Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

85lebaront2
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ArdWrknTrk wrote
It seems like product development really has some work to do in order for that RSK to be close to right. *roll eyes

You and Bill both get to be guinea pigs this week!  
Oink, oink
Bill AKA "LOBO" Profile

"Getting old is inevitable, growing up is optional" Darth Vader 1986 F350 460 converted to MAF/SEFI, E4OD 12X3 1/2 rear brakes, traction loc 3:55 gear, 160 amp 3G alternator Wife's 2011 Flex Limited Daily Driver 2009 Flex Limited with factory tow package Project car 1986 Chrysler LeBaron convertible 2.2L Turbo II, modified A413

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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

Gary Lewis
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In reply to this post by ArdWrknTrk
Yes, I agree with both statements.  Erik tells me that the frames vary in that area, but all I know is what I'm looking at, and it doesn't quite fit mine.

Guinea pigs or pioneers.  People don't usually eat guinea pigs, but the pioneers and frontier soldiers did wear arrows from time to time.  (Hm, you're a little bit late on that one, charlie.  Ooh, I bet that smarts!)
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

VWThomason
Erik called me today, but I missed his call. I tried calling him back, but I sat on hold for over half an hour so I gave up and maybe I can get in touch with me tomorrow. However, in the voicemail he did say he was in the middle of the redesign and should have my kit sent out in 2 weeks. We shall see.
The Polar Bear - 1986 F350 Crew Cab Long Bed Dually. Starting life as a 2wd 6.9 C6 truck. Now has Cummins P-pump that is slightly turned up. Running ZF-5 transmission with BW4407 transfer case. Converting to 4wd with some help from a SKY RSK kit with SD springs on top of a 1996 Dana 60. Also using the SKY kit to convert the rear to 2008 springs. More to come.

Clifford - 1993 F250 7.3 IDI ATS 088 turbo with a ZF-5 behind it and 4.10 gears. Lifted along with solid axle D60 swap. Running Baja military 37s
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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

ArdWrknTrk
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In reply to this post by Gary Lewis
Gary Lewis wrote
Yes, I agree with both statements.  Erik tells me that the frames vary in that area, but all I know is what I'm looking at, and it doesn't quite fit mine.

Guinea pigs or pioneers.  People don't usually eat guinea pigs.....
You've obviously never been to Central, or north western South America.

Qui (?) Is quite popular and delicious!
 Jim,
Lil'Red is a '87 F250 HD, 4.10's, 1356 4x4, Zf-5, 3G, PMGR, Saginaw PS, desmogged with a Holley 80508 and Performer intake.
Too much other stuff to mention.
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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

Gary Lewis
Administrator
Jim - No, I've not been there.  Been to Nicaragua where they eat iguanas though.

VW - What Erik told me yesterday is that it'll be two weeks to ship the new part, but another week for me to get it here in Okiehoma.
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

ArdWrknTrk
Administrator
Pollyo de arboles.  (chicken of the tree)

I would say that Nicaragua is Central America!
Anything south of Mexico and North of Colombia is Central America.

Panama to Guatemala or Belize.
 Jim,
Lil'Red is a '87 F250 HD, 4.10's, 1356 4x4, Zf-5, 3G, PMGR, Saginaw PS, desmogged with a Holley 80508 and Performer intake.
Too much other stuff to mention.
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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

Gary Lewis
Administrator
APOLOGIES TO SKY!

This morning I drilled the holes in the frame.  The first pass was to drill the existing holes out to 1/2", which is the size of the fasteners.  And while the majority of the bolts would go in, they were all kinda wonky and one refused to go.

I checked the size of the holes in Sky's bracket: 17/32"  So I pulled out the 17/32" reamer and took all of the frame holes out to that size.  That let the bracket bolt up nicely.

Here it is installed.  But, the thing to note is that there is no spacer between the frame and the bracket - and it fits nicely!  All of those bolts are just snug and no washers were used for this test.  So, when washers are used and all the bolts torqued down I think the frame and the bracket will meet even better.



But, there are a few things to note:

1. I didn't follow the directions of torquing down the bolts in the bottom of the frame first and then drilling/grinding the side bolt holes out.  Instead, I drilled and then reamed the original side, and bottom, holes out to 17/32".  Then I installed the bracket and all of the bolts loosely, then snugged them up hand tight.  Then I torqued down the side bolts and then the bottom bolts. That seemed to cause the frame and bracket to meet each other nicely.

2. I had to install the bottom left side bolt with the head on the inside, as shown, because doing it the other way caused interference with the bolt through the bottom.

3. I will have to trim a washer for the bottom bolt in the top pic due to the proximity of the weld.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

1986F150Six
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It is coming along, Gary!
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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

Gary Lewis
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That it is! I really didn't realize how much WORK there is to this swap.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

Gary Lewis
Administrator
In mapping out what I'm going to be doing 'twixt now and when the front bracket comes in I've decided that I want to remove the driver's side rear spring bracket and install the Sky bracket.  However, the measurement that the instructions give to properly place the front bracket measures off the stock rear bracket.

Given that, I measured the stock rear bracket to the Sky front bracket and it is currently sitting at 54 9/16".  Then I measured the Sky rear bracket to the Sky front bracket and got 53 1/16".  So that told me that the Sky bracket positions the spring eye 1 1/2" forward than the stock bracket does.

