[DieselS10]

Well guys, I FINALLY got to test drive it tonight, but just about a half a mile to the end of the driveway and back, but its a start . It's not finished enough to put on the road for a test drive yet, but I'm thinking maybe in the next week or two I'll be able to drive it home to see how it's really gonna do, so cross your fingers!

 

[local12hand]

Awesome, your truck is so nice and diesel...Props

 

[crazy91s10]

sweet... you doing a write up on this?

 

[Tim99Zr2]

yea, disel truck would be awesome.. id like one!

 

[ride and destroy]

pics? or link to thread

 

[DieselS10]

Thanks guys. I haven't done a thread or write up on it since the amount of work I have done to it has taken so long, but this thread seams like a good place to start. My signature sums up most of it. Basically I drove my perfectly good single cab, fuel-injected V8, coil sprung, 4-linked SASed S10 with a D44 front & 9" rear, into my shop simply to put the 6.5 diesel in it because gas was gettin high and it got about 13 mpg. Well, 3 1/2 years and changing everything but the front fenders, seat, and headlights I've got this monster. After I got the 350 pulled, I decided to go ahead and strip it to the frame so I could lengthen it to add the extended cab to the long bed chasis. Then, I decided to go ahead and put the 1 ton axles and air-ride in it so it would better support the added weight and torque (when I get done adding the chip and injectors) of the diesel. I also wanted the air-ride so it could support loads better, ride better, and so I could get my Quad in the bed a little safer by airing it down. As you can probably tell, the whole project kinda snowballed as it progressed, but I think it will be worth it. Here are a few pics I have and I'll take some more since it is finally coming together. You'll have to excuse the paint for now, I'm not going to do the body work and paint it until I get finished with the fabbing and test drive it for a little while to make sure I haven't screwed anything up. The first pic is what it was like when I started, the rest are fairly current.

 

[89-S-Dime]

I love it

 

[Baggey22]

you should get a video of your first test drive.

 

[local12hand]

Badass!

 

[Merritt]

you should get a video of your first test drive.

:stupid: I love that truck. Glad to hear it's coming along.

 

[98newfie4X4]

Man that is the sweetest thing i seen all day. Mad props for the hard work that went into building it, very unique set up. I have a 86 suburban plow truck with a 6.2 that i been meaning to tinker with.

 

[hotrod fozzie]

KICK ASS TRUCK!!! Ever since i first saw this truck i thought it had the right look ,right wheel and tire setup and now i find out it's diesel icing on the cake for sure!! Did you use the kelderman air ride kit??? One last question how bad was it to stretch your longbed frame for the ext. cab thought about that myself??

 

[Eight433]

lol i love your axle articulation tester

badass truck man... love it.

 

[DieselS10]

KICK ASS TRUCK!!! Ever since i first saw this truck i thought it had the right look ,right wheel and tire setup and now i find out it's diesel icing on the cake for sure!! Did you use the kelderman air ride kit??? One last question how bad was it to stretch your longbed frame for the ext. cab thought about that myself??

Thanks alot! I didn't use the Kelderman kit, it costs to much to have to revamp it for a small truck. I just did alot of research on bag dimensions, travel, and load ratings and made what I hoped was an educated guess as to what I needed, then I just built the links. The back was a little tougher since I went with a canti-lever set-up to get more down travel so I could get my quad in the bed easier . The front bags are 3600 lb with a 14 1/2" stroke and the rear bags are 5600 lb with an 8" stroke, but the back is centi-levered 2 to 1 getting 16" of wheel travel and cutting the load rating in half. All the bags are medium duty truck bags.

Lengthening the frame wasn't to bad since the truck was stripped down to the frame and axles. I did it different than they recommend, but I think it will work fine. Determine where your going to cut it, make your line, then weld a piece of angle or tubing on the outside of the frame on each side of the line, where your going to cut, with them touching the floor, that way it will support itself when you cut it in half. Then I added the amount it needed and butt welded it (that's the part they tell you not to do, but it was way easier to keep even), then I added a piece of 1 1/2" C-channel laying flat with the long side of it laying in the frame on the bottom, that went a foot beyond each butt weld. Then I took a section of K5 Blazer frame that was as long as the straight section, with the added area, of my S10 frame and placed it inside the S10 frame, with the C facing toward the outside, forming a boxed frame. Unconventional, but so is the whole truck. BTW, I took it across the pasture yesterday, about 30 MPH, and it rode like my mother-in-law's Town Car!

Baggey, I'm gonna video it in the next day or two and post it. I just have to finish building an entertainment center to keep the wife happy first !

 

[GeorgesBlazah]

:tup: !

 

[Mcfly Minis]

Wow, the canti 4 link is awesome. great fab work

 

[geneticrider13]

damn, bad ass truck man, great job!

 

[Donahue]

so im curious, i havent really seen that style of rear suspension before. where are the upper links? is there something that gives you lateral stability?

 

[local12hand]

I was looking at that too...What is keeping that thing from shifting...And also shouldn't the cantilever arms have some sort of give where it mounts to the axle besides the little bushing that is probably in there? Like a johnny joint or heim because it looks like it would break the mounts or bag if it were to flex twisting the whole arm??? (scratches head)

 

[djxtc655]

that turbo diesel swap is ****in pimp