beefin' up my m1009

[K5cucvEOD]

Well, decided to beef up my K5. I originally instaled a banks turbo on this rig, but the engine gave out. Picked up a couple of m1008's at auction, and am using one as a donor vehicle. I pulled the engine, trans, and t-case. They are going in the K5 along with the one ton axles. Stripped down the d60, replaced the fluid, u-joints, re-greased all bearings. I just replaced the oil pan gasket and bolting on the turbo. Reinstalling the engine, trans/t-case tomorrow. Just got my crossover steering kit from sky-manufacturing. Trying to find a used 2wd steering box up here in Alaska.

 

[DokWatson]

I'm thinking I'll just get an A-1 Cardone re-manufactured box from Summit when I do my crossover steering.

But, if you find someone with a bunch of 2wd boxes let me know

 

[my69camaro]

Do you need to move the springs mounts on the axles to make this swap?

 

[raiburn]

Sky manufacturing cross over kit?

How much was this kit? Where did you find it? It looks really nice.

 

[Cucvnut]

Sky's Off-road Design - Home they have good stuff or you can use 4x4 Custom Truck Parts | Off Road Truck Parts | California Custom Trucks

on a k5 or M1009 you need to move the spring perches on the rear axle to make it line up with the springs. sky and ord and wfo all make spring perches for this.

here is a link to a good page on building a k5 suspesion with one ton running gear
The K5 Project

 

[K5cucvEOD]

well, another full day at the auto shop. with the help of a friend, we have been able to reinstall the newer engine and trans/t-case. spent the rest of the day hooking things back up. I did find out that the cross-members of the m1009 and 1008.s are not the same the m1009's is wider at the ends, has a bigger drop, and longer over all.
Hope to have it running by the end of the week.

thanks for the heads up on the spring perches. I will be doing the axle swap in the next couple of weeks.

 

[3dubs]

STUD GIRDLE!!!!!! If you add a turbo without it you are going to have problems. When it is apart it is real easy to do. STUD GIRDLE KIT They should pay me for pushing their product. You can make one from angle iron but then you have minor adjustments and checking clearances. I just got the kit. If you want your engine to last longer than the truck use it.

 

[K5cucvEOD]

STUD GIRDLE!!!!!! If you add a turbo without it you are going to have problems. When it is apart it is real easy to do. STUD GIRDLE KIT They should pay me for pushing their product. You can make one from angle iron but then you have minor adjustments and checking clearances. I just got the kit. If you want your engine to last longer than the truck use it.

Thanks for the tip. I'll look in to it.

 

[K5cucvEOD]

Sky manufacturing cross over kit?

How much was this kit? Where did you find it? It looks really nice.

The Sky crossover kit price is listed on-line. I have it all bolted on, but haven't had it on the road yet. Looks solid.

 

[K5cucvEOD]

Tore down the D60 all the way. The king pins had a lot of scoring on them. So everything got replaced. I found a lug nut that fit the king pin and a 3/4in drive impact and they came right out. The driver side gets a cap and the passenger side gets the new steering arm from sky manufacturing. D60 is finished and on the truck. Now for the rear end!

 

[K5cucvEOD]

Well, its been a while since my last update on the truck. I'm back in Afghanistan, again. I left off with the D60 rebuild. That beautiful thing is finished, for now, and mounted on the truck. The next obstacle to tackle was the crossover steering. I didn't think anything of it until I tried to bolt it on. It didn't fit. Imagine that! It never crossed my mind that the crossover exhaust pipe would interfere with the crossover steering.

This is the standard bent that Sky manufacturing puts on their chevy crossover kits.

Here's another shot of the problem.

I contacted Sky and told them the issue I was having and they offered to trade out the drag link for one that would fit my application. The bottom drag link is the custom one with a 10 deg up turn. It fit perfectly.


Shortly after finishing the crossover steering I got my new wheels and tires. I ordered 36x13.5R16 radial IROKS on 16x10 Procomp's from 4Wheel Parts. They had the best price around even with shipping to Alaska.


Next to the old 33's

 

[K5cucvEOD]

Next was dropping the 14bolt out of the 1008 in to my garage and giving it a once over. It needed the fluid changed, but the rest of it looked great. I cut the spring perches off and cleaned up the tubing so the perches can be relocated when I do the install. For those who don't know, you have to relocate the spring perches on a 14bolt from a 1ton truck to put it on a K5. The K5 has a narrower mounting location.

During the 14bolt install, I also installed 1" zero rate springs from ORD. They helped level out the rear end. It sits nice now.

I did have to do a little fender trimming with the 36" IROKs. I also have a Warn M8274 winch that I will be mounting to the truck when I get home from Afghanistan.

 

[K5cucvEOD]

So far, here is how my M1009 is equipped:

6.2L with Banks Turbo
TH400 w/ NP208
Dana 60 front w/ 4.56 gears, open dif
14bolt ff w/ Detroit Locker
Sky Manufacturing crossover steering
36" IROK Super Swampers

I still have lots of plans for this truck

 

[SGT LongT]

You've got a great truck there I would like to add 1ton axles to my M1009 to run the 37" radials on HMMWV wheels along with a 700R4, lowmax transfer, turbo, snorkel, etc etc the list just keeps growing Must feed green addiction . Keep safe across the pond!

 

[IdahoPlowboy]

Nice looking truck.

 

[Cucvnut]

Looks good man.

 

[superburban]

Do you have any plans to do high-steer? It looks pretty easy with the new passenger side steering arm.

This project of yours is just about the very same thing I've got planned for my 86 civy diesel K5.

 

[vinny-socom1]

what size lift did you go with?

looks good!!!

Vinny

 

[K5cucvEOD]

Do you have any plans to do high-steer? It looks pretty easy with the new passenger side steering arm.

This project of yours is just about the very same thing I've got planned for my 86 civy diesel K5.

Maybe down the road. It would be pretty easy to add.

 

[K5cucvEOD]

what size lift did you go with?

looks good!!!

Vinny

I have 4" Rough Country lift springs front and rear. 1" zero rates in the rear. The Dana 60 spring perches sit about 3/4" taller than the 10 bolt. So, all and all I'm at about 5" of lift. The Rough country springs live up to their name. They are very rough. I plan on adding longer springs front and rear and doing a shackle flip, someday.