I figured I'd start a thread to document the progress of my latest project. I've been wanting to put a standard pick-up bed on my pile for the longest time. Well, as you'll find in my other thread... here ...I found and bought a bed in great condition for only $900.

Only a week ago, the truck looked like this. That's a partial lie. The first and second pictures were taken back in February and August of this year respectively. The rest are within the last week.







Over this past weekend (Labor Day weekend), among installing a new intercooler and intake tubing, the process of removing the flat bed started.

First off, the sleeper, or "Champagne Room" as it's better known by a few of my friends, had to come off. I think this was the biggest change thus far as it looks as if the truck's cab has been chopped.



I yanked the rear window from the '91.5 and installed it.



Here's the '91.5 the window came from. And soon, the rear axle will come out as well. Not to mention, it made for easy storage of the bed.



As for the Dana 70 in the '91.5, I ordered a kit which included new wheel bearings, axle shaft hub flange gaskets, bearing race drivers for install of the new and removal the old, wheel seals and a double spindle nut upgrade. The kit can be found at Quad 4x4 in Montana.



I wanted to have all the parts necessary to do replace them at once and do it right the first time. I stopped at Napa and bought brake shoes, 1 1/8" bore wheel cylinders, a hardware kit and gear oil.





Once the axle is gone through and all aforementioned parts are replaced, it will be installed under the '90.

Stay tuned! The axle should be under the truck on Monday and the bed should follow shortly thereafter.

 

Looking better all the time. One change I wanted to explore but could never afford the downtime was to see if 1990 Ford dually drums would fit...My nephew had a '90 F350 DRW and it had finned aluminum/steel lined drums that were outboard-mounted; it would have made brake maintenance easier if it would have worked.

 

Maybe in the near future I could find a Dana 70 out of a wrecked 2nd gen and grab the hubs and drums from it. Or the entire assembly if it's cheap. That makes me wonder... Is there any chance our inboard drums could become outboard drums by means of spacing the backing plate outward using the same dimension as the hub-to-drum flange? I'm trying to find detailed pictures of both, a Dana 70 with inboard and outboard drums to compare differences.

 

Your buying all the parts inside anyway. If you do it right you won't need to get in there for a few years.

 

I'm gonna miss the "Champagne Room"!!

 

How bout a Custom aux fuel tank / tool box combo for that space, Looks like fun, keep us posted!!!

 

Tore down the rear axle wheel ends on the donor truck and installed new bearings, bearing races, upgraded to double spindle nuts, seals, shoes, springs, wheel cylinders and emergency brake cables. Replaced it all while it was open; especially with in-board drums.

Driver side.







Passenger side.



Separated the drums from the hubs for them to be machined.





New outer bearing races.





New inner bearing races.



Inner bearing race driver and punch/handle which came with the kit

 

Continued...



Inner bearings packed and wheel seal installed.





Wheel seal driver. Utilizes the same punch/handle as the inner and outer race drivers in the kit.



Driver side brakes (forgot to get a shot of the NEW parts installed. They look identical only shiny and new).





Driver side spindle nuts installed.



Passenger side brakes finished.

 

Continued...

Wire-tied the new parking brake cables for extra precaution.



Driver side axle bolted in.







Passenger side spindle nuts installed.



Passenger axle bolted in.





Popped off the differential cover and performed change the fluid. No limited slip here but it will eventually get a locker:



Differential cover sealed, bolted in place and filled it up with 3.5qts. of 80w-90 gear oil:



Back on her own 4 feet!

 

I have a question. I notice the tailgate has marker lights. Could you snap a pic of how/where the wiring is from the gate to the bed? Is there a connector somewhere so you can easily remove the tailgate?

 

The clearance light wiring runs through the center of the left tailgate hinge. The wires are terminated with bullet style connectors to facillitate easy removal of the tailgate.

 

Are you supposed to pack the rear wheel bearings with grease??

I thought those bearings got lubed with gear oil from the diff?

 

According to Quad 4x4's instructions, yes.

 

The bearings do get lubed with the gear oil but throwing grease in there shouldn't hurt a thing. Just insurance that your bearings are good to go.

 

I see you took advantage of my drilled e-brake arms. Couldn't tell ya how many times I got tired of resetting the cable ends in those cockamamie factory clips!