Jack's 2007 Chevy Build

[Bushcoat]

I love this truck. Been looking for a camper for my 07

 

[locrwln]

I love this truck. Been looking for a camper for my 07

Thank you, both my wife and I do as well. I've been through a lot of vehicles and they have all been for sale; it would take a lot of money to get this one from me.
.
Jack

 

[justcuz]

Just read through the entire thread. I did not see that you removed your rear springs and installed new spring pads yet. When you do I would suggest drilling drain holes in your spring plates. I drill 2 3/8th holes directly under the axle in line with the u bolt holes. It allows water to drain out and makes rinsing mud out pretty easy too.
Did you ever install those heavy duty 2wd torsion bars up front? Do you still have the stock rubber upper control arm bushings.
I really enjoy looking at pictures of where you've taken the truck and camper.
I find it interesting how many people understand and accept IFS on SUV's but cannot accept that it can be made to work on a 3/4 or 1 ton truck.

 

[1stDeuce]

Just read through the entire thread. I did not see that you removed your rear springs and installed new spring pads yet. When you do I would suggest drilling drain holes in your spring plates. I drill 2 3/8th holes directly under the axle in line with the u bolt holes. It allows water to drain out and makes rinsing mud out pretty easy too.

That is a GREAT idea! Mine were full of dirt and rust when I pulled them off! When my new U-bolts come, I'll have to drill a few holes in them!

I find it interesting how many people understand and accept IFS on SUV's but cannot accept that it can be made to work on a 3/4 or 1 ton truck.

Mine has 220k pretty hard miles on it. OE lower balljoints. I'm running different UCA bushings and balljoints, but only because I'm testing aftermarket versions for one of my engineering customers, not because mine were bad. Lower balljoints on a 4x4 Dodge diesel don't make it that far even if you ONLY ever drive it on the highway...

 

[justcuz]

Thanks, I'll post a picture of a drilled out spring plate.
I lube my ball joints with every oil change and after each off road trip because the suspension gets hosed off.
1stDeuce, have you ever thought of using first generation Ford F-150 or Expedition spindles in the front of a K1500 Chevy? They are taller which would allow for more travel, just have to see how short the UCA would have to be and where the steering arms line up. They use a 3 bolt unit bearing that I bet is the same pattern as a GM unit bearing.
I am going to eyeball some of this at the wrecking yard Monday.

 

[justcuz]

Here is a spring plate with drain holes drilled in it. Those are 3/8 but I see no reason they could not be larger, 1/2 inch would be the biggest I would drill though. The goal is to let the water drain out, you can hose the mud and junk out when you get home.

 

[1stDeuce]

Thanks, I'll post a picture of a drilled out spring plate.
1stDeuce, have you ever thought of using first generation Ford F-150 or Expedition spindles in the front of a K1500 Chevy? They are taller which would allow for more travel, just have to see how short the UCA would have to be and where the steering arms line up. They use a 3 bolt unit bearing that I bet is the same pattern as a GM unit bearing.
I am going to eyeball some of this at the wrecking yard Monday.

Thanks for the pics, amazing that GM didn't do this in the first place.

Knuckles... Interesting... I have never personally owned a 1500, though I did own a K10 for a few decades.

I've been thinking about developing a ~3" drop bracket lift kit for the 2500 trucks that moves the tire forward a bit for more clearance at the back of the wheel opening, but new cast steel knuckles are expensive, and I'm not ready to try a bolt-on extension quite yet... I wonder if I could adapt another production knuckle... Was hoping the 2011+ trucks used a taller knuckle, but no joy...

 

[Bushcoat]

A u bolt flip with round u bolts (the way GM made trucks until 87) is a great way to fix those stupid u bolt saddles that do nothing but catch dirt and make rust. Plus rounded u bolts with the threads and nuts face upwards helps not get hung up.

 

[justcuz]

My understanding is the 3/4 ton stub axle fits in the 1/2 ton unit bearing. Not sure if the bearing sizes are the same but I plan on doing more research. I think the new IFS Dodge 1/2 ton trucks have a pretty tall spindle too. As I recall the Tundra and Titan also have tall front spindles, but I know nothing about their unit bearings. Monday will be research day at Pic a Part!

