Author Topic: Red's back, with an 82 2wd (Read 15577 times)

red · « **on:** Sep 07, 2016, 05:45:32 PM »

Figured I'd swing by and torture yall again after a few years of peace/quiet

Picked up this 1982 2wd longbed pickup, 206k miles on the odometer that was owned by an older guy. Runs and drives great. Bed rust could be repaired. 22R engine.

Interior on this truck is surprisingly good, even the AC works!

Plans for this truck are to somewhat restore it and make it a good daily driver/camping vehicle. Lift it up a few inches, 30" tires, and a locker in the rear axle will be the offroad upgrades so nothing crazy.

Front main has a pretty steady leak so ordered a dual row replacement timing chain kit for the engine. Figure since I'll be in there anyways and I don't know when the chain was last replaced might as well take care of it.

redneckcustoms13 · « **Reply #1 on:** Sep 08, 2016, 06:57:21 AM »

Holy crap it's a flash back to my 83 a few years ago. Nice find.

H8PVMNT · « **Reply #2 on:** Sep 08, 2016, 08:18:11 AM »

Nice. I am trying to get a 2WD for a daily driver. I have to fix my trailer before I can drag it home. I was thinking of either a mild rat rod street truck build or dirt road "bomber" with larger tires, gearing to match and a spooled rear. Looking forward to seeing what you do with this.

kneedownnate · « **Reply #3 on:** Sep 08, 2016, 10:47:35 PM »

Good to see you back! I was just thinking of you the other day when discussing a 6.2 my brother was thinking of swapping into his old fsj.

Some of the most fun I've had on 4 wheels was in my ratty 81 2wd, but I went the other way and lowered it a touch. You'd be amazed how well they handle

red · « **Reply #4 on:** Sep 09, 2016, 08:52:57 AM »

Good old 6.2's, recently sold the 82 chevy k20 that I had with 6.2/th400/np208 drivetrain rolling on 37"s at stock height. Had some repairs coming up that I didn't want to mess with. Low power but was getting just over 20mpg on the highway with it.

Ordered the new timing chain set from LCE. Besides the bed being rusted the truck is in good shape. Also found time 15" wheels with used 29" AT tires from a jeep (5x4.5" bolt pattern) that should give a bit better traction offroad. Also have a winch sitting here waiting to be mounted to the front, just trying to decide on a bumper setup to go with. Keeping this low budget for now.

Cheesemaker · « **Reply #5 on:** Sep 10, 2016, 09:09:25 PM »

Nice find.

There is a little gem I have my eye on here locally. It looks like this one.

Its rougher, and the paint job is baby

yellow. Still original color, it looks like it needs some work, but everytime I have cash and getting ready to go talk to owner, something else comes up and needs the money more. I would love to drop a good healthy 22R in it, with a 5 speed in it, and let it rip up the roads!!

H8PVMNT · « **Reply #6 on:** Sep 12, 2016, 09:22:39 AM »

I am really pumped to make a 2WD daily driver. If you had a decent 20r or 22r with the lighter 2WD, little tires and without all the trail armor we are used to you might have something that can actually get out of it's own way.

We should all build a few and compare notes.

redneckcustoms13 · « **Reply #7 on:** Sep 12, 2016, 10:12:29 AM »

Mine was an epic turd with a 22r. Lol

red · « **Reply #8 on:** Sep 12, 2016, 06:10:36 PM »

Mine is faster than the 82 k20 with the 6.2 diesel/37"s, then again the toyota is on those tiny little donuts (26" tires?). It's at 3000rpm at 65mph, 5 speed trans. And it's much faster than my military 6x6 wrecker haha.

Pulled the front of the engine apart today to fix the leaking seals and replace the timing chain. Already had a dual row chain so kept the cost down for the maintenance. Old chain had a good amount of slack but was wearing well. The gasket they used on the timing cover took forever to remove. Zero progress with a gasket scraper so decided the hell with it and used my buffer wheel after plugging the coolant and oil passages. Tomorrow will clean the outside of the timing cover and put everything back together.

