Kinda got carried away..... M1028 rebuild

[nattieleather]

Of all the tires in the world why did you pick NDCC tires? I'm not critising just wondering. Your truck looks great!

 

[Sharecropper]

nattie - please read posts #62 + #63

 

[89m1007]

Looks good. It gave me some ideas. I wonder how those tires would work on a m1009 and how they are off road

 

[Sharecropper]

Reply to 89m1007 -

I see no reason why the NDT would not work fine for any M1009, however the axle gearing would need to be changed if you are going with 11.00/20. I am not sure what the lowest gearing can be in a 10-bolt and 44 axle, so you may need to swap out these with a 14-bolt and 60 axles.

A minimum of 5" lift will be required and include Zero-Rates, in order to keep the axles centered in the fender wells. In addition, substantial fender trimming will be necessary if you plan to use the 11.00/20 size.

In regards to the NDT tread for off-road use, it is my opinion that it is the best tread for mud/snow due to its self-cleaning ability. My 11.00/20's are 12-ply rated, and with slight goosing the tread cleans itself for another bite. They probably are not the best tread for rock crawling however. I ran this same wheel/tire setup for 10 years on a 1985 K-30 civi SRW truck and was never stuck.

Hope this helps.

 

[Sharecropper]

Well, I pulled her out of the shop for a short road test out to my farm. Still need to check the toe-in and adjust the rear brake proportioning valve. Everything else seems to be normal. 1900 RPM at 50 MPH with surprising power. The BalanceMasters produce a smooth, vibration-free ride.

 

[jdeoliveira74]

sweet truck again.

 

[cpf240]

Once I got it on my bench I realized that the factory shaft assembly is in fact a solid shaft inserted inside the 1" round shaft, held together by two plastic pins. I drilled out the plastic pins and freed the shaft. I then pushed the lower 1" round shaft upwards by the amount of shortening needed, and then drilled two 3/16" holes through the solid shaft to align with the factory plastic pin holes. Threw in a couple nuts and bolts to hold it in the proper length, and re-installed it in the truck.

Sorry, I know this was posted a while ago, but I just came across it today and had a question.

Is it possible that the reason for the plastic pins was to allow the column / steering shaft to collapse in an accident? If so, would the replacement of those pins with bolts lead to the dreaded impalement on the steering column in case of an accident?

In any case, this is an awesome rebuild, and I enjoyed reading about it very much, thank you!

 

[Nick Danger]

Yes and Yes !

 

[unaffiliated]

Very good observation cpf240!! I had not thought about that. I believe wooden dowels would work in the absence of the plastic pins. Can't skimp on safety in my opinion. My Uncle was impaled by the steering column on a Pinto in the 70's. He didn't make it.

 

[Sharecropper]

You folks have revealed something that I had overlooked. Those plastic pins are indeed designed to shear upon a frontal impact.

I plan to go to the hardware store and purchase two nylon bolts and nuts to replace the steel ones. I will post photos when finished.

Thanks to everyone on this site.

 

[Marlboro]

Great job! You have done something that you will be proud of for many years to come..

 

[unaffiliated]

I meant to ask where you got the nut-serts for the antenna mount. I am currently looking for a dual fuel tank bed for mine and want to put the antenna mounts back on when I find a nice bed. My bed has the normal forklift damage on both sides and I really want dual tanks.

 

[Sharecropper]

The nut-certs are also known as Knurled Rivet Nuts and are available from McMaster-Carr McMaster-Carr .

I used 5/16" x 18 zinc yellow chromate steel for .027-.150 thick material, which is the correct thickness if installed without a backing plate. A pack of 10 is $4.89. I also purchased the special tool which makes installation fast and easy, because I figured I would be installing more of these in the future. If you don't want to spend the money for the special tool, you can easily make one with a 5/16" x 18 grade 5 bolt and nut.

Hope this helps.

 

[Sharecropper]

I've had a few inquiries regarding how I restored my battery hold-down brackets, so here's what I did -

My brackets were in pretty rough shape, as acid had worked its way into cracks in the rubber coating and set up heavy thick corrosion underneath. I tried to remove the rubber coating to get at the stuff, but where there was no corrosion, the coating just would not let go. So I took them to a metal stripping place and had them chemically stripped for $5 apiece. They came out of the chemical bath raw and clean without any rust or corrosion (or rubber coating). I then sandblasted them and sprayed them with phosporic etch solution, then applied several coats of spray rubber from the hardware store. I used a whole spray can on the rear bracket. Although the finish is not as thick as original, it appears to be just fine. Here's a photo -

 

[mr.travo]

Anyone know where to find new oem battery shanks? I am wanting to screw mine in (as pictured) but my shanks are old, rusted, and bent up.

