Jack's 2007 Chevy Build

[locrwln]

Very nice execution. It sits just right. I love the look of a truck where you almost wonder if that was stock? Not jacked up so high you know "someone did that".

Thank you. I texted a photo to a friend and he didn't realize that I had done anything at first. I took that as a win and was exactly what I was hoping to achieve.
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Also, I was able to get the inner fender liners installed this weekend. The old unit bearings ABS sensors got rid of the fault lights in the dash...for about 5 miles; whereas, the new sensors in the new unit bearings set the lights off immediately. Going to have to use the GM ABS sensors in the Ford unit bearings to make the ABS happy. That's next on the list and of course getting the rear gears installed.
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Jack

 

[locrwln]

Latest update, I took my old GM ABS sensors and extended them to match the Ford/conversion harness length. I matched the length because I had them routed to match the brake lines. Went to back out of the garage and the fault lights were still lit up...

After using a few choice words, I went to pull back into the garage and all of the lights went out. I decided to take it for a drive to make sure it really fixed everything. I put about five miles on it, no lights. Spresso stopped by in his stocker to take it for a drive and we added a few more miles and still no lights. Today was shopping day, so we took the truck and added another 40ish miles. No lights and the truck drives pretty good on my garage tape measurement alignment. Did a comparison measurement between my truck and Spresso's and ended up right at about ~5" of difference. That was from center of front hub to the bottom opening of the front fender. So I guess you could say that three inches of lift is a pretty unrealistic lift height as I have the coilover's set about as low as I can and still have uptravel. Alignment and gears are next.
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Jack

 

[spressomon]

The difference between my stocker and J&D's SAS 'Max, even for my short test drive, is addicting for sure! Turn radius issue? What turn radius issue? :drool:

 

[Redline]

No lights! All sounding very good Jack.

 

[locrwln]

The difference between my stocker and J&D's SAS 'Max, even for my short test drive, is addicting for sure! Turn radius issue? What turn radius issue? :drool:

I drove it around town yesterday and really enjoyed the improvement in ride/handling and certainly turning radius.
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No lights! All sounding very good Jack.

I am pretty happy as I hate seeing error lights and I had Dan stand on the brakes during his test drive and the pedal feel and stopping are much improved as well. So far, it has been a big win on the conversion. Can't wait for gears.:smiley_drive:
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Jack

 

[Redline]

35s and what gear ratio?

 

[locrwln]

35s and what gear ratio?

4.56, which will put it back to stock (3.73/245's originally). Since the camper will be mounted permently and I will be running in the 10k weight range, I felt like .56's were the better way to go.
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Is your camper done yet?
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Jack

 

[Seabass]

This build.....so much respect! Simply awesome!

 

[Redline]

4.56, which will put it back to stock (3.73/245's originally). Since the camper will be mounted permently and I will be running in the 10k weight range, I felt like .56's were the better way to go.
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Is your camper done yet?
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Jack

Nope, still thinking around the end of February.

Gearing sounds good, plenty low.

 

[locrwln]

This build.....so much respect! Simply awesome!

Thank you, I really appreciate that.

Nope, still thinking around the end of February.

Gearing sounds good, plenty low.

Bummer, can't wait to check it out when you get it.
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The double OD of the Allison 6spd definitely helps with being able to go that low. If I had the 5spd, I would have done the 4.10's. I was tempted to go with 4.30's, but like you have found and it took me a while to figure out, lower gears are almost always better.
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Got the alignment done last night and it was aligned to 2011-2016 F350 specs. I was close with my garage job, but it's definitely better now.
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Jack

 

[Redline]

Thank you, I really appreciate that.



Bummer, can't wait to check it out when you get it.
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The double OD of the Allison 6spd definitely helps with being able to go that low. If I had the 5spd, I would have done the 4.10's. I was tempted to go with 4.30's, but like you have found and it took me a while to figure out, lower gears are almost always better.
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Got the alignment done last night and it was aligned to 2011-2016 F350 specs. I was close with my garage job, but it's definitely better now.
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Jack

Yep, I think most engines can handle a little extra rpm, and less load, while making the top gear(s) more useful.

Good news on the alignment.

 

[1stDeuce]

Good to hear about the ABS. I would think the ford sensors should have worked in the ford hubs... Air gap is VERY important for sensor function, especially at low speeds... I wonder if you had something messed up with the wiring on the ford sensors that you inadvertently fixed going to the GM sensors... Were they both 2-wire sensors, or were the Ford sensors 3 wire?

If I read right, the 3" kit you used was supposed to offer 3" of lift with 4" of compression and droop... You got more like 5" of lift, so do you have 6" of compression travel? I suppose it's possible the stock truck has settled ~1" or so from when it was new...

What are you using for jounce bumpers? I bet 4" was for metal to metal, not just to first contact with the jounce bumper...

 

[locrwln]

Good to hear about the ABS. I would think the ford sensors should have worked in the ford hubs... Air gap is VERY important for sensor function, especially at low speeds... I wonder if you had something messed up with the wiring on the ford sensors that you inadvertently fixed going to the GM sensors... Were they both 2-wire sensors, or were the Ford sensors 3 wire?

If I read right, the 3" kit you used was supposed to offer 3" of lift with 4" of compression and droop... You got more like 5" of lift, so do you have 6" of compression travel? I suppose it's possible the stock truck has settled ~1" or so from when it was new...

What are you using for jounce bumpers? I bet 4" was for metal to metal, not just to first contact with the jounce bumper...

It's not a matter of the ford sensors working in the ford hubs, its that the GM computer didn't like the signal. With the new sensors that came with the hubs, as soon as I started the truck for the first time, it faulted out. The old ford sensors made it about 5 miles before they faulted out. So far, I have put about 70 miles and no problems with the GM sensors in the ford hub. Both were two wire sensors. I used the WFO conversion harness to go from the ford plug to the gm plug, they didn't work...

I don't think I have 6" of compression. This is sitting level in my driveway.
Driver's side:

Passenger side:

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I need to get the tape measure out to see where it's at as the picture doesn't really give you a frame of reference.

As you can see, I am using the WFO bumpstops, which are so-so. I am actually thinking about removing them and bolting on the Z71 bumpstops that I removed from my IFS just to see how they handle the harder hits.

Jack

 

[locrwln]

So after picking it up from getting the gears installed, I took it by the CAT scales to see the difference between the IFS and SA weights.

IFS:
Front - 4920lbs
Rear - 2980lbs
Total - 7900lbs

SA:
Front - 5040lbs
Rear - 3060lbs
Total - 8100lbs

That's with me sitting in the driver's seat both times and I weigh 160lbs. The bellypan/skid plate kept some of the weight balanced to the rear. I expected to see most all of the weight added to the front. Also, I was hoping I would be close to the IFS weight, but overall, I can't complain about 200lbs.



I had an E-Locker installed in the front axle when I had the gears installed because I already had an E-Locker in the front IFS axle and all of the wiring is still in place. Now that the front and rear gears match, I had to go test out the 4wd and the E-Locker. Check out the flex! :victory: One step up from a shopping cart, but an improvement over the IFS for sure. Sorry for the lighting, it was getting dark.

Here is a picture with the IFS.

Not a whole lot more flex as the rear is not drooping as much, might have to change out the rear shocks as they were meant for a stock truck and I am running out of down travel. Also the front was not compressed completely either as it as a bit more compression, which it may not ever see with it being a radius arm system.

Jack

 

[spressomon]

So nice in so many ways! How is the front drive shaft?