H8PVMNT · « **Reply #9 on:** Sep 19, 2016, 02:21:56 PM »

Any thing new?

red · « **Reply #10 on:** Sep 19, 2016, 03:14:35 PM »

Not much for updates yet. Installed the new timing gears/chain and put the front of the engine back together. Fired it up and adjusted timing, all seemed well. During the test drive it was fine but once I got home and backed up the driveway noticed a steady stream of oil start appearing (steep driveway up to the garage). Checked it out and the oil pan gasket didn't like my quick repair so had to wait until today for the new gasket to arrive.

By the way, removing the oil pan kinda sucks haha. Had to disconnect the tie rod, drop the idler arm, steering stabilizer, remove the front suspension bracket that goes underneath the engine, then pry the oil pan off. Judging by the amount of oil on the underside the steady oil leaks I've addressed (front main, oil pump, and oil pan) have been going on for awhile.

Will have it back together tomorrow. No obvious signs of extra wear/damage on the underside and no metal pieces found in the pan which is good. Truck hasn't given me any big concerns so expecting it to last for quite awhile without big mechanical repairs needed.

Since the wheels had to be removed to get the steering to cooperate figured might as well check out the stock 2wd suspension. Besides the bed this looks like the worst rust spots on the vehicle. And the stock suspension setup has basically no travel haha.

Having ideas ranging from the lift spindles, long travel kit, or SAS. Long travel is too expensive for me so that leaves the 2wd lift or SAS.

Mudder · « **Reply #11 on:** Sep 19, 2016, 06:10:55 PM »

Welcome to the world of IFS! With the 4wd trucks you have to drop the front differential as well to get the oil pan out.

redneckcustoms13 · « **Reply #12 on:** Sep 20, 2016, 06:07:48 AM »

Your in my boat sir. I opted for the $75 spring hanger. Tossed an axle under it with spare parts laying around and made a sas pre runner lol

H8PVMNT · « **Reply #13 on:** Sep 20, 2016, 07:39:36 AM »

I used ball joint spacers on an '87 IFS 4WD once. The result was a kind of mid-travel. I shaved bump stops and made new shock mounts and I maybe had a good 8" of travel out of it. Not sure if you can get BJ spacers for 2WD but they did work.

helipilot77 · « **Reply #14 on:** Sep 20, 2016, 08:43:10 AM »

Cool build! I used to have a 79' SR5 2wd long bed with a stock 20R. I used to hot rod it around. I may or may not have driven it from Salem to Seattle at 100mph for the majority of the trip. It could scoot.

Eventually I got rear ended by a Chevy Silverado while sitting in stopped traffic. Slammed me into the car in front of me

It was the yellow with brown SR5 stripes on the side.

red · « **Reply #15 on:** Sep 20, 2016, 04:37:33 PM »

Got it back together, doesn't appear to be leaking anymore

They make 4" lift spindles that are about $500 plus shocks, or the fabtech 3" upper control arms that's about $650 with shocks. Depending on the cost of the front axle an SAS might be about the same price (minus the 4x4). Could use the stock 2wd steering box/arm so would need the axle, springs (maybe rears up front?), spring hanger, shackles, and crossover steering. Then do the 4x4 setup later if I go that route, which is the most capable.

Being that I live in Utah and am surrounded by offroad areas, the SAS makes the most sense.

Another mod (for later) would be the bed. This truck will not be a 'body doesn't matter' build like I've done before, I want to make this truck look pretty good (not bobbing it either). Cab is solid, a little dent in the hood and front fender but that shouldn't be difficult to fix. The bed on the other hand is in need of replacement panels due to rust. Few holes in the bed floor, all the way through on both sides, rust everywhere, lots of labor to fix. So what I'm wanting opinions on is:
1. Replace with another stock longbed
2. Build a bed similar to the military Kaiser M715 pickup/M101 trailer
3. Flatbed (low height with wheel wells)

Mudder · « **Reply #16 on:** Sep 20, 2016, 08:42:28 PM »

Red, where about in Utah?

red · « **Reply #17 on:** Sep 20, 2016, 09:34:39 PM »

Eagle Mountain, about 20 minutes southwest of Salt Lake City.

