Our Dual-Sport GMC Sierra

[chevyexpotruck]

Nice. Those have to be some of the most heavy duty sliders I have ever seen.

Though you also wrote a few pages back that you are doing full under body skid plates, so I can see why you went that way.

Are you going to put more holes in them? I ask as it would help reduce some weight as well as help in draining any dirt/mud/water that might collect in them.

Keep up the good work.

 

[98dango]

Those sliders look nice but that's a lot of beef my goodness. Your fab is great and just a touch on the over kill. I love the direction your going with the truck can't wait to see what's next.

 

[chaos616]

Hello, have been quite busy lately, trying to add more, but its slow.

chevyexpo, Thanks, i built them that way because they are designed to hold the whole truck up (which weighs about 8000 lbs. now). Yeah, I will do more holes eventually, did as many as time allowed for now, we did use the plates a lot at our rally and they came in quite handy. Thanks!!!

98dango, Thanks a bunch, i appreciate it, yeah, they are a bit overkill, i tend to do that a lot, but at least they hold up well.

Cheers,

Chaos

 

[87GMCJimmy]

Holy beefy metal fab!!! Awesome!!!! Your build is looking great! LOVE the auxiliary tank and shock mount setup! I am wanting to do similar myself! (I don't have my 87 Jimmy anymore, I now have a 2012 Power Wagon) What application is your tank out of? Digging the sliders too! Looking forward to seeing more of your fab work!!! (can't wait to see your SAS!!!)

 

[toyotech]

Love all the metal work. Looks great. I'm guess weight isn't an issue for you.


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[chaos616]

Hey 87GMC, Thanks a bunch for the comments, yeah theyre pretty heavy but man are they solid. The tank is actually out of an early 90's blazer, i would guess 92' or 93'. I actually pulled it out of the truck but forgot to look at the year, all i know is if fit like it was made to be there with the shock and exhaust. The only real issue was figuring out the pickup for the pump and doing up the filler neck, a bit odd but it worked out in the end.

Toyotech, Thanks also for the comments, weight is always an issue, that being said the truck started off at 6500 lbs. as it was a heavy duty truck anyway. The stock rear axle alone weighs in at almost 400 lbs. So everything on the truck is already heavy and for good reason, its GVWR is up to 12,000 lbs. for the truck and its got all the heavy running gear to deal with it. The truck, as compared to the newer body style trucks, has great viewing out the front and sides. It was before they started to tilt the windscreen back for better milage. Whlie doing that they also raised the dashes up, so you sit in a newer truck now and you feel like your sitting down in it like a low sports car, whearas on the older body style you sit up in it kind of like the old land cruisers and such. Anyway, i'll be adding more weight if i end up doing a 4-53T or 4-71T detroit diesel swap.

Cheers,

Chaos

 

[chaos616]

For an update, I have not not worked on the project. We just finished stripping the truck of all IFS stuff tonight but I have not cut off the bracketry yet... thus far we are on this side of the "point of no return". Two days from now though we may be past. Here are some pictures for you to look at.

Also part of the reason for the quick SAS is because we need our truck for everything like DD, working, traveling, etc... Because our existing IFS was starting to fall apart due to the weight (measured at 8100 lbs. on certified CAT scale, 4480 front and 3620 rear) and the severity of the use we put it through such as too high of a speed on washed out roads and just generally rough driving off road, not to say we abuse, but we use it as an off road vehicle to its full potential (at least we like to think so).

Ok so here is the IFS slowly being removed (in three pictures):






And here is everything stripped minus cutting the old brackets off:




And here is the axle placed about center forward and side to side, it is dropped about 2" lower than it will sit at rest due to bracketry in the way:










And Britt posing by all her hard work today helping me tear the stuff off:


More updates as things progress, we promise (Britt promises)

Cheers,

Chaos

 

[cowboy63645]

Made quick work of the front suspension! Still one of my favorite threads. What is the overall lift height you are looking at and tire size?

 

[chaos616]

hey cowboy, Thanks!, um for lift height at rest I'm planning on about 4-6", probably around 5, and tire size will increase to around 37. Thinking of running 345/75 16, with this it should give me (from the old height with the bfgs) a lift of around 6-7 inches. I don't really want height but more flexability, however to fit the tires and the axle and have suspension bump still this is pretty much minimum height. It will have 4-5 " uptravel and 7-8 down travel, it will probably be more toward the 5 up and 7 down for a total of 12" on the coilovers. That being said the tires will have at full flex ~2" more travel than the coilovers, so the tires should have around 14-16" travel on each corner in specific situations.

To update, I will be finishing cutting of brackets over the next few days, a few pictures to follow and then on to fabrication and welding.

Cheers,

Ehren

 

[Larry]

WOW! :Wow1: A GM 14 bolt reworked for a front axle position! Sweet! It’s safe to say you won’t ever have any issues with that axle breaking on the trail. Now the next swap is to get rid of that electric shift transfercase and you will really have a brute of a late model GM truck. Nice work! Anxious to see the final product.

