Installing Icon 3" Hanger and Shackle Kit for the Front Axle

I am starting to rethink my 40" tire choice.  37's would have been been cheaper to purchase, there would have been no lift (maybe a bumpstop spacer though) required, and it would have been easier to fit the spare.

However, this project is more about what is fun than what is sensible, so I am sticking with the 40" MPT81's.

The purpose of this lift/leveling kit to to provide clearance for the tires.  I have Bushwacker Cut Out Fenders installed (Part # 20044-02) and they nearly clear the 40's, but are not quite enough.

I did not want to lift the truck because it adds complexity, cost, and height.  Accordingly, I went with Icon because they have a reputation for being the best and offer a simple 3" kit.  I don't want any trouble from the lift.  I plan to build a bumpstop spacer so that I maintain about the original suspension up-travel while clearing the large tire at the same time.   I should gain some droop and maybe improved ride quality with the new shocks, Bilstein 5100's..

I ordered the Icon kit, part #33000-99 or 33099.  Icon has different kits with confusing part numbers because there is a separate kit for the early '99 trucks, and another for the late '99 to 04' Superdutys.
The lesson is to make sure you are getting what you need, call the retailer.

I also ordered Bilstein 5100 shocks, Part# BILL 33-185545.   The 5100's have a good reputation and the part number shown is specific to the front end of 99-04 Superdutys with 3-4.5" lift.  Longer shocks are required, I was told.  I think remote reservoir shocks are worth considering for some, but I went with regular 5100's.

 I also ordered an adjustable track bar by Icon.  This helps to center the axle under the truck, when the axle drops it also shifts side to side slightly.  The adjustable bar allows the axle to be pulled back to center after the lift shifts it slightly.  Part# 39290. They make two different track bars, make sure you get the one appropriate to your amount of lift.

I ordered everything from Performancelifts.com.  I am happy with the service and my call to them about the product was answered quickly and the guy knew his stuff.  They had good prices and I searched for, and found, a coupon code online.  Saved me 40$ or so, shipping is free.

Icon did not include the torque specs in their instructions, just saying to tighten to factory hardware to factory spec.  All the original hardware is reused.  I bought a 1-month subscription to Helminc.com, which gives me access to VERY useful documents/manuals/service/repair info for my vehicle.  The info is much more useful than a Chilton's style manual.  I will include the torque specs here to save some time and money.

In addition to the Icon directions I recommend:

-Disconnecting the track bar before trying to install the new hangers and shackles.  They suggest an adjustable track bar with this kit anyway, so just disconnect it from the get-go.  If you are retaining the original track bar you may want to leave it as is.   I worked hard to line things up and by the last shackle I could not get things to move.  Once I disconnected the track bar it was a breeze.

-Icon says to loosen the U-bolts,  which I did.  I suggest skipping this step if you disconnect the track bar.  If you still can't get things into place, loosen them as directed.  With no track bar and loosened U-bolts it is very easy to shift the axle around and get the springs/hangers/shackles lined up.

-Take the time to clean up any rust around the spring hangers.   Mr truck had some rust where the spring hanger bolts to, I covered it all with an anti corrosion lubricant and then greased the spring hanger itself, hoping to make is slide on easier and protect the pain to some degree.

-Icon says to remove the sway/stabilizer bar links, which I did.  I don't see why just disconnecting them from either the frame, OR the sway bar, would not be sufficient.

-I had to remove two brackets that help support the radiator, or some other liquid/air heat exchanger, in order to slide out the bolt that holds the spring into the hanger, nothing to it.

-To remove the track bar (369ft/lbs), I used a 4 foot piece of metal pipe over the end of my 1/2in. ratchet and a Craftsman 12 point, 30mm socket, worked great.  I would have used a 6 point if they had one at Sears.  To loosen this hardware you need only to turn the bolt, not the nut.  The nut has a tab that catches and holds the nut stationary.    For the axle/passenger side, with the wheels removed, turn the steering lock to the right, it gives better access, then have the pipe coming out about 45 degree and above the leaf spring.  Give it hell and some penetrating lubricant ahead of time. For the driver's/frame side, again manipulate the steering so you have good access.

