got a few coats of paint on the frame, ill pull the springs and axle back out to paint them, i still have to adjust the pinion angle before final welding the perches and sliders on.





As far as the bed goes....its going bare minimum. started skinning them tonight....going to mount them up and get it all square and build a tubular skeleton type mount setup.

 

Trying to get the fab work done in the next few weeks, still lot of little nit pick things that need to be done. Spent some time getting the k member done and rack mounted today.







Then i hung all the sheetmetal and added about 150-200 pounds to the front end to see how far it would come down.....hope it comes down more. Stock spindles and arms with viking coilovvers and 250 pound springs. The rear could stand to come down some as well, but no fuel cell, pump, battery etc is back there yet.







Still need to finish the bed skin mounting/braces, clean up the leaf springs and rear end and paint. Trans cross member/ d shaft loop, mid plate, front strut bars/motor plate mounts. Find some headers or build some an get steering shaft routed, then all the plumbing and wiring after my dash comes in

 

Got the fuel pump mounted, nitrous bottle bracket may also be incorporated to the bars used to mount the pump...



also fit the mid plate, motor is offset to pass side about an 1.5'' so took some measurments and trimming to fit just right.



threw some paint on it real quick, still need to sand rest of frame an paint it all. had some welding machine issues so the tabs that the mid plate bolt to didnt come out as clean as id liked them to, but i gave em a whack with the BFH to knock them off cause i was aggrevated and they didnt move one bit.....so i left it alone ha!

 

Just a observation the leafspring eyelet in the sliders looks to be far forward even with no weight over the rearend.

 

yep. don't bolt/weld the sliders down until they see full weight. I drove my s10 with channel locks holding the sliders in place. no hard corners LOL

 

they are just resting against frame rails...wont be final till truck goes on the scales

 

Is the rearend offset as well?

 

something to think about. the cage helps brace the frame a lot, but the unboxed frame of the 1st gens is prone to twisting. with you gutting the bed, you lose even more support. make sure there is enough frame boxing, triangulation or a little of both. I know light is the goal, but 1 tire 12" off the ground when the other is still touching the track doesn't look cool.

 

in factory form the 8.8 is offset, i narrowed the driver side tube to center it.

 

yes it will get more boxing where the rear down bars tie into the top of the frame, i have boxed a section right behind the rear cab/foward bed mount and added a cross tube. and between the rear down bars i will have the anti roll bar crossmember going between. right now it is very rigid, i can stick the jack under one corner and it will lift the other side almost dead level. but also im not applying any power. i think ill be good once i add just a little more boxing to the rear section, also i still have the front strut bars to install....just waiting to get my headers in to make sure i have plenty clearance