'97 V8 D60/70HD swap.....finally

['97 V8]

Well, it all started with me breaking an axle on friday. Had to drop the diff to get the broken shaft piece out. Then the seal was ruined as well, scrapping a trip that i had planned for 2 weeks in advanced for on saturday.

I was thinking, why waste 50 bucks on the ifs axle when im gonna be ripping it out shortly. So i called my buddy and we started tearing into the mounty at 6:30 pm until 10pm, and monday from 2-10pm. We are on hold for parts so we can make brackets.

I have 2 Rustys off road 180 pound coils, 24" extened, we calculated that it should be around 18 inches compressed. As for the suspension design, its getting a triangulated 4 link. It kinda helps when you are friends with a suspensions engineer.

Well heres the progress so far. More to come next monday.

 

[Turdle]

OH--oh a v-8 SAS project--
I'm all ears--

 

[MountaineerGreen]

So I take it the front hitch makes good jack stand points?

 

[sn0border88]

bout damn time looks like a real good project




But the registry is for COMPLETED PROJECTS ONLY. Noob.

Dead Link Removed



Whats the tire size your going for? (if you say less than 40" with a v8 on 60/70 your a girl. )

other specs, gears, lockers, light up switches, ect?

 

['97 V8]

bout damn time looks like a real good project




But the registry is for COMPLETED PROJECTS ONLY. Noob.

Dead Link Removed



Whats the tire size your going for? (if you say less than 40" with a v8 on 60/70 your a girl. )

other specs, gears, lockers, light up switches, ect?

oh well. if a mod would move it to the correct sub forum, that would be cool.

Well for the sake of keeping it in budget, i didnt regear the axles. They are 4.10's front and rear. Im running hummer rims and tires, 36 inchers. September or early october, 39" irocks will go on it. as for links and flex joints....everything is over kill big. Im using ballastic fabs new 3" flex joint.


And yes Evan, they are kick ass j.s. points.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

I can't wait to see the build-

Do you want this thread moved to another sub forum?

 

[rizzjc]

Eek! So THAT is what my truck would look like if I gutted it.

 

[zainyD]

I want pics of the axles.....I looked at a couple D70's at the junkyard today, very tempting.

 

['97 V8]

I want pics of the axles.....I looked at a couple D70's at the junkyard today, very tempting.

I'll get you some pics soon. The best tell tail sign is the lip that comes from the bottom of the diff cover and its sides...also it will say 70 on it.

Another thing, i now know how it feels waiting for parts...its sucks. My TRE's havent come in yet, niether has my ballistic fab 3" flex joints and 2.63" joints, tube adapters, poly ends etc etc. I can't make bracketry with out any of that stuff. i hope UPS pays me a visit today.

 

['97 V8]

Update: I went ahead and splurged on some tires. I bought 36" bias ply iroks. 900 shipped to my door(4wheel parts price match), they'll be here on tuesday, H2 rims came in as well.

Axle is all assembled as well. Flex joints came in and whoa are they BIG. TRE's and DIY4x disk brake kit came in as well. Hopefully on wednesday i get my lower shock/link and coil mount as well as my tube adapters for the tre's and my 1.25'' studs from fedex.

I'm hoping that the mounty will be on its own and free of stands by late friday. That is all

 

['97 V8]

.

 

['97 V8]

some more

 

[sn0border88]

whats made you choose the h2 rims? If you want to beadlock em its $$$

 

['97 V8]

whats made you choose the h2 rims? If you want to beadlock em its $$$

i got em for 70 bucks. I'll be going stuan internal beadlocks with these. I was offered 4 for 335 so im going to go that route. Also, i hit a problem that was two fold.

1) im going to be taller, but with the hummer rims i would have been just as narrow too. We measured and it would be the exact same width as i was with my 33's. I want more stability.

2) finding hummer rims now that are cheap is getting super hard. What made me change my mind was last week, i watched a guy tear up his sidewall really bad. Seeing those tires in action really changed my mind. They couldn't grip the logs, dirt and the rocks if their life depended on it. So i went ahead and bought the iroks. They are almost equivalent to a 37" tire and they do good in the dirt.

I just want to get thing done. Tuesday at 4 im done with finals so all my time is devoted to this.

 

[sn0border88]

ya, cant beat a good deal.

H1 tires do suck, but the rims are pretty slick.

 

[Burns]

Its about time you got started...... Good luck with the build.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

I can't wait to see the build, lots of pictures please.

Do you have any plans for the front driveshaft?

 

[chriswells78]

subscribin'

 

[zainyD]

Are you going to leave the DRW hubs on the front or convert it to SRW hubs?

Is the D70 a DRW hub axle as well or SRW?

Can't wait to see more progress!

 

['97 V8]

i converted them from srw to drw. I still have the srw in my garage. the 70hd is a drw axle with drw hubs. if i put srw hubs on it it will be even wider.