1991 Chevy V3500 - Old School Earth Roamer

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Mattcrouch1502

Mattcrouch1502

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Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area, TX, USA
First Name
Matthew
Last Name
Crouch
I am new to the forum so this is somewhat of a introduction and the start of a build thread. My project is a 1991 Chevy V3500, '94 12V Cummins, '98 NV4500, BW4401, '08 Dana Super 60 (front) Spicer 110 (rear), MRAP wheels w/ 395 Goodyear MVT. The big turning point for this project was when I found my army surplus contact maintenance bed, my sons, after looking it over and seeing inside it, asked if we could camp in it. I thought that it was a great idea and both boys enjoy tent camping so I thought it would be a great way to spend quality time together and see the beauty of our great country.

I will start with the current status of my truck, if anyone is interested in how it got to this point, I would be happy to cover it. Currently the truck is in the middle of getting axle swapped from a 2008 Ford F550, I was looking for better gearing and better brakes. I am running larger Goodyear 395/85r20 tires for several reasons, one is that they are a fairly common tire with good load carrying capability, and my service bed makes tires look small... When I ran 37" tires it looked comical, even my 42's looked strange, the current tires look to fit the truck well. I will keep this updated as I continue to make progress.

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Prerunner1982

Prerunner1982

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Beastly! and with the correct square contact maintenance bed on it.
Can't wait to follow this build!
 
Mattcrouch1502

Mattcrouch1502

Rank II

Enthusiast III

473
Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area, TX, USA
First Name
Matthew
Last Name
Crouch
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Daryl 32

Daryl 32

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Great build!

Will be following up on with your work.

Tech question for you - how much suspension travel on you building into your rig?
I ask because after and trip through Baja with our 99 F250 where I over extended and compress our suspension daily, your exhaust looks kinda close to the rear axle.

Love what your doing - really love the box!
 
Mattcrouch1502

Mattcrouch1502

Rank II

Enthusiast III

473
Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area, TX, USA
First Name
Matthew
Last Name
Crouch
Daryl 32 said:
Great build!

Will be following up on with your work.

Tech question for you - how much suspension travel on you building into your rig?
I ask because after and trip through Baja with our 99 F250 where I over extended and compress our suspension daily, your exhaust looks kinda close to the rear axle.

Love what your doing - really love the box!
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot! As far as the suspension, on the front I am building about 5" of up travel and about 6-7" of down travel. On the rear I will be limiting the up travel to around 5"-ish, in the photo above the exhaust looks lower than it actually is because the front section of the exhaust is not connected so the tip is leaning down some. Too much up travel on the rear with the tires I have would probably run the tire into the lower rear box, plus the differential to fuel tank clearance wouldn't allow much more than 6" of up travel anyhow...
 
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Mattcrouch1502

Mattcrouch1502

Rank II

Enthusiast III

473
Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area, TX, USA
First Name
Matthew
Last Name
Crouch
So I was able to get some stuff done the last few days. I had to removed about 1/4" of the lower frame lip near where the ORD link mounts would go, I'm not sure if this was due to a difference between the 1ton frames and the 1/2 and 3/4s. I also ended up having to make a relief on the bottom of the link brackets due to the Summit machine joints having a bigger body than standard heim's or Jonny joints. a 2-3/8" hole saw make quick work of it.

I was also able to get the links in and bolted up so that I could start playing with axle location. my current setup will probably get moved back about 1". In the photos the axle is about 1.5ish" forward of stock location (I think) and I have a good amount of room on the cab side of the tire but very little on the core support side. I have been playing with the idea of cutting up into the core support and re-working the inner and outer fenders to allow more clearance on that side of tire. I went ahead and trimmed out a decent chunk of the lower fender "fang" as well as some of the inner fender behind it. I didn't get any good photos of it but you can see it in the side shot. I will get more photos when I start cutting the core support and cleaning it up.

I currently have the ride height set with about 5" of up travel, I might go to 6" of up travel but I am trying to keep the ride height down so we will see how that works out. With it at ride height (5" up travel) the top of the fender well is at 54" which is right about where it was with the leaf springs. The leaf spring were setup for 7" of lift and all told it probably had about 7.5" with the degree shims. I also was given a roof rack off a friends truck, it looks pretty decent and for the price I think I will run it! On to the pics!!

Bracket relief cuts for the Summit Machine Joints


Links mocked up


Current ride height


Full bump and full lock w/ fender trimming


Full bump w/ fender trimming


Link angle at ride height


Current ride height (5" of up travel), looks like I will be moving the axle back some.


Roof rack sitting on top of the truck
 
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BCMoto

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This is great build i can get behind!!! Love what your doing so far
 
Mattcrouch1502

Mattcrouch1502

Rank II

Enthusiast III

473
Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area, TX, USA
First Name
Matthew
Last Name
Crouch
I have gotten behind with my updates but here is a quick rundown. Got the caster set, the axle centered up, tacked up the panhard bar and got some cycling done. Over the 4th of July weekend I got the Cummins installed back in and built a transmission crossmember, then over the last few weeks I have been able to get some work done and it is starting to feel like I am getting closer to the end... I had to order some full 180 degree hoops to clear everything on the driver side and i had to swap out the brake master and booster to one for a 2000 C3500HD. The brake master is sized to work with the F550 axles but the square body booster wont accept the bigger master, I had to swap the cab plate over and extend the pedal push rod. I got the hoops mocked up and the engine cage mocked up, I only need to get the tubing disconnects added and then I can start burning in everything, finally!!! That brings everything up to date, on to the photos!













 
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