04 Colorado V8 swap (Lot's of pics!)

[Sierraowner5.3]

i love this thread, gives me something to show my wife and say, "See, it could be worse...."

Alex

[dsfloyd]

Thats an awesome find on the rear end. Oh and I love the diff cover

[TRPLXL2]

Enkei- I have seen that done on an S10, and It was pretty cool! We don't need hydraulic problems though!!
SierraOwner- Your comment cracked me up!! A lot of guys I know think it's cool that both me and Ralph work on stuff together, but honestly it is the worst thing ever. We spend twice as much!!
DS Floyd- Pick A Part has 2 more of these still, $500 each. Thanks for the compliment on the cover, I am sure people will notice it at car shows too.

Here you can see the width difference between the two axles, they were not centered in this picture though. When centered each axle is 2.5" longer, than the Colorado axle.

We stripped the back of the truck completely down, gas tank, leaf springs, emissions crap, and then we painted everything with gloss black rustoleum.

We bought some new spring perches, as the Colorado perches were too small to fit the TBSS axle tube. The new perches were perfect, except the centering hole where the alignment pin goes. It was way too big, so we had a friend weld in some material to make the fitment right.

We removed all ABS components, and switched to mechanical brakes throughout the truck. This involved removing all the factory brake lines, running all new braided stainless lines, AN fittings, propertioning valve, removing ABS and traction control components.

We also added a line lock, for additional fun. Stay tuned for more updates!!

[Enkeiavalanche]

Hide that Rear end..... We got Young ones here..... Look'in good..

[TRPLXL2]

For the rear brakes none of the factory setup would work, so we decided to run Russell braided stainless line and AN fittings. Banjo bolts are 10mm-3AN, Russell speed bleeders, one 30" brake line, and one 36" brake line. Two 10mm-3AN fittings for the brake tee, cost all but $75 to do all the rear lines.

[TRPLXL2]

Some pics of the rear end mocked up in the truck, bed sanded down and rubbed down with thinner. Masked everything off, and painted and clear coated the whole underneath of the bed.

We decided to relocate the gas tank to inside the bed, we bought a toolbox from Tractor Supply Company. It is a perfect fit, We put a piece of foam under the tank, It is properly strapped down and vented out underneath the bed. We did this for 2 reasons, first being for weight distribution over the rear axle. Second is for safety in the event the driveshaft would break loose, It will not hit the gas tank and make a huge disaster.

[Enkeiavalanche]

Can't wait to see it in Person......

[SupplySgt]

Very nice! I'm liking the progress!

[TRPLXL2]

Enkei- We will be at the GM Nationals in Carlisle for sure, and we will also be at the Truck Nationals. You'll see the smoke flying lol!!
SupplySgt- Thank you very much for the compliments, I try to entertain as best as I can..

Ralph painted the toolbox/gas tank to match the truck, and we also made a new fuse box cover since the old one got broken during the swap. You can see the shine on the pieces, after Ralph put about 5 coats of clear on them.
We originally had the calipers painted to match the truck, but the paint did not hold up to the heat so he sandblasted them down and primed them. We bought the VHT caliper paint kit from Summit Racing, very impressed with the quality of paint in the kit. We shall see if they hold up, bought new brake pads for the front (Evolution) and got a set of brand new rotors from another Colorado owner for a case of beer lol!!

Ralph also replaced the ball joints, which one side was torn and the other side had quite a bit of movement in it. Rockauto $29.00 each, MOOG.

[Enkeiavalanche]

Look'in Real... Red.....