TECHNICAL FORUMS => Project Builds => Topic started by: 85jimmyguy on October 12, 2011, 07:48:29 PM
Title: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on October 12, 2011, 07:48:29 PM
Alright, so i will apologize now because this is going to be a somewhat slow build thread but its my first so all advice, pointers, and critsism is appreciated. Sooo my truck is an 85 gmc jimmy 2dr 4x4 that i have converted into a small pickup. My plan is to cut out all of the ifs and build up a 3 link with coils on a dana 30 with a ford 8.8 in the rear. I am just about done collecting parts to get started building. I have as of now the axles, tires (33x15x15 tsl sx\'s) and rims, sm465 4speed tranny with np241 case, and the engine i plan to swap in is a 292 straight 6. I bought a bunch of parts and pieces from ballistic fab, which might have been more trouble than it was worth because it took more than 3 months and loads of angry phone calls to get most of my stuff.. still waiting for a few things but i have tracking numbers so should be here soon. Pictuers will follow as i get a chance to post them. Heres a few that i have to get things started.
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: MrMindless on October 13, 2011, 09:01:22 AM
What are you planning to use for springs? I\'d expect TJ coils would probably be a good match to your weight, or of course Ryan_25 here is the US ProFender distributor if you wanted to go coilover...
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on October 13, 2011, 10:16:14 AM
Coil overs would be nice but I\'m to scared to price them out... I most likely will use some type of jeep coil spring. Really what ever I can find reasonably. I have a couple inches of play I can work with in regaurds to the height I mount the spring buckets at. I will have to do some research on spring lengths too once I get axles set underneath to see what I will actually be looking for height/length wise.
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on October 14, 2011, 02:18:06 PM
What is everyones opinion on which side to run the upper link for a front 3-link? I have read that drivers side with a driver side drop axle/case is the best place because the dif housing is there which provides a much beefier place to attach to. I know its possible to do and cram everything on the drivers side but why not the passenger side? Alot less congestion on that side. I would just have to come up with a pretty stout mount bracket correct? or is there geometry issues with the front driveshaft if the upper link isn\'t on the same side? I\'m sure this question has come up before but I haven\'t found an answer that has fully swayed me one way from the other yet.
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: smichaelR22 on October 16, 2011, 08:30:45 PM
haha, we all learn balistic is worthless, try ruff stuff next time. usually pretty good.
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: MrMindless on October 19, 2011, 01:19:02 PM
upper link on the diff side due to pinion rotation when articulating. if you have the 3rd link on the non-diff side, as the axle articulates to full droop on the diff side, the pinion points down.
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: smichaelR22 on October 19, 2011, 01:44:01 PM
i don\'t understand how there could be any difference in the axle rotation geometry (pinion pointing down you say) with the same geometry of a bracket on either side... say wah?
different effective link lengths slight triangulation angles, yes- but not sure im missing something. i do a lot more building than i do research of others woes :)
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on October 19, 2011, 03:50:20 PM
I think I\'ll tackle that one when the axles ready to slide under the truck.. seems like if I were to put the 3rd link on the pass. side I would have to use exact lenght paralell arms so pinion angle would be the same when the driver side drooped. If I put it on the drivers side I could make the top arm slightly longer and make the frame side a little closer together than the axle side so my pinion ange would adjust slightly as it drooped to keep OK angles... thats kinda how I understand what MrMindless is saying. It would work either way I think, it just depends on my ambition and how much I care about it at that point.
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: MrMindless on October 21, 2011, 03:12:38 PM
If you\'re doing parallel links it won\'t matter. If you\'re doing anything with a more radius arm-like geometry where the axle rotates up as it droops, what I said applies
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on November 30, 2011, 09:19:16 AM
Moving stuff around the shop this past week. Here is my SM465 and 241 I plan to run. Might end up using the PTO off this tranny for a trail jack system or hydraulic winch if one presents itself. Any opinions on this tranny/cas combo?
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: MrMindless on November 30, 2011, 11:46:55 AM
fixed yokes are always preferable but should get the job done.
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: smichaelR22 on November 30, 2011, 12:40:11 PM
i have a sweet PTO winch on my F250 wrecker! works awesome!
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on December 08, 2011, 03:37:25 PM
Is the pto winch hydraulic or an actual shaft drive? If its hydraulic I would be interested.
Anyway, parts purchasing has slowed down due to the new addition to the fleet... might be a little excessive but the price was right. Should pull a trailer ok with the 8.1 monster hiding under the hood... might build some super ramps and just haul around the jimmy truck on the bed...
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: smichaelR22 on December 08, 2011, 04:34:59 PM
looks clean, are those 19.5\'s nice
my winch is shaft drive PTO
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on December 08, 2011, 08:43:23 PM
No good on shaft drive winch.. just what i would need, another drive shaft to worry about.. haha
Yea 19.5\"s.. its a 3500HD..15k gvw with a solid axle up front with king pin and leaf springs..only 2wd though..
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: smichaelR22 on December 08, 2011, 11:11:33 PM
nice. solid rig.
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: Wingman on December 09, 2011, 02:09:13 AM
Unless you\'re good at welding aluminum, steel ramps get heavy fast. I opted for these...
Built well and light enough (50 lbs each) to manage.
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on December 09, 2011, 07:57:52 AM
Those ramps look pretty good. Pricy but nice... I suppose if I were to buy the aluminum needed it would add up pretty quick anyway... Figure it out when I get to it I guess..
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on January 25, 2012, 08:17:03 AM
Finally jumping pack into this project while im waiting for the painter and the powder coater to finish up the final pieces for my motorcycle. Started to tear into the 292 last night to asses my rebuild situation. This is my first inline 6 and I must say I really like this thing. simple and stout. Anyway here are a few pics of the tear down.
