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I will be documenting my Chevy 63 & solid axle swap in this thread as it goes on. Ifigured I should start with all the parts:
-79 waggy Dana 44 pass drop w/Reid racing knuckles and BCC high steer arms for fj80 rod ends, chromo shafts, 4.11 gears -Trail gears steering shaft/plate kit -Trail gear fj80 rod end weld in bungs -Toyota mini truck ifs steering box with mount kit -Trail gear front frame plate -Trail gear shock hoops -Trail gear rear sump oil pan kit -Trail gear power steering lines -Trail gear 3” front leafs mixed with ruf from 2nd gen mini truck -Sky’s off road design Full width SAS hanger kit -Home made u-bolt flip kit for front -Low range off road Chevy 63 swap kit -Chevy 63s -Shocks are to be determined. -Gear driven T-Case from early pickup with trail gear adapter to 3.4 auto trans (to run pass drop and the ability for dual cases in the future)
(Parts list will be updated as I run into things needed to be bought)
Picture of Rig before beginning (see a reason for more suspension travel??)
Beginning with the rear. First night. Took off the box and wiring, pressure washed underneath to look for rust. Found a small amount in the channel of the frame. One more thing added to the list
Little update here, due to wait time on shipping parts from the states (I’m in Canada) I have decided to begin on the front end. Currently I’ve removed the front differential and associated connectors,steering rack and lines, all suspension components and the rear crossmember. (No turning back now!) Leaving the front crossmember in until I can weld the new front crossmember so the frame rails don’t spread.
Began the scary part today. Started by making a cardboard cut out of the shackle hanger. It’s fairly difficult to measure because you have to keep the hanger parallel to the flat of the frame, not the rounded part. So I marked where I wanted it to be based on sky’s off roads instructions. Went 3/8” ahead because I didn’t like how steep the shackle angle is. Held the cut out up parallel. Used spray paint to mark the negative of the hanger then clamped a level to the straight of the frame to get the bottoms line deadstraight. Repeat on the inside. And cut with grinder
Got the shackles mocked up and ran into a problem. They measured 32.75” centre to centre. Full width is 31.5. Messaged sky’s about this issue and there was a re-design about a year ago because the offset of the shackles were wrong. They’re getting me hooked up but it’s gonna be a while to ship in Canada.
In the meantime I’ll be doing the small things, swapped the oil pan and pick up tube then cut the dipstick 1/8” below the full line as per trail gear instructions. Got the firewall steeringshaft plate installed and tacked in the front crossmember and hanger.
Parts showed up! Mocked up the springs and they worked perfectly. But I ran into another issue. The 48” trail gear 3” springs are about 2” short of Where I want to keep my axle forward to my liking. I have found some 3rd gen pickup rear main leafs local to me I’m going to try out. They measure at 51”. Trying not to move the front cross member back unless needed
As stated above I decided to move the front crossmember. The shackle angle is a little steeper than I’d like. We’ll see how much the leafs settle before I change it. Worst case Iget some custom mains made up. This was the first time on its own weight!
After cutting the front cross member out I cleaned up the passenger side frame and tacked in the frame plate. Put some primer on it so it doesn’t rust waiting to be finishwelded. Holding off on doing the drivers side until I get the steering installed
Been I while since I’ve updated. Had to hustle to get it done before snow falls. Got my steering done here. Used skys off-road frame plates. Had to chop up the fender. Pushed it far enough forward so if I wanted too I could run high steer in the future. Used 1.25x.24 wall dom tubing with trail gear weld in bungs for tie rod and drag link. I have decided I need a flat pitman arm or skys 3/4 drop pitman arm.
finish welded up. Set up to run 12 inch shocks but if desired in the future I can cut and flip the mounting tabs up to run 14s . Used the old brake line mounting tab with a new hardline and skys Toyota to Dana44 line
What I came up with to mount the arb. Obviously ran into an issue with it not being able to slide over the frame rail anymore but I had some steel the same sized laying around. Shortened the arb brackets to keep the crumple zones (to pass inspection if needed). The drilled and welded a nuts on the inside. It’s very secure
Nov 9, 2020 | 09:00 PM
