Project: 1995 s10 SAS

[Baggey22]

This is my build thread. I decided to start the thread today even though my swap starts tomorrow just so I could get the "before" stuff done with.
So this is my 1995 s10, her name is Sally. I bought her for $600 from this redneck. Heres what she looked like the day I bought her:
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...g?t=1203640954

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...g?t=1203640959
She came with 31" BFG A/Ts that were nearly bald with NO LIFT. So I knew I had to do a BL at least very soon. So a few months later after I got some mechanical things fixed I did the BL.
After the body lift was done I drove it around for a few months just to make sure the motor was good and everything was working out good. Then once my tax refund came in I bought new tires. I got 31" Retreads from High-Tech retreading. They SAY BFG A/T on them but they were a M/T. http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...g?t=1203641163
After the tires I noticed that because my truck was a long bed s10 I kept dragging the rear end a lot when going up/down hills. So I "bobbed" the bed.
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...g?t=1203641238
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...g?t=1203641251
I cut approximately a foot off the bed of Sally and I am very happy with the way it came out.
After it was bobbed I went off-roading every chance I got. Then one day I got stuck for the FIRST time.
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...g?t=1203641349
It was at this moment that I decided that 31" tires weren't enough for the trails here in Vermont.
This brings me to today. I have slowly been buying ALL the things required for doing a SAS on an s10. I've done about 4 months of research looking at lots of different swaps and asking lots of questions getting everything figured out. I'm going with a HPD30 and 8.8 combo, both geared to 4.10. The 8.8 is also a LS axle. I got both axles more than a month ago and have been cleaning them and preparing them for the swap in the basement of the theatre I work at.
I don't have many pictures of the axles because I've been scrambling to get them done and mostly just forgot to take progress pictures.
Tomorrow around 1:00pm Sally will be driven onto a trailer and driven down to NY. For a week I'll be working NON STOP to get the swap done and will be taking progress pictures as I go. I hope you all enjoy my swap, that is all for now.

[crazy91s10]

im excited... i can't wait to see how this goes for you. maybe you could even put it up for sale after its almost done!

[95BlazerLT4wd]

Quote: Originally Posted by Baggey22

I bought her for $600 from this redneck.

haha.

[Tim99Zr2]

sweet man! 14 hour long days will be your friend!!

[local12hand]

Looking forward to seeing how it goes

[marcua56]

man i wish i could find a long box for that cheap.

[Tim99Zr2]

Shit, almost forgot.!!

[Baggey22]

My only concern is that I only have a week in a garage. So I'm gonna concentrate on getting the front done and if I have to do the rear back at college.

[1lowGMC]

where in NY are you doing it?

[02ZQ]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tim99Zr2

Shit, almost forgot.!!

X2,finally.

[Tim99Zr2]

Quote: Originally Posted by Baggey22

My only concern is that I only have a week in a garage. So I'm gonna concentrate on getting the front done and if I have to do the rear back at college.

werd,doing my rear only took me MAYBE 5 hours. from taking the tires off to putting them on.

id get the front rollin first.. or just do it on the trailer? so if you fail you can haul it to me to finish it

[Baggey22]

Quote: Originally Posted by 1lowGMC

where in NY are you doing it?

It's a small town called Hoosic Falls. It's like a mile or two from Bennington Vermont.

[ChrisInVT]

I'd concentrate on just getting the front end put together so it's drivable, and then work on the details later in case you run outta time.

[Baggey22]

Just put Sally on the trailer. I'm now leaving to drive to NY to put her in the garage and tear it down. Wish me luck!

[91'4wdsonoma]

Good luck!

[Tim99Zr2]

awesome man, its a fun time!! post pics of progress fool!

[Baggey22]

Update: Day one is over. I got ALL the front suspension and front differential out. All that's left of the original equipment is the pitman arm and drag link and the drive shaft.
Tomorrow I'll get the front cross member bolted on and and all the old brackets I don't need cut off.

Today was a good day, worked a lot and didn't run into any major problems. I'll get some pictures either tonight or tomorrow.

[sonomaguy]

Keep on going, no problems is always a plus and helps to make you work more the next day. Just don't get in to big a rush as that's when the problems crop up.

[Tim99Zr2]

fun fun, get some pics up man!! cant wait to see it

[Tim99Zr2]

baggey, show this site to your old lady and make her update us!!

P.S. i made my tranny cross member today, lemme know if you want pics

[Storm]

nice ride, i have similar roll bars on my truck, i welded 2 extra light brackets on it

[Baggey22]

Update: Today I got the front cross member bolted on and hung the front of the leaf springs. After that I got the stock pitman arm off. Finally today I got the D30 bolted into place to make measurements and such so I can fabricate the rear shackle mounts tomorrow.
I think I may also swap the 8.8 in tomorrow because everything is going so well. I still have some brake issues to deal with on the D30 before I'm done but those won't take but an hour to figure out and finish.
I'll get some pictures up when I can. I don't have my camera with me, but I'll see what I can do.

