1986 GMC S-15

Andrew_S

Observer
The sway bar was contacting the frame on any amount of up travel, so notching the cross member...
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All the room now.
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Swapped out the front studs for longer ones.
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Working on an e-brake cable set up. Made up these tabs to adapt from the square style to a ball.
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Finished up with a walk on the town. Truck rides so nice now that the sway bar isn't binding up the front end.
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Andrew_S

Observer
We managed to get the new canoe out for a maiden voyage on the big lake.
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Paddled about 10k total and found this little private beach.
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I can't wait to see this thing with both canoes on the roof.
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These popped up for sale lightly used for a very good price.
Looks like this 30 is getting RCV's after all.
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Andrew_S

Observer
So stoked to upgrade these shafts.
I was going to wait until after this weekends camping trip but decided to get them swapped right away.
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I was worried they may conflict with the C gussets, but no issues at all.
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All it needs now is a compressor, switches, solenoids and a front driveshaft.
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Todd n Natalie

OverCamper
Truck looks amazing! Glad to see you've been able to get out and enjoy the new canoe as well.
Such a great Bday present. Well done Mrs. Andrew_S!
 
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1stDeuce

Explorer
This truck is turning out very nice!! Hopefully all these changes improve its back country ability to your liking without negatively affecting its ability to actually get you there!

I will say that I LOVE the CV front axle shafts on my TJ, and dearly miss them when I wheel the Comanche around. They make things noticeably smoother when turning under power offroad. I went the low budget route and just used CV axle shafts from a ZJ, but the RCV axles are quite a bit stronger, so you are going to love them I bet.

Now get that driveshaft put together!! :)
 

Andrew_S

Observer
Truck looks amazing! Glad to see you've been able to get out and enjoy the new canon as well.
Such a great Bday present. Well done Mrs. Andrew_S!
Thanks! Agreed, no complaints here on the new addition to the fleet.
Absolutely in love with this build! ?

It's everything it needs to be, and nothing it shouldn't. You've done an amazing job with it.
Really appreciate that, thanks man.
This truck is turning out very nice!! Hopefully all these changes improve its back country ability to your liking without negatively affecting its ability to actually get you there!

I will say that I LOVE the CV front axle shafts on my TJ, and dearly miss them when I wheel the Comanche around. They make things noticeably smoother when turning under power offroad. I went the low budget route and just used CV axle shafts from a ZJ, but the RCV axles are quite a bit stronger, so you are going to love them I bet.

Now get that driveshaft put together!! :)
Man, you're totally stealing my thunder on this next post haha.
Cliff notes, no compromises for ride comfort at all, huge improvement between the digressive 5100's & larger diameter tires. The only compromise is the additional height makes getting in/out of the truck a bit challenging for the wife at 5'3", planning on adding a step or something along those lines shortly.

We took the new setup on its first real trip over the weekend.
All of 2 mins and camp was established
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Beach front site with one heck of a view
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Cue the onslaught of canoe pics. We did a lot of paddling on this trip.
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First we headed north up the lake and found this beautiful beach, spent a good 4 hours enjoying the water and lack of people.
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Continuing further North we went up the headwaters as far as we reasonably could. Great place to enjoy a beer after about 8kms of paddling.
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Heading back to camp for lunch. This photo sums up the weather for the entire weekend perfectly.
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Happened upon this cluster of butterflies, pretty neat to find them grouped up like this.
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Sunset on the first day,
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The next day we checked out the east end and another inlet
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The water was pretty friggin uncomfortable at this spot. The terrain reminded me of something out of a Jurassic park scene.
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Waiting for the wife to harvest some birch bark for a project.
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It's funny what you start to notice when you're bored and have nothing to do. This colony of ants was taking a big move, I found the start of the line but never did find the end.
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Checked out a nearby waterfall just absolutely gushing
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Paddling out on another lake, the last little bit of this avalanche chute was slowly melting
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Touring the outfall of the lake. I bet there were 4-6' of logs stacked up on the bottom.
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Paddling back upstream to the main lake, gorgeous scenery.
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This thing is an absolute unit on bush roads now. I was running upwards of 80 km/hr on some pretty rough roads and it just ate it up. That was running 35psi too, as I drop the pressures its only going to get that much better.
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Can't beat these views out here.
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We did have a few mechanical issues though.
On the return trip I heard this light steel-sounding ping, followed shortly afterwards by a loud thump, clunk, bang and immediately the handling was compromised. Turns out I may have not fully tightened one of the front sway bar end link bolts and it left the chat at around 100km/hr. Miraculously we recovered the bushing and pin so I was able to rob a bolt from the rear bar and put the front bar back into action. Who needs a rear bar anyway?
Also, I think the "new-to-me" e-brake shoes are coming apart in the rear. On the last morning, they were making a rubbing/screeching news intermittently that went away when I would reverse but ultimately return again shortly. I need to pull it apart and diagnose this tomorrow.
Spare tire/mount needs a bit of massaging as the rim currently rubs on the tube for the tire iron and it makes an unpleasant noise occasionally.

Aside from those 3 things, no other significant issues to report.
 
