Brown Truck Under the Knife Project -Point of No Return!-

[dukedrummer89]

Thats lookin pretty good!

I gotta ask a couple questions tho, First, why did you opt for a stock type shackle setup instead of going for a reverse shackle? 2nd what is the difference between those cat bolts and regular grade 8? Also, did you torch your frame for the front shackle mounts?

 

[BigRigTech]

Shackle reversal - unecessary waste of money in my opinion for what they charge for the kits....I looked at them too when I did my swap last year. CAT bolts are like comparing grade 8's from Home Depot and ARP bolts.....Just a better/stronger grade of steel....I torched my frame, piece of cake.

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

To answer,
First I guess ya have to start somewhere and I had the stock stuff available.
Second, those Cat bolts are marked grade 8 but they are no ordinary grade 8 bolt. Cat bolts are actually Aircraft grade+ and will literally cut any other Aircraft grade nut or bolt. Try some sometime. If you can find a way to break those bolts under stress I'll buy them for you.
Third, yes I torched out the frame for the front shackles and then ground them down to finish them.

 

[dukedrummer89]

To answer,
First I guess ya have to start somewhere and I had the stock stuff available.
Second, those Cat bolts are marked grade 8 but they are no ordinary grade 8 bolt. Cat bolts are actually Aircraft grade+ and will literally cut any other Aircraft grade nut or bolt. Try some sometime. If you can find a way to break those bolts under stress I'll buy them for you.
Third, yes I torched out the frame for the front shackles and then ground them down to finish them.

OK, i was just wondering on the shackle setup, u can make your own reverse shackle rather than buying something like a kit from Sky or something like that. That is what have done

Ive always used grade 8's from farm and fleet and never had a problem... I live in Cat territory, so when someone says something cat my ears perk

Ive been told, not sure if its true or not, but torching the frame weakens it due to the heat put to the surrounding area of the metal, so I wont torch on my frames.

Oh, and i reread your thead a lil, about drilling holes in your frame, might invest in a drill doctor, you can (with some practice) get a drill bit alot sharper than they come new... When I put c-notchs in my other truck, I used a cheap black and decker 1/2 drill bit and put a 120degree chisel point on it, i was able to drill over ten holes in a matter of minutes, no pilot hole, just centerpuch and go.

 

[towcat]

Actually its a late model ford ranger (1998-2000 I think), the electric version that is. They only made them for little while. Some are still on the road mostly in southern CA, but they are rare.

They're still around in a few muni and fed fleets. they are also a towtruck driver's worst nightmare. Anytime they are disabled, they are to be towed only by flatbed due to the beam you see on the rear end pic and you are not to have any metal contact to the vehicle whatsoever. I designed and had a set of nylon straps built just for hauling stuff like that after seeing the aftermath of a aluminum flatbed when one of those pickups was towed improperly and the pickup and towtruck became one gooey glob as a result.

 

[david85]

The frame is only mild steel. No harm will come from torch cutting it. Modifying I beams or other heat treated steel is another story though. Wields that are not done right can also cause stress fractures to creep (this is why loose rivets should never be replaced with wields, use proper grade bolts instead).

 

[david85]

They're still around in a few muni and fed fleets. they are also a towtruck driver's worst nightmare. Anytime they are disabled, they are to be towed only by flatbed due to the beam you see on the rear end pic and you are not to have any metal contact to the vehicle whatsoever. I designed and had a set of nylon straps built just for hauling stuff like that after seeing the aftermath of a aluminum flatbed when one of those pickups was towed improperly and the pickup and towtruck became one gooey glob as a result.

The battery shorted out through the flatbed? The high voltage from the traction pack is supposed to be full floating (i.e. not grounded to the truck). Not sure I follow.

 

[zpd307]

to bring up an old point, i just put in new shocks on the tonner and noticed that the front upper shock mount is held on by only two bolts.

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

Picked me up my new tires today! I think they completely change the look of the truck, and it looks great. I wasnt very happy with the fact that I was the first person at the tire shop this morning and they told me an hour and 3 and a half hours later it rolled out of the garage. All they did was mount and balance the tires and wheels too. Couldnt believe how long it took them. But they did an excellent job, as far as I have seen thus far.
Dad borrowed the rollback from work for me so we could take it in without ruining the tires (since it isnt complete, and thus isnt aligned), plus it isnt licensed yet.

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Let me know what you think of how it looks!
Oh, I got the tires for just over $800. hehe

 

[ne buckeye]

Looks good, It will look alot better when you get the front bumper back on. Don't forget to cut the extra off your front u-bolts.I just had my truck undercoated in Columbus, Ne the other day.Hope it saves it from the rust worm. I moved out here from Ohio last Nov. , I thought I was getting away from the salt and rust, but to tell you the truth the trucks in my area are worse than Ohio . Must be all the gravel roads??????

 

[BROWNIEBOY525]

Its looking good with the new tires

 

[trackspeeder]

Looks great. Nice job.

 

[FordGuy100]

That stance is killer man . What size tire did you go with again?

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

Thanks for the compliments guys. Its nice to finally see all the saving parts and spending money finally start to turn into something. I've spent easily $2000 on this thing in the last 2 weeks, probably atleast another $1800 for the remainder of the earlier part of the year, and I'm going to probably spend another atleast $750 on it in the next couple weeks. But its all worth it to me. Because they just dont make trucks like this anymore, and when Im done with it hopefully I'll have created a strong driver that will last me the next 20 years with proper care and maintenance. And like I've said before, the major plus is it'll never have to pass emissions nor will I have to pay the taxes on it that a new truck would cost. As far as the state knows, I paid $1 for this thing when I picked it up.

Justin, thanks for the compliment! The tires are 285/75R16's, essentially 32.8x11.2/16.
I wouldnt have bought the Goodyear's had I not picked them up with such a huge discount. These tires are $1400+ without tax at most retail stores around here. So I thought I did really well for getting them for $800 not including tax. I've heard Goodyear Wranglers are good tires, but you pay allot for the name. Had I not received the discount I wouldnt have bought "the name". lol I hope they treat me well.

Justin, I still havent installed the F350 rear lift blocks, so it will sit just a bit higher in the back when finished.

 

[FordGuy100]

I dont know its sitting pretty nice as it is IMO. Looking at the tire to fender clearance on the front and back it looks even, which I kinda like. Unlike my truck where the tires are way closer to the fender on the front than the back (due to all the weight). I'm just saying lol.