Unchewable, the D170

[kingcrunch]

Taking delivery of the drivetrain and rear axle in a few days! Stay tuned for pics!

[kingcrunch]

Full ahead!

More stuff shows up:


Caliper bolts, hood bumpers (dry rotted) (and new line wrenches, i destroyed the cheap ones i had):



@Mike:
Will be picking up the spindle and balljoint mounts on monday!

I'll be working on the front suspension in the next few days.

[2ndroundko]

Loving the quality of this build. I'm stuck using junkyard parts this go round. One day when I grow up...

[kingcrunch]

Thank you!

I am trying to use parts that are commonly available. My JY is Ebay.

[kingcrunch]

I went and ruined a new Moog LCA just to cobble something together.







Followed by mockup time:



It looks like the LCA bolt and ball joint are in one plane = the LCA sits level at ride height.




Had to install the caliper... these look even larger when installed on the truck.

[Tincup]

Looks like everything is going to work out as planned....

[kingcrunch]

I still have no clue how to mount the UCA... It's not something i should think about today, i am having one of these clumsy, "better stayed in bed"-days...

[Tincup]

I still have no clue how to mount the UCA... It's not something i should think about today, i am having one of these clumsy, "better stayed in bed"-days...

I know the feeling.....

[kingcrunch]

Turns out it's not just "clumsy, better stayed in bed" but i came down with a cold. Half of the week lost to headaches and a running nose.

And i couldn't even figure a way to mount the D60 HD (Ram SRT10) with its 3.5" axle tubes to the trailing arms.
I dug up a source for custom made axle perches (CaptainFab over at www.67-72chevytrucks.com) but i still have to:

- find someone to custom make two sets of 1/2" (or 9/16") x 4.125" x 10" u-bolts
- find a way to modify the trailing arms to accept the aforementioned u-bolts

They are like an inch or so wider on the outside than stockers.

More headaches for my running nose. On a positive sidenote: The old 225 engine is sold.
After researching/googling "uca mounting tabs" for hours i have several ideas for the UCA mounts and i ordered a cheap used Ram 1500 UCA over Ebay for mockup.


Signing off for today, heading for my bed. Snuffle.

[Subsea69]

kingcrunch,

I've been following along and it's nice to see someone thinking outside the box on a different platform thatn the norm.
I have a 1979 Dodge (LRE) truck that I want to lower and give a more protouring stance. One thing I noticed in the past
that may need to be addressed on your 85 also is front frame flex. My truck has 275-60-15s all around now and I noticed
when stationary and turning the wheel there is noticeable frame rail flex at the steering box.

Dwayne

[kingcrunch]

Dwayne,

yes, i have noticed that on my '76 W200 and my '85 W250.
There is a factory bracket and repops of that bracket available that triangulates this part of the frame into the front crossmember.
But i don't like the stock steering setup at all and power steering boxes only go down as far as 14:1 ratio.

I hope to be able to put a rack and pinion steering gear in this truck.

Alex

[kingcrunch]

Modded control arm does not work as intended... did not see that before cutting although it was obvious.
Looking at cutting the front suspension crossmember from a '05 Ram and making something from that.
All kinds of other problems with that:

- Track width differs by 3"
- frame width is far from close (the ouside width of the D150 frame is 1" less than the INSIDE width of the 1500s frame).
- 1500s frame is boxed, D150s frame is open

I might have to look at C10 suspension parts again. I still have that C20 lower control arm in my parts stash...

[kingcrunch]

Something's coming up, gotta clean out the hallway.



I removed the inner fenders to free up some space here and make removing the 225 easier.



I also found a place that will cut the front section of a 05 Ram 1500s frame off for me. The price is ok. Nothing of that stuff is cheap over here...
And i badly need some kind of progress on the front axle. Kind of an act of desperation.

[Tincup]

Too Bad, I have a complete 2005 SRT10 chassis that I would have given you, I can't get rid of it, Probably going to go for scrap..

[GRIMMEY71]

I can't get rid of it, Probably going to go for scrap..

No no no no no noooooooo! That's a shame though

[Tincup]

No no no no no noooooooo! That's a shame though

Come get it, you can have it.....

[kingcrunch]

OH YEAH BABY!




And then i thought, oh shoot, this axle is damn wide.



I have a regular 8-lug D60 stealing space in my shop and i thought this thing was big.
This SRT-10 axle is even bigger. 3.5" axle tubes really do look huge in person.

[kingcrunch]

The rear axle is in fact too wide.

It's 1776mm WMS to WMS. Put 9" wheels with 25.04 offset on there (this is the SRT-10 replica wheel in 20x9") and you have 1955mm from rim to rim.
The trucks wheel arches in their stock form have a spacing of 1942mm, from the inner lip of the wheel arch to the inner lip of the other wheel arch.

I can make it fit but it's still very tight and that's not taking into account any tire on the wheel. I am considering getting the axle shortened by 40mm on ONE side.

I am thinking about moving the pumpkin over to the passenger side to offset the drivers weight.
What do you think about that? I am not really sure it's a good idea yet...

[brawls43]

If you went with some custom or different wheels, you could change up the offset. I know I have some Enkei's on my race car that are 17x9.5" with a +38mm offset, and I had some 17x9 with +45mm on another car. But if you really like those wheels, I could getting it narrowed.

[kingcrunch]

I am looking into rolling the lips of the wheel arches. Should be good enough.
The 5x5.5 bolt pattern really gives me fits though.

There is about two wheels i could use (SRT-10 repop or OEM wheel, both 20x9).
Both are too narrow for the tires i want to run (285/35 R20).

So i am turning back to european manufacturers and these have nothing that might fit the wheel centering on the front wheel bearings and rear axle shafts.
Yay!

I also just found that the Rams hub/wheel bearing does not lend itself to be re-drilled for a 5x4.72" (5x120mm) bolt pattern.

ARGH!