I doubt my ride could get any worse. I'm sitting on shot springs, shocks, and a steering stabilizer that does nothing. I'm hoping that taller springs in the back will soften the ride. And I've read that you can use ball joint spacers then get larger torsion bars, but relax them some so it rides better. Is that a common thing to do?

 

well it's like the old saying. You can put lipstick on a pig.. but in the end it's still a pig. It may help a little but the ifs has a small box of things you can do period. Check out long travel a atms. Or coil over swaps.. several good odeas

 

I've looked at and considered the blaze land kit. But I just can't justify paying as much as the truck is worth on the front suspension! So my only other option is ball joints.

 

I got the cab back together today. Everything went together fine and appears to be working. Now I will finish up my flatbed and hopefully have my truck back on the road in a week or two.

 

I got started on my bed today because I was able to pick up some steel and my chop saw came in from harbor freight. I was able to get the arch done. It turned out a little crooked. Miter joints with a harbor freight chop saw are crude at best. I still have to do posts in the back and a rail down the sides and front. Then I plan on some vertical supports for the roll bar and some 45 degree angles coming off the sides of the roll bar.

 

I got the welding done on my flatbed. Tomorrow I will wire brush and grind on it, then prime it.

 

I got my bed on. And I mounted the mud flaps, license plate, and lights. I cut the wires off my factory tail lights and soldered the new lights to the plug so I could plug them directly into the factory wiring harness and it worked perfect. The lights function just as they should.

 

I replaced my steering damper today. The old one was a pain to remove. I couldn't get the bolt out. I ended up breaking the old damper off. In the process. I had to cut the head of the damper off and drill a quarter inch hole through the bolt. After That it popped right out. The new one bolted right up. The truck handles much better going down the highway now. The wheel doesn't shake nearly as bad and it's much easier to drive straight.

 

I finally got to order my lift parts. I went with OME springs, torsion bars, bushings, and U bolts. I orderes a set of ball joint spacers, differential drops, and sway bar drops off of ebay. I got a set of shackles from Daystar. I got energy suspension low pro bump stops. And I got a set of 4 procomp ES1000 shocks. I've read the ES1000 make for the softest ride. The only problem I have is my torsion bars were back ordered at low range offroad. I might go ahead and tear it apart tomorrow and hope the torsion bars show up soon.

 

I started on my passenger side leaf spring today and it turned into an all day job. I had to cut the leaf spring off at the front eye. I then had to cut the eye in half and pry it off the bolt. Then I had to cut the head of the bolt off, and cut the bolt in half twice to get it off. Then it took me about 3 hours to get all the new parts alligned. Luckily now I have an idea how to do it from the beginning on the passenger side.

 

I got the other side of the rear suspension done today. It only took a couple of hours this time since I knew what to do. The back is way higher than the front, hopefully the ball joint spacers and torsion bars will be enough to even it out.

 

I got my new torsion bars, ball joints, ball joint spacers, and shocks in today. Taking it all apart was the hard part. My sway bar mounting bolts broke out in the process so I cut out the sway bar links. I don't think I'll miss it much. Now all that is left is my differential drop, one of the bolts is frozen and it will have to soak in PB Blaster. After I get that taken care of it will be ready for the torsion bars to be dialed in and get a front end alignment.

 

lots of great pics keep us updated

 

I got my lift finished, it took me about two weeks from start to finish. I had to soak the passenger side differential bolt in PB blaster for a week to get it to move.

 

Nice Work!
I could practically hear that truck saying, aahhhh

 

It should drive a's good as new in the next day or so. It's at the shop getting an alignment and a new idler arm. Part of me wanted to take it back home and change the idler arm myself but I ended up letting them do it.

 

Your flat bed looks great. I bought a 2 wheel drive for economy and did not realize how handy a flat bed can be. Miss that truck. Looking great!!!

 

I had to lower the front end of my truck down because the torsion bars had too much tension on them. This made the back end sit way too high. I decided to modify the Daystar shackles I had. I took them to work with me and used the mill after I got off work. I moved the frame side hole in 1.25 inches and cut off the excess. I moved the spring side holet in 1.1 inches and kept the original hole. This way if it settles and the back end's up low I can raise it up an inch. It also flexes much better now because the shackle is a little under 90 degrees whereas it was exactly straight up and down.

 

Nice work on the truck. I had a 90 reg cab that had the same frame rot. Not fun repair to make.

I like how the flatbed came out. Looks good on the truck. Paint looks great as well.

So have you decided on a Tire size yet?

 

I think I'm going to try and fit some 33x12.5 r15s. Ebay has a set of 4 nankang mudstar for 570 shipped. But before that, I've got another spot in the frame to repair. There was another hole hiding behind the gas tank. Then I am going to replace my tie rod's and lower control arm bushings. The front end feels very loose so I want to get that taken care of before I get new tires.