My 82 ex-cab...Hydro-Assist questions

[82juguete]

Geeze....If that estimate's right then I dont know what Im waiting for...cause thats about what im getting now...ON A GOOD DAY.  haha Thanks dude.

[Doable]

  The work on your truck is comming out nice. Bobbing the bed on yours looks good. My hardest part even taking my time was making the cuts straight.





O.K. finished highjacking your thread 

[82juguete]

Ran over to Marlins and got some goodies yesterday...now im set to get started on the front suspension.....

Also spent this morning before work getting the front drophanger all tacked up.  I made it out of 2x4 and it's BEEF

Also note the two holes on each end cap... these have nuts welded behind them and are the mounting points for tow hooks.

[KYOTA]

I approve- looking good

[rednk1980]

that tow hook idea is an awsome idea i with i would of thought of that now i just capped my hanger. 

[82 HiLux]

dude 18mpg!??! thats so good! i get about 10 around town! 12 on a good day!! I have 4.10s and 33s. My old 22r is a slug though, thats probably why. I bet if it ran good i would get better mileage.

[82juguete]

Yea...my 22r is the second one that the previous owner put in, so I assume it has somewhat low miles, and I went through and tuned it up and it runs pretty strong.  Rednk, I got a couple chrome tow hooks from summit and was planning on putting one in the stock location on the front, so now that I am making the hanger I am still going to use them and kinda retain that stock look, only they are going to be on the sides instead of underneath.  Plus, Im sure Ill be using them pretty often, whether Im towing, or being towed...

[82juguete]

If your caps are thick enough, you might be able to still put the hooks, just drill out the holes, tap them, and run a lock washer...Dont think that would hold up to well though, the strength wouldnt be there unless you used like 3/8" steel for the caps...

[82 HiLux]

just weld the shiet out of the tow hooks onto the spring hanger. make like 1" thick welds. Make the tow hook and hanger "become one"

[jimbo74]

just weld the shiet out of the tow hooks onto the spring hanger. make like 1" thick welds. Make the tow hook and hanger "become one"

welded tow hooks?! at least get some bolts in there... before this turns into a flame war, do a search on bolted/welded tow hooks, im not against some small welds after bolting, but just welding them scares me and many otehr people out there

[Jud]

That front hanger is nice!

[82 HiLux]

dude, it was a joke. i dont think anyone would weld tow hooks and use only welds, unless they were really dumb.










....i thought it was funny...

[fatt_matt]

it was a little bit funny..
but the funny thing is..  i bet it has been done!

[82juguete]

Ok, so are the marlin 4" front springs, 5" shackles, and a 1st gen truck a recipe for horrible front driveshaft binding or what?  I just got done putting in the springs, and am currently using the stock hangers, and when i put it into 4wd I could feel the driveshaft having freakin siezures as I rolled slowly.  I knew that my pinion angle had worsened, but I thought going with the 4" springs, and shorter 5" shackles would leave me somewhat clear of these kinds of problems.  I plan on running the big drop hanger to help with this problem,(I have to finish welding it up before I weld it on)  but seeing this today,i dont know how much it will actually improve things.  I know running shims can help, but am not sure if thats the route I want to go.  If a high-pinion third, or duel cases is the only solid solution then I will probably be running in 2wd for awhile.  Oh yea, the springs ride great, by the way, but driveshaft issues are now keeping me from fully enjoying them.

[gotxqss]

nice truck is coming along nicely...

sucker for white early bodies

[rednk1980]

lets see some pics or or driveline angle so we can get an idea of how bad it is, put the stock shackles back on it and see if that makes a difference.

[82juguete]

thanks for the concern...Since im mostly daily driving, and not wheeling right now, im going to wait on changing the shackles out...ill just get the hanger installed, let the springs settle, and then see where im at.  Ill try and post pics tomorrow...its too late to mess with photobucket right now.

