1986 GMC S-15

[Todd n Natalie]

Sitting fully on it's own weight. I'm going to order some 3" lift coils for the front. Just a bit too much rake with the stock xj coils I had on hand.

Did you try mounting the camper on yet? Just wondering if the added weight on the bed will even out the rake instead of having to go with lift coils?

EDIT: Whoops. Shoulda kept reading before I commented. I see now you already got the lift coils mounted.

 

[Copperhead14]

That is a great setup. I eould stick with your current tire size. No need to break stuff. Can’t wait to see the camper on.

As always, this is my favorite build you have done a great job, can’t wait to see new adventures.

 

[TripLeader]

This is a masterpiece.

 

[Andrew_S]

You could. But I think what you have may be a perfect middle ground. 35s would look amazing however. Not that it doesn't already.

I think once the suspension settles in everything will be perfect.

Definitely going to be sticking with these tires for now. Once they wear out maybe go up to 255/85/16's

Did you try mounting the camper on yet? Just wondering if the added weight on the bed will even out the rake instead of having to go with lift coils?

EDIT: Whoops. Shoulda kept reading before I commented. I see now you already got the lift coils mounted.

The shocks only had about 1" of stroke left with the stock XJ coils, I definitely had to go with a lift coil. Mounting the camper tomorrow if all goes to plan.

That is a great setup. I eould stick with your current tire size. No need to break stuff. Can’t wait to see the camper on.

As always, this is my favorite build you have done a great job, can’t wait to see new adventures.

Definitely stick with the 33x10.5's for now. Thanks for the good words.

This is a masterpiece.

I don't know about that, maybe just a great bush beater?

Super productive day today.
Checking for clearance on the new lines. Still have about 3" of up travel, little sketchy with my floor jack. Can't wait to see this thing flexing out in the woods.

Brakes were bled. Started doing a nut and bolt check on everything and roughing in an alignment.

One hurdle to overcome was that the slip yoke was barely engaged after flipping the SOA.

Rather than spend $500+ on a new driveshaft I opted to go this route.

It's not as strong as no spacer but bare in mind the engine in this truck makes roughly 160hp at the crank...

All fixed for $60. Down the road, if I go to a SYE, I'll get a new shaft made.

After going over everything twice more, filling up the diffs. It was finally time, test drive!
So glad I went with 4.88's, it has torque for days now. Stops on a dime with the upgraded WJ calipers and explorer rear discs. Had a backing plate rubbing on a rotor, but aside from that no issues at all.

So frigging good. This thing is going to absolutely bomb bush roads now.
Almost 20 years ago I joined S10 forum and drooled over the lowered and SAS'd trucks. I've always dreamed of having both ends of the spectrum. So stoked to take this picture.

Finished up the night by putting the lift shackles back under it to correct the stance.

Camper is going on tomorrow!

Still tons to do, but at least it moves and stops again.

 

[Kingsize24]

 

[Todd n Natalie]

Amazing job man! You should feel proud of all the hard work you did,

 

[Copperhead14]

That Sir, looks outstanding. Great job.

 

[N.Penley]

Beautifully done!
Hopefully it won’t be too top heavy with the camper installed.

I’m also looking forward to updates on the awd swap on your red truck.


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[Andrew_S]

Thanks for all the good words guys. Pretty stoked about the progress so far.

Made a few corrections and tweaks in the last day or so.

Started by adjusting* the new flex lines, they were uncomfortably close to the tire.

Quick bend with a brake line tool and now they are mint,

Fixed a small weep at one of the new brake line fittings and then took it for a proper shakedown & some mushroom picking

Beautiful scenery but no mushrooms to be found, far too dry here at the moment.

The creeks are flowing pretty good at the moment

Quite a few roads in our local area are now washed out.

It looks "big" but honestly this sits around the same height as a stock half-ton

Moment of truth when we got home, can we get the camper on? - love this photo haha

Success!

 

[Andrew_S]

Yesterday the smoke finally shoved off so we went for a quick paddle on the big lake.
I definitely need to build a step off the trailer hitch for getting in & out of the camper.

