Bagging a 89 d50 ext cab HELP!!!!!!

[94maxlow]

I am new to the site but not new to the trucks. I just bought my dream truck. It is a 89 d50 with the 2.6. I am wanting to bag and body drop it, I am trying to figure out what some of you have used to do it and how you have done it. I am wanting to cut the bed as little as possible since i will be using it as my work truck and will need to use the bed to haul stuff. I am wanting to lay rocker on 20s. If anyone can give me some advice on what you have used to bag i will greatly appreciate it and any and all information on how to body drop will be more than appreciated since i have never done it. As far as parts go i am planning on using a 4 link set up in the read with slam specialty 7in bags. i am going to put the air tank under the bed and have a fuel cell made. Up front i plan on runner Michigan metal works upper and lowers with slam specialty 7in bags. For line i am going to us 3/8 lines and the valves ect.. i am not sure on yet. if yall could give me some advice and help i would be great. Thanks in advance.

Chase

[DroppedMitsu]

Can you post exactly what you need info on so we can better help you, your post is kind of vague. I can make a photoshop of where to cut for the BD, but I think the thread "They said a girl cant do it" in the second gen forum has pics of her body dropping her truck and also a lot of the bag process.

[94maxlow]

I guess what i am asking is how to do a stock floor body drop. and also how do bag a bag job the right way. I also have seen the thread " they said a girl can't do it" and it helped a lot. I understand the rear set up but they front is what gets me. I have seen people talk about " triangulating" the lower control arms or " pie cutting them" If you can explain the easiest way to do the front that would help. Basically i need to no how to do everything from start to finish. I have never bagged or body drop. Any help, pic , links, parts list, anything would be helpful!!

[94mitz]

When I bagged the front of my truck. I pie cut the upper arms. What I did was take the front suspencion apart to get the coils out. While it was apart was when I cut the uppers. You cut them right where it starts to curve. If that makes sence. I cant seem to find the pictures I took of the whole process. But After you cut them, put the lower control arm, upper control arm with the two cuts and the spindle on. Mesure the height of ur rim and tire, divide that in half. This will give you the best average on where your spindle height needs to be when you are getting the upper control arm pie cut. Now jack up the hole thing up to the height that it needs to be to lay out. You may need to take some material off on the inside of the cut to get it to butt up together like it needs to. Once where you want it to be weld it up and make it look purdy. Heres a picture of mine done. You can see that my upper control arm is flat instead of the slight curve close to the ball joint.
http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/y518/94mitz/0510122000a_zps345b5f3e.jpg (http://s1278.photobucket.com/user/94mitz/media/0510122000a_zps345b5f3e.jpg.html)

On the rear, Im not too much help sine I didnt body drop. Ive got a forward facing 4 link. If I did a raised bed floor then Id still have about a foot of bed depth to work with.

[DroppedMitsu]

Stock floor body drop is done by making a new frame or cutting down the old one, so that your cab retains the stock floor. What you want is a traditional body drop where you cut the cab and bed and lower them over the frame. I can draw you up a pic when I get off work later. Triangulating is geting rid of the lower strud rod on the lower control arm that goes under the core support and welding on an arm/bar end that pivots in line with your stock lca bolt. It gives you more turning radius and looks a lot cleaner, but it is not really needed, there's pics of it in my build thread. Pie-cuting is completely different and has to deal witth the upper control arm. what you are doing is what 94mitz described and changing the angle of the balljoint so it doesnt bind when you lay out the truck. What you really need to do is research and look at TONs of pics of bag setups, its kind of hard to explain all this stuff without seeing it.

[94maxlow]

Thank yall very much it help a lot. 94mitz that is dead on what i want to do to the front, Also what type of bag are you using. If you can find anymore pic please post them. Also did you just pie cut the upper or did you pie cut the lower to. On your 4 link did you make it or is is a kit that you can buy?

DroppedMitsu Thanks for clearing the body drop up for me. That makes a lot more since than reading 10 different articles about a stock floor and then reading others about traditional. If you don't mind drawing the pictures that would be a lot of help and i would greatly appreciate it. I am going to check out your thread if i can find it loo. What is a good place to find pictures of set up?

[94mitz]

I only pie cut the uppers. I Will need to look back at the paperwork I got when I bought the kit to tell you what number the airbags are. I know they are firestones. My four link I ordered it from suicidedoors.com. Its their super pivot one. When I ordered it I had to give them the length of the upper and lower bars that I wanted them to be.

[94maxlow]

How did you no the length that you wanted the bars to be?

[DroppedMitsu]

Measure from under the axle to where you're going to weld a cross member for the front of the 4-link.

And my build thread is in my signature under my post.

[94maxlow]

I guess i will have to start the back half before i can measure. I was just wanting to get everything already ordered before i start. It sucks not really knowing how to do it but yall are really helping, plus the hours of research for pic and going threw all the threads.

