Rescue rig project

[SuperBuickGuy]

A recap. I traded this

for this


and yeah, I know most of you were like "wth?" cool truck for diesel pickup.... but this was/is a plan.

I've been involved in search and rescue forever, and would use my H3 - but it's gone, and the H3 (even though it has a nice rubber mat in the back) just isn't that good for treating hurt people.... thus, it's time to actually build myself a truck that will serve that purpose (and be able to haul/tow about anything I can hitch to it).

So you know of my trials and tribulations about fuel injection pumps... it gets better, after driving it for 1000 miles, the pump started leaking out of the accellerator shaft. So, it got taken off and resealed.... which only costs about as much as if I'd bought a good pump from a reputable dealer in the first place... no, it'd have saved me money on several levels... oh well, lesson learned.

A rescue 4x4 needs a few things:
1) A pickup - 3/4 ton is best (yeah, I know my jeep friends will complain, but they just can't admit that they've been pre-empted by 4 wheelers)
2) diesel - slow, yet if you run out of fuel it's a lot slower to walk
3) 4 wheel drive (strangely, not as tough a truck as you'd imagine because all of the rescues I've been involved with are within 5 miles of a road or logging road) but a locker is nice since lots of rescues involve snow.
4) a canopy, winch, roof rack, storage boxes (lockable - a friend had his stuff stolen while on a rescue a couple years ago).

[SuperBuickGuy]

The plan:
1) put 3/4 gear under this truck
2) get some kind of mudder tire
3) winch
4) stereo (you'd be amazed at how useful this is)
5) kennel for the dogs (you didn't think my bloodhounds job was just to loaf, did you?)

I've had these axles for awhile, sold them, then bought them back - they were what were under the studebaker when I built it to be a 4x


check the gears (yep, 11 45 in the front) dana 44 (4.09:1)

10 41 in the rear (4.11:1)


notice in the above picture that you can only see one pin in the carrier - that's a locker, the non-locked 14 bolt rear have 4 pins, the lockers have 3

and yes, GM has a slightly different ratio front and rear so the vehicle doesn't slide so easily in slick conditions and because the extra weight in the front makes the front tires smaller than the rear

I admit it - I'm a cheapskate.... 16 bucks for "rebuilt" calipers that may or may not work and 30 bucks (each) for decent ones is too much.... to rebuild a caliper is about the easiest job there is, kit costs $1.00 for Raybestos

you have to do 2 things:
remove the old


there are 2 seals - a dust seal on the top (that's a pain to get out and install), and a seal that seals to the piston
ut oh, problem

now I could clean up that rust (I knew this caliper leaked) but a new piston is $10.00...

so after a quick hone



it's easiest to put the dust seal on by first threading it through the piston


be sure to use brake fluid as lubricant


and press it into place



and it's done.... my cost to rebuild two calipers was $12.00

next up, axle install, and axle truss

[squirrel]

Fun project!


Did you replace the bolt and sleeve O rings on the calipers?

Would a suburban work well for a rescue truck? or do you prefer a separate cab?

[SuperBuickGuy]

Didn't replace the rings - have the parts, but the rubber looked fine and hold the rings.

Suburbans work excellent for rescue rigs - however, there are times when having the dogs in a separate compartment is a good thing. With this rig, I have sliding windows between the canopy and the cab - so I can open it up enough to communicate.

forgot to mention.
also I'll add, MIG welder, air compressor and tank with sufficient capacity to run an impact gun.

[silver_bullet]

I appreciate someone taking a square body and rescuing it!!! for, of all things, a rescue rig!!! bravo!!!

[STINEY]

Cool project.

If you need any misc stuff shoot me a list, I'll be scrapping my Grandpa's '78 in the near future. It is complete and the interior is pretty good, but it suffers from terminal rust. Its a Silverado 3/4 ton.

[Bamfster]

Neat deal. Kinda what I want to do with the Yukon ...... a go anywhere, do anything rig, more for camping trips and backroad mountain exploring.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Neat deal. Kinda what I want to do with the Yukon ...... a go anywhere, do anything rig, more for camping trips and backroad mountain exploring.

6 lug 3/4 ton conversion is the best first step for that ... I blew the engagement gear out in the front of my last rescue truck doing this:


Thanks for the offer Stiney - next thread post will be putting the new interior in the truck

[SuperBuickGuy]

Interior:
interestingly, this interior has been rebuilt at least once before.











New carpet






now to figure out whether I want to add padding to the seat - and I have to fix a spring.

[stage1scott]

WOW-the breadth and depth of your projects always continues to amaze me!! coolprject, you go!!

[SuperBuickGuy]

Interior is almost finished (need to figure out what to do about the stereo)



I can't live without putting zip screws on something I worked on - in this case, the seat cover didn't have the flange to attach like the old seat.



and done with this part


easy stuff... next up is 3/4 ton axles then figure out whether or not I need to buy new hoses for the A/C

[SuperBuickGuy]

So I got a bunch done on the truck Sunday, but as is normal, what I thought I wouldn't have to mess with is probably going to turn into an upgrade.

so I hung the axles - pretty straight forward



there are a few things to note:
1) you will need rear U bolts for the larger rear, and you will need 1 smaller U-bolt for the front axle (why a 83 dana 44 has a larger u-bolt closest to the pumpkin is something you'll have to ask the GM engineers about...)
2) the correct u-joint is a 447 from Napa. They will never give you the right straps for the 14 bolt - unless you take the straps with you..... which, in my case isn't possible - however, the dana 44 straps from the 83 axle worked with just a bit of tapping (ever wonder how I have all those useless facts? - here's an example of why.

I like Dana 60 front axles, but not enough to spend 1k for one.... especially since, in my experience, a 44 will work just fine with 2 modifications first.... a brace



and also weld the tubes to the pumpkin... call it the 95% of a dana 60 in strength... other side benefit is 44s are basically worth only scrap - however, on this conversion I'm saving the axle so when (not if) I break an axle I have the first spare.

What started as a can't bleed the right rear is turning into a disc brake conversion.... first, I fought to pull the drum off...

if you look close you can see that the pad is gone, and there is an 1/8" groove worn into the drum...



from a bit of research I see that 1976 eldorado calipers work on 80 3/4 ton rotors.... so 200 plus 75 plus 45 for calipers, rotors, and flange and I have disc brakes... as opposed to 120 plus 85 plus 20 for drums, pads, and install kit to retain the drums....

[SuperBuickGuy]

got a few of the parts today, and removed the other drum... so much easier to remove when you pound the studs into the drum then unbolt the backing plate from the axle....

oh yeah, 4.59 per stud from NAPA.... or 2.00 from Rockauto.... that was a bit of a surprise



and, since I'm already there - I'm replacing the master cylinder.. 30.00 for a brand new one (Raybestos)... cheap insurance, especially since the one on the car is filled with bad, bad fluid.

[JOES66FURY]

something about this project that tugs at the heart strings...love everything about it..

[HillbillySailor2]

What kind of winch (if any) are you going to run on this rig?