91 crew cab project

[OneLowOneTon]

Acquired this gem earlier this year and have been slowly making my progress with her. Have had a few project vehicles but this is my first all out build, still on a learning curve with some trial and error lol, starting my thread out with how she started up to now. Was lowered a little already but was done wrong, had cut and heated the springs in the front. The rear had a flip kit and notch, (notch is not big enough which i will be replacing on this tear down) also first thing on the list was tinted windows...





Has a stock 350 with 4 speed bull dog, motor has newer model heads and has been switched over to rollers. tbi had a few issues so i just removed it as the motor needed a little dressing up to begin with







Not a big fan of the single headlight front ends and have always been partial to phantom grills on a square body even though I know they have been done to death. so i got a new support with the dual headlights (upper/lowers) so i could run the full phantom without having to recess the lights. truck had some mild damage on both front fenders so i replaced the passenger side due to the damage in the body line and kept the driver side.





Next up wa to shaved all 4 door handles and installed a popper kit from avs which turned out to be an easy install and work awesome, also shaved all the stake pockets one the bed, replaced the old cab lights with the newer body style clear led lights which are a little more low profile, replaced the side marker lights on the fenders with clear lights and leds and the same on the front of the truck



For the cab lights just had to weld up the old screw holes, position the lights and drill new ones.







I also switched out my marker lights on the fenders for clears and replaced the lights with LEDS

[LTZ C20]

Looks great! I'm considering going all led lights and filling the stake pockets too.

[Got Smoke?]

Dang that's a lot of good work. Sharp truck!

[OneLowOneTon]

Thanks guys, LTZ I'm glad i switched to the LEDs the picture doesnt do it justice they are bright at night time. also not a significant difference but they have less draw and should never have to replace them. the stake pockets are a subtle but smooth look.   all 6 fillers for $8

[LTZ C20]

Yea. I have to figure out what bulbs I will need and flasher units and what not, I also have cab lights so gotta get the right bulb there 2. Yes, stake fillers are dirt cheap.

[BiggG74]

Your truck looks nice. It has inspired me too get to work on my truck. Even though it's not a dually. Keep pushin.

[frotosride]

I don't know what is about a dually laying low that makes them so sinister but I love it. I like those valve covers I had to look at them a second time to see that they were still center bolt covers. Keep the pics and updates Comeing

[OneLowOneTon]

thanks guys, i have always loved the look of a layed out dually. this is my first dually build and all out build at the same time. really enjoy working on it and i cant wait to start my winter tear down. glad i could give some inpiration Bigg

[OneLowOneTon]

After that I removed both fuel tanks and spent some time with a grinder and flapper wheel cleaning up the frame, i used a couple sticks of angle iron to mount my fuel cell between the frame rails behind the axle.





After removing the tanks clearing up some clearance issues i installed my 3" drop spindles, which almost made the truck to low and installed my new spiked lug nuts

[OneLowOneTon]

After I got the spindles on, tanks removed, and cell mounted i was ready to start bagging it. I started with the front suspension while I was still thinking on the rear setup and wheels. i am running second gen dominator 2600 bags. after taking everything apart and mocking up the bags and cups i realized that the truck wouldnt lay out and would actually sit higher than it did with the drop spindles on it. then i started looking into modifying the a arms to fit the bags. i talked to several people and got input and help as to a good setup. i ended up getting 8" OD steel pipe cut to 2" in length and a 1/4" steel plate cut to 8" circles for the top plate to cup. i cut out the spring cups in the arms to fit the pipe and welded everything up. essentially making upside down bag cups.
this was the mock up test fitting


the finished product isnt beautiful or anything but its temporary.

end result




the sway bar had to trimmed a little to keep it from hitting the bag, i didnt get a pic of that but i trimmed it about 3/4" on each side.

[OneLowOneTon]

For the rear setup I decided to run a bag on bar setup, truck is going to mostly be for show and i never really haul anything. i cut the axle free and removed the leaf springs to let the frame the rest of the way down to gauge how much clearance would be available in the notch when it is laid out. there is enough room for it to lay out but the notch is actually big enough, if i didnt lay my reece hitch on the ground i would bottom out in the notch.

i planned on using the factory font leaf mounts for the lower bar mounts, but after some measuring and mocking i seen that the bag would not fit with enough space to be able to expand and compress. i need an extra 1.5" to have clearance and line up with the upper bag mount. so i cut and removed the mount and used 1.5" stainless steel spacers and grade 8 bolts to reattach it to the frame, then used 3/16" steel to fill in the gap around the mount. (my welds are definitely not pretty but they hold, Im still learning )








After the lower bars were situated i had to begin the up bars. i decided to run a triangulated setup instead of using a panhard bar. so i had to remove the factory cross member and replace it with a 2x3 tube for mounting the front of the uppers. the cross member isnt the prettiest in the world but is definitely strong. after getting it cleaned up it turned out pretty good

still had a few spots to weld again



didnt get many pics at this time, after re welding and grinding a few spots i began measuring and mocking up the bars and mounting brackets. got everything welded on and put together



after setting the bed back on there had to be some cuts made to allow for the upper bag mounts and the air line



laid out


aired up


after some searching i found a set of wheels i liked an set the truck off pretty good. they are classic style semi wheels with a super single rear






i also upgraded to Michigan Metal Works control arms. which are awesome arms. allow more travel and angle in the ball joints with less stress

[frotosride]

Dang OneLow...its only been 5 days since I looked at this thread but you have already completely changed the stance..love it!

[LTZ C20]

That looks pretty awesome. I liked the black wheels about the same as the chrome ones but don't like the single rear wheel. And it looks like the rear tires are just a little to small for the rim. The bead looks like it's stretched to the rim. Other than that looks pretty darn good.

[OneLowOneTon]

Thanks froto and ltz. Yeah the rear tires are stretched a little bit. Currently have the stock black wheels back on for winter and put the semi's up for sale. II Had planned to plasti dip the semi's black I may still if they don't sell but will have to see and see how she sits after the body drop.

[LTZ C20]

Cool sounds good.