Silverado2500 superduty axle swap and more

[Easemaster3000 [Veteran Member]]

Didn't get much done this weekend but I did get the switch panel and radio installed.



Hopefully next week I can get some more done under the hood so I can get this motor running.

[Easemaster3000 [Veteran Member]]

Here I am finally with an UPDATE after atleast 2 months. I've been pretty busy helping a friend with a fuel injected 460 project and last weekend I helped with a auto to manual swap in a 97 Tacoma. I haven't done much to the 2500 but I have collected a few parts and odd an ends I've been needing. Should be able to make some progress in 2 weeks this weekend I was on a fishing trip and next weekend I'll be down for cruising the coast.

Tuna trip I went on over the weekend



A month ago I tore all the interior out to run all the electrical stuff, replace the carpet with work truck rubber and new door speakers.



New door speakers, nothing fancy but nonetheless they'll work. I'll go ahead an run a CB cable while I've got the interior out.



Next thing I've done is replaced the studs in the pair of manifolds I'll be using.

Heat the flange around the bolt


Little candle wax


Old studs backed right out with a little heat and the knipex pliers, chased it with a tap and new studs installed



After months of looking around thinking about this rim and that rim a friend of mine tagged me in a post on Facebook. I wasn't real sure about them at first but they were kind of original looking so I decided to go over to Alabama to get them. Wish I could have gotten them a little cheaper but for a 2 month old set of wheels it wasn't bad.


Buckled in for safety


What's this? A crack? I called my self looking but no good and who's really looking for a crack like this. No damage just a crack. I figure it was a casting defect. But have no fear.


I talked with the guy I bought them from the next morning, he gave me all the info I needed to get in touch with the store he bought them from. After talking to the company and a couple of pictures later I had a brand new warrantied wheel on the way. Lucky is all I can say.

Here is a sneak peak of the rim with my tires.


A good friend of mine dropped off tires an rims off at my local tire shop Friday while I was out of town, so I should be able to pick them up Monday or Tuesday. I'll post a picture mounted then. I'll be ordering a few rear suspension components and stuff this week maybe I can get the rear in the air soon.

[Reserector [Veteran Member]]

Crack...

[Easemaster3000 [Veteran Member]]

Picked up tires yesterday. Turned out very nicely. They look way better than I expected.



Can't wait to get them on the truck.

[Easemaster3000 [Veteran Member]]

I ordered my shackle flip and wheel spacer/adaptors for the rear this past week. We pulled the bed to get the frame cleaned up and painted. I was going to drop the tank while I had the bed off and clean it out since it has sat for 2 years but there's only about a half gallon in it and it looks pretty clean.



Filled fuel rails with injector cleaner got a friend to pressurize the rail with a blow gun. Hooked a hot and ground to the injectors and cleaned them out. "Don't hold the injector open, just bump it on and off. Leaving it open will burn it up with a lot of power to it." Since I don't have it in side the shop right now I started piddling on the new door speakers. I'm putting a layer of foam tape around the outside of the speaker hole. This will keep the speaker from being on bare metal and maybe give it a little better sound.


Got a couple in before it got to dark.

[Easemaster3000 [Veteran Member]]

Brackets and spacers came in last week. Normally I would probably fab my shackle flip brackets but with everything else I'm doing to the truck it made more sense to me just to buy them pre made.



After doing everything I could with what I had under the hood Saturday I started the old shackle bracket removal process. In order to remove the bracket the 3 rivets on the actual hanger have to be ground off and knocked out. It actually only took me about 30 minutes after getting the jackstands all set up. I used a cubitron ll grinding wheel a rather large punch and a drilling hammer.





The rear crossmember sticks out of the frame about a quarter inch or so on each side so I had to grind those down flush. The brackets I got were for an HD frame mine is just a regular 2500 but with just a few minor adjustments they will bolt right up. Still have to cut the support bracket off from under the frame enlarge all the holes and bolt it up.



While at the back messing with the bolt patterns on the frame I think I'll go ahead and get the metal I'm gonna make my bumper brackets out of that way I can go on and tie them into this step of the project.

[Easemaster3000 [Veteran Member]]

First step with the shackle hangers was to get some primer on them so they didn't rust. I didn't actually get a picture of the spraying action but as you can see they are primed.



When I got the new bracket up to the frame I realized that the bolt holes where not going to match perfect. These brackets where for an HD frame and my truck being a regular 2500 the pattern was slightly off. With 2 holes welded up and redrilled and one new hole in the bracket it was ready to be bolted on.



Welded the crossmember back from where I ground the outside flush. Just a little tack should do.



Here was a little test fit to make sure it was gonna set right.



Fresh coat of semi gloss bolted up and she was back on her feet again.



Back into the shop and time to cut out the bumper brackets. Making the bumper brackets out of 1/2" flat stock 5" wide.



Making fast work drilling some holes with the mill.



I know the tires don't need to be on it right now but I just had to see....

[Reserector [Veteran Member]]

Looks pro.

[Easemaster3000 [Veteran Member]]

Looks pro.

Thanks

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Once I get some measurements to see how far the axle got pushed forward with the flip I have plans to drop the front hanger as well to adjust accordingly.

[kbwjeep [Veteran Member]]

Cool!!