been the angle of the shot you took of the bare rim, the truck looks great. Congrats, it must feel good to have it driveable, you're WAY ahead of me! The photo of the truck at the curb with the Avion in the background is cool. Your trailer? Brian
I have been watching the progress for some time now and must say it is a fantastic project! Also, note to flynbrian48, your truck in post 180 is killer. These Diamond T trucks are beautiful. .
Mike, Thanks again for all the help and parts over the years- now you can see what I've been up to!!! You gotta get some pics of your build up on the board- nice job! Scott
The trailer is a 1956 Silver Streak trailer, close enough to an Avion. The plan is to tow that next Tuesday night up to Pismo Beach. (!) Coming along, slowly of course. Thanks for all the encouragement!
Goin' to Pismo huh? Luck Devil, I'd like to see that show sometime, but I'm on the wrong side of the country! Drove my sons '62 Impala thru on our way to Monterey from 'Vegas tho, what a great time. Now I seem to remember you'd posted pics of your SS before, sorry I forgot. Brian
What a day. Smashed my right hand ring finger on one of the many times putting the lower a-arm u-bolts in and out. I think this was putting them back in. Whatever, still throbbing. Medicine of choice? Rum. Realized last week that the cups were not well in alignment to the spring pockets. Started the morning by shortening the cups and trimming to fit in the holes better. I don't care what they say, the ø6" material does NOT fit well in the spring pockets. Got things better from an alignment standpoint by cutting down to 1" length from 2" and slotting the sides but it still wasn't right- even worse, the sides of the bags were touching the a-arms. Pulled the lower a-arms completely out and installed lower plates. Much better now, the bags are rubbing against itself but not against steel. Problem stems from needing to have a 6.75" nominal spring height per the RE-7 bag specs. Probably could be done if I could noodle out a way to fit the bag up into the upper spring mount or lower it into the lower a-arm. Right now it's gonna have to stay a little compromised.
The Jalopy Journal