However, in order to confirm that I'm doing it correctly I talked to Erik.  He suggested that I measure the stock rear bracket vs the Sky rear bracket, which should give us the answer.  Meanwhile he'll look at the drawings to make sure we are all together.

So here are the two measurements, with the factory bracket on the left and the Sky bracket on the right.  But there are two things to note here.

Bottom Line: factory is 2 1/2" & Sky is 1" .  So the delta is 1 1/2" and I should be able to replace the factory DS bracket with the Sky bracket and then measure 55 1/2" minus 1 1/2" equals 54" to position the front bracket when it comes in.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

1986F150Six
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"Progress is good!"
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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

salans7
Your last post could come off as confusing to those who are new to RSK's. It's important to note that you're running the lo-pro hangers, hence the difference in length. If you were to run the regular Sky hangers, there would be little to no difference between the stock and Sky spring hangers.
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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

Gary Lewis
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David - Thanks.

Shaun - Good point.  Here's what the instructions say: "We absolutely recommend installing the shackle hanger for the rear of the front springs that came in the kit, you will turn this kit into a 2.5” kit without them. For demonstration purposed we installed the springs with the factory shackle hanger and lowered the truck back down on its weight to illustrate what it will look like. WE DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS SHACKLE ANGLE. Unlike some of our other kits, you will not be able to drill a hole one inch above the factory hole in the shackle hanger. The new lo-profile shackle hanger we have designed has the hole moved forward as well to help the shackle angle."
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

Gary Lewis
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I guess that last post can also be confusing.  As I understand it, there are two shackle hangers to use: The lo-profile one that I'm using and Sky's standard shackle hanger.  But they strongly encourage you not to use the factory shackle hanger.
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

Gary Lewis
Administrator
Ok, end-of-day report: four of the six rivets are out of the driver's side rear spring hanger bracket. And, I've found a new procedure:

  1. Use a grinder to make a small flat on top of the rivet so you can start the drill bit centered up.
  2. Drill the rivet with a 3/16" bit - chosen because it is big enough not to break easily and small enough that it bites pretty well. The hole should not go all the way through, but it does need to go past the 2nd layer so it releases pressure on the sides.
  3. Drill the hole out to 3/8" the depth of the first hole.
  4. Knock the head off the rivet on the side you started drilling from, using the air chisel. It'll go much faster on a hollow rivet than a solid one.
  5. Knock the rest of the rivet out with a punch and sledge

With that new approach I got those four rivets out in 45 minutes where yesterday it took easily four hours to do six of them. And part of the 45 minutes was developing the technique. For instance, I learned that drilling all the way through doesn't leave you a solid surface against which to place the punch. But, not drilling past the second layer will have you hammering for a long time - and then start drilling again. Don't ask.

Oh, and Erik sent me a note saying the 1 1/2" difference between the stock bracket and the lo-pro is correct.
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

Gary Lewis
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Well, the above procedure works very well.  But I'll add one more piece of info - measure to see how deep you need to drill and then wrap a piece of tape around the bit at that point.  Now there's no guessing or stopping to see how far you need to go.

Anyway, I used that procedure to drill out the last two rivets in the driver's side bracket, then drilled all the holes to 1/2" and reamed them to 17/32".  (I don't have a 17/32" drill bit.)

And with that the Sky bracket almost bolted on, and would have done had it not been for my step bracket.  You can see in this shot where the two hit - the red mark in the upper right corner:




A quick trip to the grinder solved that problem, and here's the bracket fully in place.  It was a bolt-in save for the extremely minor issue with the step bracket that I designed and installed.



Given that, the trial fitting is almost done.  All I have left to do is to grind a couple of washers to fit but miss the welds.

At that point the grinding and drilling will be done.  So I'll clean things up, put away tools, etc.  And then I think it is time to see about welding the frame boxes in, as the instructions recommend.  Erik says they may not be held in tightly, so he recommends welding them to the frame.

Then I'll clean the frame and paint it with POR15.  After that I'll blast the brackets and any fasteners that have had their protective coating removed and powder coat them.  And I might as well pull those steps and PC their brackets at the same time.
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

Gary Lewis
Administrator
Ok, having looked at the frame spacer boxes and considered welding them to the frame at this point I've decided to wait until the new front bracket/crossmember comes in.  That's because the boxes may have to be modified slightly to let the bolts pass through/past them.  It'll be a lot easier to mod them if necessary if I can take them out to do the work, so I'll wait on that step.

But, I checked out the washer situation and all of them fit fine with the exception of the bolts that go through the rear of the rear brackets.  So I ground down two washers to fit, as shown below.

And with that I'm going to put this work on hold until I get the shop presentable.  Then I can blast several parts and PC them black.  I think the list includes the rear spring brackets, rear shackles, two 1/2" bolts, the two washers, the panhard brackets & fasteners, and the step brackets.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

1986F150Six
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Impressive work!
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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

Gary Lewis
Administrator
Thanks!

I'm including more detail than I normally would since others may be following in my footsteps.  Hopefully they'll have everything they need from this.
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

salans7
Did somebody say microanalysis?
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