My 1975 Chevy Dually Build

[Wanna Ride]

Cant wait to see more progress on this one. Going to be sweet!

 

[75Dually]

OK I was out shopping with the wife tonight and she heads down the makeup isle, time to exit stage right... So I found a Hot Wheel display, so being a good hubby I give her time to scope out all her stuff, and I take my time digging through all the Hot Wheels! I came up with these two rides.

OK call me a big kid, but Hot Wheels are partially to blame for my hot rod sickness. So I find it hard to pass up cool rides like the 67 and 83 trucks you see before you. Still looking for the 63 with the surf boards in the bed. I had a couple of them but they have since disappeared.

Don't tell me your not a Hot Wheel collector... You know who you are...

 

[75Dually]

My drop spindles are in!!! Please cold weather go away so I can get back in the shop and work on my ride... Just sayin'...

 

[75Dually]

I got the truck off the stands tonight and got the old dually wheels put back on so I could test my rear suspension movement.

I have heard a lot of trucks over the years squeak and groan going through their full up and down movement, which tells you that there is something binding up somewhere in the suspension system. I made sure the shop was very quiet to take this video because I wanted to hear if anything was binding up, and I was glad to see that it went through the whole movement without making even a squeak!

I made up a rig for the air bags with a ball valve on the end. Thanks again Home Depot!!!

Any way check out the video I put on YouTube and let me know what you think.

 

[75Dually]

Some progress! After having a head cold all this week I finally felt good enough to get out into the shop. With the truck turned around in the shop I attacked the front end. Today I got the entire front suspension removed and started to clean up all those layers of West Texas dust!!! Actually the front end was fairly clean, and the a-arms were in good shape overall.

Tomorrow I plan on starting to mock up the new front suspension. I want to work with the dimensions of the stretched a-arms, and I think I have an interesting idea on how I can do that. I have my drop spindles, and SRW brakes that I will get assembled to see if I can find the best dimensions. Hopefully I will snap some more shots tomorrow and give you guys some updates.

 

[75Dually]

So here is my passenger upper a-arm getting ready to be stretched. I welded two tabs on the bottom of the a-arm along the center line. Then I welded a long piece to the front tab. This way I can clamp it, just like I did in the picture below, to the second tab which will allow me to play with the dimensions once I get the spindle and brakes set up.

I am also going to do the same basic thing to the bottom a-arm so I can mock up the whole assembly and check all the dimensions and the final angles.

I am going to start with 2.5" on the bottom and 3" on the top, but once I lock in the final dimensions I will update you guys.

For those of you who have already done this step can you give me any pointers and what you did on your truck. Thanks for the help in advance!

 

[75Dually]

I have decided to change course on the front end assembly. I am going with the stock dually brake assembly along with my 3" drop spindles. So I mocked up the assembly this evening and I am pleased with results.

I will still pie cut the upper a-arm to relieve the extreme angle on the upper ball joint. On the a-arm I cut up I will replace it with one off the donor burb.

I am still thinking about moving the cross member forward 1". Probably more trouble than it is worth, but it beats having to cut up the firewall and tubing it.

So today I took the lower a-arms over to a friends shop and pressed in new lower ball joints, and this weekend I will put the new upper ball joints in. I also have the new inner and outer tie rods to put on as well. So lots of little jobs to get accomplished

 

[75Dually]

OK I went and spent some serious money today. I purchased the Accuair e-level setup along with their new iLevel system. They are just about to release the Android version of the iLevel. They said it should be a couple of weeks before they release it, so that was cool.

However I did not buy their valve assembly. Their valve assembly is a 3/8", and the more I talked to them about it and asked them directly how fast is really was, the more it turned out it was slower than the current 3/8" valve assembly I have today on another ride. Basically the sales guy admitted that their systems speed is between a 1/4" and 3/8" normal valve assembly. Not on my dually! So I went with the Airbaggit 1/2" airengine valve system. And before you ask, yes you can run another companies valve system off their controller. Maybe not as plug and play as I would have wanted, but I am not going to put up with that slow of a system speed for that much money.

I also got my rims sent off to Trevor (Thanks Trevor for all the help today!) at Tennessee Wheel and Tire. I can't wait until these are back and I get the tires mounted up.

So now I'm broke... But HAPPY! HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY!!!

 

[bigbubba]

Looking good so far!!!

 

[75Dually]

Looking good so far!!!

Thanks for the encouragement Bigbubba! I hope to get this beast on the road by mid year... Job and wife permitting!