I looked threw your build thread droppedmitsu and i could did not see the pic of the triangulating.

[Fordubishi]

There are a bunch of good kits out there for around $400 for all the bars,mounts and brackets. I used an old style 4 link that I got from Aim industries when they were around.

8157
4 link I used, didn't Notch the frame

8159
Fuel Cell mount

8158
Fuel Cell where spare tire was

8160
Access to Fuel cell

Not sure if you can use the 7" bags up front, I had a set of 6" Firestone's and when dropped they would touch the frame rail and hit the arms on the lower control arm so I went to a set of Slam Specialties SS 5's and they work great.

8161
old Firestone's

[DroppedMitsu]

Sorry just realized I never put the pic in my build thread just instagram. Here it is:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d27/mxracer728/Screenshot_2014-02-01-07-57-47_zpsbrse81nu.png
With that in you can remove the forward strut bar for more wheel/turning clearance, but it is not necesarry for bagging. I am actually redoing mine with a threaded bar end so it is adjustable like stock.

You can just get under your truck and measure from under the axle to where you plan on putting the front 4-link cross member, you can do it any time.

I'm running Slam ss5 up front and ss6 out back. You will have a hard time fitting anything biiger than a 2500 up front with out notching into your frame for the bag

[94maxlow]

Fordubishi thanks for getting in on the thread. I have been looking at yours since i got on the site. Will your truck lay out since you did not notch the frame? If not how far are you from laying out. My goal is to not have to cut the cut or if i do only move it up 1-3 inches so i can still use it as a bed. Also up from could you walk me threw how you did it since it looks like you are using the stock upper and lowers.

DroppedMitsu thanks for the pic. I am differently going to do that so i can have more turning clearance. The tube that you used did you make it or buy it from somewhere, an does it does it weld to the bottom control arm?
.
when i original posted i ment to put ss6 up front and ss7 in back, put i think i will do like you said and run ss5 and ss6.

Thanks for all the help everyone.

[Fordubishi]

with the bags deflated the frame sits 3/4" off the ground. I could do a C notch and lay frame but I wasn't after that. The fronts are basically stock with the bag plate's welded on to the lowers and the uppers are bone stock. If I stepped the lower bag mount down it would have dropped the frame on the ground as well. The front air bag set up was again an older kit from Aim Industries, not sure if anyone carries them anymore but as yours is a sec gen you might be able to find something. I also have a set of lowered spindles with the Toyota brake conversion.

8167
As you can see I made some shock mounts (again a Cheap Kit) where the steering stops are.I did have to move my brake line mount on the cab back a inch or so to clear the upper shock bolt.The other thing that can be done is put the lower ball joint on top of the arm with a small spacer and that would drop frame closer to the ground as well.

Hope some of this helps.

[DroppedMitsu]

Here is an updated pic of my front end. I changed my a-arm on my lower control arm to be adjustable, it was made using an adjustable bar end and Dom tubing tapped for the bar end, I got it from thorbros.com
I still need to weld in my other gusset and a-arm bracket. And also my shock mounts

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d27/mxracer728/IMG_20140202_093803_554_zps5zockps1.jpg

[94maxlow]

fordubishi- i have been looking for a front end kit for close to a year, and I have not seen anything. Michigan metal works builds custom upper and lowers, I have talk to them and for a set is about 1k. I am just trying to find a little bit of a cheaper way. Yes what you said helps, it has gave me a good idea about how much i am going to have to notch the frame to get it to lay out.

DroppedMitsu- Keep the pic coming man they are helping out a ton. Especially when you get done and get it all back together.

[94maxlow]

also droppedmitsu did you just by the tubing and cut it to what you needed or did you buy the piece already made?

[94mitz]

Wasn't there a tool that came with the lower arms from Michigan metal works that helped you align the arm that you put in for the triangulation? I know it didnt look like much more than a long bolt with a spacer in between where the frame and where the new themounting tab goes.

When I ordered my fouling it came in something like 4 days. Pretty quick turnaround. Just like droppedmitsu said. Measure where you are gonna put the front crossmember to where ur gonna mount it to the axle. Remember depending on how you weld the tabs on, that it will make the bar length that you need end up beeing shorter. As in if its mounted under the c rossmember the bar will be longer than if it was welded to the front of it ( the side that's closest to the axle). I hope that makes sence.

[Redneckmoparman]

so you could just figure out about where you want it and order the arms and build a crossmember around them to where it needs to be?

[94mitz]

Yea you could do that.

[DroppedMitsu]

Yes the tubing/adjustable bar end I used were all separate pieces that I bought and cut and fabbed to how I wanted/needed them. There is no front kit per say for our trucks, the best way imo is to buy a torsion bar truck bag bracket kit and use that, that's what most Mighty max users run and what I did.

