So we got part of the puzzle figured out tonight on the tail lights. We now have the brake lights figured out, which is good. The turn signals are working fine up front, but the rear is not working correctly. When you move the turn stalk to the right both lights come on, and when you turn to the left nothing. So it is either in the turn signal switch or maybe in the flasher relay. Not sure. A very good friend of mine who is a great auto tech came over tonight and patiently went through the wiring diagrams and got us this far. Hopefully soon we will have those gremlins figured out and we can move to other larger items on the list.
My 1975 Chevy Dually Build
- Thread starter 75Dually
- Start date
An update on the dually. The Accuair is now fully operational!!! To celebrate I put my Accuair sticker in the back window. It even works well with the 1/2" Aigbaggit valve finally... So happy to have that boxed checked off. Now to get the other boxes checked off before the end of the month, LST is right around the corner!
Stay tuned!
Stay tuned!
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xtremek
Well-known member
Will it be in paint before LST? I love your work so far, it's looking killer.
no sir. Life happens. I will go one day !
You don't know how much that means to me. Trust me when I say that comments like that keep me motivated to get this project done.
To answer your question, no I won't have enough time for paint before LST, if I am super lucky I might get the primer finished, but that is low on my punch list before that show. Work and Family commitments have been taking all my dually time away, so there is going to be a ton of late nights ahead.
Bigpokie I'm crossing my fingers for you! At least hit one big show this year. You won't regret it!!
Yarz
Well-known member
You've got a very nice truck there.. I've always wanted to do an air suspension, and had considered getting an S10, but I like the look of your dually so much more!
I think you may have convinced me that I need one of these in the future
Are you going to put some sort of floor in the bed so it's useable as a bed?
I think you may have convinced me that I need one of these in the future
Are you going to put some sort of floor in the bed so it's useable as a bed?
You've got a very nice truck there.. I've always wanted to do an air suspension, and had considered getting an S10, but I like the look of your dually so much more!
I think you may have convinced me that I need one of these in the future
Are you going to put some sort of floor in the bed so it's useable as a bed?
Thanks Yarz! Yeah you need one of these! Yes I will do a bed in the very near future. I have the steel in the shop, but I've got other items that need to be done first.
Baclay9
Well-known member
Looking forward to checking this out at LST
Rrumbler
Well-known member
Good lookin' rig. I do so miss my late seventies/early eighties Chevy and GMC trucks.
If you have never had a vehicle with air ride, s10's are great to cut your teeth on. They are cheap, easy to get parts for, they make sooooooo many air ride parts for them, Most bolt on.
A small update tonight. Worked on the old girl until midnight tonight. Got the brakes bleed, and started to work on the interior. As you can see I got the dash installed. I think it looks pretty good. We worked hard on the turn signals and think we have narrowed it down to the turn signal switch in the column. Going to be working on it late every night until we leave for LST.
Stay tuned!
Stay tuned!
Attachments
xtremek
Well-known member
Looking good. When's LST?
TerryH
Well-known member
That's awesome!!! I know that has to feel good!!!
Deej-79
Well-known member
Just read through the whole thread and I must say... I'm disappointed its not done
Kidding! Thats one hell of an undertaking and one hell of a good job!
Kidding! Thats one hell of an undertaking and one hell of a good job!
strength_and_power
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2015
- Messages
- 1,412
Very nice. What was the total drop? All suspension or body drop as well?
xtremek
Well-known member
That is so sweet. When it's at ride height, what do you have for ground clearance? And what about when you lay it out? Again, that's really cool.
Thanks man!
All suspension! It lays the front cross member/frame on the ground. Don't know the exact inches, but it is a lot compared to a stock ride height.
See Bigpokie's note below. He is correct. As far as ride height goes it has a ton of clearance. If you read my trip note below we did not have a single time where the cross member scraped the road, or anything else for that matter. More than likely it has 2.5-3" clearance at ride height.
LST trip summary. Was it worth it? YES!
