M923 Bobber project

[350TacoZilla]

I was going to go higher at first but after measuring truck on level concrete it was already bit higher in rear than front so i didnt want it to look like some trucks with tail high up in air. I decided on the 1/2 plate since I had a piece laying around and had enough threads on U-bolts to just re-use them rather than shell out another $150 for longer ones, I can easily stick my fingers in between the springs and air lines so I think I ended up with enough clearance to safely run truck now. I actually went down today and made my drop down steps to make it bit easier to get in and out, will update with pics tomorrow hopefully.

 

[Rickf92592]

New to the site and interested in a big truck, has anyone built a 'crew cab' or 'suburban'?
Seems like it would be a interesting 'family car', and since my daughter-in-law informed us she's carrying triplets, I've got a built in excuse!

 

[350TacoZilla]

Rick, yeah I only know of 1 or 2 there is a gentleman on here with a truck he call infidel that is crew cab 923 if you search using that name I'm sure it will come up lol.

I just wanted to post few pics of truck basically done,only major piece left is 2 rear shock mounts then just needs some paint work and finish my sound deadening.

 

[tobyS]

Looks really great. Those 16's do set it up. Your bed has the proper proportion, I think. Is this the same truck you had the lower profile tires on? I'd love to see one like it with duals on the back and wides on the front. You didn't happen to try that combination did you?

 

[350TacoZilla]

I still have the 425/65R22.5's for front but had already sold the duals off truck before finishing the bob, thats why I had the 425's in the back squeezed on wrong size rims lol. I had planned to keep a set of the 11r20's to switch out on truck but had no luck selling them individual so sold all 11 in one shot, I may try to get another set of them or even 9.00-10.00 civilian tires since I come across them more often.

 

[autumnwalker]

Truck looks great! I will have to check into the crew cab you are referring to - I would like to do that with a 5 ton someday.

 

[harleyboy1]

Would you happen to have a picture on the rotated air cans?

 

[jcappeljr]

Looks good.

 

[350TacoZilla]

harley- I can take a few for you within day or two when i get back down to my parents house where truck is kept right now.I will tell you they are the part that stumped me and had me worried when I was first trying to get axle under truck but it turned out to be pretty easy to do after caging the brakes.

jcappel- ty I couldnt have done it without your tips (and parts lol)

 

[tim410]

do you have any pictures of your air cans after being rotated?

 

[350TacoZilla]

Hope this pic along with my PM helps, if not I can get better pics in day or two.

 

[Naterik]

I am in the middle of my project and like yours my truck had the ABS sensors in the rear rear axle. After getting the axle under the truck mocking up the plates springs and hangers matching the front axle setup it appears that there is still a clearance issue on the spring brake can no matter how i rotate it because it is in the rear. The spring plates are designed to put the spring packs at a slight upward angle towards the front of the truck to compensate for the added 3" drop on the spring shackle from the rear mount while retaining the axle housing parallel with the frame,ground, and driveline. The best solution I can come up with is either swapping the backing plates side to side making the spring brakes now in the front. Or swapping the ABS over to the front rear and putting it under the truck. My main concern is having good clearance between air can and spring because I plan on doing a decent amount of offroading which will flex the suspension quite a bit at times

 

[tim410]

heres a picture of my tires Tacozilla

 

[350TacoZilla]

I am in the middle of my project and like yours my truck had the ABS sensors in the rear rear axle. After getting the axle under the truck mocking up the plates springs and hangers matching the front axle setup it appears that there is still a clearance issue on the spring brake can no matter how i rotate it because it is in the rear. The spring plates are designed to put the spring packs at a slight upward angle towards the front of the truck to compensate for the added 3" drop on the spring shackle from the rear mount while retaining the axle housing parallel with the frame,ground, and driveline. The best solution I can come up with is either swapping the backing plates side to side making the spring brakes now in the front. Or swapping the ABS over to the front rear and putting it under the truck. My main concern is having good clearance between air can and spring because I plan on doing a decent amount of offroading which will flex the suspension quite a bit at times

yeah mine is also the rear rear axle slid forward without rotating it around, I put the shackle end of the spring towards the back of the truck and spun the brake cans and they cleared. I then added the 1/2" thick steel plate to the bottom of spring perch for little extra peace of mind but had no interference even without it.I'm wondering if you have the spring plates on the wrong side and are therefore tipping the axle the wrong way? mine tip the pinion up to aim at transfer case like it should and I clear with wiggle room using all stock 5 ton front parts.

 

[Naterik]

yeah mine is also the rear rear axle slid forward without rotating it around, I put the shackle end of the spring towards the back of the truck and spun the brake cans and they cleared. I then added the 1/2" thick steel plate to the bottom of spring perch for little extra peace of mind but had no interference even without it.I'm wondering if you have the spring plates on the wrong side and are therefore tipping the axle the wrong way? mine tip the pinion up to aim at transfer case like it should and I clear with wiggle room using all stock 5 ton front parts.

Ok the 1/2" plate spacer would most likely be enough for mine to work as well I must have over looked that part of your build. Thank you very much for your help and information. Your truck looks awesome man.

 

[350TacoZilla]

TY I love driving the thing around bobbed on the 53's.

 

[tim410]

how can you tell which axle has the abs parts? Im hoping I lucked out.

 

[350TacoZilla]

one axle has wires running into the backing plates for the sensors. If you go back few pages you'll see I actually installed the wrong axle at first and had it all hooked up before noticing that.

 

[Landbarger]

TacoZilla (Or jcapple),

Having removed the 923 bed and presumably handled it a bit, what is your feel about what that thing weighs in its original form? I'm mulling over buying a 923 to partially part-out and I was wondering how heavy of a starting point it would be for a trailer deck.

That bob looks way better than it has any right to, btw. When I got started reading this thread I was assuming I wouldn't like the end result...but to my surprise it turns out those proportions came out super nice. Well done.

 

[tobyS]

TacoZilla (Or jcapple),

Having removed the 923 bed and presumably handled it a bit, what is your feel about what that thing weighs in its original form? I'm mulling over buying a 923 to partially part-out and I was wondering how heavy of a starting point it would be for a trailer deck.

That bob looks way better than it has any right to, btw. When I got started reading this thread I was assuming I wouldn't like the end result...but to my surprise it turns out those proportions came out super nice. Well done.

Make it into a dump bed and keep it low.