{Project} Beandip's Daily Driver

[greatdane68]

Quote: Originally Posted by beandip

UPDATE!!



Alright i finally got the truck down more to earth.

pics of the progress 1" DJM v6 springs were used

Click here to find out why--->http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f12/dr...piracy-392208/






My way of aligning the LCA bolts




After all that i got new tires and an alignment while i was at it, weird thing was the drop springs didnt change the camber? well anyways it was only a 1" drop but here are some current pics on how she sits now at 3/4 but technically its a 4/5 with the tires.





Yokohama S-Drive . damn these were worth it












I still cant believe its my truck when i walk up to it from a parking lot though its coming all together soo fast. the extra 1" makes a huge difference in looks. now im 3.5" off the ground now but no problem, next task is to get the SD carrier bearing so then i would be back up to 4.75" off the ground. Of course i'll keep you updated.

It's about time that you dropped the front of that truck!!! It looks great now. So what's next after the carrier bearing?

[Merritt]

Looks great man!

[beandip]

Quote: Originally Posted by greatdane68

It's about time that you dropped the front of that truck!!! It looks great now. So what's next after the carrier bearing?

Not sure, i may let nature take its course and let it naturally reduce its size

I'm thinking about getting a billet grille first, i still need to get my door handles painted but i want to go back to the salvage yard (50 miles from here) and get that GMC Envoy's painted handles, luckily its also pewter. problem is my truck is too low to go over the train tracks in the salvage yard so i may have to get rid of the carrier bearing first or just grind it down a bunch lol.

but before all that i need to either get taller bump stops (or add washers to the stock ones) or hammer that fenderwell in the passenger side, its rubbing slighty on BIG dips in the road and i mean BIG... with these new tires i actually have tread so it barely rubs the top so i only need to hammer 1/4" or so to prevent it rubbing.

im not really worried about it for one its not messing up my tires and second it only rubs when i go 30 in a 25 it rubs so i should just keep the speed limit. still wouldnt hurt to hammer it a little bit to get a bit more clearence.

I still have lots to do but for now i really dont know what to do. i will keep you guys posted if i do anything.

[beandip]

OK i got off my ass this morning (still tired from work though) and i decided even though it wasnt hurting my tires the "right" thing to do is to keep the tire from hitting the fender well.

so to do that i needed a little bit of love...from a hammer!

Also i reduced the pic quality so you guys can do less downloading.



The problem area.




Initial hammering.
That undercoating took it like a champ. i thought it would flake like crazy.


side view


Final hammer and smoothed it out a bit then sanded real quick so the new undercoating can stick better.


Freshly sprayed undercoating.
Hard to get a pic on how much i knocked down that hump but it was at least 1/2" or less.




I need to test it out sometime but hopefully i dont need to hammer any more.

[PurplDodge]

Looks really good.

[serpentracer]

rubberized undercoating has a nasty secret downside, when it develops pin holes which you cannot see, it traps water under it.

that's why you don't see it on cars anymore. they paint the underside with Epoxy paint.

[beandip]

Quote: Originally Posted by serpentracer

rubberized undercoating has a nasty secret downside, when it develops pin holes which you cannot see, it traps water under it.

that's why you don't see it on cars anymore. they paint the underside with Epoxy paint.

...Dammit now you tell me ohh well.. the fenderwells are painted underneath and since there is no salt down here south i wouldnt have to worry about rust.

but does the factory GM undercoating have the same problem?

[serpentracer]

that's why you don't see it used anymore. (from what I was told)
it has the tendancy to trap water under it.

that and it weighs more than paint. paints have come a long way in the last 30 years. I think they quit using undercoating in the late 80's early 90's.
maybe not all makes but I'd say for sure GM did. MY mom had a 91 Z-28 that had it and the rear wheel well rotted out in about 5 years.
at the time we/I didn't know any different just kept putting more and more on. it didn't stop the rust formation.

now you will only find epoxy paint under cars. it's the most durable paint available besides using clear coats. which would be way too expensive I suppose. the body of the car has clear on it because a two stage paint has to be covered in a clear.
but the frame etc is painted with epoxy paint.

