GMC / Chevy Project Dual Sport ; 1998 GMC Sierra

[Wicked Monkey]

Good deal Greg! I agree it's nice to have another full size member! I'm also excited to see how ya do the suspension.
My thoughts: Since your willing to do some cutting to the fenders I say keep it low! You should be able to run the 35" tires on a 2" lift. Also since your going to tow and haul, I recommend keeping your rear suspension stiff. Longer springs in front would help with your solid axle swap. 52"? Coilover? What ever you decide... It will be a cool build, me thinks.

 

[Hickey]

I think a tilting one-piece fiberglass trophy truck hood/fender would look sweet and help keep a low COG.

 

[Greg]

As much as I'd like a low center of gravity, I don't think the profile of the frame will allow it AND afford any up travel. The truck will probably end up being somewhat tall, not a monster, but not a LCG build by any means. The Offroad Design SAS leaf spring kits have 3" lift built into them, add a 2" spring for 5" lift which isn't too bad IMO. I'll probably do a simple shackle flip in the rear, for 4" lift... that, combined with 5" in the front should level out the truck pretty well and keep the height reasonable.

I do want a Dana 60 front axle and Offroad Design offers bolt on Solid Axle Conversions for leaf springs for both the 31.5" wide spring pad axles and are working on a kit for the later 36" wide spring pad axles. With the high cost of a Dana 60, I keep trying to talk myself into thinking that a Dana 44 will do the job, with upgraded shafts, u-joints and hubs. Most of my travels off road will be pretty mild trails, stuff similar to Lockhart Basin, Elephant Hill, the San Juan mountain passes, etc. No real 'rock crawling' per se, mostly rough 4x4 roads. The downside to considering a Dana 44 is that I question if I should try running 37's to make up for the wheelbase and vehicle size. I think 35's may look a little small on a fullsize like this and 37's will roll over obstacles easier. On the other hand, 35's would be much better for towing... I'm really struggling with this aspect of the build! The bottom line is that I want a reliable rig for deep backcountry travel... so... stronger is better?

I have found some fiberglass fenders for these trucks... if I end up with 37's, I'll have to seriously consider them!

 

[Greg]

Your RTT turned out nice.

Thanks! I'll be excited for the first time that I can get out and use the new setup, see how it all works together.

 

[Kiel]

Don't waist your money on the 44. Dana 60 and 35's will be great piece of mind in the back country

 

[Greg]

Don't waist your money on the 44. Dana 60 and 35's will be great piece of mind in the back country

I think you're right, it's just hard to sell myself on the idea... $$$$.

 

[Chevycrew]

Greg, feel free to ask away on any questions you might have on the build, I have done 5 sas chevy swaps now, everything from radius arms, leafs, 44, early 60, late 60, and rockwells...

 

[Raleigh]

Sweet! I was looking at the cost of the IFS lift and it would be about the same cost as doing a D60 swap or less for a D44 and a rear shackle flip.

Since mine will be a DD and mild off roader I would be fine with a D44.

 

[Greg]

Greg, feel free to ask away on any questions you might have on the build, I have done 5 sas chevy swaps now, everything from radius arms, leafs, 44, early 60, late 60, and rockwells...

Sounds good Steve, I pretty much know what I need to do... just have to commit. I may have some questions for you, PM or phone?

Sweet! I was looking at the cost of the IFS lift and it would be about the same cost as doing a D60 swap and a rear shackle flip.

Yeah, funny how that works, huh?

 

[Anchor_Mtn]

Sounds a lot like the build from my old tahoe. If I was to do it all again, I would run coilovers in the front. I had 52" alcans in the front of mine(54" alcans in the rear) and it rode great, but I think It could have been tuned much better. Something along the lines of a radius arm front suspension with some 10" stroke coilovers would have been perfect. I ran the '79 ford D44 front axle with 35s and I never worried about breaking it.... its not a rock crawler.

If you decide to go with leafs, I would suggest the sky's manufacturing kit.

http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/new/detaproduct.php?id=310

 

[I Lean]

The Sky Mfg. kit is only through 1997 model year...

 

[Raleigh]

Works for my rig! haha

 

[Greg]

Sounds a lot like the build from my old tahoe. If I was to do it all again, I would run coilovers in the front. I had 52" alcans in the front of mine(54" alcans in the rear) and it rode great, but I think It could have been tuned much better. Something along the lines of a radius arm front suspension with some 10" stroke coilovers would have been perfect. I ran the '79 ford D44 front axle with 35s and I never worried about breaking it.... its not a rock crawler.

If you decide to go with leafs, I would suggest the sky's manufacturing kit.

http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/new/detaproduct.php?id=310

Yeah, I wish I would've had a chance to see your Tahoe work offroad! I am trying to keep it simple and not too complicated. I have considered coilovers and have some link parts in the garage that are left over which I have thought about, but leafs will do the job fine and the ORD parts will all bolt on. I have a big coilover/link project, don't need another one.

 

[Anchor_Mtn]

The Sky Mfg. kit is only through 1997 model year...

It will work on Greg's rig. 88-98 C/K trucks are the same. Its a mistake on their site. Technically the '99s(new body style truck) were released in late '98 and that could be what they are considering.

 

[Anchor_Mtn]

Yeah, I wish I would've had a chance to see your Tahoe work offroad! I am trying to keep it simple and not too complicated. I have considered coilovers and have some link parts in the garage that are left over which I have thought about, but leafs will do the job fine and the ORD parts will all bolt on. I have a big coilover/link project, don't need another one.

The tahoe worked well offroad. If you want to keep it fairly low you will want to cut the factory cross member out and replace it with box tube. You can see how I did mine over on the PBB with all home made brackets. http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=661346&page=3

If you have any questions on the swap, let me know....including where to get an axle.

 

[Greg]

The tahoe worked well offroad. If you want to keep it fairly low you will want to cut the factory cross member out and replace it with box tube. You can see how I did mine over on the PBB with all home made brackets. http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=661346&page=3

If you have any questions on the swap, let me know....including where to get an axle.

View attachment 69852 View attachment 69853

I was looking at that crossmember over the weekend, it does hang low! I checked out the build thread, some good ideas in there, thanks for the link! The Tahoe sure looked right with a solid axle and 35's!

 

[Chevycrew]

I love the sky shackles and hangers,, front crossmember is easy to buld low profile.

 

[Bart]

Have to agree on the 60. By the time you upgrade axles, u-joints, ... its close to the same.

 

[Anchor_Mtn]

Have to agree on the 60. By the time you upgrade axles, u-joints, ... its close to the same.

except for the almost $1000 difference in initial purchase.(79 ford D44 vs 79 ford D60). Plus why does he need to upgrade shafts and u joints? Theres no need to spend money on those things. ITS NOT A ROCKCRAWLER!!!! I would upgrade to a 1 ton rear(14 bolt/D60/etc) since you want to tow with it. Throw some 4.56 gears and lockers/limited slips of your choice and you are good to go. I had 4.56 gears in mine and it would run almost 80mph on the highway and climb hills great. It needed the computer flashed or at least speedo recalibrated since it was WAY off. At 80mph the speedo read 100.... and those chevys shut down at 100. It had plenty of power left to keep pulling, but it would kick out and be really annoying.

 

[Kiel]

Because then greg can say his grocery getter has dana 60s! Once you replace ballpoints every other year you will know!