The truck did it's real maiden test on the way down, and on the way back from Conroe, TX. 8 hours down, and 8 hours back. Yes we drove this big old girl. No trailers for us (if we can help it!) Whew! Had only a couple of minor issues. First we had some rear end u-bolts get loose, lucky for us we were at a small town that had a tractor supply where we got some lock washers and we kept on truckin'! The other issue was on the way back the upper radiator hose had a 1/4" hole in it. Luckily we caught it when we smelled antifreeze right away. It was an easy fix so we made it home with no other issues. Again Whew!
I purchased my 4 link kit at LST from Thor Bros. This thing is massive! The round bars are 2"!!! And they are built like tanks. I will post the pics of the install. The 2 link system that I have today worked just fine. In fact the ride is really nice. I had a good friend ride with me half way back home yesterday, he is a professional hot rod builder, and he said that the ride was super. He has a dually as well, and he said that his does not ride that well.
A couple trip notes:
1. The Accuair system was amazing. It preformed as advertised. I had no issues with it the whole time, and even scared the heck out of a lady walking across a parking lot when I dropped the truck down. She jumped so high. Shouldn't laugh, but it was funny...
2. The on board air York ran like a top. Everyone was amazed how fast it filled the tanks, and how quiet it was. I rode in a buddies Tahoe which is bagged and his electric pumps ran quite a bit and were typically noisy. He then rode in my truck and was blown away at the difference.
3. 8 Miles to the gallon!! Yikes! I want a Cummins! The only thing we did not pass was a gas station.
I'll post some LST pics, after I get some rest...
The truck did it's real maiden test on the way down, and on the way back from Conroe, TX. 8 hours down, and 8 hours back. Yes we drove this big old girl. No trailers for us (if we can help it!) Whew! Had only a couple of minor issues. First we had some rear end u-bolts get loose, lucky for us we were at a small town that had a tractor supply where we got some lock washers and we kept on truckin'! The other issue was on the way back the upper radiator hose had a 1/4" hole in it. Luckily we caught it when we smelled antifreeze right away. It was an easy fix so we made it home with no other issues. Again Whew!
I purchased my 4 link kit at LST from Thor Bros. This thing is massive! The round bars are 2"!!! And they are built like tanks. I will post the pics of the install. The 2 link system that I have today worked just fine. In fact the ride is really nice. I had a good friend ride with me half way back home yesterday, he is a professional hot rod builder, and he said that the ride was super. He has a dually as well, and he said that his does not ride that well.
A couple trip notes:
1. The Accuair system was amazing. It preformed as advertised. I had no issues with it the whole time, and even scared the heck out of a lady walking across a parking lot when I dropped the truck down. She jumped so high. Shouldn't laugh, but it was funny...
2. The on board air York ran like a top. Everyone was amazed how fast it filled the tanks, and how quiet it was. I rode in a buddies Tahoe which is bagged and his electric pumps ran quite a bit and were typically noisy. He then rode in my truck and was blown away at the difference.
3. 8 Miles to the gallon!! Yikes! I want a Cummins! The only thing we did not pass was a gas station.
I'll post some LST pics, after I get some rest...
Attachments
xtremek
Well-known member
Congrats on a successful shake down run. Do you have a website link for the 4 link?
Thanks! I was really happy with it even though we had some minor issues.
Here is the website to Thorbros. Their stuff is first rate. You wont believe how massive these bars are. They are crazy strong!
http://thorbros.com/front_page
So we are now home and feeling a lot more rested up from that long trip to LST, that was a serious blast!
There is still a ton of work on the dually to accomplish. I purchased my 4 link at the show. Jason from Thorbros brought a set of his dually 4 link arms, and I bought them before the show opened during setup day. He put sold on them and displayed them for the entire show. I hope he sold a bunch of them!
These arms are massive. It is hard to see in the photos just how huge they are. The bars as you can see are 2" in diameter! Each 4 link weighs 55 pounds each!! Trust me they are the nicest setup for a dually I have ever scene. The first pic shows 2.75" rear end mounts, but those were only for display at the show. I got a full set of 3.5" mounts for my truck.
