This is the '88 c1500 (2wd) longbed I bought in 2001 at the ripe old age of 19. Within days of buying it for $300 (with 281k on the odometer :grinpimp: ) she went under the knife.

First thing i did after thoroughly power braking the shit out of her,:evil: was remove the old 10 bolt and throw it in the scrap. In went a 30 spline LP D60 with a lockiright that had been sitting under my unfinished 1949 Willys CJ3A (pics of it are on the 5th page of this thread). I used the factory spring eye mounts and fabbed up some low-lift shackle flip brackets and new shackles for a cheap couple inches.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=249634&stc=1&d=1167980231

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=280737&stc=1&d=1167984266
Next i put my lockrighted Chev 3/4 ton D44 up front under a new pair of superlift 2" lift springs. I had to chop out all the 2wd junk up front, but when I got done the crossmember that went under the engine hung down way to low, and that just wouldn't do. I chopped the bottom ~5" off of it and plated over it with some 3/16 steel so I could keep her really low.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=280739&stc=1&d=1167982787

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=280740&stc=1&d=1167982787


After doing all that I swapped out the old tired motor for a less used tbi 350, a T400HD, homemade billet aluminum adapter, 203, homemade 205 adapter and twin sticked 205.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=280741&stc=1&d=1167983617

Did I mention that I built this whole thing in just over a month at the age of 19, while working full time building uzis? :grinpimp:
Finally I was done version 1.0 of my mods, and she was ready for her first easter. :bounce:

As I pulled into Moab (pulling a cruiser on 42's behind me) for the first time in this truck, a city dumptruck pulled in front of me and I couldn't quite stop in time. Pretty obvious who won that one :(, the fan ate both radiator hoses, but she proved how tough she is. I walked to the CarQuest for some new hoses and fixed it on main street. At least I damaged the dump truck a little, I chipped off a chunk of paint about the size of a quarter.

That is where most of the damage came from in this pic, the holes in the hood and fender that make it look like she caught some machine gun fire are actually from my mace (the chromoly spiked bat looking thing in the bottom pic), which I took to the truck to vent a little frustration ;)

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=280686&stc=1&d=1167985987

To add insult to injury, the Moab City employees inside the dumpbed truck said they barely felt it at the time of the accident, but then a month later the bitch in the passengers seat decided she had whiplash, and sued my insurance! :rolleyes: It was totally bogus, because I had broken two vertibrae and had titanium screws, a plate and a bone graft installed in my neck ONLY 5 MONTHS EARLIER!!! :mad3: If anyone would have experienced whiplash, it would have easily been me, but I was just fine! But in a small town like Moab, the local has a strong advantage in a court case, and Mrs. Bonnie Findley (yeah fuck you Bonnie you greedy lazy cunt!!!) won a 5 digit sum. :mad3: :mad3: :mad3:

[/end_rant]

Back to the truck, I popped 3 dana 44 shafts that trip, and decided my departure angle blew goats. It was awesome to finally be out wheeling, but things just didn't go our way at all that trip. The cruiser lost a pinion bearing and was out for the trip, so we just kept wheeling in my ride. That went pretty well up until I was at the very top of Lower Proving Grounds and suddenly my truck stopped running. At that point we had a broken rig on the trailer, and an immovable tow rig stuck miles from civilization (when I got the 132 home, I found the in tank pump had broke loose and unplugged itself). We were totally out of options, no money cause we were broke teenagers who had taken out loans just to finish our rigs for this trip, and no way home. I called my boss, who had been in Moab that week, because I knew he had a gooseneck two-place trailer down there. When he said he just got back to Salt Lake my heart sunk. He offered to drive back the next day and pick us and our rigs up. Let me say, Ralph, you are the man! Thank you again!

The next easter (version 2.0) I bobbed the bed, fabbed a new rear bumper, put some Beard seats that I borrowed from a buddy in the back, and mounted a fuel cell in the bed.

I just dug up an old video and put it up on youtube. reddman in Mickey's hot tub (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2GnQIqHygc) (the sound is way delayed on the vid :confused: )

version 3.0 included prp seats, a cage, invisible doors, and a new front bumper to replace the 15 minute jobby that went on there after the accident.

