Whatever work man. I went with no stereo for 6 months... I finally ran out of song to make up or alter so I got a cheap head unit for the time being.

 

So I started the tear down to day. I had to go buy some rectangular and square tube before starting on the truck but in the afternoon I got started...



Last picture before putting her in the garage



Space all cleaned up...



Progress for the day...

 

Another good day, starter the drivers side today. I got as far as I could go without the bags today. I hope those will be in next week... I will work on it some more tomorrow after work. Today I removed the suspension/spindle (both sides), made a template to cut the wheel well, I cut the wheel well on the driver's side (partially, I will finish it when I get my tubs), removed the bushing and inner sleeve, removed the bump stops, and smoothed it out. Here is the pictures...

Started by finding my centerline to place my template. My template is just a half circle with a 28" diameter. I figured that the biggest wheel and tire combo I would put is 20" wheel with a 225/45 tire so that is about 26.5-27". I only want 18s though so plenty of room.



Suspension off, bump stops gone...



Wheel well missing...

You can kind of see where I made my line for the tubs. Right about ........................................ here V





Driver's side at the end of the day. That rod for the LCA gave me a good feeling. I thought it was going to take longer than it did. I found out though that if you take a 6" and a 3" extension of 1/2" size, it fits right in the hole and took it right out. it was like less then 10 whacks with a BFH. The sleeve was cut in two spots and it came out fairly simple with some percussion tools. Just need the bag to finish...

 

Got more work done today...

I finished the passenger side as much as I could and started on the rear until I ran into a problem with the tank.

Passenger side



I am super excited, now if only my bags would get here so that I can mock up my mounts...



Wheel well cut out...





So much to move...



Pic of the rear...



This is my problem, it wont loosen up. I don't want to have to cut the line and I sprayed plenty of PB on it...



Up for grabs is a set of DJM Lowering LCAs. $200 with DJM lowering blocks or $185 without blocks PLUS shipping. You can get blocks cheap and DJM seem to have just included some cheap ones in this kit. This kit is $256 new PLUS shipping and there is nothing wrong with it's functionality. All original hardware included. Blocks are not out of the truck yet so you will have to wait a little if you want those. I except PayPal only... Shipped UPS, once its package I will let you know shipping costs.

 

i believe the fuel line connects to another joint further down the line, you can try that one?

or for the meantime you can remove the whole pickup from the tank to drop the tank out the way....

 

Waw man that's one hell of a good job u doing. The finish product should look sick man. I'm planning on doing some work on my 94 x-cab, have to order most parts on different sites. Not much at the scrap yard here. Keep up the good work man and post more pic if u have.

 

Yeah, I saw that and soaked that one in PB also. I tried that side also. I sure I can get the tank out once it is completely disconnected, I just need to get to that point. I could remove the pump but then I would have a pump hanging from there...

 

KBS Fabrication can hook you up and can ship anywhere. Look at my CanDo thread in my signature to check them out. Also DTK Stout on here is the owner and head fabricator for KBS.

 

So it has been a while but I have been busy with the truck. I am going to leave this short so I will get to the photos...


The work to the front drivers side...
























This felt really good...





Wanted to see how high it would go but it hit on the rear cross member so I clearance it...









Cleaned everything up...

 

The four link...

 

Finished welding up the rear today.

 

looking good

 

Thanks, I have to finish the passenger's side then do the air management system, and once it's layed out I'll do the shocks and mounts.

 

Here are some shots on the welding I did. Before you tell me that my Mig weld is garbage, I'll have you know that I have been a certified Mig welder and worked in the auto body industry for about 4 years at a few different shops. Then about 3 as a mechanic which was mostly active reserves in the Air Force then at a Toyota dealership. So I have no doubts about my Mig welding skills. I don't think I'm the best but I can definitely hang with them. Tig welding on the other hand, you can bag on me all you want because it's definitely not as nice as some other peoples that I have seen but I bought a new welder for this project and damn it I was going to learn. So here we go.

This is a Mig weld I put on a bracket for one of the link bars. I used a U pattern.



Then I told myself I had to use my Tig since that is what I bought it for. I practiced on a pair of 1/2" square tubing. Didn't get good results so I watched some YouTube videos and go back at it with little improvement. So I gave up and got back on what I know but what I wanted the cleaner look of Tig welds. So I talked to a few people and finally Terry from KBS fabrication and he suggested a few things to me but in tinkering with my welder I found out that my air setting was too high and it was making it look like a chicken was ****ing on my work piece.



So after I adjusted my gas this is what I got...







I know there are not as nice as you Veterans that have been doing since before I was born but I was pretty proud of myself. This guy already told me on Facebook that they look like **** and my truck was going fall apart but I know I am getting good penetration to both surfaces and the look ok to me.

Oh, and I did go back and re-welded that first one

 

look pretty good to me for your first time at tig. can only get better the more you do it.

 

Thanks! Yeah, Vertical and overhead TIG is a bit of a challenge but I made it through it. That gas issue was the worst though. It kind of frustrated me at first but I new something had to be wrong. I am just glad I feel good about my purchase. It's the most I have ever spent for any kind of specialty tool/fabrication equipment.

 

Damn, that's some awesome work!

 

Thanks! I can't wait until Friday to get back on it.

 

everything looks great! gonna be a mean machine when its back on the street.

 

hell yes your awsome