 

[locrwln]

Just read through the entire thread. I did not see that you removed your rear springs and installed new spring pads yet. When you do I would suggest drilling drain holes in your spring plates. I drill 2 3/8th holes directly under the axle in line with the u bolt holes. It allows water to drain out and makes rinsing mud out pretty easy too.
Did you ever install those heavy duty 2wd torsion bars up front? Do you still have the stock rubber upper control arm bushings.
I really enjoy looking at pictures of where you've taken the truck and camper.
I find it interesting how many people understand and accept IFS on SUV's but cannot accept that it can be made to work on a 3/4 or 1 ton truck.

I have not gotten around to working on the springs. I actually have the parts (plates/u-bolts) to do a u-bolt flip just waiting for me to get the desire.

Thank you for enjoying the pictures, they were a lot of fun getting. And I agree with the IFS comment; it's been good to me. My F350 on stock tires/rims with little to no off-roading, lost the balljoints at 75k. My stock ones made it to just shy of 140k, and they weren't really bad, I just had a weird popping noise coming from somewhere and could not figure it out, so I changed the BJ's out and the noise went away, but I am still not confident that the BJ's were bad as they were all still really tight. I put ACDelco's in and I'm not so sure they are as well built. The rubber doesn't seem to seal as well as the OEM.

I would pony up for OEM's if I had it to do over.

Jack

 

[justcuz]

I think if I ever do any ball joint replacement I will buy the aftermarket ball joint and tie rod end seals.
Did you ever install those heavy duty 2wd front torsion bars and keys?
How about your UCA bushings, did you change to urethane yet?

 

[justcuz]

Do you think your truck could make it through the rocky section leaving the springs in Saline valley and heading toward and over Steele Pass? I think the road smooths out past the rocks but that first section leaving the springs is pretty rocky.

 

[locrwln]

I think if I ever do any ball joint replacement I will buy the aftermarket ball joint and tie rod end seals.
Did you ever install those heavy duty 2wd front torsion bars and keys?
How about your UCA bushings, did you change to urethane yet?

I didn't install them. After I bought them, all I could find was people saying that they had to swap sides, use different keys, and they still didn't see the improvement they were hoping for. I still have them, but I pretty much have the stockers dialed in right now.

I kept the rubber in the UCA's but put the poly's in the LCA's. Removing the stock rubber bushings was a workout and not a lot of fun. Pretty much the same as removing rubber bushings from leaf springs. There was heat, cutting, and drilling used to varying degrees at each stage. I do think it helped get rid of a slight shudder on downhill decelerations (think long freeway offramps). Before there was a slight warped rotor feeling, now that is all gone.

Do you think your truck could make it through the rocky section leaving the springs in Saline valley and heading toward and over Steele Pass? I think the road smooths out past the rocks but that first section leaving the springs is pretty rocky.

Absolutely, after taking it over the first part of Fordyce Trail and Mengal Pass, I'm pretty confident it would survive Steele Pass. There are some tight sections that would keep me on my toes for sure. The last several times I have been to Saline, I have gone in or out through the north or south pass's, so I haven't tried Steele.

Jack

 

[justcuz]

I've seen the threads about the torsion bars from GMT 400 trucks going into GMT 800 trucks and the recommendations to swap them end to end and side to side. I've never quite understood that unless they are trying to avoid the preset on used torsion bars. In spite of the preset a heavier bar is going to raise a vehicle if the bolts on the keys are tightened to the same position they were previously.

I do know that using 1500 keys on a 2500 truck gives you more adjustment because the index is about 10 or 15 degrees different. The GM truck hobbyist websites say Ford keys raise a 1500 and 1500 keys raise a 2500/3500. I remember doing a search a year or so ago on "Chevrolet torsion bar keys" and ran across a thread that had a pretty good explanation of all this information.

Above is a picture of 2 Chevy keys and a Ford key. Bottom is 2500, middle is 1500 and top is Ford. The hex is aligned in all three so you can see the amount of tension the key will apply to the torsion bar if adjusted the same for all three.

 

[1stDeuce]

I've read a lot of TB and key swap stuff too... It's all interesting, but I've yet to run out of thread on the stock bolts, even at more than 1.5" of lift... I think this is only helpful if you REALLY want to crank the front up, or you've drastically changed the weight of the front of the truck... Plus, with the factory bolts sunk in farther, they're not hanging down as much, which is nice. Since one is always hanging out about 10mm more than the other, if you buy one full thread bolt 10mm longer, you can get 2-3" of lift (Or account for a heavier nose) with the stock keys... Changing TB and/or keys to do what the factory bolts does is a LOT of work...