Getting ready to do something stupid.

[heviarti]

To start out with, this post probably fits in just about every category, but I figured I'd start here. Long ago, a very gifted member helped me with a bizarre electrical issue, and I'm hoping I can garner the attention of the best and brightest here; any time I decide to do something serious, that's the guys it takes.

The problem starts with a Chevy. We modified a 1995 Chevy into a rake truck. It retains the independent front suspension with the addition of a Rough Country lift kit, is fitted with a Dew-Eze hydraulic pump kit, 35" tires, a flatbed, and some very involved wiring to duplicate the functions of the rake control box which is slaved to an MSD7 with an RPM limiter keyed off the pump. The boss insists on automatics, so it's outfitted with a 4L80E. I built the engine with some mods over stock. High pressure oil pump, K1101 cam, some special hardware, and an MSD distributor.
The problem is it's just not enough truck. It bounces through pivot ruts, and this year it took $4000 to get the front end back right the second time. That independent front is simply not strong enough. The ignition system is a constant source of problems (hopefully fixed with this most recent distributor), and due to the design cannot be replaced with a plain old HEI. It's too integrated with the TBI. Also, everything is plastic, and it's all full of sensors and electronics. It's just not built tough enough.
The Boss has postulated using his late '80s Dodge Cummins pickup as the next platform, but again, even though the 12 valve is great, the support systems aren't up to the job.
Enter the stripped out '67-9 one ton Ford sitting in a local scrapyard. I've come up with a set of specs for what needs done, and it's fairly exhaustive.

5.9 12v 6BT
School bus compressor mounted with saginaw pump
F600 dash
Dana 80 front and rear, Crane, plus trusses. Maybe ECG rear
Maybe Ox lockers, ARB air op If not
Allison 1000 six speed
Turds
Fabricated 4 link
High arch leaf springs
Frame box kit
Lowrider air chairs
Compound gas shocks/multiple conventional shocks
NP202 transfer case w/Band brake
GM hydro boost brake cylinder, Steel piston from Astro van
A/C system?
Cage/kicker bar
PSC steering?