[91'4wdsonoma]

sounds good lets see these pictures

[Tim99Zr2]

Quote: Originally Posted by Baggey22

Update: Today I got the front cross member bolted on and hung the front of the leaf springs. After that I got the stock pitman arm off. Finally today I got the D30 bolted into place to make measurements and such so I can fabricate the rear shackle mounts tomorrow.
I think I may also swap the 8.8 in tomorrow because everything is going so well. I still have some brake issues to deal with on the D30 before I'm done but those won't take but an hour to figure out and finish.
I'll get some pictures up when I can. I don't have my camera with me, but I'll see what I can do.

put yours further back than i did. about 4-5 inches i am redoing mine.

that should work out to be right after the charocol canister

[lilsonoma]

Remember Baggey, that those springs I built for you will be just over 54" long when fully compressed with the front end weight sitting on there. Build accordingly so that your shackle angle is between 15-25 degrees back.


Front first. Weld everything on the front except for the perches and shock tabs. Once the tires are on the front axle, then move to the rear. Weld the perches on both axles 2nd to last, finishing with the shock tabs. Call me if you need to.

[Tim99Zr2]

Quote: Originally Posted by lilsonoma

Remember Baggey, that those springs I built for you will be just over 54" long when fully compressed with the front end weight sitting on there. Build accordingly so that your shackle angle is between 15-25 degrees back.


Front first. Weld everything on the front except for the perches and shock tabs. Then move to the rear.

yep yep! i made my shackle hanggers too close to the front of the truck i got a horrible shackle angle

[local12hand]

couldn't you just lengthen them to correct or would you need them shorter to help

[Donahue]

Quote: Originally Posted by local12hand

couldn't you just lengthen them to correct or would you need them shorter to help

longer would help, but might not be the best solution.

tim, your shackle angle is great if you were going to lots of droop, and only droop. for my brothers sami, we set the angle pretty far back, more than you would probably want to for a street vehicle, its about 45-60* with the weight of the body on it. its nice and flexy, but would have pretty good body roll at any speed above 25 mph or so. we also lengthened it to give it a better (more vertical) angle while still keeping it ahead of that stock crossmember (isuzu frame). iirc, the shacles are like 7 or 7.5" long bolt to bolt. on a side note, they were also made from 3/16" with no side brace and now have a nice jog in them about 1"-2" over (they will be replaced before he goes out again).

[Baggey22]

IIRC the easiest way to get a good shackle angle is to have the shackles be vertical when the axle is at "full droop"
Like with the front of the leafs bolted on wherever the rear eye sits is where the shackle mount should go directly above it.
Is that correct?

[lilsonoma]

Quote: Originally Posted by Baggey22

IIRC the easiest way to get a good shackle angle is to have the shackles be vertical when the axle is at "full droop"
Like with the front of the leafs bolted on wherever the rear eye sits is where the shackle mount should go directly above it.
Is that correct?

Measure 54" in a straight line from your front spring eye to the bottom eye of the shackle. Make the top eye of the shackle 52.5-53" from the front spring eye. You can't really use the vertical shackle method this time because your springs will compress much more than EZ-ride springs, and you're using short shackles. Also your build isn't finished so it's hard to measure full droop.

If you must use the springs as a measuring device, measure their static spring eye measurement. This means without any weight on them, probably as they sit now. Keep 54" long in mind when positioning the shackle hanger, and you'll most likely have the shackle facing forward quite a bit until weight is pressed down onto the springs, where the shackles swing back to the correct angle facing towards the rear of Sally. Don't forget to take the bushings out of the Sky shackle mounts, otherwise you'll burn up the bushings when welding.

[Donahue]

Quote: Originally Posted by Baggey22

IIRC the easiest way to get a good shackle angle is to have the shackles be vertical when the axle is at "full droop"
Like with the front of the leafs bolted on wherever the rear eye sits is where the shackle mount should go directly above it.
Is that correct?

full droop has the weight of the axle and tires on it, pulling the spring down. if i was trying to do it this way, i would tack it where my guess was, and take something like an engine hoist, and jack one of the front tires up untill the other tire on the same axle came off the ground. the tire that is way up in the air should be in full compression, and the other tire should be at full droop. but this is not how i would normally do it, how i would do it is this. first i would have the axle at least under the spring, dont need u-bolts yet but the center pin of the spring in the perch on the axle. i would still tack it up with my "guess", and then slowly start jacking up the axle untill the weight of the vehicle starts to get on the spring and not the jack stands holding it up. this will give you what the shackle will do at ride height.