"New" Daily Driver Pickup "Project"

Western Ch***is has a 4" drop set of rear leaf springs. Has anyone had any experience with them? Instead of a flip kit or c- notch, or blocks.
https://westernch***is.com/product....oLhYVZB2x3BXK3o1uKqx9&gclid=Cj0KCQiA1JLLBhCDA

 

That looks like a nice pickup and now you have me thinking Rusty. Seems like I may have put some in this pickup about 30 years ago for someone else at the same time that I was painting it. But, that information is also likely irrelevant from that far back in that the springs have probably changed plus I can't hardly remember...

 

It would be a much more expensive way to go but if it offers better ride quality, I'm willing to do it. My grandson has had his eye on this truck since he was 5 years old it will be his someday. He even had his senior pictures taken with the truck this year.
That a beautiful paint job you did!

 

One of the benefits of just flipping the axle is that ride quality stays exactly the same. The only downside is if you didn't want it that low. Mine dropped exactly 5" with the flip kit. I'm sitting here today thinking that I will likely draw up some pieces to go ahead and c-notch mine so it never bottoms out. There are kits to do it, but I'm too cheap to buy one when I could make something that I think will be better.

Cool that your grandson wants that! He will be the coolest kid at school.

 

He graduates HS this year, I’m not ready to give my truck up yet so he’ll have to wait
Here is his senior picture and my fat *** with him at the picture shoot. Sorry didn’t mean to hijack your thread

 

Another 1/2 coil, so 1 coil total. I think this will work once I put 1" shorter tires on the front as compared to the rear. It's 3/4" lower in the front already according to the rocker panel. Front wheel wells are 2" higher than rear as far as compared to the body line so is a little deceiving when it comes to tire gap. Plus, guessing the front will sag just a tad too since spring is just sitting on cut end.

 

I kept working on the truck last night after I posted the above pic to finish putting the front end back together permanently including putting the new brake hoses on that came with the truck but weren't on it yet. Anyway, I also received the new radiator isolators while I was out of town so put them in and then installed the radiator permanently as well as continued to try to figure out what all else is left as far as making it run. Maybe tonight I can get the fan on, hoses and belts on, etc. Once I get past working around this aftermarket radiator, the rest should just go back together as it should. It did come with new transmission cooling lines, so hopefully those are correct and will work with this radiator without having to modify them.

I did find out that the new shocks in the bed of the truck must have been for something else... Tried to put them on and found that out quickly. Oh well, I suppose I'll look them up and see what they fit. Maybe they are for something else I own?

Also, a long time friend of mine told me that he has a new receiver hitch that he had bought for his 87 that I helped him paint back in about 96 but never used that I could have. Mine has one, but it hangs so low that it is useless now. His was to go through a roll pan, so I am thinking I can likely make that work somehow going through a bumper behind the tag. Anyway, this was his 87...working on this thing brings back lots of memories.

 

I made a lot of money from those Chevy & GMC trucks at my welding shop. A lot of them around here got a lot of rust repair, cab corners (the aftermarket cab corners didn't fit worth a hoot), inner and outer rockers, front body mount supports, floor pans and bed wheel arch patches. Did quite a few frame patches along side of the gas tank. Most got front fenders, doors, and new tailgates too, but those were mostly just bolt on stuff. I probably averaged 4-5 Chevy & GMC trucks a year for 15-20 years. The re-designed cab in 88 (or 89?) was somewhat better at rust prevention.
Did a lot of rust repair on the Ford and Dodge trucks too, but the GM trucks numbers were a lot higher.
The guy that ran the spring shop right across the alley from my shop also stocked and sold body patch panels along with gas tanks and other suspension stuff.

 

Wow…I do know these had rust issues especially where they use salt on the roads. All my family is from southern Illinois and I remember my grandpas 78 Suburban about rusting away when my aunt and uncle took it over and never washed it…. This one is pretty clean since I believe it has lived most of its life in the south.

Headed out to the shop now to see what I can get done. Decided to go ahead and sell my F150 that needs a transmission to hopefully fund the tires for this thing. I was planning to put another transmission in it, but tired of working on stuff I don’t want to keep.