So now it will be time to tear down the old set up and get this installed. Just a quick note. I have been asked by a lot of folks about the 2 link setup verses a 4 link. First of all the 2 link rode very nice, and preformed very well. No complaints. My main reason for changing is that I want a more consistent pinion angle, and I want something super strong to haul with. There are probably a lot of other smaller reasons, but those are the 2 main reasons right now.
I also purchased new shock mounting tabs. I am not sure if I am going to use them or not. They were a steal at the show, and if I don't use them here I can use them down the road.
As always I will keep the pics coming as I progress...
Thanks again to all of you who have been an encouragement along the way. Your help and kind thoughts keep me going!
Stay tuned!
There is still a ton of work on the dually to accomplish. I purchased my 4 link at the show. Jason from Thorbros brought a set of his dually 4 link arms, and I bought them before the show opened during setup day. He put sold on them and displayed them for the entire show. I hope he sold a bunch of them!
These arms are massive. It is hard to see in the photos just how huge they are. The bars as you can see are 2" in diameter! Each 4 link weighs 55 pounds each!! Trust me they are the nicest setup for a dually I have ever scene. The first pic shows 2.75" rear end mounts, but those were only for display at the show. I got a full set of 3.5" mounts for my truck.
So now it will be time to tear down the old set up and get this installed. Just a quick note. I have been asked by a lot of folks about the 2 link setup verses a 4 link. First of all the 2 link rode very nice, and preformed very well. No complaints. My main reason for changing is that I want a more consistent pinion angle, and I want something super strong to haul with. There are probably a lot of other smaller reasons, but those are the 2 main reasons right now.
I also purchased new shock mounting tabs. I am not sure if I am going to use them or not. They were a steal at the show, and if I don't use them here I can use them down the road.
As always I will keep the pics coming as I progress...
Thanks again to all of you who have been an encouragement along the way. Your help and kind thoughts keep me going!
Stay tuned!
Attachments
i watched instagram all weekend looking for this piece ! i glad you had a blast.
thorbros is a good company. what are you working on? i have bought most of my airirde pieces and parts from them over the years, and thats for two trucks. they will actually get up and walk to see if they have parts that show low or even the " i think they may have some hidden over here, hold on" very good quailty. you should be happy with them.
as far as the two link, i agree with you. i was against them until i bought the dodge, i was naive. as long as you use it with in its design (it swings in an arc) it will work good. the down side to it, like dually said, is the pinion angle doesnt change. set it to ride low or high, but it cant do both.
thorbros is a good company. what are you working on? i have bought most of my airirde pieces and parts from them over the years, and thats for two trucks. they will actually get up and walk to see if they have parts that show low or even the " i think they may have some hidden over here, hold on" very good quailty. you should be happy with them.
as far as the two link, i agree with you. i was against them until i bought the dodge, i was naive. as long as you use it with in its design (it swings in an arc) it will work good. the down side to it, like dually said, is the pinion angle doesnt change. set it to ride low or high, but it cant do both.
xtremek
Well-known member
I'm in the process of gathering information and parts for my next project. It'll be a GMC/Chevy COE/LCF of some vintage set on a custom built dually chassis. I've got the 14 bolt out of a '73 G30. I'm looking for a Cab. I've got a '95 Saturn that's going to donate the HVAC and seats. I haven't decided on a powerplant yet, leaning toward a Cummins 6BT, but a Duramax isn't out of the question. The wife wants a 5th wheel and this is going to be the tow vehicle. I have to build the wife's duck house, get the barn to a stabil (sp?) condition, and clear out 3 projects before I dive completely into this one. I'd really like to start this next year some time. Big dreams, a little bit of time and no money. My kind of project.
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zmotorsports
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Trucks coming along nice. Great job and glad to hear your maiden voyage was fairly uneventful as far as glitches. That is always a good feeling.
Mike.
Mike.
ive got one of those im working on now. good luck with the coe !
Yarz
Well-known member
Sounds all too familiar. Be sure to make a thread for your work. I love those COE's