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on January 25, 2012, 08:19:37 AM
and the head..
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on January 25, 2012, 08:34:49 AM
and the jugs.. more pics to come later. The plan with this thing is to put a TBI on it so I found a fancy used aluminum Clifford intake for a 4 barrel that i can adapt a 4.3 or a 350 tbi unit to. It should flow a whole lot better compared to the stock one.
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on January 30, 2012, 02:30:03 PM
here is the intake comparison.. it is a slight improvement..
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on January 30, 2012, 02:30:54 PM
after sandblasting..
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on January 30, 2012, 02:36:16 PM
Nice valve cover i found burried in my father garage that came off of a chevy 250 straight 6 of the same vintage.
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: Crusarius on January 31, 2012, 12:31:37 PM
going back to the front suspension ideas.
when you do your top link I highly! reccommend going to the side with the diff. if you run it to the other side of the axle you will get alot of twist in the axle tube which could very likely lead to the tube cracking or breaking off completely.
the front in my TJ has 2 arms on drivers side. 1 lower and one upper going to the stock TJ mount. and the passenger side has 1 lower arm. then don't forget the trac bar.
the only issue I had with this setup is the fact I get so much travel out of it that I am maxing out the tie rod end on the pitman arm and keep popping the cap out of the joint.
here is a pic for reference. http://www.rockmodified.com/me/woody0043.jpg the tires are 35's just for reference.
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: MrMindless on January 31, 2012, 12:45:40 PM
Quote
when you do your top link I highly! reccommend going to the side with the diff. if you run it to the other side of the axle you will get alot of twist in the axle tube which could very likely lead to the tube cracking or breaking off completely.
I wouldn't worry about extra forces on the tube so much as the diff pointing the wrong way on articulation and bottoming out the ujoint on diff-side droop flexing.
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on January 31, 2012, 03:10:48 PM
lots of reading and looking at front link setups.... tried and true seems to be the 3rd link on the dif side... even though its going to be crowded over there this will most likely be the route with the least amount of headaches. I apprecieate the input. I might re think this after the engine and tranny are mounted. There has to be a way to get the diff to rotate in the more favorable direction, keeping drive angles cooperative when flexing while having the 3rd link on the passenger side...
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: xjh3 on January 31, 2012, 03:57:22 PM
Most XJ builds I saw were using a pre-fabbed tower from places like Ballistic on the passenger's side for their uppers. I went with the differential side for strength.
Not sure, but from my research/in my mind, a longer upper link will make the pinion rotate up as the suspension drops which will keep it pointed at the t-case. My upper is shorter because that's where it fit. For the useable travel of my suspension, the pinion angle isn't really an issue.
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: xjh3 on January 31, 2012, 03:58:40 PM
That valve cover is sweet.
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on January 31, 2012, 07:05:30 PM
so if im thiniking about this correctly, like you said if a longer link is on the top, either side, when the axle cycles down equally on both sides it rotates the dif yoke up keeping everything in line. Now if im thinking about this correctly, if the top link is longer on the drivers side, the diff angle stays nice when the drivers side droops and nice when the passenger side droops... but the opposit would be true if the longer link was on top on the pass side.. so it would just have to be opposite and have the longer link on the bottom to keep diff angles nice while the axle articulates.... to keep nice angles on the diff (using a d30 with driverside dif)... i'll get it right eventually... will probably have to just start building to see what way will work best for the jimmy truck....
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on February 20, 2012, 12:33:13 PM
Update: engine is all tore down and at the machine shop. getting bored .030, putting next size up exhaust valves in the head and going with natural gas pistons to increase compression from 8:1 to 9:1. Bought cast iron headers to go along with the larger intake manifold. Also purchasing a offroad/towing cam to wake the engine up a bit. should have the engine back in a week or two for re-assembly.... mean while back at the ranch, I had to make up a small 4 barrel-to-TBI adapter plate since one of these does not exist.. I would have had to go from small 4 barrel to large 4 barrel and then back down to TBI with adapter plates to make it all work. More pics to follow...
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on February 20, 2012, 12:34:41 PM
adapter plate start..
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on February 20, 2012, 12:35:16 PM
fun aluminum welding..
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on February 20, 2012, 12:36:26 PM
finished welding... just need to get top and bottom surfaces machined for gasketing..
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on February 20, 2012, 12:36:56 PM
350 tbi fits nicely.
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on March 19, 2012, 02:30:22 PM
Soooo big change in plans over the past week or so... re-thought the whole dana 30/8.8 thing, recalculated costs and decided that I only really want to do an axle swap once.. found a set of gm military 1 ton's from a 83 CUCV... so the purchased involved a 14 bolt with a factory locker and a front open diff gm king pin dana 60, both of which have 4.56's in them. Also found a gm 205 t-case and another sm465 for cheap... now off to selling the dana 30/8.8 stuff i had already collected. I will be posting that stuff up next week when i get back from florida. I should be getting into this build a little more consistantly now that the weather is turning nice...
Title: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: MrMindless on March 19, 2012, 03:07:04 PM
Good plan!
Title: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: xjh3 on May 26, 2012, 06:22:02 PM
Doing work.
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: smichaelR22 on May 26, 2012, 07:56:29 PM
need some 42"s? they dont fit on my buggy any more :)
Title: Re: 85 jimmy pickup build
Post by: 85jimmyguy on May 28, 2012, 08:20:54 PM
How can they not fit your buggy?? Those are probably too large for my little jimmy right now.. was planning on running 38's.. how much are you asking?
