Budget truggy build

flippinrigs1 · Nov 11, 2016

Hey guys, so I'm just about to start a new build, and it's gonna be on a budget. I know, I know, "budget" doesn't exactly fit in with this hobby.
I'm going to start with a 62-65 chevy truck. Going to narrow it, chop it, and taper the front of it. Ditching the original chassis and going all tube chassis throughout. Plan on running a 5.3, turbo 400 Trans and 205 transfercase. Have an old 14 bolt laying around to use for the rear. What would you guys suggest for the front? Rod ends? 4 link bar materials? And steering setup? Any help and advice would be great! Remember, budget friendly please

RebelRider · Nov 11, 2016

Being a truggy owner myself, why are you going with a body? Visibility sucks and it's harder to fit things.

zukimaster · Nov 11, 2016

If your on a budget and want to wheel in the next 10 years, just buy a cheap rig, you can buy for about half what it cost you to build and the many, many hours of labor it takes, ask me how I know! :****:

xjtony · Nov 11, 2016

What he said.^^

pholmann · Nov 12, 2016

My guess is he is a lot like many of us who can 100-500$ something to death but doesn't have a few thousand laying around to fork out at once and is too impatient like a lot of us to sit watch and save. How close am I?

Beerj · Nov 12, 2016

pholmann said:
My guess is he is a lot like many of us who can 100-500$ something to death but doesn't have a few thousand laying around to fork out at once and is too impatient like a lot of us to sit watch and save. How close am I?

I'd put my money on that, but only $300... a few times.

nhl_bullitt · Nov 12, 2016

Depends on what deals you find on parts, what parts you decide to use, how much dolla bill gets thrown at the axles, but it will be hard to keep that rig under $14k or so. Like they said though, not too bad to pull that off chipping away at it. Sounds like a cool project.

Front axle: GM 60's through the 80s are a good choice. Low pinion though, so under lots of throttle, that could be the weak point (there are ways to treat this though).

Almost any Ford 60 from 78 - up is a good choice. There are a couple years where they were IFS in the early 80s, then Dana 50s for the first couple years of Super Duties (and stayed metric bolt pattern of course). All high pinion driver drops.

Link material: .250 wall dom is what a lot of people start out with. A lower that is long can definitely bend though. I usually throw a short stick of 1.5 inside my lowers to add strength.

Heims: My personal rig is a mix of 7/8 and 1.25s. I probably should have just went 1.25s through out. I never have too much thread showing on the shank regardless.

Steering: Too much to discuss here, but I would definitely go full ram. Even when I was keeping budget in mind on a past rig, I usually stayed pretty expensive on the steering set up.

flippinrigs1 · Nov 12, 2016

pholmann said:
My guess is he is a lot like many of us who can 100-500$ something to death but doesn't have a few thousand laying around to fork out at once and is too impatient like a lot of us to sit watch and save. How close am I?

You're pretty much dead on, and I already have a 14 bolt rear, turbo 400 tranny and and 5.3, so I was thinking why not just start here? That and I can make the build what I want it to be

flippinrigs1 · Nov 12, 2016

nhl_bullitt said:
Almost any Ford 60 from 78 - up is a good choice. There are a couple years where they were IFS in the early 80s, then Dana 50s for the first couple years of Super Duties (and stayed metric bolt pattern of course). All high pinion passenger drops

So staying with the turbo 400, should I get a turbo 400 to ford 205 adapter and just run a ford high pinion passenger drop?

flippinrigs1 · Nov 12, 2016

RebelRider said:
Being a truggy owner myself, why are you going with a body? Visibility sucks and it's harder to fit things.

I've always loved the look of a long, wide and low truggy, and itll be pretty chopped up. I imagine it's quite a bit harder to fit certain things, but I'll figure it out I hope

muddinmetal · Nov 12, 2016

No way I'd cut up that body style truck for a bunch or reasons... I see getting the lines on the hood being very difficult to line up if you dove it

flippinrigs1 · Nov 12, 2016

muddinmetal said:
No way I'd cut up that body style truck for a bunch or reasons... I see getting the lines on the hood being very difficult to line up if you dove it

There's a 62 cab and front clip for 300 bucks, it's got nothing else and no title, so I might pick that up. As for the hood, I plan on cutting the sides off of it, and then taking whatever I want out of the middle of it and welding it back together, it's gonna be tricky but I think it's doable. There's no way I'll cut up a decent one or one that's worth saving though, gotta get a junker.

pholmann · Nov 12, 2016

You can cut corners lots of places but you'll be money ahead of you'll save a little and pick up an atlas with a low gear set. You will not regret it. Btw when you get ready for an axle holler at me. I can usually get em pretty cheap.

ForMud · Nov 14, 2016

The best way I've found to save money on build is come up with a plan before you even start to build and stick with it....It's the big changes that cost you the big money.

pholmann · Nov 14, 2016

Very solid advice!!

rocfun · Nov 15, 2016

Since everyone's idea of "budget" is different, what is the dollar amount that you are planning on having in it ?

flippinrigs1 · Nov 15, 2016

rocfun said:
Since everyone's idea of "budget" is different, what is the dollar amount that you are planning on having in it ?

Well, since I can do all the labor myself, when I'm all said and done and have a turn key rig, I'd like to be in the 15,000 range. I think this is doable seeing as I already have a motor, transfercase, rear axle and transmission (needs rebuilt though). I've got some boggers I can run on it for now, figure I'd pick up a nice set of used coilovers and a front Dana 60

JDodd · Nov 16, 2016

I would find a cheap 2500 truck with a 6.0, you'll have all the small stuff that adds up like brakes, cooling, wiring. Put the 60's chevy body on the frame and throw a 205 behind the stock trans and 60 up front. Dump the rest of the money into suspension and tires.

rocfun · Nov 16, 2016

^^^^^^win

flippinrigs1 · Nov 16, 2016

JDodd said:
I would find a cheap 2500 truck with a 6.0, you'll have all the small stuff that adds up like brakes, cooling, wiring. Put the 60's chevy body on the frame and throw a 205 behind the stock trans and 60 up front. Dump the rest of the money into suspension and tires.

Wouldn't the chevy with a 6.0 have an IFS suspension in the front though? Although it could be swapped out for straight axle