Each of these has a series of questions attached to it, some of which I haven't considered before and don't know much about. But, I have a mill and a lathe I do well with, and a good fab guy. I'm basically thinking of copying a monster truck 4 link suspension, older style, and running the base tower for all that along with the transfer case member.
The axles bring up a great many questions, first and foremost being if I can just do most of the conversion for the single wheel spindles and 40 spline setup with some parts and two existing dana 80s. It seems like Crane charges a great deal for welding some parts onto a retubed dana 80. East Coast Gear seems to have a pretty nice rear setup in an 80 for $4000. I don't know exactly how it compares against the Crane, or how many (if any) components they have in common at the spindle end. The steer axle work seems to be pretty well Crane only, but if I can cut some costs by doing a good chunk of the conversion with their parts, I'd rather do that. It's more important to build something I'm not going to have to fix multiple times a season, and do major suspension rebuilds on every one or two years. I'm not seeing a truss that looks good for the job as a packaged unit for the Dana 80. I'm looking at 4" tube at 1/2" thickness, but those stupid pivot ruts are hard on things; everything I can build stupid strong, I had best do. The truss is also a point of attachment for at least the upper bars of the four link, and it's likely that all of the work outside the tubes will have to be done after figuring out what the pinion angle will be. Of course all the link bar stuff is going to be overbuilt as well, 1-1/2" shank heim joints with 1" bolts.
As much looking as I have done, I haven't seen any of these Dana 80 setups on a high arch double shackle leaf spring, and all of them with a compound gas shock (generally King) seem to be coil-on-shock. I want things to be simpler, but do want a compound gas shock (like a King minus the coil) rather than having to do a multiple conventional shock... Unless someone has a better idea, or knows a better product.
Another thing I'm seeing a lot of is a PSC push-pull, possibly all hydraulic, steering installed on these Crane axles. I'd literally never heard of PSC beforehand, and don't know whether there are any serious disadvantages I should be aware of with that system. Again, any advice on the subject is appreciated, since something different is going to have to happen for the steering to work with a suspension so massively mobile. It seems like a conventional box would pull when the suspension raises and lowers through its travel. There's also the question of running a kicker bar through the cab along with a roll cage, and terminating it as part of the shock tower bracing. I'm not sure the kicker bar would give as much advantage if it was terminated as part of the rollbar/headache rack.
Then we get into the vagaries of the 6BT... Which seem to be mainly centered around the installation of a compressor. Some folks say once you install one it creates motor mount problems, and others say that the compressor denies the option of a TPS. the Allison 1000 needs the TPS, unless someone here knows a better option for an Allison that has no Electronics to worry about. I surely don't want to go to a 12 volt compressor, because I've had some experience with the reliability of those already. If I'm gonna have air, I'd just as well put a real air system on it like a big truck. The other question that arises with the compressor is that nobody seems to be in agreement if there is or isn't a way to run a saginaw pump on it. Just using the saginaw pump with the extra line for the hydro boost seems like the simplest option, though some folks suggest that regulating one of the high pressure pumps for the hydro boost and retaining full pressure for use with something like the PSC steering might be a better option. That does necessitate the use of a priority valve, which has its own issues. I don't know who the biggest genius with the 6BT is, but hopefully someone knows things.
The Allison is another thing. I'd sooner not have to have a TCM (or any electronics), but nobody has suggested an option other than the Allison 1000 yet. It does seem to have a provision for as many as two PTOs, Which could be useful. It seems like the consensus is that you want the pre-2008 unit, though I don't know how common those are in a yoke-out configuration as opposed to married transfer. If there is a more applicable Allison that is dumber, that'd be great. We've weathered some years with the GM 4L80E, so I'd hope the Allison would handle pulling a big hay rake as well if not better. Again, it would be nice if someone around here was intimately familiar with them could give a pointer or two. I do know I can fit the 6BT and the Allison 1000 without too much trouble, because they did it in that Gold Dust truck.
There's not much to say when it comes to the 202. I've got one in my '62 Dodge, and it's stupid rugged. It also gives a place to mount a third PTO if need be, which can be run forward or reverse by the transmission. I can't say anything about doing that with an automatic as opposed to a manual, though if it doesn't lock up off an idle it might make a good way to winch stuck pivots and still have some give.
I'm probably going to want lockers, but I can't seem to find one that's explicitly said to be mechanical for the Dana 80. I always remember Ox as being cable operated, but when I went looking for one I only saw electric. ARB seems to offer one that's operated by air, which would be my primary reason to have air onboard... Though it allows me a couple other options like air chairs, and maybe an air horn. If someone knows something about a mechanically selectable locker for the Dana 80, I'd like to know too.
Does it sound overbuilt? Yeah, probably. But I doubt we can break this setup easily. I have to sell it to them not as an expensive pickup, but as a cheap extra tractor that you can drive down the road at 45mph (looking at 4.88 diffs) and not have to rebuild the suspension every year or two. I don't think anything less will hold up in the long run. As near as I can tell, if I build it, there will be nothing in the valley that can match it; except for speed. Anyway, I'm listening. Hopefully I can draw some of the luminaries out of the woodwork with this one.

[cep62]

To be honest I didn't read your whole post.
my first thought was to get a late model 1 ton or bigger frame , because they're just beefier than the ones from 50 years ago.
Another thought would be look for a retired monster truck without the engine . It's already has a lot of fab work done .
You'd just have to modify it to suit your need.

[91Bear]

Turds?

5.9 12v 6BT
School bus compressor mounted with saginaw pump
F600 dash
Dana 80 front and rear, Crane, plus trusses. Maybe ECG rear
Maybe Ox lockers, ARB air op If not
Allison 1000 six speed
Turds <------------------------------------
Fabricated 4 link
High arch leaf springs