Old truck, new look…

[Grit_dog]

Have had the old Freedom Wagon about finished for a while.
The kids both got new wheels for Xmas. Santa got older son got some pimp looking Konigs, staggered setup for his 06 Mustang GT. And St Nick managed to get these heavy bassturds on the sleigh for our younger boy! Reindeers were p!ssed off aboot it…lol
Went old school cool mobsteel, Detroit Steelies. 20x9, 3.5 backspace and 35-12.50-20 red letter Grabber X3s.
They are obnoxiously heavy, tires and rims equal offenders. But run very true and took less weight to balance than I expected.

[Grit_dog]

ivbinconned wrote:
This is my weakness. Pulled fifth wheel around western states years ago. Now I take it to shows.

Like button!
I feel like I’ve seen that truck before online…maybe here. It’s a beautiful truck!
If this one pans out, it may be my next one….


Supposed to be all original. Not a huge fan of the Beau James trim, other than it’s rare. But factory big block, AC, cruise in a 1975 pickup is a nice combo.

[ivbinconned]

This is my weakness. Pulled fifth wheel around western states years ago. Now I take it to shows.

[Grit_dog]

And now she’ll be a mud slinger with that offset. So I’m gonna get some bulk clear film and clear bra the body below the belt line.

[Grit_dog]

In honor of t2r, gotta keep this drivel going!
Well as suspected, the 1.5” greater negative offset wheels combined with the gnarly new shoes don’t clear the back corners of the front fenders very well.
I was contemplating clearancing those when we restored the body since I had to repair them from previous damage, but I really didn’t want to cut anything and time was a factor.
But the solution is only $50. Well $100 since someone cut the front axle u bolts flush and I needed another inch of thread.
Off-road Designs makes “Zero Rate” they call em, 1” lift blocks essentially. And yeah lift blocks in front is a no no.
However these actually bolt into the leaf pack just like adding a thick overload leaf to the bottom of the stack. They provide a larger bearing surface than springs alone and are pre drilled to offset the axle forward or back a couple increments if necessary.
Given I don’t/didn’t want to go to a 6” lift in front these should work great. And provide several options for lift/axle placement. Can even experiment with no sway bar now since the springs are so stiff (haven’t been able to so far due to clearance, even with the old wheels). Or if I can get the clearance needed with the zero rate and removing the main leaf on the pack, with sway bar maybe I can soften up the front end just enough.
It has Rough country front springs from a prev owner. And they live up to the first word in their name! Be good for snow plowing and not much else! Lol.
Bought the shocks a bit long knowing I’d have to increase the lift.

So this is like the LFP science experiments for guys who turn wrenches…

[Grit_dog]

^This ones “loose” too. Got the trademark Mark VI cold piston clearance and sometimes it gulps a little oil.
Another skill for the boy. He’s never experienced any of our vehicles that “use” oil. Never heard or seen me harping on checking oil. Now he’s got an old Tahoe that inhales oil (gotta fix it I think faulty pcv) and this truck.
Good learning experience. He got a Low Oil light in the Tahoe once.
Told him his truck doesn’t have that nanny. It’ll run fine until it doesn’t….

[ssthrd]

Grit dog wrote:
7.4 = It’s no powerhouse but it’ll get out of its own way. And it’s clean, not leaky and big enough to make nice noises out the twice pipes.

Loved the tunes that came from the tail pipes of my old 454. Brings back good memories. It was built a bit on the "loose" side and used a quart of oil every 5-600 miles, but hardly changed in the 100k or so miles that I had on it when I traded it.

Tons of torque, but a bit low in hp. Good in it's day, though.

Yep-bonus for sure.

[Grit_dog]

Yup. He’s learnin. Kids mom was happy too because dad was not home and mom was going to call a tow truck. It was only a few miles and most of it through subdivisions.

[MFL]

^Smart boy...knew to call Dad, rather than just jump in, maybe causing damage to one of the vehicles.

Snapchat pics will prove to friends, that Son knows how to git er done! Worth more than the $20 fee!

So many reasons for every person 5 yrs and up, to have a smart phone.

[Grit_dog]

It’s officially a tow vehicle again.
Son (16) called me yesterday for how to instructions. His buddy broke down not too far from home.
Pulled a Ford Ranger!
The fee was $20 and pics on Snapchat!

[Grit_dog]

dodge guy wrote:
The 20” wheels kills it for me. I wouldn’t have gone bigger than 17” myself. They are just to big for a square body!

Ya I really considered 16s or 17s actually. Can get steelies in 17s but not to fit the OE hubcaps.
And rims and especially tires would have been a good amount cheaper.
But we really dig the big steelie look.

And Detroit Steel Wheels is top notch. They’ll powder coat them how you want and also installed the clips for the hubcaps.
End of the day they were less than US Wheel, the only other place that makes > 17” in steels.

Honestly they should look into doing 19.5s. With Vision being the only limited option now.

[Grit_dog]

7.4 = mo betta!
Finally got the scoop on the engine in the truck. I could tell it was a Mark VI roller motor (stock).
Found the old owner of the last time it was titled and he helped me with a title issue.
He bought the truck prolly 20 years ago. Had a 454 transplant already. But tired and leaky motor.
His buddy with a landscaping company had a late 90s 1 ton dump. That truck blew the engine and guy got a new GM crate motor out in at the dealer. Shortly after he junked the truck and sold the motor to my guy.
Guy estimates that the motor may have 20k miles on it when he got rid of it. And I’m pretty sure it got very few miles after he traded it in, based on the rest of the supposed history between that guy and the guy I bought it from.
Another bonus!

It’s no powerhouse but it’ll get out of its own way. And it’s clean, not leaky and big enough to make nice noises out the twice pipes.

[Cummins12V98]

FishOnOne wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
REALLY like the truck, not a fan of all that white tho. Maybe if they were black??? My 86 C20 2wd had white wheels and caps.

I remember that exact truck heading down the highway when it was new with a 6.2 Diesel, man that was the ruck I wanted!!!

I remember riding with a friend in his brand new 84 K30 SRW 4wd crew cab 6.2 going to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the engine threw a rod and put us on the side of the road. I remember the truck had ~800 miles on it.

6.2 not great but 6.5 really bad!!!

[FishOnOne]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
REALLY like the truck, not a fan of all that white tho. Maybe if they were black??? My 86 C20 2wd had white wheels and caps.

I remember that exact truck heading down the highway when it was new with a 6.2 Diesel, man that was the ruck I wanted!!!

I remember riding with a friend in his brand new 84 K30 SRW 4wd crew cab 6.2 going to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the engine threw a rod and put us on the side of the road. I remember the truck had ~800 miles on it.

[Grit_dog]

ssthrd wrote:
Yeah, but will it smoke a '67 GTO? Haha!

Love 'em both...............

That car? Bet they’d be pretty close. But I’d rather have a goat…