-When you install the track bar you need so have some reference points so you know how much, and in which direction, to adjust it.  The track bar basically pulls/pushes the truck left or right in comparison to the front axle.  The goal is to have the truck perfectly centered over the axle at normal ride height.  To do this, with the tires on, I hung a plumb bob off the edge of fender, without the fender flare installed, and used one of the holes drilled for the fender to give me a front/back reference point that is about the same on each side.  Adjust the steering so the wheels are perfectly straight, then use a T-square or similar on the shoulder of the tire, see where the plumb bob makes contact with your measuring device and make the appropriate adjustment of the track bar until the plumb bob hits the same spot on each side.    That is how I did it, I am sure there are other ways, Icon's directions give no information about how to measure things. 

In this install you are going to be dealing with a bunch of torque specs over the 150ft/lbs my torque wrench is rated to.  I looked around for a higher capacity torque wrench and they are very expensive and  I could not find one to rent.   So, take your 1/2in. ratchet and the long pipe, and this:

(Make sure to get the 3/4in. version, Toolcity.com had the best price by far, $67 shipped)
and this:

Or some other set of adapters. you need to from 1/2 male to 3/4 female and the opposite.  I got this on Amazon, Neiko Professional Grade 8-Piece Impact Socket & Adapters - Reducer Set, $20 shipped)

To do the installation of the lift kit, just follow Icon's directions and keep in mind my suggestions listed above.  Same goes for the track bar.  There is nothing really complicated about it, it takes more brawn than brains.   Make sure to not allow your axle to droop to the point that the brake lines or ABS sensor cord are torn.


Here is a shot of the lift installed.  You have the new shackle on the left, the new hanger on the right, the new shock in the center and the new track bar in the background center.  

Torque Specs (ft/lbs):
-Sway bar links, both frame to link and link to bar: 85 and/or 80, two different #'s given.

-Sway to frame (you will probably not need to loosen these): 41

-Spring shackle for both fasteners: 185

-Spring hanger: 203 for fastener holding spring in hanger, and 76 for all 7 fasteners holding the hanger. (Note: the guide only listed #'s for the 2 outboard fasteners, I extrapolated and used 76 for all 7 fasteners)

-Shock, both ends: 76

Track bar, both ends: 369
At this point in the process I hit a bit of a stumbling block.  I put the lift in so that I could clear the new tires, but I can't come up with a good way to compress the suspension in a controlled manner.  I came up with a few arrangements using bottle jacks, steel tube, chains, etc. where I could could things to compress some, but not enough.  My plan was to compress the suspension until the tires made contact, or got very close, to the fenders.  Then I would lower the bumpstop accordingly and have max up-travel without concern for the tires impacting the truck.

One option would be in remove the leafs and lower the frame down to the axle and see how things flush out with tire clearance.  If you want to try this method, do it before you install the lift.  It would make getting the spring hanger and shackle mounted a real breeze if there was no spring to contend with.  

Being short on energy and time I looked for a simpler, faster solution and I think I found it: Timbren part #FF350SD4B.  This is a total 6.5", extra tall, rubber spring/bump stop.  It is not what Timbren calls for in the F450 application.  FF350SD4B is for F350's with the snowplow package, I believe.
Anyway, I liked the pedestal that the comes in the kit because it drops the spring and that is what I needed.   It is a softer spring than the F450 called for by Timbren.

The Timbren site gives spring part #'s in the install .PDF for each kit.  The specifics for each spring can be found here:
http://timbren.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Double_Convolution-FindYourPartNow.pdf
Omit the zeros from the spring number you find and then match it the part number in the link.

These Timbrens were half the price of the recommended model for the F450, I bought them on Amazon and the price was the best and the shipping was essentially overnight and free, impressive.

Takes all of 10mins to install.  I think you need a 13mm and a 17mm wrench.  I gained about 2" of total drop under total compression of the spring to 2".  Timbren lists the spring as having a height of 2" under max compression.  I don't see any real-world way it could get squished down that much.
I am going to call this good, and fit the fender liners and fender flares as tucked as I can be done with it.



Along those lines, two action shots of me cutting some sheet metal, all rights reserved by Dr. Bapic.

Here is a shot of the truck as it drives out of the garage for the first time in a while.  It has been a brutal winter, it is nice to be able to work with door open, get the truck out, and some of the dirty, dusty, stinky air in the garage replaced with some clean spring air. 