 

Got almost nothing done tonight other than taking inventory, making a list of stuff I need, and looking stuff over. That is unless you count bolting the fan on, putting belts on, and taking the battery cables off so I can replace them. The truck came with some “repair” ends for the cables, but I hate those…

Little by little…

 

So, I have convinced myself that I want to c-notch the frame on this but also don't really like the way any of the ones that I can buy look. I just want one that bolts in, gives me a spot to mount a bumper in the center so if it ever does hit it isn't metal on metal, and doesn't cause me to cut the brace on the bottom side of the bed. The ones that go up and over the top flange on the frame rail would be stronger, but not wanting to cut the bed makes me not want that style. Anyway, I quickly drew this thing up this morning and will make some full-size paper mockup pieces to see if I like the way it fits in the frame this evening. The frame rail thickness appears to be 1/8" at least from what I measured with a tape measure. So, I made this out of 7 gauge which is 0.179", or a little thicker. I should have plenty or room to make good welds (or will likely have one of our prototype welders do it since he is a way better welder than I am). This type of part fits right into our core competencies where I work. It is too handy having a prototype shop that doesn't mind making government parts for employees. Thoughts?

 

These are GREAT photos!!!

 

I think that is a fantastic idea. Driving one of these on a flip without a notch is annoying unloaded, and ridiculously annoying with a load. Having your own R&D shop to fab a notch... priceless!

 

Your frame notch is removing 1/2 of the height of the frame rail, even with doubling up the thickness you are probably still removing some of the frame capacity. There are reasons the notch reinforcement pieces are recommended to go above the top of the frame. I doubt the truck will ever see much use at it capacity again, so the reduction probably won't make much difference. I just wanted to be sure you are aware of the possible capacity reduction in the capacity. When you have the notch replacement welded in, in addition to welding all the way around the contact areas on the original frame, I might suggest you also plug weld through the drilled holes into the side of the original frame as well. Some people like to skip welding the contact points on the bottom flange's width, don't be that guy. Those two bottom flange welds keeps things from twisting under load.
Welders tend to think more is better...

 

Thanks for the input guys. I appreciate the comments!

 

Man that slammed white one on cragars is fantastic! Stick a 4x4 under the frame rail and torch those springs til it hits the boards man. What is this a 4x4 convention lol

 

Good thing I made a paper template to check fit the parts... There is an area on the frame that is indented for the shock on the left side that I need to avoid. Rev. B coming soon.

 

Now I am just playing...

Complete with surface rust on section of frame rail, hardware, rubber bumper, etc. I'll verify again that this will work this weekend before cutting parts, but pretty sure it will.

 

How about a reinforcing plate on the inside if you are worried about the frame strength?

 

I could but am also not too worried about it. I thought about having someone look at the difference in strength through FEA (finite element ****ysis) before and after cutting it and bolting this part in. But, this is one of those instances that an "visual FEA" is good enough especially considering I have had several pickups done similar and never had issue even hauling my car hauler, etc.

 

I am sure it would be fine, but being **** like I am about some things....If I had it that far apart anyway, I would "box" slightly longer than the bolt in piece.

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/

 

If I remember correctly, the C-notch i had in mine was a formed piece of channel that fit the ID of the frame. It was also a bolt in.

 

Why not weld that plate in place?

 

Well, that’s a good question. I suppose I was somewhat following what the style of the ones that are sold from companies that specialize in kits for lowering trucks. They are all bolt in. But, they are also selling to a market that might be seen as amateurs or something? Anyway, your question has me debating. It would be more work to weld it in since I would definitely need to pull the bed off to do that which I wasn’t planning on doing. This is where projects start spiraling into more than they start as?

 

I like redundancy so I would bolt and weld

 

Not my truck, no experience in notching.
Given the resources you have, I'd whip up an inner plate too. It would extend fore and aft further than the outside and have 2 wings to capture the bottom bolts.
I'd guess that the reason all the kits were bolt-in was "No Welding Needed", and as you say, you need to unbolt and lift the bed.

 

After all of this discussion, I’m leaning toward just making a backup plate. If that isn’t strong enough, I should probably give my mechanical engineering degree back…

 

Looks like your daily is becoming another project, I guess this is why so many projects go to back burner... I do understand though, I have to continually tell myself to "focus" on main project and leave everyday stuff for later

 

Still hoping to get this done by the end of this month though.