[beandip]

Hmm...well does the GM undercoating have this epoxy paint on the s10 or no? I know i can just get some POR-15 but that stuff is a bit pricey... even though the fenderwells has paint (before i painted with undercoat) so for them to rust is unlikely, same with the rear. the GM undercoating started to flake off and you could see the pewter paint underneath. I will keep in mind on that and i might just redo the paint and rattle can something under there in the future.

The only rust on this truck is surface rust that can easily be rubbed off with a rough green pad.

[beandip]

My driver's side ball joint is bad, popping every now and then when i turn or brake hard (lower ball joint boot has been torn for awhile now on both LCAs), might be control arm bushings as well, but what im going to do is replace/do this list on both sides.

1. balljoints, upper and lower (got POWER PERFORMANCE )
2. Upper control arm bushings
3. Lower control arm bushings
4. New (maybe drilled+slotted rotors depending on cost) rotors
5. New brake pads because of new rotors.
6. new bearings
7. Painting lower and upper control arm black with caliper paint (idk i just love the finish that stuff has, also the lca is close the the exhaust and gets warm so caliper paint will stand the heat.)
8. alignment due to front end being apart again.

Spring isolators is the only thing not being replaced but they look to be in decent condition last time i checked

So sound like a good mini-project?

Also i will do a detailed HOW-TO as well. Tear down starts tomorrow, im borrowing my step dad's truck that he uses only for towing (His daily is a 2007 saturn ion) so i can keep the truck apart for more than a day and still get to work. Ball joints should get here by Monday.

[Driveway Kustoms]

I want to do the same thing with the pp complete steering linkages etc so i can get that new tight steering and suspension feel

[beandip]

I was about to buy PP steering linkage kit for $259 but decided not to...at least not yet...

So far my estimate on the rebuild is

$91 for PP Balljoints
$85 for upper/lower control arm bushings
$10 for 2x cans of caliper paint (maybe more idk)
$30 for shop to press in lower control arm bushings
$52 for wheel bearings/seal

TOTAL=$268 oohh yeah add $70 for an alignment. so $338

Not bad when a shop will charge you out the ass for what im about to do. Hopefully it will last another 125K miles.

[beandip]

OK so minor change in plans.

1. I did not change the brakes (rotors are still in very good shape and decided not to change them out)
2. Brakes are ceramic and are still in new condition so no need to replace
3. Wheel bearings were good, the slack was from the ball joint.

So i didnt replace EVERYTHING like i was planning but now at least i dont have to go past the spindles to replace something. brakes are a quick 30 minute job as well as rotors so im not worried about that. the main deal was getting the ball joints redone.

well all this talk is fun but now on to the pics (reduced in quality for faster loading.)


Truck started out like this a couple of days ago, just sitting there waiting to be worked on.

BTW this is "stock" height 31" from the fenderlip.





The rest of the pics is just progress pics or possible HOW-TO pics


Tie rod removed


Goodbye sway bar endlink





Caliper is next


This box beats messing with tying the caliper to the frame.


Codder pins removed


About to pop the ball joint.


done





Ball joints separated and removed the spring. Check out those nasty ball joints! also that tie rod on the right is ****ed. it was seized to the spindle knuckle and i had to beat it out....destroying the tie rod, also it bent my pickle fork! yeah it was that seized. PB Blaster is now my new friend. never used the stuff before and now i will not use WD-40 any more. im just sold on the PB Blaster.


And pic of overall progress.


Upper/lower control arm removed.


Now here is the rebuild.

I power washed the LCA to get rid of the grease and other crap then put a nice coat of caliper paint (just like the shine from caliper paint). The LCA is still rough but im not concerned with that, the paint doesnt have to be perfect, just painted.



Stock control arm bushings still in place and showing power washer damage


Final product.



Now lets get these upper ball joints in.

upper control arms.




Drill them out a little bit.


Get your $18 autozone special air hammer (good tool to have though)


And chisle those rivits off.


That was quick...


Upper control arms ready for paint.


Pic of all the clutter lol.





Simply reverse the steps and......One happy mini trucker

Finally no more greasy front end. Control arm paint looks good but like i said it wasnt perfect but better than before.






