Introducing Project Hairy Hauler

Today on trucks, we'll introduce project Hairy Hauler by installing a state of the art front suspension on a 1934 international pickup truck.

Then we'll show you the best of what our cameras caught at the four wheel Jamboree Nationals in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania and Indianapolis.

After that, it's back to the shop for some gas tank restoration.

That's all today on trucks.

Hello, everybody. Thanks for being with us again this week. As you can see, project Wicked Willies is getting real close to seeing its first action off road and believe us in the weeks to come, we're gonna finish it

and punish it for you, but let's face it. Not all trucks or four wheel drive. Heck, one of the most popular hot rods is the old T bucket Roadster from the twenties.

Now, we didn't go quite that far back in time, but we did find a 34 international sitting in a field in Nebraska

and it was begging to be made into a hot rod. So in the weeks to come, we're gonna turn this old classic into a Hairy hauler with upgrades and how to projects that'll work on early or late model pickups.

Now, the first thing that you wanna do with a project of this size is to really spend some time deciding exactly where you wanna go with it.

Now, this is really important because if you change your mind in the middle of a project,

you just flushed a lot of money down the toilet and you'll probably end up with an unfinished piece of junk sitting in your driveway.

Also, by having a definite game plan, you'll know what parts can be tossed and what you need to hold on to. For example, these old wooden floorboards are gonna be replaced with metal. So they're history.

Now, keep in mind whenever you work on an older truck, you're gonna have some rusty bolts. So make sure you have plenty of penetrating oil on hand.

If that doesn't work. Well, you may have to use a cut off tool

while stace is busy tearing things apart back there. I'll go ahead and show you the Super ride front suspension we're gonna use from. He's

hot rod shop. This is state of the art hardware comes with a custom made cross member, stainless steel, a arms coil over shocks, spindles, rotors, polished calipers, if you can believe that as well as a rack and pinion unit.

But before we can put on the new stuff, we gotta get rid of the old. Now, don't just grab a torch and cut this old cross member out. You need to make sure the frame is square.

And if it's not,

now is the time to fix it,

grab a tape measure measure diagonally across the frame from one of the body bolts

up to one of the holes in the front,

then check the same measurement from the other side. Now, if these are not the same,

you need to do some framework until they are fortunately, ours are right on

now to keep the frame from moving.

When we cut out this cross member, I'm gonna temporarily weld in a brace back here

and another one up here.

Now with the braces in place, go ahead and mark your axle center line

across the frame rails.

Also don't forget to take measurements of where the radiator mounts to the cross member. We're gonna take vertical

as well as horizontal measurements. So we know exactly where the radiator is gonna mount to the new cross member. Now, if you don't do this, you're gonna have a problem with the alignment of your hood

and the grill.

After you have all your measurements, you can grind off the old rivets

and drill them out.

The last thing we're gonna do is unbolt these old leaf springs

and then cut these brake cables,

check this out mechanical brakes, man. That's a step up from the Flintstones.

Yeah, it's a good thing to see. Only had about 60 horse off the assembly line. Finally, we can knock out the old cross member.

Now, it's important to clean the frame with a wire brush or a sandblaster. So you can make some good welds.

Now, once you have the frame clean, you can box it in and put in the cross member or

you can put the cross member in first and then box the frame, which is what we're gonna do.

Now, the beauty of this heights kit

is that you literally slide it into place and line it up.

It's got all the right geometry

as well as a degree of castor already built right into it.

Set the cross member center line an eighth of an inch in front of the axle center line and clamp it in place.

Once you have it where it needs to be,

then you can tack weld it in place. Don't forget the golden rule when it comes to a project like this, make sure you double check all your measurements. So you only have to weld it once we need to take a break right now, but stay with us. Project. Hairy Hauler is just getting started

later in the show. We'll take you with us on the road for some four wheel Jamba reaction.

But up first, we're gonna show you how to finish off the front suspension on project Hairy Hauler.

You just can't get enough of trucks, check us out online at trucks, tv.com.

Welcome back to the shop. Everybody. As you can see, we're well on our way to having a state of the art front suspension on project Hairy Hauler.

That way we can tool down the interstate and the drag strip without ending up in a ditch.

Now, I know a lot of you guys are probably thinking, well, that's great. But what the heck, I don't have a 34 international. Well, don't worry, Heights makes a kit for just about any vintage truck out there.

Now, it's time to start fitting our classic with the new hardware.

Now, like we told you before, the upper and lower a arms are stainless. So besides looking great,

they're gonna be plenty strong enough as well.

The spindle pops right on the lower

and upper ball joint. Don't forget the dust boot.

It's also a good idea even if you're just gonna push your vehicle around for a while to go ahead and grease the ball joints.

One of the really cool things about this suspension is its adjust ability.

You've got your caster and camber adjustments right here in this upper A R

your camber, which is the vertical plane of the spindle is adjusted by turning these ends either in

or out the same amount.

