4x4 North

Been building a new rig since December. It started life as a 2008 GMC 2500HD 6.0 2wd.
Haven't been making enough progress unfortunately.
Was supposed be completed by late January and didn't work on it too much after the first weekend
Since this virus has us locked down, I've been able to make some progress.
Then the night we brought it in the shop to start cutting it apart.
Ended up getting the trans out and box off that first night with the help of my bro in law and nephew.

The following night we got the front suspension unbolted, and the bumper off.
I also had my buddy's plasma cutter and got rid of the excess materials I didn't need.

So I'm guessing this is getting a SAS? Fix the biggest flaw, or maybe the best part of those trucks.

Of course, had to throw a tire under it to see where it might sit and what it will look like.
Also pulled my e fans from the parts pile and fit that in. I've been thinking of where the axle will hang, and if I need to the e fans give me a bunch of room to move the engine forward and up for more bump travel
The grinding ensued after that...such a shitty part of the project.
WFO frame plates were ordered and they fit great

So, leaf springs, coils, coilovers?

And what size are them tires?

Scott Cee AKA 2drx4 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 09, 2020 6:37 pm So I'm guessing this is getting a SAS? Fix the biggest flaw, or maybe the best part of those trucks.

It started as a 2wd so the front end was no issue.
Biggest reason for building this is because the truck from my introduction thread is falling apart.
I am getting to build plans and such in a few more posts so it will make sense what's going on

Sterlingfire wrote: ↑Thu Apr 09, 2020 6:44 pm

Scott Cee AKA 2drx4 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 09, 2020 6:37 pm So I'm guessing this is getting a SAS? Fix the biggest flaw, or maybe the best part of those trucks.

It started as a 2wd so the front end was no issue.
Biggest reason for building this is because the truck from my introduction thread is falling apart.
I am getting to build plans and such in a few more posts so it will make sense what's going on

Gotcha.

Hacking the suspension off a 2wd bucket of shame is never a bad idea.

Scott Cee AKA 2drx4 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 09, 2020 6:41 pm So, leaf springs, coils, coilovers?

And what size are them tires?

The plan is front 3 link with 2.5x14 coilovers with res, and hydro bumps. It will have an 08 super duty front 60 with 4.88 gears and hopefully an arb. Hydro assist for now.
The rear is the 14 bolt out of this truck 4.88 gears with an arb if I'm a good boy going with triangulated 4 link and also a pair of 2.5x14 coilovers and hydros.
Those are 37" bias treps, but the end goal is to be on 40" sticky treps so that's what I'm building it for.

Slung the axle under it to see where my clearance issues will be...they are everywhere lol
That's sitting at 8" forward from stock, might be a little much.

Sounds like this should be a fun build.

Sterlingfire wrote: ↑Thu Apr 09, 2020 6:55 pm Those are 37" bias treps, but the end goal is to be on 40" sticky treps so that's what I'm building it for.

Yeah, for a truck that big the 37s are a little on the small side.

After that I started cutting the axle apart...who needs radius arm shit anyhow

Scott Cee AKA 2drx4 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 09, 2020 7:02 pm Sounds like this should be a fun build.

Sterlingfire wrote: ↑Thu Apr 09, 2020 6:55 pm Those are 37" bias treps, but the end goal is to be on 40" sticky treps so that's what I'm building it for.

Yeah, for a truck that big the 37s are a little on the small side.

It should turn out pretty decent, Thanks!

The other truck didn't do too bad on 37's. The rear axle on that has a 13 bolt cover, and I think that helps quite a lot.
For the wheeling I want to start doing though, they won't cut it. i want to go out of state on some long weekends to some legit places, like up to see you guys in the great white north for some real challenging water fall type shit!

Next I templated the frame on both sides, and welded dom to the back of the frame plate to get a nice firm place to bolt the cross member in. Should work well, since the other truck has far less holding the lower links in...

Cut the rocker panels off since I won't need those much anymore. Going to run a 2x4x3/16 rectanglular tube for a rock slider. At this point I'm planning to just weld those to the frame with some tube supports and be done with it.
My buddy rebuilt my ford Np205 for me, and I mated it to my underdrive unit, do not want to mention it's where it's from because we should not speak his name...
JB custom fab triple sticks as well. going to be fun paired with my CNC cutting brakes

Got the cross member built and bolted in. Fits nice and snug.
The frame side upper link mount. Likely going to be placed on the driver side so I can keep AC. I'm going to need to build high clearance motor mounts to get the upper link to play nice and get the bump travel I'm looking for.
The lower link mount at the frame. I had these parts cut by my buddy. I need 2 more for the rear, and 2 more uppers as well. Gotta get them for the rear end of this beast.