Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install

[1986F150Six]

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.

"Progress is good!"

[salans7]

"Progress is good!"

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.

[Gary Lewis]

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.

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 Lewis]

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."

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 Lewis]

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.

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.

 

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.

 

Drill the hole out to 3/8" the depth of the first hole.

 

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.

 

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 Lewis]

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.

 

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.

 

Drill the hole out to 3/8" the depth of the first hole.

 

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.

 

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.

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 Lewis]

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.

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.

[1986F150Six]

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.

Impressive work!

[Gary Lewis]

Impressive work!

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.

[salans7]

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.

Did somebody say microanalysis?