Thread: 2000 Silverado Tube Chassis Build

I'm building a 2000 silverado. It was a BBR long travel kit which was AWESOME... but I've decided (along with some other friends influence) to go crazy and take my perfectly good runing truck and basically cut it apart!!!!
So here I am, I'll post pics as it goes. I'm getting help from some friends that actually know what they're doing so things should come out pretty good!
Plans:
Center Pivot front suspension
Motor moved back approx. 15"
Linked rear
Full Tube chassis
Etc....
This build will take some time basically because I'm not rich! but with doing as much of it as I can myself and the help from friends (which I'm very appreciative of) hopefully it only cost me around 50k'ish.
Please give your input good or bad on things. I appreciate anyones help or opinions.

heres some pics of where I'm at and whats going on...
In one pic, you can see the front bulkhead in pieces.
I have the engine roughed in to start getting an idea of where things are going
I'm building the cab cage and landing the tubes to some "pontoons/outriggers" underneath the frame that you cant see. Once the cab cage is built, I'll weld the body/cab to the cage to make it a solid unit. then I'll remove the stock frame rails underneath and set the approx. ride hieght of the truck. it's pretty close now but I want to make it sit a little bit lower. then ill just start throwing tubes underneath and so forth.. I dont know if this is the best plan.. but it's my plan as of today !!! haha...

john

Oh fuck. No turning back! haha Im excited to see this build!

P.s. my buddy loves that kit and oddly enough his favorite part is color! haha

Originally Posted by redsilvy

Oh fuck. No turning back! haha Im excited to see this build!

P.s. my buddy loves that kit and oddly enough his favorite part is color! haha

that's awesome!!! I'm really happy he does like it.. that kit was perfect when I sold it to him. I aint gonna lie.. I kinda wish I had just kept it!!! haha.. oh well, "no turning back"!!

you're not even keeping the frame under the cab? or is that going to stay with the rest of it being tube? good luck lol, you're gonna need it.

In the last picture is that a bulkhead kit?

Originally Posted by prerunsilverado

In the last picture is that a bulkhead kit?

well.. its not a kit you can go buy if thats what you mean... but thats the pieces minus the tubes and some ribing im gonna use.

Subscribed...

Im going to follow your build very closely because your doing close to exactly what i want to do

Make sure to post LOTS of pics of the front end especially as it gets completed

Looking like something to follow for sure!!! At least you understand its gonna take ime and money. Remember that 6 or 8 months into it. haha!!
what are you using to figure out your suspension geometry? this is what i want to attempt to build one day.

fucking sweet

Save receipts. Lol And don't add things up till you're done.

Originally Posted by Johnh133

well.. its not a kit you can go buy if thats what you mean... but thats the pieces minus the tubes and some ribing im gonna use.

ok my wording was wrong on that one. did you design the plating and how it will go together with tube?

tig welds look nice

great start on the build. but i have to ask about the pass side A piller at the top of the windshild. is it kinked there or just a wierd camera angle?

Originally Posted by baja.1986

great start on the build. but i have to ask about the pass side A piller at the top of the windshild. is it kinked there or just a wierd camera angle?

haha... im not sure what your seeing but I can assure you its not "kinked"!!!

my buddy tig welded those weld washers... i thought they looked nice too!

as for the figuring out of the front bulkhead.. My friend built a tube chassis F150 with the same bulkhead, so he already but the time in to cycling and setting up the front geometry. so I asked him if he still had the templates and so forth. we called his laser guy and had him cut out the same bulkhead. I thought it was very generous of him to allo0w me to use his design. so he still has all the jigs from that front end... kinda makes it easier for me on my end.
Right now I'm waiting for some forged spindles to arrive. I'm going to use D44 spindles and if for some reason they dont hold up ill go to some 2.5" race hubs.. but a few hundred sounds beter than 1800 ya know.. im going to add some tube that goes through the snout block and presses into the actual spindle/snout to strengthin it more. ill get some pics of it when it happens here shortly. the upside is the measurements between a D44 and most 2.5" race hubs is almost the same, so if I need to build another spindle for some proams or BMS spindles, it wont be to hard and the track width wont change more than a 1/2 inch +\-
I'm going to either assemble the bulkhead or continue with the cage this weekend.. so more pictures to come.
I'm not sure how in depth everyone wants me to go with all this but ill post what I can...
I will say I have some hi hopes that this is gonna end up being really sick.. I'm kinda looking to build a really nicely done truck that I can take to Mexico and thrash 1000 miles on but still keep the interior nice looking... luxury preruner / race truck?? i dont know.. I just know I like my shit to look nice and function 1st... so wherever that takes me!