Your caster, which is the rear word tilt of the spindle is adjusted by turning one end in and the other one out.

This way, you can adjust your suspension just like a race car.

Another really neat feature about this set up for these adjustable coil over shocks. Now, for those of you who don't know coil over shock is a combination of a coil spring and shock absorber all wrapped into one

in the past when guys tried to build a custom front end,

they never really knew if it was gonna be too high or too low until they put weight on it. By then it was way too late.

That's where these adjustable shocks really come in handy.

Simply turn this adjusting nut on the bottom and you can get any stance you want

while mills uh fiddling around with the shocks, I'm gonna go ahead and bolt on the rack and pinion.

Now, one of the biggest mistakes that people make when they build a lightweight vehicle is they think, oh, I gotta have power steering.

That's a common misconception. A lot of times the power rack will make your steering real Squire.

Everybody knows that they suck horsepower.

The bottom line

with a lightweight truck, a manual rack is more than you need.

Even if you're gonna drop in a big old 383 Stroker like we're gonna do in the Hairy Hauler.

Now, since we are gonna stuff as many horses under the hood as we can, we gotta have disc brakes, which is actually the crowning touch to this kit

installation couldn't be any easier. The polished four piston caliber bolts right up to the spindle. We're also gonna use steel braided brake lines, but we're not even close to being ready for those yet,

but we are about ready to put a set of front wheels on the old hauler. And for those, we went to team three wheels to get a set of their et 10 spoke Gasser wheels. Now, these are designed directly from the old spindle mount wheels that most of the drag cars used back in the sixties.

The big difference is they're all aluminum.

They have lug nuts and they're polished front rear and just about everywhere in between these things are great.

I'll tell you what stace the front end on this old international has come a long way from the day. We first found it hasn't it, it has

about the only thing we have left to do is box this frame and we'll be done up here, at least for a while. Very cool. Unfortunately, we've run out of time for this segment of project Hairy Hauler.

But don't worry, we'll deal with boxing and other frame building techniques in the weeks to come.

For more information about trucks. Check us out online at trucks, tv.com.

If four wheel drive trucks are what turn your crank, then a special events. Four wheel jamboree is the place to be

and

young or old,

mild or wild. They've got something for everybody

from tough trucks to core trucks, blown trucks to tall and yes, everybody

there's even really small.

Hey,

wait a minute.

That's not a truck.

Ok, man, I've seen some crazy things out here

but

a ch

bet. What possessed you man,

why not?

That's the best.

What else was it?

There's nothing else like it.

Well, no one's gonna forget it. That's for sure. What kind of chance did you have?

It's just a Chevy Love truck.

All factory four cylinder.

Just gotta break the norm.

You're not afraid to get air with it either. Oh, no, no, no. It was built to come out here and be

here.

We took our cameras to two Jamborees last season and in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, it was a monster truck that stole the show when the legendary big foot board driven by or

maybe we should say flown by Dan Run tried to knock the stuffing out of himself and his five ton rig by hurling the monster just under 145 ft through the air. 25 years went into this, you know, go 100 and 44 ft 10 inches. That's gotta say something right now.

When I got up to you after this was all over,

you were literally shake

adrenaline. I mean, this is pure adrenaline. It's gotta be better than any kind of drug out there.

Oh, yeah, definitely. No doubt about it. I mean, it, it is, it just,

we go out and play in Munster trucks and it just, we have fun and,

you know, get the kids to follow this instead of something else and

we do it and,

you know, if it wasn't for fans, we wouldn't be here. So we'll do the best job we can

at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. It was the championship off road racing series led by the legendary Walker Evans and a few of his closest friends

that had everybody on the edge of their seats. I think the four series is a fabulous series. I always did love the Mickey Thompson Stadium racing. I love long distance desert racing and this is kind of a combined,

say a little in between the both we get to use big V eight S high horsepower full size trucks

on manmade graded

tracks, Spectators get to come and see them, you know, in off road racing, it's beautiful. It's fantastic. But unless you got a helicopter, you don't get to watch much of it.

Now, obviously, the core series in the monster trucks are for the Spectators in the crowd,

but for the do it yourselfer, you can cover 200 ft of mud in a blown truck battle, the tough truck course in your stock or modified truck. And if all else fails, there's always the burnout contest.

But whatever you choose, one thing is certain,

this is the place to let your adrenaline flow and the good times roll,

everything goes right.

It's,

it puts you in the seat so hard. You can't

really, you're kind of the car, it's up to the car to do whatever it's gonna do. If you get enough control,

the only control you have is.

But now what does it feel like when that front end comes across,

uh, your first instinct is to lift, but if you lift, you're gonna lose,

just going straight and staying home.

Well, I don't know if it's, uh,

it's just the rush or what. But,

uh, you know, like I said, you know, I, I got into it when I was young and it's just something I like to do. You go out and

let it out on the right foot, you know, and just go get a little bit wild.

I do it for myself first. It's, you know, my own self gratification,

you know, fill my truck go as fast as it can

and everybody else is a fringe benefit of my fun.

