High Sierra - 6" Lift

Today on trucks, Stacy's pulling off the stock suspension on project High Sierra to make room for a cool six inch lift up front,

then he'll move to the back and not only lift it but add on awesome track bars and shocks.

And finally it's a quick tip that will help you keep those cool headers from leaking.

That's all today on trucks.

Welcome to trucks.

Last week, we started Project High Sierra by cutting this roof, putting a sliding rag top in this 99 GMC.

That way we can look up at the stars when we get to our favorite camping spot.

Unfortunately, most stock trucks

aren't gonna make it to your favorite camping spot. So the idea behind Project High Sierra

is to build a truck that's usable to the outdoor enthusiast,

whether he's into hunting, fishing, kayaking, whatever

the first thing we're gonna do is deal with the high and high Sierra, which means we're gonna jack this suspension up six inches and put on 35 inch tires.

Now lifting the suspension on a late model four by four with an independent front is a big project, especially since we're gonna tear out the whole front suspension and reengineer it. And in the meantime, use almost every tool we've got in the shop. But it is something that you can do if you take your time and the result, it's definitely worth it. So here we go.

The kit we're gonna use is from Explore Pro Comp and it is a big one.

And since we're gonna do the front first, that's what we've got laid out here. Now, notice we got a new front cross member, all kinds of braces and brackets, got another cross member, new shocks, dual shock hoops for the front, even a new front drive shaft. Now, this mountain of hardware is what holds it all together. Now, I know this looks pretty scary, but bear with me, I'm gonna show you where all this stuff goes.

The first thing you need to do is get the truck up in the air and get the wheels off of it

and then take out the torsion bars. Now, for those of you that don't know, a torsion bar is under load back here

and that transfers up

to the lower A R. Now, this gives you your spring rate. Now, on a four wheel drive, this takes the place of a coil spring

because your axle shaft runs right where your coil spring would normally go.

Now to get your bars out,

make sure that you mark them really well. So when you reinstall them, they go back exactly the way they were

also

on a GM product. You're gonna need to either rent or buy this special tool

because that will release the tension of the torsion bar. Now, once the bars are out,

you'll need to take off this cross member too,

up front, you'll need to disconnect the A BS line,

then take off the caliper, make sure that you wire, tie it up out of the way. So you don't put stress on these brake hoses

and then we'll come up underneath

and we'll unbolt this axle right here at the differential.

Then we'll knock the tie rod ends loose from the spindles,

followed by the sway bar end links,

the sharks.

Finally,

the upper and lower a arms and the spindle come out as a complete assembly. Now, if you don't have access to a jack like this,

now is the time you're going to need an extra set of hands.

All right. Now we're ready to disconnect the front drive shaft from the differential.

Then we'll move up to the electrical connections and the vent lines and secure those up out of the way

with the sway bar, out of the way. It's time for this drag link.

Now, let me just tell you this is a pain because there's no way to get the pickle fork up in there to really knock it loose. The best way to do it

is to knock it loose here at the idler arm. Just remember you still need to knock this idler arm off the drag link because you gotta reuse it in the build up.

Next up is the differential cross member

and with the jack under the differential just unbolt it and lower it down.

Well, that takes care of the disassembly of the front. Now, I bet you think you just put some new parts on and you're done right

now. It's not that easy. We got some modifications to do under here,

ok. On the driver's side,

you're gonna need to cut off this old differential mount all the way into here.

Then come out here, cut off this old bump stop cup because this needs to be smooth.

Then come inside,

cut out a 3.5 by four inch piece

and then finally

get rid of these alignment pins.

I'm gonna cut everything out with the plasma cutter saws, all will work just as well

and then come back in and grind everything down smooth.

Now, remember, no matter which route you use, you still have fuel lines around here so you need to be careful whichever way you go.

Now, on the passenger side, the modifications are pretty much the same bump stop cup comes out

the alignment pins. But down here, all you have to take is a little bit of this corner for clearance, which is a whole lot different than all this. You had to cut out on the driver's side.

Now we're ready for the new cross member.

And this slides right in here to these lower a arm pockets and uses the stock hardware. Now, it's very important that this is in perfect alignment. So do whatever grinding or drilling you have to, to make it right

now. We're using the C clamp to hold it up tight. Here.

We're gonna mark these holes to drill them later on.

And also

over here where we cut this metal out,

gonna need to weld in this piece that comes with the kit to get the strength back in here.

So with the cross member still in place, we're gonna go ahead and tack weld that in,

make your finish welds

once your holes are drilled, that takes care of your major modifications. So

you can breathe a sigh of relief, but stay with this because after the break, that's when we bolt on the good stuff.

