Slick is getting a full TCI suspension!

[Smittee]

Thanks for that feedback on the brakes 68Stepbed. I will check into that further.

[68Stepbed]

She's back on her shoes!! I was finally able to get her off the stands and rolled out! Judging by the way she looks now, she's gonna sit a bit lower than before!! Now to start getting other stuff in order and back together.

[lolife99]

I'm interested to see it with the bed back on.

[Smittee]

That is looking great! Interested in seeing how much of a difference the handling is going to be.
Oh, very envious as well. It is going to be some time before I can get mine back on the road again! Hopefully you will be enjoying yours very soon.

[oldman3]

Very nice...Jim

[68Stepbed]

Originally Posted by lolife99

I'm interested to see it with the bed back on.

You and me both!! The bed is at the painter right now. After years of having slightly too large tires rubbing, the inner bedside paint was bubbling and looking pretty bad. He's adding some wheel tubs for better tire clearance and touching up the paint. TCI says that an 18x11 with 315/30/18 tires will fit with this suspension, so eventual future plans will include new wheels. Also, there's no engine or fluids in it, right now either.

Originally Posted by Smittee

That is looking great! Interested in seeing how much of a difference the handling is going to be.
Oh, very envious as well. It is going to be some time before I can get mine back on the road again! Hopefully you will be enjoying yours very soon.

I'm hoping to have it back up and running in a couple weeks. I'd say the handling is going to be night and day difference judging by the fact the coilovers are much more stiff than the coil springs from before. I weigh close to 300 lbs, and when I stand on the back of the frame, it doesn't move much at all. When i would stand on it before, it would drop about 3/4-1".

Originally Posted by oldman3

Very nice...Jim

Thanks!

[Smittee]

Originally Posted by 68Stepbed

You and me both!! The bed is at the painter right now. After years of having slightly too large tires rubbing, the inner bedside paint was bubbling and looking pretty bad. He's adding some wheel tubs for better tire clearance and touching up the paint. TCI says that an 18x11 with 315/30/18 tires will fit with this suspension, so eventual future plans will include new wheels. Also, there's no engine or fluids in it, right now either.



I'm hoping to have it back up and running in a couple weeks. I'd say the handling is going to be night and day difference judging by the fact the coilovers are much more stiff than the coil springs from before. I weigh close to 300 lbs, and when I stand on the back of the frame, it doesn't move much at all. When i would stand on it before, it would drop about 3/4-1".



Thanks!

Yep, my suspension barely even moves now! Just like what you mentioned. I cannot wait to take it out on the interstate and NOT have to worry about holding it in MY lane! As it was, my old suspension would "allow" me to drift from lane to lane effortlessly!

[68Stepbed]

Originally Posted by Smittee

Yep, my suspension barely even moves now! Just like what you mentioned. I cannot wait to take it out on the interstate and NOT have to worry about holding it in MY lane! As it was, my old suspension would "allow" me to drift from lane to lane effortlessly!

Oh, wow! I never had that issue! Mine always drove great. It was just at the point of being inadequate for the amount of autocrossing I'm doing. This should bump me to the next level, for sure!

[68Stepbed]

A minor setback today. A few weeks ago, when removing the rear fuel tank, I emptied the leftover fuel in a bucket and noticed something was loose inside the tank. I started checking around to see who could possibly look at and fix the tank. A fellow truck enthusiast mentioned Rob at NoLimit, since he's close to me. I took it by today. He's gonna fix the tank, as well as add some baffles and add an in-tank pump. It's gonna take a big bite out of the budget, but it's still less than the cost of a new tank.

Keep in mind, my fuel tank wasn't a NoLimit tank. Rob's just a cool guy like that.

[68Stepbed]

I got my repaired fuel tank from Rob at NoLimit. Not only did he fix the broken baffles, but also installed an in-tank pump.




I figured I'd paint it to cover up all the oxidation.




My Dirty Dingo Sliders came in Monday. Figured I'd test fit before paint and installation.



I also repainted my engine. I'm going with a simpler route this time around, so a few changes will be made. I decided to paint the engine cast iron gray. It should compliment well with the other dark gray accents throughout the truck.

[reaper71]

Nice color choice!

Mark

[Advanced Design]

Agree, that has a very good look.

