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

[Rocket Man]

I got the rest of the stainless steel Swagelok fittings today. This shit is quality. These fittings definitely won’t leak. I like the double ferrule design. I know their patents have run out on these but when you want a guaranteed part I always like to go with the original people who invented it.

 

[wjburken]

I got the rest of the stainless steel Swagelok fittings today. This shit is quality. These fittings definitely won’t leak. I like the double ferrule design. I know their patents have run out on these but when you want a guaranteed part I always like to go with the original people who invented it.

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Swaglock is definitely good stuff. Used their stuff a lot on the pneumatics on the sanitary wash down dairy fillers we made at my last job.

 

[iamdub]

^^^ Yup. Top-notch stuff. Trusted in the plants all up and down the river here.

 

[George B]

Go to page 10 for a quick reference on tightening them up.
https://www.swagelok.com/downloads/webcatalogs/EN/MS-13-151.PDF

 

[Rocket Man]

Go to page 10 for a quick reference on tightening them up.
https://www.swagelok.com/downloads/webcatalogs/EN/MS-13-151.PDF

Already been there, studied up! Thanks.

 

[Sam Harris]

I got the rest of the stainless steel Swagelok fittings today. This shit is quality. These fittings definitely won’t leak. I like the double ferrule design. I know their patents have run out on these but when you want a guaranteed part I always like to go with the original people who invented it.

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Very nice, quality fittings sir. I’d be disappointed if you went with anything lesser. [emoji106][emoji16]

 

[Rocket Man]

I’ve been talking with some guys on FB about the front brakes and it seems the best solution is the Little Shop spindle spacer kit and then in order to get the 1/2” clearance back so I can still turn good without airing the front up and down constantly I need a different set of control arms built to the tune of $1400 and 3-6 weeks lead time. I could put the spacer kit on and drive it like that while the control arms are built.

 

[wjburken]

 

[Tonyrodz]

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Lol, thought the same exact thing! I run into this problem ALOT!

 

[Rocket Man]

Yeah this truck has always been a money pit. It’s kind of like a boat in that every upgrade needs another upgrade and just to make an incremental improvement you need to buy a whole bunch of other expensive stuff. Oh, you want to put a $4k big brake kit on it? That’s fine, but you need $1400 control arms, $150 for a spindle spacer kit and 4-6 weeks of lead time. I haven’t even finished up the air management system but that turned into a bigger project than I ever imagined, and I haven’t even started on the headers. The interior was quite the journey too. Oh well, it’s keeping me busy in these difficult times. It sure will be even more badass when I’m done though, and it was pretty badass to start with.

 

[Bear77]

It’s kind of like a boat in that every upgrade needs another upgrade and just to make an incremental improvement you need to buy a whole bunch of other expensive stuff. Oh well, it’s keeping me busy in these difficult times. It sure will be even more badass when I’m done though, and it was pretty badass to start with.

Enjoy the ride before the ride, will end up worth it in the end!!


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[Rocket Man]

I got the 1/4” spacers today. They’re the exact size of the hub flange so they’re meant to go behind the rotor I believe. I put one on, then added 1/8” of shims just to simulate grinding 1/8” off the outside of the ball joint cup which is all I’m comfortable with. It cleared with the suspension hanging with almost 1/8” to spare but as soon as I put a jack under the hub and moved it into into mid travel it hit the rotor. So no bueno. They have it figured out, 1/2” and like they said, possibly “massage” the ball joint cup. So I ordered the Little Shop kit. I’ll get that installed, install the brakes, then see where I’m at. The control arms have to have the bag cups and shock tabs welded while on the truck so I’m trying to see if my nephew will do that for me. I don’t feel comfortable welding on those arms with my lack of skills.

 

[Rocket Man]

I contacted intro to see about changing the backspace on the front wheels to accommodate the hub spacers and it looks like that’s the way I’ll go. They just emailed me back to let me know they’re still open ( they’re in Cali) and they can cut the old hoops off and weld new ones and polish them back up for $1300 which is less than the cost of new control arms. Plus it will be easy to swap over. Of course there’s the added cost of R&R of the tires and shipping but it’s still about the same overall cost as new control arms and welding and way easier for me. That’s if it needs to be done, I’ll know after I install the spacers and wheels and drive it.

 

[Rocket Man]

Got the hub spacers in. Quality stuff.

 

[Bear77]

Are those wheel hub spacers?


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[Rocket Man]

Are those wheel hub spacers?


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Yes. To space the hubs 1/2” away from the ball joint cups on the lower control arm so the 16” rotors don’t hit. It’s because the ball joints are flipped on the Ekstensive control arms. Now I might have to get the backspace on the wheels changed, I’ll see when I get it back together.

 

[Bear77]

Got my fingers crossed hoping that you won’t have to do that! But do have the popcorn ready either way


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[Rocket Man]

I put a wheel back on and checked clearance with it tucked and not tucked. It doesn’t look too bad. I think it will be about the same as when I bought the truck and the fenders weren’t rolled and it had 285/30-26 tires. Those bulged away from the rims a bit. I rolled the fenders and put 255/30-26’s on which actually are a stretch on the 9” wide rims so they’re rounded at the outside edges. I might be all right. I know I’ll be able to drive it, just depends on how much I have to mess around with the switches when making sharp turns.

 

[Rocket Man]

That's what @yates ™ would tell you to do. I already had part of my Accuair setup so I went with the e-level.

I was trying to remember who had the Accuair setup. Did you hear they are closing shop and filing for bankruptcy?

 

[wjburken]

Yes. To space the hubs 1/2” away from the ball joint cups on the lower control arm so the 16” rotors don’t hit. It’s because the ball joints are flipped on the Ekstensive control arms. Now I might have to get the backspace on the wheels changed, I’ll see when I get it back together.

Am I seeing things correctly? It looks like they are even piloted on the back side. They do look like they are pretty good quality.