 

[nine4gmc]

Looking god, I would probably try to move that crossmember forward and inch, I think it would not only save some firewall work but look more centered in the well.

 

[75Dually]

Looking god, I would probably try to move that crossmember forward and inch, I think it would not only save some firewall work but look more centered in the well.

That is exactly what I am doing. Had the temps not been in the teens for the past couple of days it would have already been completed. I have most of the bolts out of the cross member already, just need some time this weekend to drop it and drill the holes. Great minds think alike!

 

[75Dually]

Several new toys showed up today! I got my 1/2" valve, and polished stainless steel air tank. I also got my coalescing filter in today as well. This will work with my York 210 once it shows up. I still need to order an air dryer to go along with the coalescing filter, but I simply forgot the other day when ordering all the other parts...

So once I get the front end all buttoned up I am going to start on the air ride components.

Getting closer...

 

[75Dually]

Look what the UPS guy brought! Been like Christmas around here lately!

Can't wait until I can do the oil fix on my York, and speed up my build. I am just waiting on a couple of other parts and I should have most of what I need for the air ride. Oh yes and I also need time....

 

[spoonsports86]

sweet i would love a bagged dully but i cant afford it....

but i did finally get a bagged vehicle a 2002 Subaru wrx wagon still a work in progress

i am runing Airlift performance series, vairair 444c compresor with AutoPilot V2 managment

 

[bigpokie]

Just found this, its looking good. The duallys on alcoas just look like it was made that way. I wish I seen this earlier do I could tell you NOT to use anything from airbaggit or any of his other companies.

My daily, just to hijack a little

And a friends dually

 

[75Dually]

Just found this, its looking good. The duallys on alcoas just look like it was made that way. I wish I seen this earlier do I could tell you NOT to use anything from airbaggit or any of his other companies.

My daily, just to hijack a little

And a friends dually

I Dig your ride, and your buddies ride is killer!

I would have used the Accuride valve, but it, from what Accuride told me, was going to be way too slow for what I wanted to do. If Accuride made a 1/2" valve I would have bought it, but the next best valve out there I thought was the one I purchased. Anyway not sure why you have issues with Airbaggit, but I have purchased other stuff from them in the past and have not had any issues. I will keep everyone up to date how this valve functions in conjunction with the Accuride controller, but I doubt I will have any issues with it they are fairly simple devices.

Thanks for the encouragement!

 

[bigpokie]

I fully agree with the whole accuair set up. I would be awesome to have but waaaay out of budget. There is just so many better companies with better quality on parts and customer service. Many friends and others from diffrent forums have had the same problems. I just hate to see people waste hard earned money.

 

[HTGTS350]

Are you on 22.5's?

 

[75Dually]

Are you on 22.5's?

Yup! However they are being machined right now, so very soon they will be 22"'s

 

[75Dually]

The cross member is out! What a cruddy job! Still it has to be done... I am going to put it on my welding table and work on the spring pockets and make new mounts for the upper airbags. That is the stuff that I enjoy, fabrication.

Next on the list is to drill and plasma all the new holes 1" forward. Still have to move the steering box and the other steering components 1" forward as well. Once all that is done I can reinstall all the front suspension and move on to the air ride portion of the build.

 

[75Dually]

I got my Accuride stuff in today! I got the eLevel system and their iLevel system as well. Really cool stuff!

Been going through the instructions today and seeing how I hook it up to my 1/2" Airbagit valve. It is fairly straight forward. The rest of the items are just nuts and bolts, and some plug and play. The big items are finishing up the front suspension and then finding locations for all the level sensors.

Now I have to see where I want to mount all these items. I also have to find a good location for the valve and the air tank.

 

[nine4gmc]

The cross member is out! What a cruddy job! Still it has to be done... I am going to put it on my welding table and work on the spring pockets and make new mounts for the upper airbags. That is the stuff that I enjoy, fabrication.

Next on the list is to drill and plasma all the new holes 1" forward. Still have to move the steering box and the other steering components 1" forward as well. Once all that is done I can reinstall all the front suspension and move on to the air ride portion of the build.

There's no way you could have sectioned the frame holding all the steering and just moved the entire section forward? It would save a **** ton of time and effort. I saw it done on a Ford Ranger one time, about the situation here.

 

[75Dually]

There's no way you could have sectioned the frame holding all the steering and just moved the entire section forward? It would save a **** ton of time and effort. I saw it done on a Ford Ranger one time, about the situation here.

