New Build; 1984 Chevy CUCV M1010 4x4 Ambulance

[Dave Bennett]

Hahaha... the scouting trip... we had the 1010 camouflaged as a silver Tacoma. It was a real trick to pull that off. Heck, the most dirt it's seen has been at Fiesta Island. :victory:

Thanks for the props everyone.

:coffeedrink:

 

[ExpoMike]

So, got to work on the back box, removing the interior items. Lots of rivets drilled out but overall not too bad. There were a few "hidden" ones that took a little time to find. Used a drill and my air chisel to remove them.

Here's the pics as the back became an empty shell.

Box one gone

Box two gone

Fresh air duct work for removed heater and overhead light removed (kept hitting it with our heads)

 

[stolenheron]

this is a sweet build. cant wait to see where it goes.

 

[sojourner]

Nice. That's something I'm not really looking forward to but those wheel wells are very small compared to the m725, gives you more room back there.

Is that a heater that was on the right side of the floor?

Sent from my SPH-M900 using Tapatalk

Edit: Just re-read post about the heater, are you keeping it?

 

[ExpoMike]

Nice. That's something I'm not really looking forward to but those wheel wells are very small compared to the m725, gives you more room back there.

Is that a heater that was on the right side of the floor?

Sent from my SPH-M900 using Tapatalk

Edit: Just re-read post about the heater, are you keeping it?

No, I am removing this heater because it runs on 24 volts and I converted over to 12 volts. Add to that, I don't know if it works or not. I will be adding a Heat Source propane heater.

 

[Dave Bennett]

This better be on display at the Rendezvous! :bigbossHL:

 

[Mc Taco]

This better be on display at the Rendezvous! :bigbossHL:

And rolling on 37's! :sombrero:

 

[ExpoMike]

Hahaha funny you two. I am hoping to get it out... fingers crossed.

So I did something today I almost never do... I paid someone else to do some work for me. With the size and weight of this rig, not really having a good space to do the work (didn't want to do it on a sloped driveway) and just being sore from the last couple days of work, I went to East County Alignment to have the shackle flip done. Ray did a very good job and definitely had the right air chisel (mine would have been too weak). An hour and a half later, I now have rear tire clearance. On to the pics...

Starting to get things unbolted

Outer hanger removed

Inner bracket removed

New hanger from Offroad Designs

Installed

Ready to "flip" the shackle

Shackle reinstalled (yes this is the driver side now)

New ride height in the rear

That's it for now. Definitely love the new tires and wheels. Rides nice and definitely gets the looks.

 

[Dave Bennett]

Looks good, those new shackle hangers look really stout.

 

[ss_storm]

Looks fantastic! I have been thinking about this same sort of build for a long time now. would you be able to take a measurement from the floor to ceiling? I always wonder if I could stand up in there...

 

[ExpoMike]

Looks fantastic! I have been thinking about this same sort of build for a long time now. would you be able to take a measurement from the floor to ceiling? I always wonder if I could stand up in there...

Interior dimension are 109" deep, 75" wide and 65" tall. Not quite tall enough to stand (unless you're short :sombrero: ). Likely will do a popup roof to help with the height.

 

[Dave Kay]

Thank you XJ-Mike, for the shackle flip posting, excellent! Have often wondered about this mod and it looks pretty clean plus functional. Curious; how's the ride and how much lift did this actually net you?

Own an M1008 myself and wanting to keep it AND the suspension as stock as possible, am looking to put a fairly large-ish slide-in---slide-out camper on the bed. But from past experiences this always makes rear-ends sag. Did the air-lift thing on one truck years ago but that was less than satisfactory.

Shackle-flip looks like the ticket----thanks again!

 

[bat]

That's a good size tire for the truck it looks clean, the front rear looks like it might need some minor body adjusting.

 

[ExpoMike]

Thank you XJ-Mike, for the shackle flip posting, excellent! Have often wondered about this mod and it looks pretty clean plus functional. Curious; how's the ride and how much lift did this actually net you?

Own an M1008 myself and wanting to keep it AND the suspension as stock as possible, am looking to put a fairly large-ish slide-in---slide-out camper on the bed. But from past experiences this always makes rear-ends sag. Did the air-lift thing on one truck years ago but that was less than satisfactory.

Shackle-flip looks like the ticket----thanks again!

Thanks. The ride is exactly as it was before the flip. All you have done is basically changed the shackle from a tension type to a compression type. Since I have the box on the back, it actually rides really nice versus an empty truck bed with 5/4 ton springs. If you put a camper on the back, that will help your ride over an empty bed, that's for sure. I netted 2.5" lift from the 2.5" shackles brackets. They also make 4" ones plus longer shackles and zero rate springs (1" lift) so with a combo of different parts, you can get it leveled out fairly easily. I am waiting to see if the rear is done after I get the back built and see how much weight I end up adding. At this point I needed the 2.5" lift just so I had the clearance to drive it with tearing up the tires.

 

[ExpoMike]

That's a good size tire for the truck it looks clean, the front rear looks like it might need some minor body adjusting.

Thanks, I did think that size worked well and love the H2 wheels on this series trucks.

Not sure what your last comment means?