A big thanks to John B. and Jon S. for their help on this, and other, parts of the project.  ****Also Jon P. for taking pictures.  I have got a lot of buddies named Jon/John, great guys.


Here is a picture of a stainless eye bolt I used to attach zip ties and pull back the fender flare and fender liner.   I've got four on the driver's side and two on the passenger's side.  The eye is behind the fender, what you see is a washer and the ny-loc nut on the wheel side, with some Loc-Tite dripping out.

These picture show the contraption I rigged up to pull the emergency brake cable nearly flush with the sheet metal. Tighten the nut on the hook bolt to pull the cable back. 

The eye bolt is vertical with the eye at the bottom and the shaft going through a factory hole in the horizontal sheet metal.  Use big washers all-around.   The first pictures is looking in from the side and the second picture is taken from the perspective of the ground looking up. 

Part #: 

20044-02

Part #: 

20044-02

Part #: 

20044-02

Part #: 

20044-02

Part #: 

20044-02

Part #: 

20044-02

Custom Hitch, Original Flatbed Removal

My truck came with a commercial style hitch:

It is a little hard to see in this picture, but it hung down way too low for my purposes and was also very heavy duty. I decided it needed to go, as did the flatbed.

I chose to get rid of the flatbed because it:
-Was elevated very high off the frame and I want things as low as possible.
-Dropped down in the back, as you can see
-Totally restricted up-travel of the rear suspension
-Had a headache rack that would have been in the way
-I found someone to buy it for a decent price.

The guy I sold the flatbed to got the hitch as well.  In hindsight, I may have been better off leaving the hitch on there and cutting/welding it to suit my needs.

Regardless, he got the flatbed and the hitch assembly.  This left the end of my frame rails a little beat-up, with junk welds from the people that installed the flatbed, some rough grinding/cutting from the flatbed buyer, and a rusted out rear cross member.  The rear cross member, which also serves as the rear mount for the diesel tank, had a valley in it that held moisture and rusted through in some places.  This is the only significant rust I have found on the truck.

I decided to take out the cross member and replace it with a new one that would also serve as my new hitch system.

Easier said than done.

Plasma cutters are not fond of chassis coatings, they are not so great at being used on a vertical surface, and when you are using them with a plastic fuel tank within inches.......they are not the ticket.

To get the rear cross member off I had to grind some welds from the hitch installer and then drill out, I think, 12 rivets that Ford used to secure it.   Don't quote me, but I think I used a 9/16" bit after center punching the rivets and drilling a pilot hole.  You are near 9/16" steel when you have the frame itself and a rivet head on each side.  I tried air chisels and hammers and in the end drilling was the only way, mostly upside down.

Drilling metal upside down sucks, holding the drill in the air, hot metal shavings flying around.....glad to be done with that.  Buy a full face shield, and apron, and welding sleeves if you are going to try it.  I recently bought a set of step drill bits at Harbor Freight, so they are probably junk, and they work great. They would not be the best for drilling stuff this thick, but they would get you to the half way point easily. 

Once I got that sucker out, I began to build my custom hitch which would serve as:

-A regular hitch, 2.5" receiver
-An adjustable bumper mount for when the camper is on/off the truck
-A winch mount
-Part of the system holding the rear most brackets for the spring flatbed mount.

I used a huge hunk of 3/8" thick steel tube that was, pretty sure, 5"x3", must weigh 50lbs. Add to that 3/8" plate for the ends and two 2" receivers and one 2.5" receiver.   This picture gives you the basic idea:

 The larger, middle, receiver is to serve as a normal receiver would, the two smaller, outboard, receivers will serve as a bumper mount or winch mount.   I'll be making a winch mount that has the two 2x2 pieces of steel that plug into those receivers.  The same receiver set-up will be in the front bumper, so I can move the winch front to back.  

After welding and paint (2 coats POR15, 2 coats Rustoleum truck bed liner) it all looks like this and you can see my shoes are grey.   I tack welded everything and then had a pro finish it up.  The thickness of the material and critical nature of the welds trumped my manly motivation to do it myself.