[PGSigns]

Coming along nicely. The stance looks good so far.
Jimmy

[gringoloco]

Man, oh man. Looking good, bud

[68Stepbed]

It seems like once the big stuff was done, the small stuff is taking forever. I'm down to making brake lines and installing tid bit stuff and it's moving at a snail's pace lately. At least here's some things I have been able to accomplish.

I was able to get the Lokar shifter in place and bolted down. The linkage isn't hooked up yet because I need to wait until the engine is in and the trans is in position. I think it's sitting too high, right now.





I originally intended to just stick the engine back in after the suspension was in place, but I decided to make some upgrades that I didn't do the first time. New lifters/lifter trays, Comp Cams roller trunion upgrade, ARP head bolts, and new head gaskets. It also looks as if I'll be getting some new AFR heads to compliment the other upgrades. I was going to install all this stuff myself, but I ended up taking the engine to the machine shop to be inspected and professionally reassembled. I did, however, install the Improved Racing oil pan baffle kit and the crank scraper/windage tray kit.





For those that don't know, this is why you need to do a trunion upgrade for the rockers. Imagine all these needle bearing falling into your engine while it's spinning at 5500 rpm!!



I also picked up up a Corbeau Forza seat to install to keep me in place during hard cornering. Don't be hating on my 2x4 mock up process.




Next up was getting the new Wilwood master cylinder installed. The old booster bracket left some ugly impressions in the paint, so I made an aluminum plate to cover it up.






I'm hoping to get fuel and brake lines finished up this week, along with other odds and ends.

[68Stepbed]

I got the fuel pressure regulator mounted.



I also finally got the bed back from the painter. He did the wheel tubs so it'll clear 315's when I'm able to upgrade to wider 18x11 wheels. Now I need to refinish the boards.

[68Stepbed]

The bed boards weren't very cooperative at all. I was going for a gray color by using a thinned out black stain for more of a "washed" look. Because of the previously varnished wood, even the black wash stain kept coming out dark brown. It ended up very dark, but with some grain showing through the black. It'll still look good, even if not exactly what I was shooting for.

Here's how they looked sanded down. The weathered spots were deep in the grain, and couldn't be sanded out without taking material away.



This is after a second coat of black stain. I loved this color and the look.



However, the first coat of varnish absorbed the black and showed more grain than I wanted.



The second coat of varnish was mixed with some black stain to darken it back up. The last three coats of varnish didn't change it any from this pic.

[68Stepbed]

I was finally able to get the new Ididit column mounted, and the steering shaft cut and installed.



Since the engine is at the machine shop getting some attention, the big brown truck delivered a package of POWAHH!!!

[gringoloco]

Just keeps getting better

[68Stepbed]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

Just keeps getting better

You got that right!!

[JohnJ@RideTech]

Coming along nicely! I've got to say I have a soft spot for those coilovers..lol. Just out of curiosity, what size rotor are you using on the rear? I really like the StopTech products and was contemplating using them on my next build.

[weq92f]

Wow! This is progress. Nice build.

-klb

[68Stepbed]

Originally Posted by JohnJ@RideTech

Coming along nicely! I've got to say I have a soft spot for those coilovers..lol. Just out of curiosity, what size rotor are you using on the rear? I really like the StopTech products and was contemplating using them on my next build.

The rear rotors are 12" or actually 11.86" or something like that. I'm getting very eager to get the truck back up and running to see how well the suspension does with the RideTech coilovers.

[68Stepbed]

OK, I finally got the bed boards installed and ready to put the bed back on. A couple guys helped me set it and immediately noticed a problem!



The shock towers are in line with the middle cross sill brace. Luckily, it's the one that's not load bearing. The new inner tub panel interfered with the shock mount, and the mount is higher than the bottom of the wood of the bed floor.







So, the way to fix this was to start cutting some more. I cut a few inches off of the cross sill brace, and notched out the inner tub wall and the wood.





I don't have a picture of it, but the bolts for the C-notch are taller than the original rivets and they also rubbed, so I used a forstner bit to make insets for the bolt heads.



After a few test fits, I was finally able to get the bed in place and the bolts dropped in. I'm not going to completely bolt it down tight until the fenders are on. It sure does look funny without fenders, though. LOL







This all took place last night, so this morning before I left for work, I had to at least get a fender on even if only with a couple bolts. It's getting exciting now to see it start coming back together!!

[oldman3]

Looking great...Jim