 

[Sharecropper]

Mr. Travo - The battery shanks on my truck were nothing more than 1/4"x20 threaded rod. I purchased new threaded rod at the hardware store and cut them to length, then added flat washers and pinch nuts to hold the bracket on the top of the battery.

Hope this helps.

 

[mr.travo]

Got ya! I appreciate the info!

 

[Tulsafireman]

Amazing build! GREAT JOB!!!!

 

[akonitony]

I deceided to install ORD cross-over steering, which was quick and easy. Used a rebuilt PSC 2WD steering gear, which also installed easy. However I could not bring myself to re-using that primitive rag joint, so I ordered a new universal from Flaming River to replace the thing.

The PSC gear steering shaft output is a 3/4" 30-spline, and the factory steering shaft is 1" with opposite flats, a/k/a Double-D. So I ordered Flaming River part #FR1939-8 3/4"-30X1"DD. The unit is produced from super-tough chrome moly and cost $72.95 + shipping.

The rag joint flange on the lower steering shaft had to be cut off because the shaft was flanged to keep it on. I accomplished this with a thin cut-off wheel, then ground the flaring to match the shape of the shaft so the new universal would slip on and fit perfectly.

I installed the PSC gear and Flaming River joint and quickly realized that the factory steering shaft was too long and needed shortening. This was also easy, as I simply pushed the shaft towards the cab as far as it would go into it's universal housing at the firewall, and then marked the shaft at the end of the FR joint. I then removed the factory shaft assembly by simply removing the carriage bolt at the firewall universal. Once I got it on my bench I realized that the factory shaft assembly is in fact a solid shaft inserted inside the 1" round shaft, held together by two plastic pins. I drilled out the plastic pins and freed the shaft. I then pushed the lower 1" round shaft upwards by the amount of shortening needed, and then drilled two 3/16" holes through the solid shaft to align with the factory plastic pin holes. Threw in a couple nuts and bolts to hold it in the proper length, and re-installed it in the truck. The steering now has no slop whatsoever.

If you do not plan to change to cross-over steering, you may not need to shorten the shaft. If you order a universal from Flaming River, you will need to make sure you order the correct unit to fit your steering box. Shaft diameter and spline count on the gear side, 1" DD on the shaft side.

Hope this helps anyone contemplating such modification.

I am in the process of a cross-over steering crossover on my M1028, and modifying the rag joint to a u-joint on this and 5 of my other CUCVs. I found a very economical way to do this is to go on egay and buy 3 of the intermediate steering shafts from the Jeep XJ models ranging in years between the mid 80s to the late 90s. They separate by pulling them apart by hand and each end has a ujoint that will fit onto the steering box input splines. Next, I take the lower part of the ragjoint-type stock intermediate shaft apart by drilling out the plastic thingies. For the lower part of the XJ shaft, I take a hacksaw and make a cut on each of the flat sides of the old rag joint flange, then use a hammer and knock it off the GM lower shaft. The XJ's lower u-joint then needs it's shaft cut at about 2" - 3" from the u-joint, and it will go into the GM shaft end where the ragjoint flange was removed. It will be a very tight fit, and I found the best way to do it is start it a little by hand, then flip it over and ram the GM shaft upper-end onto a hard surface which will cause the u-joint end to slide in little-by-little. It's sort of like how one would install a new ax head or hammer head onto a new wooden handle. After this, you just reinstall the shaft and new u-joint like it was meant to be there.
For the other XJ u-joint, I cut about 4" off the end of the shaft opposite the ujoint, and simply slid that onto the next CUCV's upper half of the intermediate shaft. This left about 4" of collapsability, and since the upper shaft goes in so far on the XJ's female shaft, you really don't need to drill anything or install plastic bolts. The collapsability does decrease by about 2", but I am pretty sure an inch or two less is ok (famous last words). Anyway, I bought 4 of the XJ shafts for a grand total of about $95, including shipping, which gave me the ability to update 8 CUCVs from rag to u-joints. Not too shabby, eh? I'll try and take some pics and start a quick how-to thread in the next few days, if anyone is interested.

 

[skysix]