Here is the hitch installed (terrible picture):

The hitch is bolted to the frame on each end with three 9/16" Grade 8 bolts and one 1/2" bolt that runs vertically and passes through the frame twice.  So, essentially 5 connection points per side.  I sleeved the portion that the 1/2" bolt runs through so that moisture could not find its way into the main beam of the assembly.   There are two holes that are tapped 1/2", 13 tooth, into the bottom of the hitch.   This is where the "skid plate" that holds the fuel tank bolts into for the rear connections.  I had to buy news bolts, the factory ones were an odd thread I could not match a tap to.  I did not use Loctite on these, but it would not hurt.  Use a lock washer at least.

Before installing the hitch I ran compressed air through it to dry out the inside.  Before I installed the fuel tank bolts I stuck the red straw on the WD-40 can into the holes and blasted away in all directions, hoping to give the inside an oily coating should moisture ever find its way in there.  This is one of the few times somebody probably used WD-40 for one of the intended uses.

As I mentioned earlier, the rear ends of the frame were hacked up all the welding and grinding they had seen.   The original owner of the truck sprayed some type of chassis coating on the truck.  I needed to protect the ends from corrosion.  The trouble was that some spots had paint, some chassis coating too, and there are lots of rough edges.  After considering a few options I decided to clean the ends as best I could, although not trying to get to bare metal.  I used Simple Green and plastic brush after first using a wire brush.  I got it all decently clean and then sprayed it with Eastwood Anti Rust

This products is basically a black (I think you can get amber too) wax/tar/goop coating.  It is not rubbery and I see no way, as is sometimes the concern with rust protection coatings, that water could get behind this stuff.  It is not a rubber coating, like a tool handle, it is more as if you smeared a hard grease over metal.   I have not had the truck out in the elements so I cannot speak to the long term effectiveness, but it went well, looks good and it seems like it should work.


It was a nice option to cover over rough metal that was painted in some spots, bare in some spots, and covered with a similar product in some spots.  I overlapped the spray onto the sections of the frame that had pristine coating on them, so I have good continuity of coverage.   I did 3 coats, each with about 24 hours dry time.

Hopefully, in the terrible picture below, you can see the nice coating it gave.  It does not really run, that is how uneven my frame rails are.   I do not recommend this coating for applications were it will be rubbed, impacted, etc.  It does not seems like a very tough coating, although decent.  The corrosion protection is the selling point.

Chassis Brackets for Spring Mounted Flatbed

I originally had intended to make a 3 point mount for my camper, similar to a Unimog's.  This type of mount eliminates the transfer of twist in the frame to the truck bed, or the camper on it.  It is important to protect the camper from twisting, the chassis flexes quite a bit when on uneven ground, so that cabinets stay fastened, walls don't crack, doors don't jamb, etc.  It also allows the frame to flex freely, which supplements the suspension.

After being educated by the group at Expeditionportal.com, I decided to use a spring-based mounting system.  I basically decided to copy what the M35 (Duece and a Half) uses.

The basic advantage over a 3 or 4 point system is that the load is spread over the entire length of the frame, and it is probably easy to build a spring system than a 3 or 4 point system.   Having the load spread over the entire length of the frame is needed for the truck with lighter and/or not boxed frames. (This is all relative of course and the F-450 has a huge frame by many standards)

To replicate this system I purchased angle iron, actually steel, 5"x3" and 1/4-5/16" thick.  I cut it to the necessary lengths, added extensions where the frame had the depth to allow it, drilled holes in the plate that allowed me to use existing holes in the frame, painted them, and bolted them on.   It took WAY longer than it should have, as everything seems to do.  I was able to fit six mounts total, 4 of them with room for two springs and 2 of them with room for one spring.

I used Grade 8 hardware all around, in 7/16, 9/16 and 3/4", all in 2" length.  You can see in the picture above how the bolt in the upper right corner is smaller, I was able to use all existing holes in the frame which preserved the paint, the strength, my time and drill bits.   The frame is 8" deep at this point, so I welded a 3" plate on.  This bracket, along with one just like it on the other side, are directly behind the cab.  

For the two brackets in the middle of the frame, which each have room for one spring, I had to get a little creative.

