Rocket Man's 2008 Bagged CC Silverado Build AKA "THE MACHINE"

[NathanJax]

I ordered new bags for the rear last night. I figured that since the bed has to come off to replace them and the fact Amazon had them for $120 Prime 2 day, it was a good idea to go ahead. It turns out they’re Airlift Dominator 2500’s.

Did you re-order the 2500's or go with something different? I have the 2600's in the front of mine. Got a pair from Ekstensive for $130 shipped when I was building my front.

Not sure what my rears are. They came with the 4 link kit

 

[Rocket Man]

Did you re-order the 2500's or go with something different? I have the 2600's in the front of mine. Got a pair from Ekstensive for $130 shipped when I was building my front.

Not sure what my rears are. They came with the 4 link kit

2500’s. It’s all I need in the rear, no sense changing. My fronts are Slam-7’s because they lift all that weight enough without being being too big of a diameter. The PO installed Slam-8’s just before he sold it to me which turned out to be a mistake; they were too bid of a diameter so when they were aired up to almost full they rubbed on the control arms which caused one to blow- on the freeway. Luckily it didn’t happen during my drive from SF to Portland. So I learned that when it comes to bags, if it works don’t go changing.

 

[Rocket Man]

Looks like I have more time to kill. The manifold is still leaking at the PTC fitting for the LR. It slowed way down when I swapped over to the plastic line but it leaked out over night. I called Airlift this morning and they asked if I was using hard lines and I said yes, why? He said I probably damaged the fitting if I didn’t use the plastic line they provided, but I didn’t void the lifetime warranty or anything which is good especially since nothing is mentioned about hard lines in the instructions. Then he wanted a video of the leak so I did that using soapy water and sent it to him but he said it doesn’t play properly, just send the S/N and shipping address and he’ll send a replacement to swap out. No CC # or anything. Pretty good service. I suppose I might have damaged the fitting, I had a hard time getting the lines to line up and it took a couple tries to bend some of them right so they entered the manifold straight.

 

[Rocket Man]

Oops. Reordered. These companies don’t put part numbers on their shit so it’s hard to figure out what you have. Looks like they’re Dominator 2600’s.

 

[Rocket Man]

PIA, but I guess sometimes you have to go back to move forward.

 

[Rocket Man]

I decided to back up even more today. I pulled the 4 link off to paint it and when I did I discovered the x-brace was broken. I had been using it as a jacking point to lift the whole rear end and now I see it’s not as thick-walled as the rest I won’t be doing that anymore, I’ll use the diff. Even though I have a welder I didn’t feel confident enough so I went to a local welding shop. Then I prepped everything and started painting. It’s going to be red. I need more performance and we all know red parts add hp lol. I hope it’s not going to be too much, we’ll see. BTW it’s the same paint I used on The Beast’s rear control arms which happens to closely match Wilwood’s red. I do plan on a Wilwood kit in the future.
Edit: that’s a lot of red.

 

[Rocket Man]

So far I like the red but I missed a spot on the X brace when I was painting so it will be ready tomorrow. Both front door glass weatherstrips have bothered me since I bought the truck- it looks like someone pried on them and they can’t be bent back. New ones are from $140-$175 each shipped so I haven’t replaced them and I kept looking on EBay for used ones. I finally found a set for $35 each shipped. They arrived today and look almost new. I will paint the exterior sides with Fusion before installing so they will look brand new.

 

[Sam Harris]

Gonna have a new truck pretty soon!

 

[Rocket Man]

Man it’s looking so good and I’m itching for some Wilwoods to finish it off. It’s just money, and you know what they say- you only live once right? WTF. I have planned on these since I bought the truck and did the rear drum to disc conversion. 16's on the front and 14's on the rear. I am so close to doing this.

 

[Sam Harris]

 

[Rocket Man]

I did set up a transfer into my checking account but haven’t pulled the trigger yet. It’s a big decision at 4 grand lol. Anyway I woke up to this stuff on the ground today. It’s supposed to be 60 and sunny in a couple days so I’m working indoors today. I got the hex nuts from TRS so I am doing the initial install of the mini H1’s. I wanted to see what the high beam LED’s would look like but I bought low beams by mistake so I’m returning those and ordered 9005 highs instead. At least I get to see what the H1’s with shrouds look like in the housings. I’ll have to get the truck on it’s wheels again in order to set the horizontal lines before epoxying the projectors and installing the lenses.