[82juguete]

Well...no pics of the driveline angle, because I took it off for now.  The good news is that the drop hanger did kick the pinion up a bit.  Heres a bunch of pics...
heres all the procomp stuff stripped out...

the hanger welded on...wish I could take all the credit but my buddies dad, Mike helped out on the welds...he has a nice gas welder that puts the spatter from my flux core lincoln to shame, not to mention he's a badass welder and I dont quite trust my welding skills enough yet to do such a load and stress-bearing piece...

Stitching across the front...same thing goes across back.

Niiiice double pass for extra strength along the fronts of actual hangers

Here it is all primed and painted, also bolted on the hooks...

Closeup of the hooks...I like the way these turned out

[82juguete]

Once I put the drop hanger on, the procomp shocks, which were blown, at full extension wouldn't even reach the lower shock mounts at ride height!  The shocks that they provide with their 4" lift kit have a shaft length of about 7.5"  Guess they knew from the start their springs were gonna ride like bricks, and I think its so ironic that their motto is "Suspension systems that work"  Anyway, I fixed this problem today....
Went to Marlins at about 11:30 this morning, and this is what I ended up with around 3:30....

I went with the bilstein 5150's and the short hoops...and I have to say the ride is a lot better than no front shocks at all and better than the useless procomps as well...
only inconvenience (besides the freakin screaming of the hotsaw and barrage of hot metal while hacking off the old shock towers with my head up in the wheelwell ) was that one of the shock boxes was opened and the two metal sleeves that go into the bushings were missing.  I didn't want to run all the way back up to marlins so I used some 3/8" galvanized nipples and just cut the threads off

[82juguete]

Heres a little before and after comparison for the front of the truck....I dont think it quite does it justice, since the angles a bit off, but in person Its a noticable change...even more so in driving characteristics...

BEFORE

AFTER

[jimbo74]

much better, looking good, you just need some bigger tires now

[82juguete]

Yea these mud tracs have been working good for me, so I think ill just run the tread down on them.  If I keep the 33s through the summer and next semester, maybe santa will bring me some BIGGER gifts in the winter

[rednk1980]

Looking good glad to see you got the front end done. Going to put on hysteer?

[82juguete]

Yea... I need highsteer, but I need a little break to let my funds regenerate...Ive spent a lot the past two weeks.  My truck leans now because I couldnt weld on the pad on the drivers side spring perch, because my stock steering just BARELY clears the spring...couldn't do the u-bolt flip on that side either because of the same reason...so yea, I need it, but will make due for right now...

[Twisted Minis]

Truck looks really nice. Makes me want a 4WD even more than I did before..

[Jud]

It sits way better now than it did before! Nice truck!

[82 HiLux]

It sits way better now than it did before!

thats for sure. i like how far forward the front tire sits.  does your driveline fall out? if its stock it probably will.
highsteer needs to be next on your list.  its such an enormous upgrade you wont believe it.  i wheeled for soooo long with stock steering and it was always a huge inconvience and limiting factor to my truck, and finally christmas rolled around and helped me get enough money for high steer.  its an extremely effective upgrade. make that next. you wont regret it! i HATE stock steering, everything about it sucked for me.  i didnt have the drop drag link though. either way. 

[79coyotefrg]

dude 18mpg!??! thats so good! i get about 10 around town! 12 on a good day!! I have 4.10s and 33s. My old 22r is a slug though, thats probably why. I bet if it ran good i would get better mileage.

4.10's and 33's   ??  are you trying to figure  your mpg  off the odometer??    12  by  that figure  would be closer to 16 mpg 

it hit me  the other day when i reset my trip odometer  and then  went to a nearby town  that was  16 miles away  but my odometer  showed 12 miles 

[jimbo74]

are those endcaps just tack welded in place? with those 4 welds or is it fully welded in?

[Gittinit]

Are those grade 5 bolts on those tow hooks? Would grade 5 be better, becouse they might bend before shearing off?