Now that Stacy's done tearing it apart when we come back, he's gonna bolt on the new gear

and later some hot tips on how to get a better seal around headers and intakes.

Welcome back to trucks. We are right in the middle of putting a six inch lift on a 99 GMC.

We're working on the front already have a disassembled time to start putting new stuff on.

Now, the front differentials got to drop six inches to match the suspension. So first thing we did is put on these drop brackets, comes with the kit,

then we'll go ahead and just jack the differential up and bolt it in place,

then install the torque strut that supports the differential and finally

reinstall that new cross member.

Obviously, your steering controls are gonna have to be lowered. So first thing we'll do is put on this drop link that bolts to the pitman and the idler arms.

Yeah.

Then we'll mount this new front cross member

up to these front, lower a arm pockets.

Yeah,

and finally

bolt on the stock drag link. Now, any time you've got this much of a steering drop, it's gonna flex on you unless it's supported.

And that's what these little rod ends are for. They connect the steering linkage

to the front cross member and keep it from flexing forward to back, but they still allow it to rotate left to right like it needs to.

It's also very important that there's no binding in here.

All right, it's time to get out from under the front and move to the side. Now, our kit comes with the dual shock option. So we're just gonna slide these hoops into place in the old upper A arm pockets

with the hoop in place. We bolt on the bracket which relocates the upper A arm,

then the shocks and support bracket which all rotates up and is bolted where the old shock used to go.

The factory sway bar is remounted upside down using these spacers

and the supplied hardware

now with this much suspension hanging down one good shot here and this whole thing is gonna wanna buckle back.

So to keep that from happening,

we've got these braces,

they go into the cross member

then back to the transmission cross member and this supports the whole system.

Oh, remember these are urethane bushing. So grease them, they're gonna squeak on you.

Finally, we're ready for the A arm and spindle assemblies and notice the A arm slide right into these new pockets. And the kit comes with new cam bolts for your alignment.

From here on out. Everything will just kind of fall back together. Got your tie rod ends,

your sway bar end links.

Don't forget your A BS sensor,

got your axles, put your brake calipers on, make sure that you have enough slack in your hoses and finally your shocks come down and mount to this bracket that sits right on top of the upper A arm.

There's just a couple of things left to do to finish the front end. Now, obviously, you can't drop your A R six inches and expect the torsion bars to line up. So the kit comes with these brackets

mo

right here on the frame

and they drop your cross member. Now you use these rivets for alignment and

then just clamp it in place,

then drill your holes

and then remount your cross member

and then reinstall your torsion bars.

The last thing that you need to do to finish up. The front end

is put on the new drive shaft. Now, you'll notice that these two drive shafts are the same length. So theoretically, you could reuse this one.

But remember, your drive shaft angle is now a lot steeper. So you're gonna wear out your U joints. You're gonna have vibration

and you'll probably have clearance problems with the exhaust.

This new shaft with the CV joint will eliminate those problems. Now, once you have the drive shaft in

that takes care of the toughest part of this build up and that's the front end after the break. We're gonna tear into the back and finish this thing up

next. The new blocks, shocks and springs are going on as we finish off the lift on project. Hi, Sierra

just can't get enough of trucks. Check us out online at trucks, tv.com.

Hm.

Welcome back. We are three quarters of the way done with putting a six inch pro comp lift on Project High Sierra and it's gonna be cool. Now, like I said before the break, the front suspension is the toughest part of this kit. So now that, that's out of the way

we are gonna smoke on this rear end. Now, the first thing that you need to do is put a jack under the differential to support it,

unbolt your shocks

and then undo your U bolts and finally just lower the rear axle down.

Hm.

This kit gets its lift in the rear by using a combination of a, a

leafs

and four inch blocks. Now let me show you how these leaves go in.

First, put a clamp on the leaf spring and remove the center bolt,

then release the clamp to separate the leaves.

Now add the new leaf to the spring pack and reassemble using the new center bolt,

finally cut off the extra length and that takes care of the springs.

Now, like I said before,

the kid gets the majority of its lift by using a four inch block. But remember any time you put a taller block between the spring and the axle,

well, that is just like using a longer handle wrench to get more torque on a bolt, except in this case,

all that torque

goes up into that leaf spring. When you hit the gas

that gives you axle wrap, the taller the block, the more axle wrap is a problem. Now, the kit fixes that problem

with these traction bars,

the bracket for those goes right between the block and the axle.

And this will totally fix that problem

to mount the bars, raise the jack. So the truck's weight is on the leaf springs,

install the track bars to the rear mount,

then locate the front bracket on the frame and market,

then drill the holes

and finally just mounted up.

All right.

