Is the D60 full floating? If it is, changing over to anything other than 8 lugs is going to be fun.

See what gears the 60 has in it, and go from there.

 

Its been a few days. Another week, more changes. After searching, and discussing with my wife, and looking at what we have that works...We are going to try and use the NP435 manual, and the 8-3/4. Isaac would have loved the manual, and my wife and I both love manuals also. So, I moved the pedal assembly from the parts truck over, and after some clean up, and re-greasing, it works great. I also removed the brake booster, and found the clutch reservoir hole. Ill use the booster from the parts truck, because it has the spacer brackets that allow the clutch reservoir to be mounted beside it. I also cut the spring perches off of the 8-3/4, and cleaned it up where we will have to weld. We welded more, but ran out of tungsten. We did get the dash patched, and after talking to the paint shop supervisor at work, he will guide me and help me get it clean and straight, and we are going to paint it. Im excited about that. Its early I know, but I think it will be motivation for the project.


The dash patched up. The patches were thicker than the dash, and we didnt want to warp the dash with heat. We just patched the back side, and Ill fill it.

Here you can see the rearend which was cleaned a little. The 4 link is just there for kicks. This is about the height I think it will be when finished.

We got a chance to set it down, since we couldnt continue welding, and its close. The transmission cross member is about 7 inches off the ground. My charger has a longer wheel base and its about 5 inches. We will finish the boxing plates and then set the cab and fenders, roll the wheels under it, and set the ride height visually.

 

Got some work done in the last few weeks. Stephen has been welding a lot, and Ive been grinding and fitting plates for the boxing. We did hit a milestone today. We got the cab set. It might have to come back off, but Im hoping it wont. Still have tons to do.


The front tire is just sitting, so no suspension in the front. This is close to where I would like it to be.

This angle looks a little better. The trans cross member is over 7" from the ground here. We might go up a little in the back too. Ive read I need 5" of clearance between the rear axle and the frame, minimum.

Ill work the next few weeks, getting it setup, and get the suspension cross member cut and ready.

 

We got a few things done since my last post. It seems every week I run out of something. Gas, welding rods, tungsten...Something. We have made some progress though. Next Ill start cutting and fitting the "top hats" and then we can assemble the front suspension. Then we are on to the 4-link.


3 levels, and a tape measure and about 45 minutes of re-measuring to make sure. Then I didnt have the metal clean enough, so we had to cut it out, and re-do it. Oops.

Here is Stephen welding it in. The wooden sticks have a hole set at the height I needed the cross member to be at. Worked great. The cross member is close to the motor mounts, so we need smaller torch cups to get it the tight space.

 

Comin' along.

 

Thank you. Its difficult sometimes. We will get it though. The goal is to be driving the truck next spring.

We started the upper shock mount installation. The instructions call them "top hats". I had some trouble figuring these out. Im usually pretty quick to pick up on mechanical things. I work on helicopters for a living, so trucks should be easy. The problem is the instructions are very vague, and he has you bolt the upper a-arms and the jig sticks (the square bar to mimic the shocks at ride height) in place, but that puts a weird angle on the upper shock mount, because you havent cut a notch yet. Then he tells you to get the measurements for the notch....Anyway, I figured it out, and I should be able to get it installed. I took the jig sticks out and lined it up with the lower cross member. It should be good this way. And it gives me +4 degrees of caster (where the upper ball joint is behind the lower, and the spindle leans backwards). A google search says this should be okay.


The angle finder says 4 degrees, so it should work. Everything looks lined up good.

With the upper shock mount lined up with the cross member, it gives me +4 degrees caster. After the notch is cut, it should line up great.

Once it gets cut, it should be great.

 

So I had someone question the center line on another forum. Not sure why, but all I can think is the angle looks funny, and he is concerned about the caster moving the wheel backwards. So, I went out and installed the spindles, and set everything up again. Keep in mind this is just propped. I still have to install the wheel studs. Also, the wheel is inset too far. I didnt install the spacer that will have to be used, so it will come out another inch when done. I dont like wheel spacers, but to run the modern wheels on these spindles, they are necessary. Eventually Ill get different wheels, and will eliminate the spacers, and fix the offset. But this should be close for now.


Sitting right where I want it. I should be able to lower it or raise it by about an inch with the coil overs.




Looks okay. The wheel is tucked a little too much. The spacers will bring it out. With new wheels, itll be just right.

Backside. The fenders is just on with 4 bolts. Once I get the upper shock mounts cut and installed, the gap will disappear and itll look great. Im going to modify the inner fender skirts and try and re-use them also.


If my measurements are right, I should be able to run a 20 x 10 in the front, and a 20 x 12 in the rear with no issues. That means I can run 275s in the front and 335 in the rear. Woohoo.

 

With only 4 degrees caster, I think having the wheels centered in the wheel opening when pointed straight will work just find. And yes, the pic IS taken at a bit of an angle..... so, perspective is going to skew things.

 

Im asking around about the caster angle. On the protouring forum, they think it must be adjustable. The kit is designed to not be adjusted. They suggest an easy modification to make it adjustable. We will see. They know their suspensions well. I just want to make sure this is right.

 

Isn't caster already adjustable simply by turning the rod ends on the control arm in/out?? Or is that not fine enough control?