-john

yea it does look KINKED!!!! its not though.. im using a JD2 bender, and I've never had a tube kink with it! maybe the weight of the roof sitting on the tube kinked it???

Your plans for this truck sound solid to me, do have ay idea how much travel you'll be getting/using?

Originally Posted by Johnh133

yea it does look KINKED!!!! its not though.. im using a JD2 bender, and I've never had a tube kink with it! maybe the weight of the roof sitting on the tube kinked it???

wait either it is kinked or its not, and did you really ask if the roof damaged the tube?

does it have 2 bends?

idk??

Don't waste your time putting a tube through the snouts. The problem isn't the strength of the snout as much as the wheel bearings and their spacing.

And it does look like there are two bends in that tube.

I see the same A pillar "kink" that everyone else sees. Is it there or not?

If im looking at the same thing everyone else is looking at then i think it could be the shadows playing tricks on our eyes. Try to get a pic of it up that was taken during the daytime or with plenty of light on it and im sure that will clear up weather there is anything there or not.

Please go very indepth with the build pictures and info

It's never going to work. haha good luck!

Originally Posted by Steven_Tolbert

Please go very indepth with the build pictures and info

x2 seems like it will be a very interesting and cool build to watch so post a lot of pics of every process for us good luck with your build though. no turning back! haha i dont think id ever be able to get brave enough to basically completely scrap and rebuild my truck ha.

ok... so for starters, I wouldnt have a tube in my truck if it was kinked..PERIOD... and if you think I might consider the weight of the roof on top of some 2" .120 might be kinking the tube.. then youre correct!
I'll take some pictures to verify this though.. proof is always good.. ill get some light in there and snap 40 different angles to settle the debate.. if it turns out that the roof skin did actually kink that 2" tube then ill replace the tube and probably go with a convertible or something...

so the forged D44 spindles arent going to be available until January says SOLID AXLE.. he says the pieces are sitting there he just need to turn them down.. aparently he doesnt need money right away so he said he'll get around to it by the 1st of the year!!! "sigh"... so ill just use some stockers to get everything set up since i probably wont be driving the truck in the next few months!

Originally Posted by bryantkalagian

It's never going to work. haha good luck!

kinda seems to be the theme with EVERYTHING I do!!!! hahaha

thanks for the good luck wish though!...

Wow, he has the parts there and all that needs to be done is turning them down but he doesn't need the money right now so he's going to wait for a while to do it for you. That is a perfect example of bad customer service

It will work and turn out great just take your time and do it the way YOU want,i have already redone many things on my build already,im basically building it 2 times lol. looking good so far.

ok if you think the weight of the roof is causing damage to the tube then you may want to rethink what youre doing

sensing sarcasm through the interwebz is quite difficult for some people

john it looks badass...the one day i stopped by ross' shop was when your truck had just been finished up....pumped on seeing where this is going!

Originally Posted by Sea.Jay

sensing sarcasm through the interwebz is quite difficult for some people

john it looks badass...the one day i stopped by ross' shop was when your truck had just been finished up....pumped on seeing where this is going!

Thanks for pointing that out!!! I kinda thought it was obvious... what do I know???

so the first 3 pictures are of the KINKED tube... or rather the not kinked tube!

The next 3 pictures are of my cousins truck... I'm in the garage working on my shit then he says "hey cuz... can we build a bumper really quick for my truck?" hahaha... hell yea we can cuz!!! so heres what I ended up with by 1AM last night... I thought it looked pretty cool.. I'll add the skidplate and finish the welding this weekend. What do you guys think?

john

looks nice!nice work!

i think i notice what they meant by the kink now...now when a tube is bent the OD should never change correct?

That tube does look like its starting to kink in the fourth picture. notice where it starts to bend how the bottom of the tube and the top of the tube seem to be closer together?

Originally Posted by Sea.Jay

i think i notice what they meant by the kink now...now when a tube is bent the OD should never change correct?

That tube does look like its starting to kink in the fourth picture. notice where it starts to bend how the bottom of the tube and the top of the tube seem to be closer together?

well, its from where the bend starts in the DIE. I think there's a big difference between the "die impression" and a "KINK".

here's some pics of the spindles im using for the front (D44) one bad pic of the B Pillar Cross tube and some pics of the bulkhead set up which i need to modify a little..

This makes me super excited!!!

And no, tubing shouldn't be "kinked" when its mandrel bent. (or so i believe)

Oh, and i do have a question. By the lower controll arm mock ups it looks like you'll be laying your uni-balls horizontally. Am i correct and if so why not vertically?

you can build em either way... I might do vertical uppers??? if you go vert on the lowers, you might have issues with the caliper mounts... i dont know, ill get more steering out of horizontal lowers.

That front bumper on that f-1 is tuff looking! good job!!