The last thing we need to do is hook up the rear shocks, but

you can forget about the stock mounts because this kit uses two on each side

and they mount right here on the traction bar. So, the first thing that you're gonna wanna do is take this bracket,

mount it here on top of the spring eye

and check this out. It's already got holes. So you don't even have to drill

finally,

bolt on the shocks.

Now. Is this cool or what

now? Just so, you know, any time that you put a traction bar on,

well, if you're after extreme axle articulation, now

that can limit that a little bit. But since this is not an extreme rock crawling vehicle, that's not gonna be a problem for us.

All right. Now, I know you're dying to know what wheel and tire combination that we're gonna use on this truck. Well, here it is

for wheels. We went to Weld racing, got a set of these 16 by eight super single twos because they look great. They're really strong

and they clean up really easy. Now for tires, we went to pro comp, got a set of their mud and terrains because they're very aggressive in the mud,

but they're also livable on the street and the size a big hole. 35 1250.

Well,

you can see what a difference a six inch lift makes. You can also finally see why we're calling this project High Sierra. Now, a couple of things, this is kind of a difficult project. It's gonna peg out our difficulty meter because I had to use welder grinder, all kinds of suspension tools. And you need to have a good understanding of suspension geometry. Also,

you need to take it to an alignment shop before you put any kind of miles on it. But after that,

take it out

and enjoy it because that's what they're for

when we return. Stacy's showing you how to keep those cool headers doing their job without leaking.

And now truck gear, parts, tools and equipment for pickups and sport utilities.

If you've been to a truck show lately. Well, you know that there is more custom body modifications going on in the world of trucks than

anywhere else.

And one of the most popular is French and tail lights

and this involves recessing the lights into the body of the truck and it's been pretty tricky and expensive because you really needed to know what you were doing.

Well, Watson Street works has made it easy for everybody

because they came out with their French led tail light kits. Now, the kit comes with the lights,

the wiring harness and of course the hardware, but most importantly,

you get this 18 gauge steel bucket

that allows you to recess the light into the tailgate or a roll pan and literally save yourself hours of custom work. Now, Watsons will ship you a set of these for 100 and 80 bucks. Now, you're probably wondering, I know the crew was where the term French came from.

Oh, I know what you're thinking, but

it didn't have anything to do with kissing.

That's another how to show

it actually came about years ago because stylistically

this resembles the look of a French cuff on his shirt. It's pretty cool. Huh.

Speaking of custom body work. Since the 19 sixties, the filler of choice to smooth everything out

has of course, been plastic body filler. But before that came along,

all the great customizer. Well, they use lead or body solders. It's called now.

Unfortunately, working lead is almost

become a lost art.

That's really too bad because there are some times when working lead would be really appropriate, like in a high strength situation around doors and windows or for you purists that wouldn't dream of putting any plastic on your classic truck.

Well, the Eastwood company got you covered with their body solder kit.

Now, the kit comes with tallow,

couple of files,

the tinning butter,

some wooden handles so you can smooth the lead out and of course, the lead bars themselves. Now, if you're serious about your body work, well, you need this kit, the price

100 and 20 bucks.

Today's last truck gear has to do with tools which you can never have too much of, you know that

it's called the sturdy step. And it's from

K and D products. Now, just like the name implies, you get two solid steps

and a firm platform to stand on when you're working on your project. This is perfect for a lifted vehicle.

Now, if you add to it, this side kick adjustable tray,

well, you've always got a place to put your tools and your parts when you're working on the project.

Now, if you think the sturdy step and the sidekick will make your life easier.

Give K and D products a call,

they'll set you up

today's tip deals with headers. And that age old question of how do you get them to seal up and not leak? Well, most people figure that if you have headers, you're gonna have leaks, they go together like ham and eggs, you got one, you're gonna have the other.

Well, that's not

necessarily the case, but there is a trick to get them to seal up. So here's what you do.

First of all, bolt them on using a quality gasket,

then start the engine, warm it up and retort your bolts. You're gonna need to do this a couple of times because what's going on

is that new gasket hasn't taken a seat yet?

So as the engine warms up and cools down,

the gasket expands and contracts,

it's gonna make your bolts get loose. Of course, that'll give you leaks.

Now, if you just put on the intake gasket, same thing, you need to check those bolts after the engine's warmed up and cooled down a couple of times because those will want to get loose on you,

believe me, you don't want those to leak.

Now, the good news is, is once you've done this a couple of times,

the gaskets will have taken a seat. You don't have to mess with it.

You can drive for thousands of miles and

not worry about any leaks.

Next week on trucks, we'll finish off project High Sierra as we add a canvas cap and cargo rack to carry your favorite toys.

And we'll take it out for a test drive in the great outdoor

and later from one way it looks like a car from another. It's a truck. We'll take a close look at a rare 1959 dodge swept side.

That's all next week on trucks

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