01 S10 extended cab - Hydraulic build

About a month ago I picked up an 01 S10 extended cab, it already has a custom bench seat and a Pro Hopper 2 pump 4 dump setup that was built more lowrider style...i.e. Coil under on the front and coil over with powerballs in the rear, 4 batteries and a mountain of a notch to accommodate the tall cylinders and springs. The gas tank was mounted on the inside of the bed at the front and the batteries were mounted just in front of the tailgate, No bed room what so ever.
The truck sat ignored for a year, the batteries were dead and almost every fitting was loose and leaking and the frame was on blocks, so the first thing I decided to tackle was the suspension. My roots of custom vehicles started in the lowrider scene before moving to imports and minis, I have always had a soft spot for hydraulics so it was an easy decision to keep them on it.
Once I got it home gutted the bed, got it off then removed and dismantled the old hydraulic setup. Shortly after that I removed the powerballs off the rear and cut the old pump mounts off. I picked up a 2 door blazer gas tank and started getting that ready for it's new home between the rear frame rails to help clear up some bed room. I also picked up the metal to chop down my notch and build the upper mounts for the cylinders.
For now the only thing I am keeping from the original hydro setup are the Pro Hopper pumps, I went with Dice for everything else. Sticking with the 4 dumps and running their 8" threaded cylinders front and back with accumulators and ditching the springs.
I am not sure how fast this build will go, I am doing it on my own in my 2 car garage on my days off, my goal for now is to just get the suspension done so I can drive it. That is enough words for now, on to the pics.

Sweet, Glad we have another build to follow. Keep the pictures rolling. I was digging the alignment of the exhaust in that side picture. haha.

Holy notch

looks like a nice start. I love that bench so much.

"Sweet, Glad we have another build to follow. Keep the pictures rolling. I was digging the alignment of the exhaust in that side picture. haha. "

Thank you, I have been pretty good about working on it on my days off. Thankfully the PO took that as a keepsake, he hung it on his garage wall. You should see the rest of it though, last owner fixed part of it with galvanized pipe and bubblegum. I will get a pic of it later today.

" Holy notch"

Right! That is getting taken care of pretty soon, the shop that built it donated some 2x3. The rear had 12 or 14" cylinders with really tall springs. Rode like shit too, I felt like the rear was riding on a pogo stick.

" looks like a nice start. I love that bench so much. "

The truck is pretty solid. A local girl built it, her husband owns a shop and they rebuilt the stock 2.2 and set up the hydros. The guy they sold it to was the guy I bought it from, and he was...interesting. His automotive knowledge was minimal, he bought the truck because "hydraulics always looked cool" When he killed the batteries he parked it.
I love the bench, it is really comfortable, I wanna say it is out of a Nissan. There is just too much red, I would like to recover it. Keep it black with some sort of red stitching.

I just ordered my cylinders, heims, fittings and hardline from Dice. So once I get the pumps cleaned up and I finish painting all the engravings on the dumps I can start plumbing them.

That's the fun part, getting to do all the frame work. The rest for me i don't care for.

Got the front end pulled apart and the lowers off so I can de-hump and plate them, I am also going to plate the spring cups. I need to go get some more cutting wheels tomorrow and hopefully get these ready to mount the cylinders.

Had to take the day off to have a new furnace, water heater and AC installed. So during the down time I decided to finish up my dumps. I hand painted all the engravings on them, the slow downs and check valves. They turned out pretty good I think.

I have been working on this a lot, but slow. I was out of town for a week and I tore a tendon in my foot so that has been slowing me down.
I got in touch with the original owner/builder of the truck and got a lot of information about it. Probably the best news is the fact that the engine was completely rebuilt before they sold it.

I got my cylinders, heims and the last of my fittings from Dice.I got a really good deal on Ebay for 3 different imperial tube benders, so now I should be able to do just about any bend I can imagine. I just need to find a good flare tool that won't break the bank.

Finished dehumping and plating my LCA's, got that huge notch cut down and I am currently working on the bridge and rear cylinders. I also picked up an entire bed floor(minus tubs) from a friend, I have a few cool ideas I am going to eventually do but for now I just want to cover the notch hole and raise the floor, I might shave the fuel hose hump because it bothers me.

I am getting ready to order my accumulators, Kinetiks, and PP Ball joints. If I can keep this pace I should have her back on the road by the end of the month

Oh, and here is the rest of the exhaust I was talking about. The PO was just as proud of this as he was the flex pipe and coat hangers