85 GMC Sierra Classic 1 Ton Crew Cab

[Mattman2010]

Originally Posted by 1985-GMC

Looks good Hombre. Are those welfare parts?
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Yeah those are. Part of the Ryan's Welfare Plan.

[ryanroo]

You may consider a block for the steering arm, or a raised arm. that thing is going to have some bumpsteer at that angle

this is my jeep, and it still has bumpsteer



better toss in one after the Howe!



im looking forward to seeing how you do your gooseball

ryan

[Mattman2010]

Well the tre's really should make it more level when I finally do buy that stuff
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[meatwagon83]

you wanna git rid of that tailgate panel and those door panels, im having a hard time coughing up the 400 lmc wants for them!!

[Mattman2010]

Originally Posted by ryanroo

You may consider a block for the steering arm, or a raised arm. that thing is going to have some bumpsteer at that angle

im looking forward to seeing how you do your gooseball

ryan

Ryan, what kind of steering arm do you have on your jeep? The one I got from DieselWrencher didnt come with any kind of new cap or anything. To make it work I put a spacer in the cap that was the same height of the steering arm. If I put a block under the steering arm I am not sure what I would do for the cap.

Originally Posted by meatwagon83

you wanna git rid of that tailgate panel and those door panels, im having a hard time coughing up the 400 lmc wants for them!!

As of right now I am keeping everything I have. The tailgate band might get painted black and stuck back on. And I am not sure what door pannels I am going to use right now.

Work on the truck some more today. Started out with a cardboard template of the cross member and finally made it into steel.





Also went ahead and cut the cross members that my goose neck will be mounted to.



I think I am going to go ahead and box the frame all the way to the back once I get the cross members for the goose neck and also figure out how im going to mount my fuel tank in the rear, probably going to use some 2x4x1/4 to make cross members for the fuel tank. Might as well go with the beef on this truck.

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by Mattman2010

Ryan, what kind of steering arm do you have on your jeep? The one I got from DieselWrencher didnt come with any kind of new cap or anything. To make it work I put a spacer in the cap that was the same height of the steering arm. If I put a block under the steering arm I am not sure what I would do for the cap.

i made my own springless caps for the jeep. the style you have i think is intended to be bolted over the stock stamped cap. i would recommend that you only run it until you can get the style that replaces the cap and has tapered holes for the studs.

As of right now I am keeping everything I have. The tailgate band might get painted black and stuck back on. And I am not sure what door pannels I am going to use right now.

Work on the truck some more today. Started out with a cardboard template of the cross member and finally made it into steel.

Also went ahead and cut the cross members that my goose neck will be mounted to.

I think I am going to go ahead and box the frame all the way to the back once I get the cross members for the goose neck and also figure out how im going to mount my fuel tank in the rear, probably going to use some 2x4x1/4 to make cross members for the fuel tank. Might as well go with the beef on this truck.

Cross members look good!

[Mattman2010]

I thought it would fit over the stock cap as well, but it wouldn't. Ive been thinking about making a new cab that I would just weld to the arm and also have the arm machined with tapers and get some arp studs.
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[1985-GMC]

If you get the two burb or blazer (I think they are the same) rear cross members you could cut them to width and weld them in once its all boxed.

[Mattman2010]

Originally Posted by 1985-GMC

If you get the two burb or blazer (I think they are the same) rear cross members you could cut them to width and weld them in once its all boxed.

Why use small stock cross members when I can add beef? There might even be a 1/4" skid plate lol

[1985-GMC]

Oh I just mean use those for holding the tank, I would still do cross members like what you have for your gooseneck.

[mrolds88]

Hitch looks nice. Only mod I think I would make would be to turn the outer tube 90 degrees so the hole goes side to side. That way you could weld the pin onto a rod to run out to the framerail. That way you dont have to crawl under to take the ball out.

[Mattman2010]

That's the plan, I just had it like that so it wouldn't fall. My plan is to make it work just like a b&w just a lot more beef added to it
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[ryanroo]

That may be what was intended. high country machine built or still builds an arm that has a machined weld on cap for the spring. i had forgotten about that until you mentioned it. i have one somewhere that i had before i built the springless caps for the jeep.

that may be what you have, a arm that needed a cap. if you make a cap, be sure to get it very close in depth to the stock stamped one. the tension on that spring is what holds the knuckle together and if it is too loose, its easy to get some wicked deathwobble.

[Mattman2010]

Yeah I have thought about cutting the stock one down 1" because I dont really like the spacer in the spring. I have not really fully figured out how I am going to do this. Id hate to buy a new arm to make it work.

[Mattman2010]

Well got the engine cross member done and got it bolted in today.







The sleeves for the bolts are longer on the drivers side to get the mounting plate back behind the motor mount bolt so that I can remove the mounts without having to remove the cross member.

[Dieselwrencher]

Looking good man!

[1985-GMC]

Looks great Matt, that should do it!

[ryanroo]

that is a clean looking crossmember. did you get heavy enough material for the sleeves?!? damn!

now, please tell me you are grinding the edge of the frame tabs clean?