Well I am not sure what you are talking about above, but all I am doing on my build is moving the cross member forward 1" and doing the same to the steering components. A lot of work, but my wheels will be centered and I should not have to mess with the firewall much at all. Hope that clears that up.

 

[Stooge]

There's no way you could have sectioned the frame holding all the steering and just moved the entire section forward? It would save a **** ton of time and effort. I saw it done on a Ford Ranger one time, about the situation here.

Well I am not sure what you are talking about above, but all I am doing on my build is moving the cross member forward 1" and doing the same to the steering components. A lot of work, but my wheels will be centered and I should not have to mess with the firewall much at all. Hope that clears that up.

i think he is talking about z'ing the front of the frame. alot of people who z their trucks, cut the frame points nearest the cab at a forward facing angle to allow them to move the crossmember forward a bit to center the wheels in the fenders. plus it will get you lower unless you are pancaking the crossmember so it doesnt hit first when aired out, although you then have to re-do the steering column linkage and raise up the front of the frame that holds your core support/ radiator.

 

[nine4gmc]

No, actually I was talking about sectioning the frame forward an inch like, for instance....

Take the piece of frame that ALL of the front suspension/steering bolts to and cut 1" bread slice from in front of that small section, and move it to the back of that section. Say the frame section is 15" long where the suspension mounts, cut out 16" with the extra inch in the front, then move the front inch to the back of the section and fish plate everything back together. It's hard to explain but real easy to do in some cases such as the ranger I saw.


Before: xxxxxxxAAAAAYxxxxxxx

After: xxxxxxxYAAAAAxxxxxxx

That is your length of frame between the front cab mount and forward core mounts. The "A"s represent the section that ALL the suspension/steering bolt to and the "Y" is the 1" bread slice you take from in front and move to the rear.

 

[75Dually]

i think he is talking about z'ing the front of the frame. alot of people who z their trucks, cut the frame points nearest the cab at a forward facing angle to allow them to move the crossmember forward a bit to center the wheels in the fenders. plus it will get you lower unless you are pancaking the crossmember so it doesnt hit first when aired out, although you then have to re-do the steering column linkage and raise up the front of the frame that holds your core support/ radiator.

Thanks for the info above. Because I am not trying to lay frame on my project, just get low as possible, I was not going to 'Z' the frame because of all the additional work you noted above. However I did want the wheel centered in the fender and also avoid modifying the firewall if at all possible. So moving the cross member forward and the steering components looked to be the best option for me.

 

[bigpokie]

take alot of time with the arms people get impatient and break them. how will it hook up the the valve?

 

[75Dually]

take alot of time with the arms people get impatient and break them. how will it hook up the the valve?

Thanks man! I plan on taking a lot of time with this setup. Accuair's instructions are very good, and show exactly what you need to do as far as setup and installation on the sensors. The new sensors that came in my kit are a lot more versatile than their last versions. Now you can use a wider range of movement. The old sensors were only made for 2.75" of stroke, but now they go from less than 1" to 4"'s.

I will do the entire front end setup on my fabrication table and then install it back on the vehicle, and the rear end should be a lot easier than the front end. I have a ton of room on the rear suspension and that will help make the install clean and simple.

The entire system runs through an Accuair ECU (eLevel), and that ECU talks to the valves in turn. It is all plug and play. I have already wired up my Airbagit valve to the Accuair harness. From there all you have to do is plug in the sensors, the controller, and the pressure sensor. The rest is calibration and fabrication.

I am going to start on it this weekend. I will take pics as I progress, so stay tuned!

 

[75Dually]

Had the stomach flu all week, Yuck! So today was the first day I felt decent. So this evening I got out to the shop and started to clean up the cross member. Once I got most of the grime off of it I mounted it to my fabrication table and mocked up the suspension.

I have got a good idea what I need to do for the bag fitment. The picture below of the bag in place is just me messing around when it got late in the evening. I will be of course modifying the lower a-arm, but I have some serious plans for the upper spring pocket as well. Most of it will be cut away. I want all the angles to be right so that I allow the bag to move in as straight a line as possible. I have seen to many builds where the air bag is pulled at odd angles, and this allows increased wear and potential failure.

So tomorrow should be a fun day in the shop. I hope to have the lower a-arm and the upper spring pocket at least roughed in. Then I am going to start finding the right spot for the air ride sensor. Stay tuned!

