75 Dually Project - 22s and stylin

So this is not a build pic. Last night however the wife and I went out to do some shopping at Best Buy and then stopped off at Sonic to get a couple slushies. So when we pulled into Sonic there was a young boy who walked up and told me how much he liked the truck. My wife and I talked with him and his dad for quite a while. You could see the look in that kids eye. "I can't wait until I can build my own stuff!" My wife is great with kids and she talked with him about what he likes. He could not get it out fast enough about the cars and trucks he likes, and what he plans on doing.

When we pulled out she said that kid must have been exactly like me as a child. Full of car dreams!

Remember that the hot rodders and truck guys of tomorrow all start out with that one vehicle they flip their lid over. Don't forget to engage them and make them feel important. They just might be the next Chip Foose or Boyd Coddington.

Got the center section of the bed skinned today. Plus I threw some primer on it to have some protection. Yes it is heavy! And yes I will be adding lift assist off a mini van or a Tahoe.

Now to get busy with the rest of it!

Stay tuned!;)

Ok here is a side note...

My wife and I like to go estate sale hunting on the weekends. I look for tools, and she finds stuff for the house. I stumbled across an add this weekend that showed a grungy garage with a ton of tools on the back shelf. So that was going to be our first stop for the day. Well we got there and it was an old garage with dirt floors, an inch of Lubbock dust over everything, and a treasure trove of tools stacked all over the place. I dug around for quite a while and found some cool stuff, most of the tools were worn out old rusty stuff, but there were some gems.

I found: 2 hand held metal shears (big ones for sheet metal), a hatchet, a ball peen, c-clamps, jack stands, several other small items, and an older grey craftsman tool box in excellent shape. The tool box was so covered in dust that at first I could not see what it was, however when I opened it (and stopped coughing from all the dirt I just disturbed) had several small tools (maybe about 20 in all), most of which were rusted up, but salvageable. One of which is the numberall stamp you see below. I have only seen these in machine shops, and very rarely. The dial has all the basic numbers plus a dash and an X. I just think it is super cool.

So a word to you guys who are starting out. Don't go buy all your tools at the box stores, harbor freight, or Sears. There are a ton of tools out there just waiting to be found at garage sales and estate sales. Oh yeah and if you can afford Snap on, can I be your friend!!!

BTW I paid $40 for the whole stash! I watch American Pickers, and yes I bundled!!!

So guys I'm sorry it's been a while since my last post. I ran into a vibration issue on the Dually. I had a friend who is an automotive tech come over and we ran around town in it for a while to diagnose it. There was a slight bit of driveline vibration, so I sent the driveshaft off to get rebalanced.

While it was away I pulled both rear rims and adapters off. I first took the 4 rear rims off to be balanced, check! Then I brought them back and noticed that when I assembled the passenger side that there was a wobble to the rim!! Yikes. I pulled it apart a couple of times thinking that the rim was either bent or something else had happed to it. In the end I found out that the adapter was not sitting against the face of the brake drum fully. Upon closer inspection the axle has a 1/16" lip on the last 3/8" of the floater section. This 1/16" was keeping the adapter from fully seating against the brake drum due to the fact that the adapter was not machined to that diameter. Arg!!

So what to do? In the end I know that these adapters are nut-centric, and because of that they do not rely on the hub interface to center. So I simply took my grinder and clearanced the hole out a bit over the 1/16". Now I know what some of you are saying that I should of had it machined. And I agree, but the machine shops in my area don't like to touch anything automotive if they can help it. They all spout the same thing "It's a liability issue..." Yes that's a bunch of BS, but I guess my green backs don't spend as well as the other green backs they have falling out of their pockets. Sometimes you just have to do things yourself... Which is why I have such a big tool collection, but that is a story for another time and place. In the end it was a simple fix, but still what a pain in the....

Stay tuned because I am going to get back on the bed covering.

Looking good man! really digging the cover! sucks to hear about the adapter, but its better than hearing that the driveshaft is bad or pinion angle is off!

So I got out for lunch today to take my son to Academy sports to get the last items for school, so I took the dually to make sure that I had no more vibration issues. Whew it looks like that did it! I still have to go get the front end aligned, but at least that is a normal part of any vehicle.

Now I can get on with some other projects, the bed, AC, finish the interior... You know simple things like that!:lol:

Truck looks awesome!!!!!! I love keeping up with your post. Really makes me want to get started on my 98 just have to find time & money like everybody else lol. Keep up the hard work.

Thanks layedoutc3500!! That is really encouraging. You have my exact issues... Time and money. I have to do all my own work because I don't like paying for something if I can do it myself (read tight wad!). Plus I like to know how it was built because it is my family that rides in this truck and I like knowing that it was done right. Keep us up-to-date on your ride. There is a ton of stuff you can do that does not cost much, start on some of those, and as money comes along do some of the big things.

As you all know I've been doing this ride for close to 3 years now, and work on it eb's and flows with time and cash. Notice it does not have paint on it yet... But soon I hope!

Keep up the good work layedoutc3500!

So I have been really busy in the shop in the evenings. I know I have not posted anything in quite a while, but I do have something big on the way to show you guys... I just did not want to show this until it was all done. I hope your going to like it!

STAY TUNED....;)

pins and needles...