Thread: 1972 Chevy K30 Longhorn Build

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Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

I was more leary of the engine stand than this hoist to be honest with ya. The thought of that much weight being held on with 4 12mm bolts is nerve racking. I guess I shouldn't have been worried. They are cummins head bolts I cut down.

I can say that these 7.3s aren't as heavy as a 5.9 Cummins. You really have to give the ol hoist a good shove to get a 5.9 moving on it. This 7.3 moved like butter. It went in really nice.

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I've had a few 5.9's apart and I knew they were heavy, I just figured a V8 would weigh more. I think that 12 valve 5.9 has to one of the best motors ever made. Several models of tractors use them and in the last 20 years I've only had a few apart. They don't seem to care how much Hp you give them either, just an amazing motor. The 24 valve may be just as good too, I don't know much about them.

It's definitely not from HF...

Those motors ARE heavy...

Progress! Looking good!

Rich

nice looking powerhouse

I generally use the engine hoist to put in a 5.9 crank. I put the 7.3 crank in by hand just to give an idea. From what I've seen online the 7.3 psd's are around 920lbs. So probably 2-300lbs lighter than a cummins. I know I could have built this dude 2 5.9s for what the parts alone have cost for this 7.3. It is craziness.

You are absolutely right. The 5.9s will take alot of power and they seem to live nearly for ever if maintained. I've seen half a million plus mile ones that were abused and still ran decent. They still had cross hatching in the cylinder walls too.

I've been busy working on the blue ford. The owner wants it done for this coming weekend..... We'll see about that. Every time I turn around, i'm missing bolts, a bracket, o rings, or something. It has been a real pain with a young kid that keeps asking, is it running yet?

Back to the 72. Last Friday I took my son to school and on the way home the truck started pulling pretty hard when I hit the brakes. I parked it in the front yard and figured I'd look at it Saturday. Well Saturday turned into work on the wife's truck, and help the wife out. She is pretty much bed ridden right now. She got a blood clot last week and has been in bad pain since. She is on thinners and some pain meds and I'm trying to do everything I can to keep things going. Needless to say I didn't touch the 72 this weekend.

This morning my brother stopped by to get the insurance info and plate numbers for the 72 because you need that info to register for power tour. I decided I'd move the 72 to behind the garage because it was going to rain the next day or day and a half. The front yard is pretty thrashed from people parking there after a birthday party in January, so I'm trying to keep the ruts down to a minimum.

Anyhow, I pulled the 72 up and started backing in the alley. I cranked the wheels all the way to the right and heard a loud bang, pop. Hmm, what was that? 10-15 feet later I realized I have little to no steering. I got out to see the 3 of the 4 studs that secure the steering lift block to the axle knuckle sheared off. Holly sh*t! Man am I glad I actually listened to my gut and didn't drive the truck any farther than I did. I took the only non broken stud loose and there doesn't appear to be any signs that the other studs were loose. I'm guessing 1 or 2 studs broke some time and another just let go this morning. I tried finding where I purchased the steering block kit from and couldn't find it. I then realized I got it off ebay and I'm pretty sure these studs weren't ARP ones like the ad claimed. I called the people but they won't give any info or specs on what material the studs are actually from. Live and learn. So now the 72 is parked until I can install the cross over steering I have for my 76 on this. I'll just get it in the garage and take the bed off and get it pretty'd up for power tour. I'm just so glad it broke in the drive way. That could have been a crap show to say the least!

Wow, that could of been nasty if that had happened out on the free way.

Sorry to hear the wife's been ill. Hope she's back on her feet soon!!!


That was scary having the steering fasteners break like that. Did they break while the truck was stationary and you were turning the steering wheel?
Or was the truck rolling?

It really doesn't matter I guess.. those bolts just cannot break! Lives depend on so many parts every day. Glad to know you're still with us! 8-)

Originally Posted by Whiplash23T

Wow, that could of been nasty if that had happened out on the free way.

Yeah, it would not have been good.

Originally Posted by 34_40

Sorry to hear the wife's been ill. Hope she's back on her feet soon!!!


That was scary having the steering fasteners break like that. Did they break while the truck was stationary and you were turning the steering wheel?
Or was the truck rolling?

It really doesn't matter I guess.. those bolts just cannot break! Lives depend on so many parts every day. Glad to know you're still with us! 8-)

Thanks Mike. The doctor said it could be a month or longer before the swelling goes down and the pain goes away. Doesn't sound like any fun to me.

The truck was stationary and I was turning the wheel when they broke. I still can't believe they broke. After thinking about it, I should have known they aren't ARP studs. If they were, they would say it on the end and have a hex recessed in them to turn them in. These are probably just some cheap junk. I've had them too long to try to go after the seller so it's a lesson learned. Hopefully the studs come out of the knuckle without a fight............ Right Haha

glad your o.k. sounds pretty scary. Hope you wife is better soon, too!

Hope the Mrs gets better, just be at her beckon call and it should help. Glad you caught the steering on the 72 when it was parked. I am getting more weary of the Ebay crap all the time. I seem to be getting burned with it more than I used to. It amazes me how often steering breaks at slow speeds. My brother in law pulled into convenience store with his Chevy work van and the pitman arm fell off the steering box. He was not impressed.

Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

Hope the Mrs gets better, just be at her beckon call and it should help. Glad you caught the steering on the 72 when it was parked. I am getting more weary of the Ebay crap all the time. I seem to be getting burned with it more than I used to. It amazes me how often steering breaks at slow speeds. My brother in law pulled into convenience store with his Chevy work van and the pitman arm fell off the steering box. He was not impressed.

I've been on several service calls where tie rods or drag links have just fallen off a semi. They never seem to come off going down the road. Just during turning in a parking lot. I've had drivers put the tie rod back on the ball stud, wire it up and drive them home. Talk about sketchy!

Glad to see the steering mishap was in the yard. Prayers for a speedy recovery for the missus!

so its 45 years old and something broke?????? well the biggest load on the steering system from the driver toward the road is around the steering box or pitman. Things look a little rusty so while apart I think you should carefully go thru every component part of the spindles, ball joints, etc. Also on a 4x4, while in 4x drive , the u-joints will have a tremendous force generated when the joints are over about 3 degrees out of alignment. this over a period of time is like a sledge hammer hitting those components leading back to the steering wheel millions of times---how long should it take for a guy with a sledge hammer to destroy a few skinny bolts?????? Or a STUD with a sledge???????to destroy some toy studs?????? Need more coffee--------

Jerry, maybe try reading people's build thread before making assumptions. These studs weren't 45 years old. And I just installed new king pins in this front axle last late spring. Yeah, it is rusty. Why's that? Because I was driving it during winter and I should not have been. The liquid rust is terrible. I just couldn't stop driving it though. The rust shows that one or 2 of the studs were broken for a while other wise there would be no nasty rust there. All the steering components on this front end are new. Either way, these were sold as heavy duty fasteners suited for a rock buggy front axle. Obviously they wouldn't last 5 minutes on a rock buggy. I've never shock loaded this front axle so there is no reason they should have failed.