I was getting way too good at changing dana 44 shafts (I never ran a single trip without breaking at least one shaft), so version 4.0 finally had room in the budget for new axles, i rebuilt and regeared a 60 and 70 with some 5.86s for 35 splines everywhere. the rear finally got a much needed traction bar too. At the same time i slapped in full hydro and got my beadlocks.

after all that was when the body really started taking a beating, thanks, mostly to coyote canyon, here is a before shot...

and almost halfway through coyote canyon. :eek:

another shot on coyote canyon...

(did i mention most fullsizes should probably avoid this trail?)


I just dug up a vid of this version of the beast on a city retaining wall near my home
LINKY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb1vBk46EtE)

This spring was the latest incarnation of the beast, version 5.0

I narrowed the grill by over 24" chopped the hood about 6" shorter and lowered the front of the hood down almost 4" for better visibility, chopped the hell out of the fenders, removed the front cab body mounts and welded my cab straight to the cage (my tire and the body mount were way too friendly), bent up a hoop to protect the radiator and hold the body panels, made my skid plate fit better, 4 linked the rear with some 2x16 saw air shocks, went to a 1350 cv out back, hacked practically all the bed,mounted a new seat in back, extended the cage (its still not done), mounted hilift, cooler, gas can, fuel cell and tools, and wired up a new cd player and ipod wiring. oh and i put on some 42's

she finally has suspension flex instead of frame flex, but its unbalanced, the front doesnt flex at all now cause the rear does all the work, im debating either stripping down my parts and building a buggy or linking the front.

the ladies like this version better than any of the others, but cops sure dont :(

One of my fav's. Been following it ever since I saw it the first time on this board a long time ago. I say link the front. Way too much time, money, effort, and cool in that truck to get rid of it. If you don't just finish up this rig, then I will post :rainbow:'s on all your threads :p

American, I see you finally got that 205.

Reddman, your truck was the inspiration I needed to SAS my 2WD. I was scared that the frame wouldn't hold, but you proved otherwise. Good Job.

meh, my frame is needing some help lately, a couple big cracks, and countless non-factory bends. no big deal :D


this last easter i broke 5 of the 6 bolts off the rear of my t400, so she has been sitting bleeding atf all over my driveway since then while i debate what to do. i was planning on stripping it down this summer, so i didnt build it quite how i should have. my rear link crossmember on the frame is just under the output on my 205, so i cant drop out any of my drivetrain to swap out the trans without cutting that out :mad3: .

ill take some pics of it and post up to see if u guys have any ideas on how to fix my fawk up without rebuilding the whole thing. i guess im not that happy with how much antisquat i ended up with, so maybe i should just redo it all. i dont know.

oh and american, i dunno where huntsville is, but it cant be too far from btf, they do :smokin: work!

like the truck and the thread, keep it up:smokin:

sweet truck and thread, nice job narrowing and bobbing... How do the TSL's perform vs the SX's (other than size)? I run 38 sx's and love them but want bigger .....

this is a pretty sweet truck.... i always like pics of it, plus your semi close to me..

sweet truck and thread, nice job narrowing and bobbing... How do the TSL's perform vs the SX's (other than size)? I run 38 sx's and love them but want bigger .....
well i definitely dont trust the sidewall as much, but so far i havent had any issues with the tsl sidewall :crossing fingers: i also need to run them at a little higher pressures, due to the taller and thinner sidewall.

i really like them though, they have good traction, good flex, and ride decent. the taller sidewall does make them a little scarier at high speed, steering is delayed more than it used to be. its difficult for me to compare traction because so many other things on the rig were changed at the same time, i think the loss of over 1000 lbs made the biggest difference.

i was also surprised by how much power i lost with the bigger rubbers. not like she has ever been fast, my motor is tired and ready for replacement or an upgrade (hmmm, i have always wanted a big block...).



thanks everyone for the compliments, now that i have gone through all the big changes, i think i will post close ups and whatnot of all the little things, better late than never right?

what was the previous weight?
how much does it weigh now?
estimated front rear bias?

