In the rear, shock towers were bent using the same material. Instead of attaching to the frame, they were welded to the new sub-frame. A tube strut insert was also fabricated to attach the two shock towers and sub-frames together. Once again, these pieces needed to be removable. This would allow us to remove the two sub frames as two separate units. Bushings were used in the 4 bolt locations.

With the majority of the suspension done, we moved to the transmission and transfer cases. We had already upgraded his NV 3550 5 speed to a NV 4500 5 speed. It was obvious that the aluminum NP 241 transfer case was not going to hold up either. We opted to use a dual transfer case setup. We ordered the dual case adapter from Off-Road Designs. The guys as ORD make a bulletproof doubler setup! It mates the front half of a Chevy 203 transfer case to a complete Chevy 205 transfer case. This kit requires the use of a 32 spline 203 box (due to the large output of the 4500), and also a 32 spline 205. Since it is hard to find a 32 spline 205, we machined the front input of a small bearing 205 case instead.

Then we bought the 32 spline input from ORD. In order to eliminate an adapter between the 203 and the 4500, we drilled and tapped the front of the 203 to bolt directly to the 4500, using 6 hardened studs. We also machined the rear output housing of the 205 to accept the factory electronic speed sensor. We made a custom cross-member that not only rubber mounted to the cases, but also had poly bushings at the sub-frame. We used ORD’s twin stick setup to run the shifters up through the floor. We now had 2:1, or 4:1 gear reduction. This would make our overall crawl ratio around 150:1.

For the axles, we chose a Dodge, kingpin, Dana 60 front end, and a Dana 70 HD rear end. Both axles were stripped, sandblasted, and cleaned up. Up front, an ARB locker was installed, with 7.17 gears. The C’s were cut off and rotated up for better driveline angle. 35 spline outers were used, along with Spicer 806X u-joints. It was finished off with a fresh kingpin rebuild, and WFO crossover steering. A West Texas Off-road hydro assist steering setup was also installed. All link brackets were then fabricated and welded on. Most brackets were cut from quarter inch steel.

The rear axle was a 35 spline full floating Dana 70, HD. The drum brakes were replaced with WFO’s custom disc brake setup, using _ ton Chevy rotors and backing plates. It was stuffed with a Detroit locker and 7.17 gears. The lower link mounts were fabricated from quarter inch steel, while the upper mount was fabricated from tubing. A Poisen Spider diff guard was used, in order to tie the upper link mount to the differential cover.

Once the drivetrain and suspension was done, it was time to find a spot to hold the fuel. We knew that with the Supercharger, this truck would suck down the gas. The idea of a fuel cell in the back was way to cheesy, so we decided to try to fit two gas tanks underneath. We started with a 93 blazer gas tank. We mounted it in the rear, behind the axle. With the spare tire mount and factory cross member gone, we had plenty of room. We put the filler neck just inside the tailgate, near the wheel-well. Lucky for us, it already had the correct fuel pump in it.

After a custom tube skidplate and mounting system was fabricated, we tried to find a spot for the second tank. We picked up a 93 Suburban tank, and somehow managed to fit it in front of the axle. We were able to do this by mounting it backwards. It too had the correct fuel pump setup, and seemed to fit perfect around our link setup. We moved the filler from the passenger side to the drivers side, and our factory fill tube worked great. After numerous relays and tank switches, we now had 72 gallons of fuel capacity. Because they were OEM tanks, all gauges and pumps worked perfect.

With the majority of the suspension and drivetrain work finished, it was time to finish up some of the little stuff. The front clip and bed were put back on, and the truck was rolled outside to test the flex. It was much more than we ever expected! Not only did we have plenty of travel, but with the added sub-frame, there was virtually no frame flex. However, it was obvious that some fender trimming needed to be done.

Due to the fact that we didn’t want to screw with paint, we were very careful in our trimming. We trimmed just enough to stretch our bushwacker fender flares to cover it up. While it was flexed out, we also measured for our bump-stop locations.
At this point, it was obvious that we were going to need some custom bumpers to finish off the look. We decided to build them from scratch out of 1 / 4” steel. Once again, Beau drew them on the computer.

He was able to find all of the angles he needed to fabricate them. We had Thomas Hydraulics in Chico do the bending. Once we had the pieces, we welded them all together. We also re-enforced the frame in the front and rear where the bumpers mounted. After hours of grinding, welding, and fitting, the bumpers were done.

For the drivelines, we called up Tom Woods Custom Driveshafts. We chose to use a 1350 series CV driveline in the rear. In the front, we had a lot of angle to deal with, due to the fact the suspension had 16” of travel, the driveline angle became extremely steep at full droop. We decided to use the “biggalo” style high angle CV driveline. The driveline uses fully serviceable 1410 u-joints, and is able to flex to around 40 degrees. We also used a 1410 u-joint at the axle.

Once the drive lines were in, we took it for a ride. As we expected, it needed a sway bar. We called up Speedway Motors and ordered a sway bar with ends. We used pillow blocks to mount it to the frame, and 3 / 4” heim joints to link it to the axle. At the same time, we added Fox Nitrogen bump stops up front, and polyurethane bumps in the rear. It was still missing some rocker protection, so we built some tube rock sliders.
It was finally time to strip the entire truck down for final paint and powder coat. Everything was torn apart and cleaned up. All loose steel components of the lift kit were cleaned and prepped for powder coat. The frame was stripped and painted with an Omni semi-gloss. All of the parts of the lift kit were sent to Premier Finishing in Stockton Ca. for a grey, semi-gloss powder coat. They were even able to fit the long sub-frames in their oven.

When the parts came back from being coated, it was like Christmas! We had the whole thing back together in a day. At the same time we were putting everything back in, the truck was completely detailed, buffed, and waxed. Due to a tight deadline, the only test drive we had time for was to the gas station and back.

We jumped in it the next morning and drove it 250 miles to the customer’s house on the Northern California coast. It drove perfect up California’s curvy Highway 1. When the customer took us for a test drive, the only place for us to sit was in the back! Good thing we believe in Quality work!