joshua1086
Active Member
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2010
- Location
- Jacksonville NC
It all started out in Iraq on deployment, I had family members send me magazines and most of them where of the offroad type. I had big dreams of a silverado that I could take anywhere. I didn't know about pirate4x4 and all the other sites with tons of builds and ideas, so the only knowledge I had was from reading. I thought a 6inch lift and 35's was it! Later on after deployment I took my new 2001 silverado to an offroad shop located somewhere outside of Camp Lejeune NC.
He had me convinced that IFS was crap and would break and that a dana 44 would be the only way to go in the front with leaf springs and then I could run up to 40" tires in the local mud bog
. After investigating some previouse mag issues I found an article that talked about the differant axles weak points and what tires they can hold. At this point 1ton was the only way for me to go. I enlisted another local offroad shop to help me in my indevors and got a half ass product, and ended up doing alot of work myself so none the less I learned alot. I ended up with a really gay, horably designed solid axle silverado, with a hackjob fangtooth front end (see pictures to confirm).
I later got restationed in VA and meet a guy that told me about Pirate and others. With alot of reading I became familier with what was right and wrong for the most part. I started planning a 3 link for the front and attempting to get my truck right. I learned alot in this whole process but I still didn't have the skills to build something worthy of a build thread. One lucky day I ended up winning a contest from Powerblock TV for 20k in tools and other stuff. I kept alot of them but I also new a guy back in NC that did outstanding fab work, and I bartered some of it for work. So now I have Bill helping me with my truck. If your in Greenville area or don't mind to travel I think he does awesome work.
Just some general specs.
2001 Silverado ex cab 5.3 4L60E
89' 241C sye and HAD flange
Chevy 60 and 14 bolt
42" Iroks Allied beadlocks
Double ended fullhydro ram
4 link front 14" kings
63" factory springs in the rear with add a leaf and ballistic 3.0 shackle joint
Here are some pictures of it after in initial SAS with all the gayness
View attachment 90250
View attachment 90251
Now this is what I am working with. Bill is able to take my ideas and make them work. We started with stipping the truck, getting rid of the old frame and makeing a new one with 2x6x.250 caped on each end with .500 plate drilled with a 1.5x.250wall stud.
View attachment 90257
He had me convinced that IFS was crap and would break and that a dana 44 would be the only way to go in the front with leaf springs and then I could run up to 40" tires in the local mud bog
. After investigating some previouse mag issues I found an article that talked about the differant axles weak points and what tires they can hold. At this point 1ton was the only way for me to go. I enlisted another local offroad shop to help me in my indevors and got a half ass product, and ended up doing alot of work myself so none the less I learned alot. I ended up with a really gay, horably designed solid axle silverado, with a hackjob fangtooth front end (see pictures to confirm). I later got restationed in VA and meet a guy that told me about Pirate and others. With alot of reading I became familier with what was right and wrong for the most part. I started planning a 3 link for the front and attempting to get my truck right. I learned alot in this whole process but I still didn't have the skills to build something worthy of a build thread. One lucky day I ended up winning a contest from Powerblock TV for 20k in tools and other stuff. I kept alot of them but I also new a guy back in NC that did outstanding fab work, and I bartered some of it for work. So now I have Bill helping me with my truck. If your in Greenville area or don't mind to travel I think he does awesome work.
Just some general specs.
2001 Silverado ex cab 5.3 4L60E
89' 241C sye and HAD flange
Chevy 60 and 14 bolt
42" Iroks Allied beadlocks
Double ended fullhydro ram
4 link front 14" kings
63" factory springs in the rear with add a leaf and ballistic 3.0 shackle joint
Here are some pictures of it after in initial SAS with all the gayness
View attachment 90250
View attachment 90251
Now this is what I am working with. Bill is able to take my ideas and make them work. We started with stipping the truck, getting rid of the old frame and makeing a new one with 2x6x.250 caped on each end with .500 plate drilled with a 1.5x.250wall stud.
View attachment 90257