mine's about the same and I have no idea what it weighs, just wondering

Frank

most these pics have already been posted elsewhere here but i guess i'll just go over some of this again (some of this will be new)

as always, there is no rhyme or reason to the order im posting these in, so with that said, here is my chopped off 2wd coil bucket... link to that thread (http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=336487)

what was the previous weight?
how much does it weigh now?
estimated front rear bias?

mine's about the same and I have no idea what it weighs, just wondering

Frank
i dont really know, i have never weighed my truck, just the scrap steel that came off of it. im guessing its somewhere between 4-5k now with 70/30 f/r bias

my hydro steering...

i mounted the orbital valve right where the box was, just hooked it up using the old steering shaft and joints. it all looks kinda different now with the narrowed front end requiring most this stuff to be mounted elsewhere. (i know my radiator mounts and the upper hose are ghetto. they were pre-easter rush jobs, along with most of the rest of this truck)

link to my steering thread (http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=336322)

shot of the cage...

the fuel cell used to stink up the cab, now its further back.

old front bumper, i liked this one but it had to go when i narrowed it.

link to my cage thread (http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=338594)

now to the drivetrain: here is the billet t400 to 203 (clocked up about 100 degrees for ground clearance) i made.

my good friend johnny s made this doubler. the 205 is clocked flat too.

i have had the driveline retubed a couple times cause its a rock magnet :eek:

i dont really know, i have never weighed my truck, just the scrap steel that came off of it. im guessing its somewhere between 4-5k now with 70/30 f/r bias

thanks man, i was guessing about 5k to 5.2k w/ 85f/15r on mine
if it's in 2wd the f-in thing won't drive up the danm trailer without a run and start

Frank

Cool thread ive missed alot of your threads apparently. I just catch a glimpse of your truck here and there.

If and when you link the front, count on either redoing the frame up there or mounting the air shocks or coilovers on top the knuckles cause there just isnt any room with that wide ass frame. I ended up doing the same thing you did with the 2wd coil bucket frame hack, and when I linked it It still had my coilovers way out on the knuckles.... I havent any problems with them on the knuckles... just with my ignorant ass baja style ditch hitting driving and tabs ripping from the shock hoops :laughing: (fixed problem wont happen again...scatterbrain )

What is your WB now... how long are your rear links and do you have any pics of that aspect of your build.

Im @ 125" wb now that I pushed the front fwd and linked it... Id like to take 10" out of the rear of my truck and Im debating back halving it or starting all over on something else besides the Turd. If I do back half it I wanted to do a link on air shocks out back and get my wheelbase back down within reason.

I like the latest version! :smokin: Nice work, the 4 link & air shocks look like they work very well.

Buggys are too common, keep wheelin' it as you have been. It's definatley change from all the Jeeps you see in Moab, and if the chicks dig it you're doing something right. :grinpimp:

I'd like to see some pics of your cage. I have the same cab and dash layout. I'm lookin for some ideas.

What is your WB now... how long are your rear links and do you have any pics of that aspect of your build.

Im @ 125" wb now that I pushed the front fwd and linked it... Id like to take 10" out of the rear of my truck and Im debating back halving it or starting all over on something else besides the Turd. If I do back half it I wanted to do a link on air shocks out back and get my wheelbase back down within reason.
right now im at 120"

i was planning on chopping it to about 112, but i was running low on time and funds so i just put the stock powerstroke driveline i had without any mods, and unforunately it pushed that rear back further than i wanted.

I have pics, but the intraweb at my house is busted, and i dont have any pics here at work. i will post them as soon as qwest fixes my damn cable line. they said it would take 5 days to fix! :mad3:

hey post a link of your build thread so i can see how your rig is looking lately, i love your truck!

I like the latest version! :smokin: Nice work, the 4 link & air shocks look like they work very well.

Buggys are too common, keep wheelin' it as you have been. It's definatley change from all the Jeeps you see in Moab, and if the chicks dig it you're doing something right. :grinpimp:
thanks man, for the compliment and for keeping rme going. :beer:

i do have a couple gripes about the rear suspension. the shocks dont have enough uptravel, and it has tons of antisquat. i dont know how that happened, i worked it all out on the calculator and it was only like 113% but fawk, if i powerbrake it will extend the shocks all the way, and if i do it in reverse it will squat till the shocks bottom out. wtf? :confused:

hey reddman have you got a good sideview pic of your rear links?