Oh,

by the way, if you're somebody who doesn't like to get his truck dirty, there's also a place to show off your shine.

Bottom line. A special events. Four wheel Jamboree has something for the entire family. Jamborees are excellent

for everybody.

I mean, they got

the little kids up to grandpa like me. You know, everybody comes and everybody has a good time

to watch crazy people like me out there doing wheelies and watch the monster trucks.

If you want more trucks, check us out online at trucks, tv.com.

Thanks for staying with us. Everybody.

You know, if you have a vehicle that's more than 10 years old, there's a good chance you have some rust in the gas tank. Heck, temperature changes. Alone can cause condensation to settle on the bottom, resulting in rust and that'll definitely kill your horsepower.

So we're gonna show you how to treat an old gas tank even if it's got some minor pinholes in it.

Now, the first thing you need to do

is look your tank over and make sure there's no major holes or rips in it.

Now, it is possible to weld up an old tank, but this is obviously an explosive situation. So

if you don't know what you're doing, you better get a new tank.

Our tank doesn't have any holes in it. So we'll be able to use this kit from the Eastwood Company.

It comes complete with the metal wash

Oxys

salve rust remover as well as the tank sealer itself to finish off the job. We'll use this zinc coating to prevent rust on the outside. Now, if you tackle this project, make sure you have plenty of ventilation.

The first thing you need to do is take off your sending unit. Now, go easy here because these little screws are prone to rust and notorious for breaking off. Now, if you do, don't worry about it, just drill them out and retap them.

Now, once you have the unit out, take about a 4 ft length of chain

and drop it down inside.

Now, shake it around

what this does

is knocks loose all the crud that's built up over time.

Now, the space has all the big stuff knocked loose. Believe me, you never know what you're gonna find in these old gas tanks.

We can hit it with a solution of the metal wash that dissolves the gummy varnish that forms when gas gets old

after dumping the metal wash, pour in the rust remover that etches the surface for good adhesion of the sealer

with the tank, clear and dry, you can apply the sealer

and since you can't see inside the tank too well, we're gonna show you what's going on in there.

Now, here's an untreated piece of metal and you can see it's got some rust.

Now, this center section is what it looks like after you use the rust remover. Now it's got a zinc phosphate coating and that inhibits rust.

And finally, the sealer forms an inner liner that totally seals the inside of the tank, including any small pinholes.

The last thing we need to do is spray the outside with this zinc coating to make sure our tank doesn't rust from the outside in it only cost about 40 bucks to do this project ourselves, which is a whole lot cheaper than buying a new tank.

You've heard us talk about using lock tide on bolts.

Problem is lock tide comes in different colors, red, green and blue. So the obvious question is,

which color do I use? Fortunately I have an answer for you.

The red is for a high strength application like a flywheel bolt or anything that's under high stress.

The blue is a medium strength for like valve covers or thermostat housings and it's the most commonly used.

The green has the same strength as the blue,

but it's the only one that penetrates. So you actually put it on after the parts have been assembled

in off roading circles. The term air down means to lower your tire pressure from what you run on the street.

This gives you a wider contact patch

that results in much better traction on the trail.

Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure out our classic pick up used to be home to a family of field mice. Fortunately, this little black box from Y tech can serve an eviction notice to just about any pest problem you might have inside or out.

The sounds emitted from the transonic Cix create such a hostile environment that targeted pest or forced to vacate the premises.

The graphic pictures on the back allow you to customize the sound

to repel anything from ticks to squirrels and all you need is 100 and 10 volts to cover up to 3500 square feet, rid yourself of any unwanted guests with a transonic cix for about $50.

A properly inflated tire is a must for good wear handling and gas mileage and most blowouts start with a slow leak.

Well, smart tire has come up with a way to monitor up to six tires while you drive. This is great. If you're pulling a trailer.

Now, the pressure and temperature of each tire

is displayed on this unit in the cab.

Now, it picks up the signal from these wireless sensors that mount inside the tire on the rim. So you always know what your tires are doing. A

smart tire system like this goes for about 500 bucks.

You know, most people like to put their trucks

to work. but hey, there's nothing wrong with wanting to protect your investment as well. Speed liner has both ends covered with their performance spray on bed liner

that they claim can withstand twice the abuse of other liners.

Also with spray on bed liner, you permanently seal and guard your bed from dirt, water and chemicals that cause rust and corrosion under drop in liners,

protect your investment with speed liner starting at about $350. That's gonna do it for truck year.

Here's a preview of next week's show.

We've got a ZR two S 10 in the shop that's gonna get a pop out rear window, bed cat and rack. Then we've got the ultimate work truck from GMC.

The professional has everything you'd ever need to get the job done.

And then some

after that, we'll get project trail boss ready for the paint booth.

That's all next week on trucks.

That's gonna do it for this week's show. Thanks for being with us. We look forward to trucking with you again. Next week.

Trucks is an RTM production.