Can't beat this May-long weather.

Decided to try and unload the camper without changing the tires. These tires turn into legitimate tracks when you air them down. Looking forward to using them in the snow.

Similar to before, I had to ratchet strap down the rear suspension but it works pretty good actually

Again, it looks big but it's really not that over the top. I 100% need sway bars for the camper though. It was quite stable on its own, so much so that I had considered not running bars at all. With the camper though, it definitely rolls hard.

Spent the evening getting the bars hooked up. You can see the 2nd gen S10 bar I pulled was not going to work as it was. It conflicted with the coil springs. I couldn't push it forward and modify the mount because then the tire hit the sway bar.

This took a fair bit of head-scratching but I got there eventually.

I ended up cutting off the ends, shortening it & "machining" some new ends onto it.

Works perfect now.

I welded the rear link mounts onto the frame while I was it. This thing handles like it's on rails now. Way better than it ever did before. Looking forward to trying it with the camper now.

 

[Andrew_S]

At the junkyard trying to source an XJ front shaft, struck out but hoping to find something soon. This Bluetooth front shaft isn't going to do it in the bush.

Sitting next to a 1-ton & 3/4 ton, really not that big.

The wife surprised me with an early birthday present. We want to start doing some longer canoe trips but our smaller 15' grumman was just a bit tight with gear.

Comparing the two side by side was neat. The Standard body Grumman weighs 72 lbs (thicker aluminum) but is 2' shorter and almost 6" narrower at it's widest point.

The eagle is 17' with thinner material that's supposedly a stronger alloy. The sides flare out making it better in tall waves. It's supposed to be much better for paddling efficiency as well.

I've been wanting a second canoe for quite a while now. We had a 17' grumman previously that I sold shortly after we bought the 15'. Now we have a small lake/day trip canoe and a big lake - multi-day trip unit. The biggest gain is we can go do canoe trips with friends and family on some of the local rivers now. Awesome birthday present.

Quick little project knocking out a step for the camper/wife. Quick slide in/out.

 

[ITTOG]

It looks awesome. Compared to the other trucks their tires look grossly under sized now. Speaking of undersized, you have to put the donuts on and go drive your local strip. I can't imagine the looks you would get and if you stopped, probably a lot of interesting questions.

Overall, amazing job. It looks outstanding. Are you ready to sell it?

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[BeardedHombre]

In all of the years I have been a member of this forum......hands down this is my favorite build. Amazing work!

 

[Andrew_S]

Thanks^ still lots to do.

It looks awesome. Compared to the other trucks their tires look grossly under sized now. Speaking of undersized, you have to put the donuts on and go drive your local strip. I can't imagine the looks you would get and if you stopped, probably a lot of interesting questions.

Overall, amazing job. It looks outstanding. Are you ready to sell it?

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

The truck on small tires is definitely a statement lol. It looks like a monster truck being transported to shows. Thanks for the good words, no interest in selling it at all haha.

We slapped together a couple racks for the new unit.

This will clean up the storage location along the side of the house.

We got out last weekend looking for Morel's

No mushrooms to be found but a good outing regardless

Trying my best to keep this thing out of the bush but with the truck down it was a necessary evil

Got up to the snowline and found this old cabin

These old cabins are usually pretty beat and full of mice ********. This one was being taken care of.

Imagine the games that were played on this relic

Up around 2000m elevation

Late spring snow storm

Lunch break

End of the road for us

Lots of hiking but no mushrooms

Cool to see these little cactus popping up at out of the burn area.

Passed this cool old rig on our way home.

 

[Andrew_S]

Back to the grind,

Trying to make this XJ front shaft work and a couple of sections of Y-pipe for the exhaust mod.

Changing out the front ouput yoke & seal (leaking)

Should have drained it first, what a mess.

Comparing S10 to XJ

Fabbed up a mount to make the new steering stabilizer work

This will be nice for the washboard/bush roads. Fully compressed in this photo.

A few more late nights and this thing should be getting close.

Got the the string line alignment professionally checked, good to drive it now.
Here's a couple of glory shots