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Andrew_S

Observer
On to the front driveshaft, I need a 28" compressed front shaft, and almost everything is either 26" or 33"... I thought I found a winner a the yard yesterday when I stumbled upon a bolt in 28.75" ford explorer unit but it's just a touch too long.
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I ended up settling on the explorer unit and accepting the fact I'm going to modify it. It's a slightly larger tube diameter over an XJ, ZJ or WJ.
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Going to take a crack at sleeving it and going the farmer route to make a front shaft. All I have to lose it s about $45 or I could gain $600ish as that's what I was quoted to make a new unit.
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First time messing around with a double Cardan, pretty simple and nice design. Decided to yank apart the existing joints, inspect & regrease them.
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All back together and ready for a sleeve with nowhere to go. Picked up the material today but didn't have the energy after work to get this done properly, maybe tomorrow.
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I did consider cutting down the spline section 1" to make it work. That's a bit of a compromise for strength though, but so is sleeving it I guess? I'm not sure what would have been the best direction, I'll likely find out though...
 

Jeffer949

Observer
I am not a Expedition portal regular. I went through a phase where I wanted to TRAVEL THE WORLD IN A VAN probably 5 years ago. Luckily my loving wife brought me back to earth and thats just not feasible. Ive moved onto other things, currently building a turbo 1984 Datsun Maxima wagon.

What I'm saying is I love your build and thread so much that I come back to EP every few months to catch up on your journey and progress. Thank you for taking the time to make the posts. I used to be a big forum guy back in the day and it takes a good bit of time to document all of this. Your truck is awesome. I can imagine getting the SAS done is such a huge weight off your shoulders. Ive learned that an unfinished project on a shelf taxes my brain much more than I could ever imagine. Unfinished projects are akin to how my wife feels with a messy cluttered house. The only way to get it off your mind is finish it or clean it.

Congrats on the new chapter of your S10. I look forward to your adventures. Also. I remember a turbo engine being built. Is that for the bush truck or the AWD chassis your building?
 

Dougnuts

Well-known member
I may as well chime in, and tip my hat. This is a perfect build thread….equal parts nature photography, adventure, education, and building (with actual fabrication). Count me among those who get excited to see a new post and recognize that it takes a lot of effort and time to do so.
 

Andrew_S

Observer
^ Thanks, really appreciate that.
I am not a Expedition portal regular. I went through a phase where I wanted to TRAVEL THE WORLD IN A VAN probably 5 years ago. Luckily my loving wife brought me back to earth and thats just not feasible. Ive moved onto other things, currently building a turbo 1984 Datsun Maxima wagon.

What I'm saying is I love your build and thread so much that I come back to EP every few months to catch up on your journey and progress. Thank you for taking the time to make the posts. I used to be a big forum guy back in the day and it takes a good bit of time to document all of this. Your truck is awesome. I can imagine getting the SAS done is such a huge weight off your shoulders. Ive learned that an unfinished project on a shelf taxes my brain much more than I could ever imagine. Unfinished projects are akin to how my wife feels with a messy cluttered house. The only way to get it off your mind is finish it or clean it.

Congrats on the new chapter of your S10. I look forward to your adventures. Also. I remember a turbo engine being built. Is that for the bush truck or the AWD chassis your building?

A maxima wagon sounds like a pretty awesome project.
You are 100% correct, sitting projects take so much longer in counted hours vs just getting it done. I find myself going back to things sometimes trying to remember where I left off... So nice to have some space back where all these parts were sitting for 2+ years... Turbo engine is still on the stand. I'm not 100% where that will end up. The long block is done, just needs some manifolds and a harness.

Thanks for all the good words guys. I definitely draw some motivation from the groups thoughts/comments.

Found my grinding noise in the rear, looks like the spring clips lost their spring and dropped...
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Cooked... Need some new shoes and clips but aside from that it's fine. I'll take the blame on this one as I must have overcompressed the spring clips.
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Back to the front shaft. Picked up the sleeve material and got it fitted up.
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Clocking it to get everything aligned perfectly.
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Welded up and it fits absolutely perfectly. Time will tell if I need to get it balanced.
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Onto the Y-pipe mod, You can see how the old static driveshaft used to go over the top of the y-pipe and how the new one goes straight through it...
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Mocked up, Bent the horizontal pipe upwards, cut and chopped some tubing to end up with this. Should* be lots of clearance now.
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Need to pull the y-pipe and fully weld it out today.
 

Andrew_S

Observer
Pulled the exhaust to get the y-pipe fully welded out.
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It isn't the prettiest thing, but it should do just fine.
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Stoked to have 4wd again. This thing absolutely crawls in 4 low. Can't wait to see what it can do with both axles locked & tires aired down.
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Happy to say the front shaft doesn't vibrate at all up to 70mph. Saved myself well over $500 going this route.
I am getting the slightest vibration from the rear shaft though. Somehow I managed to set my pinion angle 2* off... Started looking around for 8" shims but they don't exist. So I'll have to make my own. Called a local metal supplier and they wanted north of $100 for a crop of 2.5" tubing... Decided to go the dirt-cheap route instead.
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$6, and more then twice what I need to make some shims.
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For my next trick I'll cut a perfect 2* angle over 8"...
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Messing around with the rear bump stops and & u-bolt plates. This thing has more up travel than my poor old jack can handle.
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And finishing strong with a teaser of an upcoming project.
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