 

[Fless]

Neither rain, nor snow.... can stop @Rocket Man from making progress!

 

[Rocket Man]

Neither rain, nor snow.... can stop @Rocket Man from making progress!

Lmao. Well not MUCH progress lately but some. Got the new bags on, painted the shocks and installed them, tried to install the x brace but the welder didn’t measure things so when I had the 4 link installed on the truck, the end that he welded up was 3/4” too wide. In the process of using my mini sledge to bend that leg into position the weld broke. So I ground it down and welded it myself. Should have done it to start with. Now the paint needs to dry. I reinstalled most of the wiring and sensors. Here’s today’s glamour shots.

 

[yates ™]

How does this x brace bolt on? I am struggling trying to figure out what the purpose of this is.

 

[Rocket Man]

How does this x brace bolt on? I am struggling trying to figure out what the purpose of this is.

It’s bolted to the lower set of the 4-link and I believe it’s meant to resist lateral movement like a panhard bar would but it doesn’t pull the suspension sideways as it goes up and down like that would. It keeps the 4-link from moving side to side , keeps it parallel if that makes sense. A panhard wouldn’t work due to the amount of up and down travel.

 

[07Burb]

Man it’s looking so good and I’m itching for some Wilwoods to finish it off. It’s just money, and you know what they say- you only live once right? WTF. I have planned on these since I bought the truck and did the rear drum to disc conversion. 16's on the front and 14's on the rear. I am so close to doing this.

Your truck came stock with drums in the back??? I didn't know that was a thing for the NNBS trucks Weird.

 

[Rocket Man]

Your truck came stock with drums in the back??? I didn't know that was a thing for the NNBS trucks Weird.

Yes, for the pickups. SUV’s all had disc. I heard it’s because drum brakes are considered better for towing heavy loads.

 

[Rocket Man]

Here’s pictures of the x brace installed @yates ™ .

 

[yates ™]

It’s bolted to the lower set of the 4-link and I believe it’s meant to resist lateral movement like a panhard bar would but it doesn’t pull the suspension sideways as it goes up and down like that would. It keeps the 4-link from moving side to side , keeps it parallel if that makes sense. A panhard wouldn’t work due to the amount of up and down travel.

Hmm, interesting idea. Essentially making this a 3 link. A pan hard would work regardless of travel but I am guessing they came up with this contraption to eliminate side to side movement. My issue would be the limit to movent when driving which is typically one of the reasons for a 4-link. I guess I have not ever seen this used and makes me think it was a solution to try and correct a problem. I still think trying to control this on the bottom end of the suspension is interesting. I am trying to picture this operating in my head. You really wouldn't have a lot of travel (assumption) so I doubt that a PHB would be an issue.

Just thinking out loud, I could be wrong in my thoughts.

 

[Rocket Man]

Hmm, interesting idea. Essentially making this a 3 link. A pan hard would work regardless of travel but I am guessing they came up with this contraption to eliminate side to side movement. My issue would be the limit to movent when driving which is typically one of the reasons for a 4-link. I guess I have not ever seen this used and makes me think it was a solution to try and correct a problem. I still think trying to control this on the bottom end of the suspension is interesting. I am trying to picture this operating in my head. You really wouldn't have a lot of travel (assumption) so I doubt that a PHB would be an issue.

Just thinking out loud, I could be wrong in my thoughts.

It’s a parallel 4-link. My travel from fully aired up to aired out is over 10” so a panhard is out of the question. This frame was built by one of the biggest shops in Texas, All Star Customs, that has been doing these forever so I doubt it was something to correct a problem. Shops like this come up with their own designs all the time. IDK, it works good. The only problem I had was due to the fact I only had 4 valves so the air would transfer from side to side and it would lean a bit but I’m looking forward to having control of all 4 corners now.