Also i managed to strip and break a upper ball joint bolt off. (didnt get past 10 ft. lb of torque before it broke....) dont get me wrong, POWER PERFORMANCE makes some damn good ball joints (impressed the guy at the auto store) but the hardware they gave you is JUNK! I dont know, maybe i got a bad bolt but i went and made a trip to the hardware store and got all new grade 8 bolts for peice of mind.

also the upper ball joint boot looks like it might make contact with the bolts but it wont, i made sure it couldnt.

So here is the tally.

$91 PP ball joints
$60 for tie rod
$18 air hammer
$70 alignment
$6 for caliper paint
$10 for grade 8 hardware
$186 for machine shop to press in Control arm bushings ($70 for labor + $10 to press in lower ball joints + cost of good control arm bushings)

so grand total....$441 lol. actually $417 not counting the air hammer and caliper paint. also the tie rod wasnt part of the plan :/

Either way a whole lot cheaper than if a shop would do it. i bet this could have been easily a $700+ job at a shop.

So there you have it. My project thread may not be as exciting as some (most) of the members here but mine is coming along nicely and shows what the average joe is doing.

[greatdane68]

Good work man!!!

[V8Blaze]

A front end rebuild is one of the best mods you can do to a vehicle you drive

[beandip]

Quote: Originally Posted by V8Blaze

A front end rebuild is one of the best mods you can do to a vehicle you drive

x2, definitely recommend anyone who has torn ball joint boots to replace theirs now before it gets worse and breaks on you.

[Chappy316]

i know its a little old but i read the whole thread.

looks awesome man, whats next?

[jpmi23]

This is a sweet truck man. I can tell you put a lot of heart into this project. It shows.

Offended, or complimented, I think I'll model the basics (drop, and overall cleanliness) of your truck for my '00 Sonoma. Obviously it's not going to be the same. I.E.; I'm going 3/3 drop with stock wheels. Just saying that of all the trucks I've seen on here, your's is the closest to what I've invisioned for mine.

Blah blah blah.

Good work. Diggin' it fo sho. What's next?

[beandip]

Thanks for the compliment man, if you break down the mods i had done well it wouldn't be much compared to others but i did put alot of work to achieve what i did. especially if you look at the pic when i first bought the truck.

right now there really wont be any updates soon, i found that the passenger cab corner is starting to rust though . kinda makes me think why because the truck was always a southern truck and has never seen heavy salt its life. the places where the factory undercoating has chipped away only has very slight surface rust from rain. the rust is thin enough where you can basically scratch it away with your nail but yet the cab corner rusted though???

Well then again if you look at GM's brilliant design the last drain hole for the rocker pannel is right where the door ends so basically the ext. cab part has no drain hole allowing the water to condensate inside and rust from the inside out. i fixed that by making a drain hole in the ext. cab part by bending the metal between the spot welds. you cant see them and they drain very well. also the driver's side had some surface rust so i got a clothes hanger and a green pad and took off most of the rust, then i sprayed the shit out of the inside with rattle can in hopes to delay further oxidation and if it ever condensates on the pannel at least it wont be on a rusted surface so the paint will help there also. so sometime within a month or two i need to get the passenger side fixed before i do anything else. a good shop around here quoted $627 or so to cut out the pannel and weld in new metal and paint. (told the owner where the rust extended to).

Took off the grommet below the rocker pannel off and this is what i find.
everything from 3" from the back of the cab to the front looks like this...new clean primer.


but the very end of the ext. cab looks like this



outside, very very hard to notice though.



sorry for the long book but just had to post about it.

[Onimun]

Truck looks awesome. Good job

[jpmi23]

That bites. Mine's rusted on both sides of the extanded cab... and I'm in Michigan... where there's salt... for about 4 months of the year. So yeah. I'll be keeping this fix in mind. The paint is starting to flake behind the wheels too from debrise. I talked to my wife's uncle, a body guy, he said it's an easy fix. I wonder if I could get him to do it for me. Hmm...

[PurplDodge]

Mine is rusted, too. I just put a little bondo to fill the holes and coated it in Rust-Oleum. Doesnt look that great, but neither does the rest of the truck. My truck was from Michigan too. It was bought at a REPO auction up there by a local dealer down here. There is not one speck of that factory undercoating on the frame of that truck!

BTW Love your truck Beandip!!

[jpmi23]

Tell me about it. I should snap a photo. Every car I've ever had has done it... or had it when I bought it. Damn salt.

