Larry's 1978 K10

[Cody1771]

hydroboost is amazing, my wife in high heals can get 37" tires to lock up with little issue lol... that was a fun story. just a tip for you Gm guys wanting to kill some frame flex. grind out and replace ALL rivets with grade 8 bolts and torque em up good, i did 1" weld beads on the crossmembers as well. this will make a huge difference in your flex, a set of sliders also makes a big difference. theres tons of info on reducing flex on pirate 4x4.

 

[Larry]

Thanks Larry.

One more? .

Do I need a different brake pedal or linkage.

No sir, just unfasten the clip from the brake pedal and replace the vacuum booster with the hydrabooster. Both boosters fasten to the pedal in the same fashion and with the same attachment method and hardware. Got to love GM vehicles for their decades of parts interchangeability! If it was a Ford you would need to know what month and day of the week the thing was built in order to figure out which clip fits which booster and what pedal fits what booster.

 

[Cody1771]

If it was a Ford you would need to know what month and day of the week the thing was built in order to figure out which clip fits which booster and what pedal fits what booster.

not to mention a master fabricator just to attach it to the fire wall

 

[1leg]

thank you very much. :smiley_drive:

 

[Larry]

hydroboost is amazing, my wife in high heals can get 37" tires to lock up with little issue lol... that was a fun story. just a tip for you Gm guys wanting to kill some frame flex. grind out and replace ALL rivets with grade 8 bolts and torque em up good, i did 1" weld beads on the crossmembers as well. this will make a huge difference in your flex, a set of sliders also makes a big difference. theres tons of info on reducing flex on pirate 4x4.

You’re right! Hydraboost is amazing especially if you go from vacuum to hydraboost on the same vehicle where you can really see the big improvement. I was thinking of doing rear disks but after doing hydraboost I see no need to bother with that expense.

I don’t have a problem with frame flex. In fact, I prefer it. Not convinced removing the rivets to add grade 8 bolts and welding designed slip areas is the answer as frames will start to crack around the bolt holes and welds. I’ve seen that happen on medium duty trucks that had rivets or huck bolts replaced with bolts after accident repairs. If you notice the big truck part of the world like medium duty trucks and 18 wheelers manufacturers haven’t jumped on the ridged hydraformed frame rail band wagon either like the little ½ ton to 1 ton trucks have. The reason, when a frame flexes it isn’t breaking! The light truck guys like GM Silverado/Sierra, Ford F-Series, and Dodge Ram that taunt the super ridged hydraformed frames do so because they are now building trucks for guys that probably should be driving cars as they cry like babies over normal chassis beam shake and axle hop when they buy a cream of the crap 50K diesel crew cab that exhibits frame beaming when driving over rail road tracks. The ridged frames help with ride quality but not overall durability. Now days we have new trucks with super ridged frame that do not flex but fracture like a piece of glass under shock load. You’ll hear more of this as these new light trucks with low section modulas ridged frames grow older and get used and abused in the real world. I work for a truck manufacturer and we (and competitors) still use the same ole spongy flexy spaghetti frame design on new heavy duty trucks as GM did up until the 80’s albeit a lot bigger.

 

[ExpoMike]

thank you very much. :smiley_drive:

Hey Jerry, if you want to check out the hydroboost setup, this is what the M1010 has so you can see all of what you need to do and how things route and such. Just let me know when you would like to check it out, should you want to. :ylsmoke:

 

[Cody1771]

hmm that was really informative, i was told about the bolts because with the older chevys after years of flex the rivets wear out and stretch. good to know though, however when it flex's so much it blows the glass out of your canopy it starts to get annoying

 

[1leg]

Hey Jerry, if you want to check out the hydroboost setup, this is what the M1010 has so you can see all of what you need to do and how things route and such. Just let me know when you would like to check it out, should you want to. :ylsmoke:

Might need to do that someday.

 

[Larry]

Still haven’t taken the camper for its maiden voyage yet but got a few personalization tweaks done to it over the past few weeks. First we got the camper leveled out. As it turns out these truck bed floors have a ¾’ angle built in where the floor tilts lower to the front which made the camper look goofy as the bed rail and camper bottom didn’t have an even gap from the front to the rear. The angle was also causing cab roof to run awfully close to the bottom of the camper. Still not sure if there is enough gap once I start twisting the truck on the trails.

Also added a few more 12 volt outlets and rewired the power wires in the battery box to add a GM truck fused junction block and common ground block junction block.

DECALS!! Finally got the decals!

Next project….rework the rear bumper to accommodate the spare tire and fuel cans.

 

[ExpoMike]

That setup is looking great Larry!!!! Definitely one of my favorite builds!

 

[JCMatthews]

Great truck!

This is what a build should be. It should take time. It should be done as the truck is used and tested. The changes should be upgrades that are wanted after testing in the back country. The things done to this truck have made it look awesome, and are extremely functional. I hate trucks that get it all bolted on at the dealer, and never see the dirt.

 

[Funrover]

I have always loved this truck, you really have done well. You always find a way to make it better also, way to go man!

 

[Larry]

My pal ColoradoBill got the rear bumper all finished up in preparation for our annual week long Desert Trip coming up this weekend.

The existing rear winch bumper got upgraded with a tire carrier and fuel can basket. We also had to ditch the rear winch fairlead and go with a hawse to make room for the gate stops.

You can tell the same guy built both bumpers. A little bit of family resemblance between the two.

Speaking of ColoradoBill, here are a few pictures of his well built Ram Charger.

 

[Rot Box]

Killer--man that looks good! :Wow1: I love the RC too, nice classic rig.

 

[chilliwak]

Any updates Larry? Post some pics if you can. I love pics!