I used the same angle steel and welded on a 1/4" strip of steel, with a 3/8" spacer at the end, and bolted it up within the leaf spring perch.   Because the leaf spring perch is not as deep as the mount springs, I will need to cut one down and will probable try to fit a small section of spring above the angle steel that will come off of the flatbed structure.  Again, I used Grade 8 hardware and existing holes, with one 3/4" bolt into the frame and a 9/16" into the cross member.


For the rear most brackets, I incorporated them into the custom hitch that I built.

These got 3 x 9/16" bolts.





For all the hardware I used a lock washer and in some cases I also used a lock nut.

The brackets were coated with two coats of POR15 and two coats of Rustoleum aerosol can truck bed liner.   I am not happy with the coatings and will speak more about that later, it may be my fault.

One "trick" I used to mark the holes on the plates, for drilling, was to clamp the plate to the frame in the final position.  I then took a socket that fit just exactly in each hole that I wanted to mark.  I then dipped the end of the socket in spray paint, with the longest extension clipped in the socket.  I then pushed the socket through the existing hole in the frame and make a nice circle of orange spray paint that was centered and let me drill fairly accurately.  All of my hardware is 1/16" smaller than the hole it is in, to allow a little bit of wiggle room.  The hole(s) in each bracket for the spring bolt to bass through are 3/4", the bolt itself will be 1/2" or 5/8".

Sunrader Teardown #2, Goodbye Toyota Chassis!

After working hard to get the camper body off the chassis, it was time to sell the chassis to a scrapper and free up the work space.  Thanks to John B. for working a long nite with me to roll the chassis out, it took quite a few moves of the jackstands and hacksawing, but we got it done.

If you are undertaking this yourself I have a few suggestions:

-Get 6 jackstands that are tall, Harbor Freight has good ones cheap, the 6 tons, and a high reaching jack.
-Have a sharp hacksaw as you may need to cut some of the steel bars the camper rests on.  A cut-off wheel can help too but it is tight quarters with sparks flying
-Take the tires off a set of the rear rims and roll the chassis out on two steel rims, to get the chassis as low as possible.

You really need some help for this process, John would pull the chassis forward and I would watch and listen for the issues.  It probably took 20 moves to finally get the chassis out, as one part would hit another or a jackstand would have to be repositioned.  We moved a few inches at a time.


We did have to remove the forward gas tank, cut off the rear bumper, and remove the propane tank, blackwater tank and some associated plumbing.  I am going with a composting toilet so I was not too concerned with it.


By the time we were done I just decided to sell the truck to a junkyard.  After paying to have tires remounted, reattaching the gas tank, and getting the truck titled, I probably would be break even and selling it to the yard got me a small check and my space and time free with one phone call.

I've got big goals for the project by the end of November so stay close. 

Toasting our night or hard work and successfully separating the camper and chassis.  Yes, that is a bottle of Saki, real tough guy stuff.

Sunrader Tear-Down. #1

Once I had the 'Rader, it was time to rip it off the Toyota chassis and start remodeling.

Before I continue, my only drive with the 'Rader way the roughly 150 mile drive from Duluth to Minneapolis.  There is one hill leaving Duluth that really does simulate mountain driving, minus the thin air, and the 'Rader had to go really slow.  Once we hit the flatter sections, 65mph was a reasonable cruising speed.  On to the good stuff.

There will not be tons of detail here because the tear-down has actually been really easy.  As I write this, the camper is nearly ready to be jacked off the chassis after about 10 hours of solo work.

So far there have only been minor hiccups.  Two, maybe three special tools have been needed, beyond a full socket set.

Special items you might want:

 - Square drive screw driver (aka Robertson Type), not sure of the size.  There are hundreds of these screws all over the 'Rader, mainly where the camper connects to the chassis.

- Filet knife for cutting the butyl rubber and sealant between the chassis and cab.  The long flexible blade works perfectly.

- Nut splitter.  In many cases (propane tank, blackwater tank, etc.) there are nuts on bolts that you need to take off.  The trouble is you can't secure the bolt by the head, so when you turn the nut the bolt turns too.  The head is sandwiched between the top of the chassis and the camper floor.  I suggest lubing the bolt and hoping the nut turns without spinning the bolt.  If the bolt spins you can use a nut splitter to split the nut and it falls off. These are hard to use sometimes when you are upside down, but they get the job done.  A breaker bar or pipe fitted over a ratchet, to add torque, can be of help.