MMW controls arms are badass and very nice quality, but custom arms are not needed unless you are going for that show truck bag job or have money to blow. Stock arms work just fine, the upper only need to be pie-cut which is very easy, the bottom just cut off the spring cup and mount your bag, and triangulate if you want to go that way.

[94maxlow]

I think when i do start to bag mine i will just pie cut the uppers like you did droppedmitsu. I am going for the show truck but it is not going to happen over night. Anyways if i do mess up i can always run to the junk yard and pick up a new set of uppers. When ever you get started on your be sure to post pictures.

[94maxlow]

94 mitz how did you mount your front bag in the pocket? does it just sit in the pocket or is there a bracket?

[94mitz]

I bought two of each. The lower bag bracket and single port bracket from here http://thorbros.com/catalog/bag-brackets/circle-plates
Then I got a steel pipe from a metal shop that fit the inside of my spring pocket. When you take out the spring you will see the lip where it sat in. I got a pipe that the inside diameter slid over that lip to help hold it there. Now some people just weld that steel pipe to the bag bracket and just set it in there and use the weight of the truck to hold it in there. But I didn't feel safe doing just that. So I tookc a long bolt and welded it to the plate as well so that it came through the old shock mounting hole and put a nut on it to hold it all there.

[camoit]

fordubishi- i have been looking for a front end kit for close to a year, and I have not seen anything.

If you are any good with a welder you can look through here.
There must be somthing that will work.
http://www.cachassisworks.com/

[94mitz]

here is a pic of where i cut the upper arms to do the pie cuthttp://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/y518/94mitz/1215112007_zps82dcbb88.jpg (http://s1278.photobucket.com/user/94mitz/media/1215112007_zps82dcbb88.jpg.html)

And here is a picture of my upper bag cuphttp://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/y518/94mitz/1108111946_zps4130da2d.jpg (http://s1278.photobucket.com/user/94mitz/media/1108111946_zps4130da2d.jpg.html)

[DroppedMitsu]

Mine are already pie-cut and powder coated so no pics from me, you can see the finished control arms in my thread. But I cut mine in the same place that 94mitz did, but I did NOT cut across the top at all, there is no need as they bend into place fine just pie-cutting the side. Less welding and less grinding.

also, the way 94mitz used a bag cup up front is easier, a lot quicker and works just as well, I just like the look of the welded bag plate and gussets.

[Redneckmoparman]

those are some awesome systems they have for you to buy and the watts link with the battle cruiser links would make an AWESOME handling pickup and a narrowed 12 bolt with disks could handle a good bit of power with the stock bolt pattern but those front systems could work too

[Fordubishi]

Here you go for the upper mounts, this is almost the same thing I used on mine http://thorbros.com/bag-brackets/front-airbag-brackets-minitruck/torsion-front-airbag-brackets

[DroppedMitsu]

That's exactly what I used, torsion bar bag brackets /\

[94maxlow]

94mitz after you cut it you just put everything back together and let the wheel tuck up to where you wanted it and then weld it? If not how did you know how far to bent it up

[94maxlow]

Droppedmitsu do you have any pic of your front end so i can see how you did your bag plate.

[DroppedMitsu]

yes that is what you do, put it back together and jack it up all the way to where the wheel would be when layed out. then tack it to hold it in place and pull it off and weld it up.

The last pic I posted on the first page shows my bag brackets and gussets welded up, you must have missed it.

[94maxlow]

yeah i did. Sorry i did not mean for you to repeat yourself. It has been along day at the shop. I am sitting down tonight trying to make a list of all the parts i am going to need to start bagging the truck. Trying to figure out what is a good air managment system to go with. I have heard really good things about accuair. I am looking for a system were i can lift up and go and not have to full with switches while going down the road. Any suggestion?

[Fordubishi]

I have the Auto-Loc system. works good and wasn't to expensive http://www.autoloc.com/catalog/Air-Suspension-Control/Air-Suspension-Control now granted you need to buy the valves and pressure sensors but that's another couple hundred bucks

[94mitz]

Droppedmitsu is too fast on the replys for me..... Sorry I didnt get back to your question. As far as the air management system, I cant say from experience because I have just a switch box but ive heard nothing but good from both the accuair and autoloc systems.

[DroppedMitsu]

Only negative I've heard about Accuair is price, if you can afford it then get it. I will not be running the full accuair setup, but will be running their air valve manifold, since i will make the install a LOT cleaner and take up less space than ordinary valves.

[94maxlow]

When i finally get up the money i want to try and get the best of what i can afford. If i can't get the whole system i will do like you said droppedmitsu and just get the manifold. I got a few more thing to do before i start to bag it. I am wanting to do the 5 lug swap before i start to bag it.