I am not sure if this is where you would like me to start this thread but feel free to move if needed. Also any questions or input please don't hesitate. Hopefully this will make sense?
What we are doing is replacing the front clip off of a chev truck and installing a pinto clip. It will have a rack coil overs and tubular control arms. The kit came from Bear's Performance. The truck has already been backhalved so this clip will tie into the ladderbar crossmember for best support. Here are some pics with a brief description:
Here is a pic of the way the truck sat with the stock front
The factory front clip, (looks heavy)
The new frame section
Our first problem, the tubular ladderbar crossmember will not make a good point to weld the frame section to (pay no attention to the welds on the jig, we were getting low on wire...lol)
Another shot of the crossmember
We weren't happy with how this crossmember was installed (to low) so we got a new square tubing crossmember and plan to raise it which will give the truck a lower stance and much more support to the new chassis
We built our jig for the truck trying to keep it high and the frame level. Now we didn't go overboard on the jig, just trying to keep the factory frame level because we will leave the body bolted to the original frame and build the new one inside of it. Once the frame is done we will build a cage which will tie the body to the new frame. Then we can bring our new supports over to the body mount and remove the old frame. Here is a pic of the jig
Next we used a laser plumbob and marked the wheelbase, crossmember,frame and sqaured the truck up with the floor. Now we have a few lines square with the truck all measurements from this point will be easy. Here you can see the front clip removed and a few of our lines on the floor. The new frame will slide right between the factory frame rails.
Now we slid the new frame in place and put together one side in order to establish ride height. This is going to dictate where the rear crossmember will be put in place.