 

[75Dually]

Got some work done tonight. Finished up the lower drivers side a-arm. Then shot some black paint on it and the upper a-arm as well. I also painted the spindle since I was on a roll. Going to let the 3 of them dry over night and then tomorrow going to start on the upper bag mounting.

A good friend of mine gave me 2 - 6" round 1/2" plates the other day that were scrap laying on his shop floor (Thanks Ryan!). So I am going to put them to good use and make them the upper bag mounting plate.

 

[75Dually]

I now have one side done! The below pics show the suspension at ride height, and the other 2 show the suspension at full drop. The only thing I have to change is where the bag is touching one of the mounting bolts on the top. I am going to tap the lower plate and use a short bolt so that the bag is touching nothing at all.

I tried to get the bag as straight as possible, but I compromised a bit on the lean angle so that in the lower portions of it's movement (when the vehicle is lowered) it was fairly straight. In the end I felt that it came out OK, so I am happy with the final result.

So tomorrow I am going to start on the opposite side and now that I did all the mock up on this side the passenger side should go a lot faster. Then I will tackle drilling all the mounting bolts 1" forward and moving the steering the same distance. Should be interesting...

Stay tuned...

 

[jherm]

Looking good. As long as it's straight when laid out you're good. Most don't seem to realize a double bellow bags work great on a lever, or at an angle when moving and holding load. Are you running shocks up front?

Cant wait to progress. I need to start the rebuild of my ****

 

[bigpokie]

Ditto. It won't hurt the bags not to be always vertical.

I just found my front shock brackets do I need to install them. Don't, not, install shocks. I regret not doing it alllll the time. Or at least do the brackets while it's all part and in grit of you. So if you want to run with out them, it won't be. A pain of you wanted them later.

 

[75Dually]

Looking good. As long as it's straight when laid out you're good. Most don't seem to realize a double bellow bags work great on a lever, or at an angle when moving and holding load. Are you running shocks up front?

Cant wait to progress. I need to start the rebuild of my ****

Ditto. It won't hurt the bags not to be always vertical.

I just found my front shock brackets do I need to install them. Don't, not, install shocks. I regret not doing it alllll the time. Or at least do the brackets while it's all part and in grit of you. So if you want to run with out them, it won't be. A pain of you wanted them later.

Jherm - The bag angle is just about as perfect as I could get it. After repeat testing the bag does not hit anything in it's travel. As soon as I get the other side completed I will post some video of the front suspension movement.

bigpokie - Yes I will have shocks. Super dangerous not to have them. I will also put back the sway bar as well, but I have some tricks up my sleeve for that one. I think you will like my idea once you see it installed.

Thanks to both of you for the encouragement! Stay tuned there is lots of cool stuff ahead!

 

[bigpokie]

Yes I will have shocks. Super dangerous not to have them.

pfffft, i guess i just live life dangerously, squishy, but dangerously. lol. i kept my sway bar also

 

[75Dually]

pfffft, i guess i just live life dangerously, squishy, but dangerously. lol. i kept my sway bar also

Just as long as I don't see you base jumping or anything like that then I guess we are ok.

 

[75Dually]

Been very busy in the shop today. I got the passenger lower and upper a-arms completed.

I also got the cross member just about done. All I have left to do is finish the upper bag mounting plate. Then I will clean up the cross member and give it a good coat of paint.

However before the paint flies I am going to mock it up back on the truck with the complete suspension, rim/tire, and have it moved forward 1" and test the fitment of the complete assembly. I want to make sure that everything works and see what else needs to be modified so I can button up this portion of the build.

Oh yeah my rims (so says the UPS website) are supposed to be here on Monday. Thanks again Trevor!! Can't wait to see them!

 

[75Dually]

Got some more work done tonight. I marked off the 1" and 1 1/2" forward marks on the frame. Then I got the cross member up in place and put it on the 1 1/2" mark first. The pictures below are on that mark. You can see the fully lowered and the fully raised. I am really happy with the initial range of movement.

From what I can tell without having the rim and tire in place it looks fairly centered. BTW I got 5 of my 6 rims in today. Another stellar day for the guys at UPS! I mean come on guys! The tags say 6 boxes, not 5!! Maybe we should use both hands in the future to count. Oh well maybe tomorrow my loan solider will show up... Again thanks to Trevor at Tenn. Wheel.

So once I get my tires mounted tomorrow I can start on finalizing the setup.

 

[chevyguy377]

Looking good