 

[chaos616]

Hey Larry, yeah, I think that is probably a next step for sure, especially since they don't make any SYE kits for the NV267HD whatever it is I have (I forget now). Although I do like th 1:2.7x ratio but if I could find a good transfer case to bolt up to the 4L80E transmission that was electric shift (or maybe even manual) that had a good ratio with solid yokes that would be fantastic. Hmmmm. now you got me thinking again... My thoughts exactly I shouldn't have any breakage issues, although it is a big axle to fit under there.

Updates to come soon, didn't get much done tonight, buying a sawzall and some blades tomorrow to help out and well get the rest of the brackets cut off and cleaned up. Waiting for a few brackets to show to finish ordering the coilovers, upper brackets, drag link, panhard bar, and 3 links and joints.

Cheers,

Ehren

 

[Larry]

Hey Larry, yeah, I think that is probably a next step for sure, especially since they don't make any SYE kits for the NV267HD whatever it is I have (I forget now). Although I do like th 1:2.7x ratio but if I could find a good transfer case to bolt up to the 4L80E transmission that was electric shift (or maybe even manual) that had a good ratio with solid yokes that would be fantastic. Hmmmm. now you got me thinking again... My thoughts exactly I shouldn't have any breakage issues, although it is a big axle to fit under there.

Updates to come soon, didn't get much done tonight, buying a sawzall and some blades tomorrow to help out and well get the rest of the brackets cut off and cleaned up. Waiting for a few brackets to show to finish ordering the coilovers, upper brackets, drag link, panhard bar, and 3 links and joints.

Cheers,

Ehren

You actually have the NP263 electric shift turd…the tcase innards themselves are good, it is the method of shifting that is unreliable. Nothing will piss you off more than having a truck stuck in 4low on the trail because the stupid encoder motor, control head or transfercase control module failure or dealing with a wiring harness that got tore up by weeds. Not only that but they shift too slow when you are in and out of hi and low ranges often and the chains have a habit of rubbing a hole in the aluminum case. (Actually the manual shift 261 has the same chain rubbing the case issue as well).

A Borg Warner models 4401 or 4470, LH front output NP241, NP261 or the 2008 later Magna 12 series manual shift transfercases would all fit the bill for you nicely. As long as they come from a 4L80E they will bolt right on. Actually, I believe even one from a NV4500 manual trans would work as well as they are also 32 spline. A tcase from behind a ZF 6 speed or Allison will have too large of input and would not work on a 4L80E.

The Borg Warner models 4401 or 4470 would be the best choice as it comes with fixed front and rear yokes. Those can be found in early 90’s to 2000 GMT400 K3500 trucks. The second best choice would be a NP241 from the same generation GM 2500 series truck. The NP241 has a slip yoke for the rear shaft but fixed yoke for the front, which is what you need for a SFA swap. If you are really worried about the rear slip yoke (which I am not) then there are plenty of kits to convert 241’s to fixed yoke. I run a rear slip yoke on the 241 in my Burb and have no plans to change it. SYE for the rear are overhype in my opinion. The Magna tcases from later model trucks have slips in the front and rear positions, not something you want on the front.

 

[Buddha.]

Detroit diesel swap?

 

[chaos616]

Hey Larry, that's a serious amount of info, I am currently looking into those options, may have found an NP241 that does in fact bolt up to a 4L80E, may make it a bit easier, only issue is to build in a shift lever for the 4WD, as I have all the **** in the middle of the truck, well figure it out though. Thanks a ton for that info I think it will come in handy later on.

Buddha, potentially but not for a while, I like the idea of a 2 stroke diesel but that's also a big job and I would need to do a bit more research, I like the 6V53T, that would be nice. Well see.

Cheers,

 

[Larry]

Detroit diesel swap?

Pfft, pee on diesels

Hey Larry, that's a serious amount of info, I am currently looking into those options, may have found an NP241 that does in fact bolt up to a 4L80E, may make it a bit easier, only issue is to build in a shift lever for the 4WD, as I have all the **** in the middle of the truck, well figure it out though. Thanks a ton for that info I think it will come in handy later on.

Buddha, potentially but not for a while, I like the idea of a 2 stroke diesel but that's also a big job and I would need to do a bit more research, I like the 6V53T, that would be nice. Well see.

Cheers,

The lever isn't any big deal. Just use the factory shift linkage from a Silverado with a manual shifter then you will need to trim up the bottom of the center console near your leg. The lever is more towards the driverside than in the middle anyway. I've seen levers installed on trucks with the large center console and they turned out great. I may even have a picture of one. If I find it I'll post it up.

Here is my Silverado 2500HD with the short center console. Kind of gives you an idea where the lever lands. With the bezel removed it tucks into the side of your long console real nice. You just have to trim it back a little bit and maybe glue some vinyl material to the console behind the lever to fill the void you would cut into the console to make it look stock. Again, I have a picture somewhere where someone added a manual tcase to a truck with a large console and it turned out very nice with a stock looking appearance.