Everyone had probably been waiting for an update and I have to apologize I've been knee deep in this job and the late nights don't give me the strength to type. So here is whats been happening.
A week and a half ago we started at 10 in the morning with what you see above, except that it was not primer, it was finished with black paint. My close friend and brother J_G who has posted on this thread was a huge help this day. We ran into a couple of snags throughout the day and lost a couple hours due to them but ended the day with what you see below.
This was where the time consuming part comes in, because I work alone and I'm very meticulous about how things work and how things look I ended up spending 2.5 days on the plumbing alone. We lengthened the air lines since the owner is going to run new air lines himself when he paints the frame. This was just to get it up and running for now.
The original suspension was equipped with full maxi chambers on all 4 drive wheels. The owner decided to keep it that way since he plans on pulling a dump bucket hauling weight. The manufacturer sometimes run plastic hoses to aluminum junctions mounted in the frame and the rubber from there to the wheels. Or they can sometimes come off of the brake valve to the brake chamber with rubber all the way. I took what they did and improved and cleaned it up. If you notice there is new brass bulkhead fittings hanging from each corner of the 2 crossmembers above the front and rear suspension. this is where I ran plastic from the brake valves to this bulkhead fittings and then rubber side by side to the wheels. This cleans everything up and keeps it all straight and neat.
Kenworth and freightliner both don't have a good way of hanging there air valves. Peterbilt has the best looking setup and the cleanest finish product that I've come across. By utilizing the peterbilt crossmembers I was able to hang the valves in the center of the members and this made everything neat and tucked in for a clean appearance.
These are what we used for hanging the air lines, Peterbilt is using them on the new 389 models and freightliner has been using them for years. They are so much neater and simpler then a metal strap type hanger. These don't rust and take a lot of abuse. The worst thing you have to worry about is a broken tie. 10 seconds and the sagging air lines are repaired, no more rusty bolts or straps to contend with.
Since Kenworth isn't a neat suspension when it comes to plumbing, I had to build a couple junctions and get fancy with a couple fittings for the air bags, this particular one has a line from the leveling valve to the bag, then feeds another bag and also feed an air scale in the cab so the owner can load the suspension accordingly.
We also moved the leveling valve from the rear to the lead axle. Kenworth and Peterbilt both put it on the rear, Freightliner used to as well. Being that this suspension is a 2003 it had the leveling valve on the lead axle and I decided to leave it that way. All of the major plumbing is hidden under the fifth wheel, the only thing that you see in the rear is 1 line running down each frame rail to the rear air bags.
The wiring harness from the factory is about 3 feet to short to reach the rear of the frame, I went ahead and mounted a 7 wire junction box in the left rail close to the crossmember so that it is tucked and kind of hidden. The owner will be able to access it easily for any wiring issues or additions.
The drive shafts had to be shortened, we ended up with 3 driveshafts in the front, 2 carrier shafts and 1 slip shaft. the slip shaft had to be shortened to around 3 feet and also the shaft between the rear ends had to be shortened 2 inches. With some meticulous adjustments on the carrier bearings and drive shafts I was able to get all of the shafts into specs where the U joints are in a perfect angle for functionality and longevity. The owner should see no issues in the drive line at all. No vibrations was a huge plus and a huge sign of job done right!!
3 days ago we had an almost finished product, we still have to taper the rear of the frame and I have to install the tail light bars, only a few hours worth of work. The owner was very pleased to see this and I understand no one has been able to wipe the smile off his face since. The truck rode 200% better then it did with the 8 bag air ride, and we were pleased to not have any vibrations or hitches in the trucks and suspensions performance.
Above is a video of the road test, again very pleased with the finished product. I've heard of several horror stories regarding bad stretch jobs but thankfully we have never been the punch line of any of them. I hope everyone enjoyed this part of the build, we still have 2 more stages to go.
The front of the truck is currently 1.75 inches higher then the rear, we are going to static drop the front with a different rear spring hanger and taking all the spacers out from under the springs and moving the shock bracket to the top of the spring. This should give us a static drop of roughly 2-2.5 inches and then we are going to have the springs dearched and additional 1-2 inches. The owner would like the top of the tire even with the bottom of the fender when its sitting. Him or I will eventually be adding air bags to the front to lift and drop the truck with air.
The sleeper that is on the truck will be coming off, we will be adding a 66" Double Eagle sleeper. The maker is out of business so this is going to be a tricky build. I will be changing the opening in the rear of the cab and the front of the sleeper to a peterbilt Unibilt opening. The owner is a tall Australian dude and needs the leg room. This will allow him to slide his seat back into the bunk and allow him to ride more comfortable then he is now. I will try to keep up to date on the sleeper build. as we move along.
Seriously, I just assumed the frames were heat treated for strength, and welding weakened them?
