Bullitt's 2004 1500 build

[Demon-HeMi]

Got the grill all mounted back up and snapped a picture. My vision is finally starting to take shape and I like where this is going.

i cant believe that old grill howled on you, I had one just like it on my blue truck before I did my conversion and it never made a noise, but my big mouth grill, it howled like no other on my 08

 

[Demon-HeMi]

blue truck: not a single noise

red truck: howls like a cat in heat and has now been removed

 

[Bullitt5339]

No idea, but it howled like a freight train.

 

[Bullitt5339]

I'm going to take the new front bumper and drop it off at a friend's custom shop today to have the license plate holes welded shut to get it ready for paint.

 

[Bullitt5339]

I will have the front bumper back next Friday. He said he could have it done on Monday or Tuesday, but with my work schedule, I likely couldn't get there before closing time until next Friday so I told him to take his time.

He said there will be absolutely no body filler needed when he gets done with it.

 

[Bullitt5339]

Here's a picture of the chrome door handles installed. I think they'll fit the theme once the bumper is painted and the new color matched mirrors are installed.

 

[Demon-HeMi]

beauty of a truck, what size tire you running

 

[HeavyD]

beauty of a truck, what size tire you running

I think he's running 22s

 

[Bullitt5339]

beauty of a truck, what size tire you running

265/35/22s...... I should have went a little bigger, but I was worried about clearance. When these are ready to be replaced, I'm going to bump them up some.

 

[Demon-HeMi]

I think he's running 22s

lol the 22" part I knew

265/35/22s...... I should have went a little bigger, but I was worried about clearance. When these are ready to be replaced, I'm going to bump them up some.

ok, I was wondering so I have an idea, when I find a rim I actually like im going to get it in a 20/22 stagger so I was just getting a reference of what could work with my 12" drop in the rear

 

[Bullitt5339]

lol the 22" part I knew



ok, I was wondering so I have an idea, when I find a rim I actually like im going to get it in a 20/22 stagger so I was just getting a reference of what could work with my 12" drop in the rear

With just a slight fender rolling in the back, these could tuck easily. They'd probably tuck with no rolling, but would likely rub with any lateral movement of the axle. They are 22x9's with 19mm offset if that helps you out with wheel specs.

 

[Demon-HeMi]

I have nothing left to roll, mine are trimmed instead of rolled, and I rub already with lateral movement so that wouldn't be anything new for me, you cant get a finger between my tires and rear fenders

 

[Bullitt5339]

It's the little things that make a difference in the final product. I picked up my bumper from my buddy's chassis shop this morning. Once it gets primed and painted, you won't even have a clue that there were 2 huge holes where the license plate mounts are supposed to be. I'm completely happy with the results and he will get a tailgate from me here in the next month to shave based on this work.

 

[Bullitt5339]

A little tiny project for tomorrow. I'm hoping it makes a difference.

 

[J3FF3RSON]

Not fond of Gold or Pewter, but your truck looks great!!

 

[Bullitt5339]

I went out to get the swaybar bushings and endlinks swapped out and quickly realized that the ones I have are not going to work. I already had the swaybar off, so I took it for a test spin without a swaybar to see how it rods and handled.

It rides a lot better without a swaybar on it and once it gets bagged, the swaybar won't be used anyway, so I'm not going to waste any more time or money on trying to get the swaybar geometry correct.

I do have a bad balljoint that I found tonight and I have a replacement set here, so I'll probably swap those out next weekend.

 

[Bullitt5339]

Well, forget about that last statement......

While it does ride better without the swaybar on it, it has so much body lean that I can't even take the off-ramp on the highway at a reasonable speed without the tires rubbing. So I broke down and ordered the F150 end links which are 1.5" shorter than the originals and the swaybar is going back in.

 

[Bullitt5339]

With the F150 swaybar links and new bushings, it rides like a different truck. I didn't think they'd make a noticeable difference, but I was wrong. I highly recommend them for lowered trucks.

I am about to place another order later this week......... I'm redoing the entire rear suspension on the truck again to get it a bit lower while still having a decent ride and cargo carrying capabilities and this is the first piece of that puzzle:

 

[Bullitt5339]

Just placed an order for some parts and setup one appointment to have some work done so far. When everything comes in (hopefully before the weekend), I'll have:

Michigan Metal Works relocated upper control arm brackets
New ball joints
New inner and outer tie rods
New spring isolators
poly steering rack bushings
poly control arm bushings
new shock mounting studs (had one break, so I ordered 4 new ones)

The appointment is to get my spindles reverse reamed for a ball joint flip. I was going to do it myself, but they're only going to charge me an hour's labor and that's cheaper than the tapered bit that I would need to buy to DIY the job.

After this, the entire front end should be bulletproof for quite a while and it should help put everything back closer to the proper geometry which will make for a much smoother ride and a better handling truck overall.

 

[usaf2006]

Sounds like fun man!