H8PVMNT · « **Reply #18 on:** Sep 21, 2016, 08:14:27 AM »

On this 2WD build I would use a stock longbed. If you think you will get more hard core and make it 4WD I would do the flat bed.

Mudder · « **Reply #19 on:** Sep 22, 2016, 08:30:36 PM »

Nice to know there's other MC members in Utah, Just moved to SLC myself is why I was wondering.

red · « **Reply #20 on:** Sep 22, 2016, 09:04:17 PM »

Gotcha. I've lived up here for about 4.5 years total between Tooele, Hill AFB, Lehi, and now Eagle Mountain. Lots of great offroading up here to explore so let me know when you're up for a trip. I'll be going back to college in the spring, might as well use that GI bill.

Thinking the 4x4 conversion will be best for me, maybe in the springtime.

red · « **Reply #21 on:** Sep 29, 2016, 06:49:59 PM »

Hmm, just came across an interesting deal locally. Guy nearby pulled the drivetrain out of an FJ40 2 years ago (says it was running fine body fell apart) and wants the parts out of his garage. So tomorrow headed to go inspect the axles. I'm aware of the passenger side offset with both front/rear but is there anything else that would be a big concern about using these for the pickup?

Mudder · « **Reply #22 on:** Sep 29, 2016, 07:08:40 PM »

Best to convert them to disk brakes if the front axles is drums. Other than that I don't believe so, when people ask about putting mini truck SFA's under the 40's I always hear to not do it and just upgrade to disks.

red · « **Reply #23 on:** Sep 29, 2016, 08:15:47 PM »

Sweet. Drum brakes and the front is missing the hubs. So stronger 3rd member and the front axle outers/shafts are interchangeable with the mini truck parts

This SAS could be cheaper than the truck hahaha

redneckcustoms13 · « **Reply #24 on:** Sep 30, 2016, 11:12:46 AM »

Now your smelling what I was stepping in lol

H8PVMNT · « **Reply #25 on:** Sep 30, 2016, 11:28:08 AM »

I love using the 2wd frame. It's like a clean slate with plenty of up travel.

red · « **Reply #26 on:** Oct 02, 2016, 09:13:50 PM »

Yea not a whole lot that will need to be cut off the frame when the solid axle is swapped in. So with trying to keep this cheap but safe how bad are the front drums with 31-33" tires? If they are still crap what all is involved with converting the front axle to disks?

Other items that still need to be ordered/made are:
Axle hanger kit
Crossover steering
longer brake lines
shocks
set of rear leaf springs
U bolts
Spring perches for front axle
Rear driveshaft lengthened

Will have to move the fuel tank to behind the axle

redneckcustoms13 · « **Reply #27 on:** Oct 03, 2016, 06:03:01 AM »

I used my stock rear springs with 5" shackles, ruf with shackles and it sat level. Why will you need to move fuel tank?

H8PVMNT · « **Reply #28 on:** Oct 03, 2016, 07:39:12 AM »

I don't think any of us has experience with those drum brakes up front. You'll have to let us know

.

red · « **Reply #29 on:** Oct 03, 2016, 10:18:14 AM »

Have to move the fuel tank because of the offset rear axle, the driveshaft will need to occupy the space where the fuel tank currently sits. Would just run the stock 2wd rear axle but it's 5 lug and the axle is a different width than any 4x4 rear axle so can't just swap axle shafts. Since the stock spare tire location is now empty there is plenty of room for a fuel tank to go there.

My friend who wheels a 90's land cruiser mentioned that since the fj40 is heavier than the pickup the drum brakes shouldn't be a concern. They are larger diameter than the tiny little solid rotors the truck has now haha. So I'll order up a set of drive flanges and prep the axle for install by servicing the knuckles/brakes, new spring perches, and repaint. This front axle has the older coarse spline outer shafts so can't just bolt on a set of hubs from the truck axle or IFS, takes a bit of work to do that.

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