Patty - A 1980 “Long” bed. (1 Viewer)

[BlueCruiser84]

Well the leaks are fixed. I can hear the motor now and it sounds pretty decent.

Quieting the exhaust leaks down allows me to hear all the other clunks and bangs.

You guys think the rear spring bushings had another ride in them?

Pulled it out of the garage and drove around the house some. Hauled a little wood. Admired the truck.

This thing is so friggin’ loud on the road. There are overwhelming vibrations coming from.... everywhere. It’s like I’m inside a subwoofer. Thinking new motor mounts and a transmission mount will help. And I’d like to get the exhaust dump out from under the cab.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

Replaced motor mounts and added some sound deadening and a vinyl floor mat and this thing is quiet*** now. I drive it to the dump and was almost civilized. Stupid slow, but not too sketchy.

Hauled some wood around

I just reworked the rear packs and dropped it about 1.75” in back. Hopefully I softened up the ride a little too - It couldn’t get any stiffer.

I’m in the process of replacing brake lines, and doing shock mounts in back. Then onto clutch hydraulics and finally rear main seal, w56 swap, RUF, front shock mounts, high steer and some kind of gearing.

 

[WoodsTruck]

Do you currently have power steering? If so, how does it handle the taller tires?

 

[BlueCruiser84]

Do you currently have power steering? If so, how does it handle the taller tires?

Feels fine to me. I haven’t had it in the rocks, but it was wheeled for many years on 33x12.50s with this push/pull setup. It has a pretty substantial drop relay rod on it.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

What goes in this empty hole? Anyone put an oil pressure gauge in there? Something else useful?

 

[yotadude520]

What goes in this empty hole? Anyone put an oil pressure gauge in there? Something else useful?

View attachment 2738827

View attachment 2738828

There’s an oil pressure gauge that goes there! I included it in all the parts when I sold the truck to Sam.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

I needed a “fun” project so I decided to build a rear bumper.

The main square tube section is 2”x4” x1/8”. The receiver goes through the square tube and is welded on both sides. I’m never going to tow anything, but I might put a bike rack in the hitch. Main purpose is to use the receiver as a recovery point. I’m going to add gussets between the mounting plates and the 2x4 on the outside of the frame rails.

Question: do you think it’s strong enough the way it sits or is the 1/8” thin enough that I should add reinforcement to the backside of the bumper? I’m not an engineer, but I did stay at a holiday inn express the other night. My gut tells me more bracing/reinforcement of the hitch would be mo’ better.

 

[MDH33]

Such a cool truck. Glad you're keeping it alive and on the trail. Brings back good memories of my old `80 pickup. I miss it.

 

[yotadude520]

Looking good man!

 

[BlueCruiser84]

Added a piece of angle between the hitch and both mounting plates. Then gussets on the front. I think my frame would pull apart before the bumper failed.

 

[yotadude520]

Hey Brian! Any updates on this one?

 

[BlueCruiser84]

Nope. She’s been parked in my parents barn all winter. Once I finish the SAS on my 4runner I’ll bring her back to my house and commence wrenching.

Hey Brian! Any updates on this one?

 

[BlueCruiser84]

Started the addition of high steer with RUF. I built a homemade pack from some OME rear springs and some cut down factory leaves. It may end up too tall, but we won’t know for a couple months at the rate I work.

Bought the Allpro standard front hanger and shackle kit to mount the springs and a Marlin steering box mount.

Other plans are to install dual cases since I’ll be needing at least a front driveshaft after moving the axle forward, replace rear main seal, install a w56 with a new clutch, and new driveshafts. Look for me on the roads and trails in 2024 if gas still exists.

One crappy photo to keep everyone happy.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

I cut all the old bracketed off the front and found lots of frame cracks and patches. Cut it all off. Welded up the patches and added full plates from the front hanger to the body mount under the cab. Then added my Marlin steering box mount on top of it all.

Frame plate and fender well trimming to fit IFS box.

Steering box mount.

Approximate final ride height.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

Here it is. RUF springs up front sitting on its own weight. I’ll probably need a little longer shackle when these springs settle, but otherwise I love the stance. And it is sooo much softer than the lift springs. Still a long way from being on the road.

 

[yotadude520]

Great work man! A new steering box is going to make it so much more drivable than it was with that wonky push pull steering.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

Putting things back together.

The power steering was majorly rigged on this motor. Long story short - I got a bracket and pump off a different truck - I believe it’s an IFS steering pump because it looks just like the one on my 1989. The bracket fits just like the one that came off but the pump hits the distributor on my 20r.

On the 22re the clearance between the distributor and the PS pump is very tight. On the 20r the distributor is hitting the PS pump.

Looks like the 20r distributor I have is slightly longer than a 22re distributor.

Everything I read online says use the 85+ ps pump and it bolts right in.

TLDR: anyone added later PS to a 20r and had clearance issues with the distributor?

 

[BlueCruiser84]

Modded the PS pump bracket and got it on. Replaced the leaky older style PS pump with IFS pump. Replaced all the cooling system hoses. Now my only leaks *appear* to be the oil drain plug and the rear main seal.

Puttered up and down the road with the kids and drove around my yard.

The splines in the rear shaft are trashed so I get some pretty good vibrations over 30mph and the exhaust hits the crossmember and a shackle bolt. Other than that it’s semi-civilized. Not trying to road trip it anytime soon, but it’s getting closer!

 

[BlueCruiser84]

I’ve done some stuff, but I didn’t take any pictures of any of it.

Installed a new rear main seal. The old one fell out when I pulled the transmission. No wonder it was leaking…

Replaced the clutch and pressure plate.

Installed a W56 transmission mated to a dual case setup with 4.7 gears in the rear case. Rear case has a Tcase brake on it.

A tundra DC shaft fit perfectly in the rear and I had picked up a custom, long spline front shaft for a dual case setup.

Held it all up there with a dual case crossmember.

I’m in the process of building a front bumper:

And I picked yup some really sweet seats out of a 1990 Nissan 300zx. They fit the truck great and have tons of manual adjustability.

 

[yotadude520]

Front bumper looks killer! Is it too late to ask if I can have this one back?