- Headlamp...it is dark under the camper and a headlamp makes everything easier.  The underside of my 'Rader is rusty and covered in crud, so clear safety glasses have been nice too, keep the crap out of my eyes.

- Cut-off wheel.  If you are going to remove the blackwater tank you will need to cut the interior perimeter of the flange that the toilet bolts to.  This is the part under the wax ring.  I used the one below, Dremel item 543, worked great.  It is not rated for metal, one that is might be nice for stubborn nuts and bolts.  Here is a free lesson:  Only use the bit in the clockwise direction.  If you don't the screw comes undone and the screw and wheel fall (possibly into a blackwater tank, yuck).

 So far I removed the toilet and blackwater tank (switching to a composting toilet and this will make the chassis lift off easier), the propane tank (rusted to oblivion, easier chassis lift off), the screws and sealant between cab and chassis, disconnected one of the two gas filler necks, the airbag fill ports, the electrical connections, a few drain tubes, 3 of the large lag bolts that go through the floor to the chassis, the single seat mounted behind the passenger seat (concealed a lag bolt), the screws connecting the 'Rader body to the running boards, and the outer dually wheels.

Removing the outer dually wheels should make it easier to roll the chassis out. I will have jacks along the perimeter.

Here are a few pictures.  As I said before, it has been easy sailing to this point, so nothing really critical to point out in the pictures. 

Got The 'Rader!!

After keeping my wanted-to-buy ad on Craiglist, I finally got a hit.  A local, 21', 1987 Sunrader.

I feel that I got a decent price, and it was just two hours away, I combined picking it up with a Boundary Waters Canoe Area trip.

Special thanks to Brizz, Bayla, Havila, Orionna, Faith, Kyle and Tom for taking the detour to Duluth to pick her up.  Here is a picture of the crew.

Here is the 'Rader.  I never took a good picture before I put in in the garage and started tearing it down.

Front Axle and Unit Bearings

Since I decided to run a larger and heavier than stock tire (Continental MPT81 335/80/20) I needed to address the weakness in the Dana 60 front axle.  The axles have a unit bearing or unitized bearing in the version which is in my truck.  I first heard that this could be an issue when reading about the Turtle V truck.  A friend of mine with an F350 and near stock tires and the same axle also had issues on two occasions.

The bottom line is that the front bearings can fail and if they do you are looking at significant costs and downtime just to return the truck back to the stock, weak, condition.

With the large, heavy tires that will be on the truck, I decided to bite the bullet and buy a Dynatrac Free Spin Kit for my truck.  I decided to also upgrade the front U-joints to a greaseable/serviceable version.  Mine were squeaking anyway, two birds......   I had manual hubs, if you have electronic-shift -on-the-fly (ESOF) you will loose that and have manual hubs.   The "free spin" is nice for the ESOF trucks because it stops your front drivetrain from spinning when in 2 wheel drive, saving fuel and wear.

If you order the Free Spin Kit, I suggest you order directly from Dynatrac.  I got expertise, a good price, and free shipping.  The F450 hubs require special machining, which Dynatrac performs in house.
I went with the Warn hubs, rather than the Dynatrac hubs.  This saved me about $450 dollars.  I feel that Warn makes great products, the Dynatrac would be nice, but I am not in need of their extra robustness. 

The kit:

FO60-3X1104-E

0

1

Free Spin Hub Conversion Kit, 99/04 Ford F-450/550 4x4, Warn Premium Hubs, Machined for Stock Adapter

The U-joints:
Dana Spicer SPL55-4X

With the Free Spin Kit and upgraded U-joints, I am confident my front axle is ready for the MPT 81.  Being serviceable, the stock bearing are not, should give that much more life and reliability to the front axle.

Automobile Service Company in Saint Louis Park, MN installed the kit for me.  I was happy with the work.  Dynatrac offers detailed installation instructions on their website.  Installing this kit is apparently pretty straight forward, but I decided to have a pro do it because of my time/space/energy considerations.  It only takes a pro a few hours with all the right tools and knowledge, worth it in my book.

This mod is not fun because you can't tell anything is different.

Somewhere in my journey I will be many miles from a service center and be grateful my wheels are happily turning.