[PurplDodge]

Well, the guy who is fixing my truck from hitting the deer (Go look at my thread in Wrecked Rides) is going to weld in a whole new cab corner for me.

[nimrod8560]

Lookin good. I might have to replace my balljoints too. I can hear my passenger side pop when I turn now, so I'll be looking into getting some PP's and grade 8 hardware too.

[Woody22]

very clean man!

[Matt96Dime]

looks real clean,shave that antenna!!! maybe its just me but i hate antenna's!! i had my ext'cab cab corners replaced also..they were rusted bad..just need painted now..

[RainShadow]

Great write-up on the front end rebuild, I think my truck is due for that and it was nice to see some photos of the process.

[S10Northwest]

Quote: Originally Posted by beandip

Drill them out a little bit.


Get your $18 autozone special air hammer (good tool to have though)


And chisel those rivets off.

a little faster way other than drilling is take the air chisel and make an X on top of the rivet head then chisel it from the side it works real well!

[jbizzle07]

dude teach me!

[koeberle04]

hey beandip got a quick question for you. i dont have an air hammer or access to one, so im going to use an angle grinder on those balljoints to get them out, easy? and should i just go across and grind off the heads on the rivets and they should come out? im going to be doing the bushings and BJ's at the same time this coming weekend and im just makin sure i have everything straight in my head for this project.

also when you took the cotter pins out and loosened up the nut did yoiu just use a hammer to pop them out?

thanks

[AirForces]

First of all, I gotta say that your truck has gotta be one of the biggest influences in the direction I'm taking my project due to the how simple and incredibly clean cut your truck appears.

Now, to imitate some of this look, I took a cue from you on the buffing and polishing of the ECU housing. Well, let me tell you - upon removal and initial sanding I had no idea what I was about to get myself in to! But, as it sits now all that elbow grease paid off when almost 2 1/2 hours later I had it back in and mounted looking like this...



Keep in mind that had 10 years of built up oxidization with no cleaning agents in sight! So, I just figured I'd stop by and give credit where credit is due. Oh, and keep up the good work with having a beautiful and incredibly functional daily driver, and thanks again, Beandip!

[Merritt]

Can you get pics of where you bent the spot welds to make the drain holes. No rush or anything, but I'd like to see it to get an idea.

[beandip]

Man its been awhile, just bought a house and finally got internet here but all my shit is in boxes or scattered about the house. on the spot welds on the cab just stick a screwdriver in between 2 spot welded areas (right in the middle of the 2 spot welds) and bend from there, mine are about 2-3" from the back of the ext. cab. its really simple and takes about 2 minutes to do.

Quote: Originally Posted by AirForces

First of all, I gotta say that your truck has gotta be one of the biggest influences in the direction I'm taking my project due to the how simple and incredibly clean cut your truck appears.

Now, to imitate some of this look, I took a cue from you on the buffing and polishing of the ECU housing. Well, let me tell you - upon removal and initial sanding I had no idea what I was about to get myself in to! But, as it sits now all that elbow grease paid off when almost 2 1/2 hours later I had it back in and mounted looking like this...
Keep in mind that had 10 years of built up oxidization with no cleaning agents in sight! So, I just figured I'd stop by and give credit where credit is due. Oh, and keep up the good work with having a beautiful and incredibly functional daily driver, and thanks again, Beandip!

Thanks for the compliment! but keyword....appears lol.

Quote: Originally Posted by koeberle04

hey beandip got a quick question for you. i dont have an air hammer or access to one, so im going to use an angle grinder on those balljoints to get them out, easy? and should i just go across and grind off the heads on the rivets and they should come out? im going to be doing the bushings and BJ's at the same time this coming weekend and im just makin sure i have everything straight in my head for this project.

also when you took the cotter pins out and loosened up the nut did yoiu just use a hammer to pop them out?

thanks

yeah if you get an angle grinder and grind the heads off you could get a punch and hammer out the rivets after you cut the heads off, sorry for the delay i didnt check back to this thread for awhile. also if you are replacing the ball joints just use a pickle fork to separate the ball joints, they are trash especially since you are replacing them, or you could hammer the knuckle to pop them out.

but it has been a few months so im sure you probably already did the suspension rebuild.