Ryan

[Mattman2010]

Originally Posted by ryanroo

that is a clean looking crossmember. did you get heavy enough material for the sleeves?!? damn!

now, please tell me you are grinding the edge of the frame tabs clean?

Ryan

Haha yeah the tube is heavier than I wanted. I asked you what size and dieselwrencher bought it for me but got 1/4 inch wall... Lol but it works and fits with my 1/4" theme I seem to be going with haha.

Yes the brackets will be cleaned up. I will do that when I tear it all down to paint the frame because I also want to shape them some more to not have the sharp corners. Don't worry it will be cleaned up more lol.
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[Mattman2010]

Today I decided to put the bed on to get the height of my home built gooseneck hitch. Well my uncle took the tractor to a field to grab some hay and I needed it so I drove my fourwheeler with a trailer over to the field so I could get the tractor. Being the only one around sucks at times so this is what I had to do to bring the tractor to the shop.



Needed a way to get back to the truck so I pulled the fourwheeler behind it

After that I went ahead and put the bed on.



Right now the bedside is 5 foot tall. I hope that the front will be able to fit a 37" tire so that I wont have to lift it anymore.

Then I cut a hole in the floor and stuck my 2.5" receiver into the hole and clamped it to the front cross member of my gooseneck hitch.



and here it is with the B&W ball installed.



Once I get the receiver welded to the front cross member I will install the rear cross member and weld it all up and then figure out a release mech for the ball so I can pull it out when I dont need it.

[Dieselwrencher]

Hey, you lost your chickens that were in your trailer!

Nice work. For the release mech, just get a long hitch pin and a spring. add a bracket to your hitch and set it up so that the spring holds pressure on the hitch pin to keep it in the ball. Then on the bracket on the side of the frame cut a hole and get some smooth 1/4" meound stock and make a handle for it. Pull the handle out and mark where the handle is out side your gn bracket. Weld another piece on top of the rod there and that will be your stop for when you pull it out. The GN bracket will hold your hitch pin out so you can remove your ball.

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Hey, you lost your chickens that were in your trailer!

Nice work. For the release mech, just get a long hitch pin and a spring. add a bracket to your hitch and set it up so that the spring holds pressure on the hitch pin to keep it in the ball. Then on the bracket on the side of the frame cut a hole and get some smooth 1/4" meound stock and make a handle for it. Pull the handle out and mark where the handle is out side your gn bracket. Weld another piece on top of the rod there and that will be your stop for when you pull it out. The GN bracket will hold your hitch pin out so you can remove your ball.

did i catch a meo in there?

i also recommend that you have the ball sit on something and the pin just hold it in, like the B&W does. that way the pin isnt holding the weight of the trailer up, its actually sitting on the hitch. that will help keep the hole int he rec. tube from egging out.

looks good!

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by ryanroo

did i catch a meo in there?

i also recommend that you have the ball sit on something and the pin just hold it in, like the B&W does. that way the pin isnt holding the weight of the trailer up, its actually sitting on the hitch. that will help keep the hole int he rec. tube from egging out.

looks good!

Good point, I forgot about that little detail.

[Mattman2010]

Originally Posted by ryanroo

did i catch a meo in there?

i also recommend that you have the ball sit on something and the pin just hold it in, like the B&W does. that way the pin isnt holding the weight of the trailer up, its actually sitting on the hitch. that will help keep the hole int he rec. tube from egging out.

looks good!

Yeah Ive been trying to think of ideas on how to do this because I need some sort of stop for the ball so that I can put it in the hole and then latch it myself. I dont plan on keeping the ball in the flipped over position. I am going to have a tool box so ill just keep it in there. Seen people talk about them getting stuck to often. So whatever I do for a stop has to be able to let water and any kind of dirt from staying in the tube.

[Mattman2010]

Well today I went and picked up a 40 gallon fuel tank from a buddy with the stock cross members. It originally had the fill tube on the passenger side but I hate having to walk around the truck just to fill it up so I turned the tank around so that it would be on the driver side. I wanted to test fit it to get an idea of what I would have to do.



Right now I am not going to mount the tank just yet. I need to finish up welding my gooseneck hitch in and then figure out a release mech for it. I plan on doing it like the B&W hitch setup. Once I get the hitch done I will weld all the nuts to the frame that hold all of my rear brackets to the frame, and then hopefully I can get my steel to finish boxing the rear of the frame. Once I have the frame boxed I am going to cut the fuel tank cross members and weld them to the boxed plate. This will allow for me to be able to not have to cut weird shapes into my box plates and it will look better when done. Still unsure how I am going to do a receiver hitch on the truck as of right now. I have one that works with this truck but eventually I am going to build bumpers for the truck and plan on building a receiver hitch into the bumper. So I dont want to weld this receiver to the frame. Might just have to weld some nuts in the frame to temp mount the receiver hitch I have and remove it once I build my bumpers (Want to get the truck running before I build the custom bumpers, but want to be able to pull a trailer if I have to)