Frank

Do get a lot of hop/bucking when climbing up an obstalce with the anti squat issue you are having? I am almost done linking the rear of mine too and it looks like it will be a lot like yours.

Do you have any problems with the air shocks getting over loaded with weight and bottoming out? All I hear from the local webwheelers is how you can't run airshocks on a full size rig. :rolleyes: Guess you better go unbolt yours then huh?

Do you have any more mods planned for the body? Maybe cut the top and b pillars, make it a convertable?

[QUOTE=T-Bolt]Do you have any problems with the air shocks getting over loaded with weight and bottoming out? All I hear from the local webwheelers is how you can't run airshocks on a full size rig. :rolleyes: Guess you better go unbolt yours then huh?


Don't worry about the airshocks. They'll be fine. Just get 2.5"s
my front 2.0's are almost maxed out on pressure

Frank

All I can say about Reddman is.......DAMN!!!!!!! :smokin: :D

More pics Reddman.

More pics Reddman.
soon, the internet at my house should be back up by the weekend.

I have nothing to add except that your truck is the shit. Any truck more bashed than mine that still has the body is pimp.

I'd like to see some pics of your cage. I have the same cab and dash layout. I'm lookin for some ideas.
if u want anything specific let me know, here's what i've got...
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=250536&d=1150659429
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=250538&d=1150659710
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=250539&d=1150659710
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=250540&d=1150659710

hey reddman have you got a good sideview pic of your rear links?

Frank
i cant really get a side shot, the frame blocks pretty much the whole view. here's the next best thing....
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=250542&stc=1&d=1150661040
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=250543&stc=1&d=1150661040
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=250544&stc=1&d=1150661040

honestly if u could see through the frame from the side it would look like the links attach to the frame in nearly the same place. thats what i think my problem is, it acts like a traction bar working on a single pivot point at the frame. any other input?

Do get a lot of hop/bucking when climbing up an obstalce with the anti squat issue you are having? I am almost done linking the rear of mine too and it looks like it will be a lot like yours.

Do you have any problems with the air shocks getting over loaded with weight and bottoming out? All I hear from the local webwheelers is how you can't run airshocks on a full size rig. :rolleyes: Guess you better go unbolt yours then huh?

Do you have any more mods planned for the body? Maybe cut the top and b pillars, make it a convertable?
it used to hop bad (fawk i had some wicked spring wrap), i didnt notice any this last trip, unfortunately she broke that trip so my seat time with this new setup is pretty limited.

on my shocks i wish i would have built the mount higher for more uptravel, at ride height its only got like 5" of up, and it bottoms out more than it should. i really didnt have to use too much pressure in them, about 250#, which is half their rated max. they are super soft, i can lift the rear 5 or 6 inches with my scrawny arms, and when i put my weight on the rear bumper it squats about 1-2"

i love having glass and a roof, they will stay on the truck as long as they are semi-intact. i have toyed with the idea of buying some bed side panels and making it look a little like a truck again. but that would fawk all teh rear visibility i just got. time will tell. also i want to add some diagonal supports on the rear cage extensions, that is if i keep her....

so here is where im at now, the rear suspension crossmember that i threw together a couple days before easter was going to be a close fit with everything. i had been planning on tearing her down and building a buggy with my 49 willys body this summer, so a lot of the things i did went in without any thought given to possible future repairs.

it turns out my crossmember is just barely too close to the 205 output for me to lower the tcases down so i can change out the broken hd t400 trans case, i layed under my truck cursing for a couple hours when i noticed that. :mad3:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=250546&stc=1&d=1150662472

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=250547&stc=1&d=1150662472

looks sick.

why not just pop off the 205 flange and bearing retainer to get the tcase out?

just seeing those pics pisses me off, so im gonna get myself thinking about something else. how about narrowing the front?

i didnt wanna sink much money into the truck this year (well, at least, not into parts that couldnt be reused on my future buggy). instead of glass fenders, i just hacked the living hell out of the existing ones

the main reason i cut them up so high was to remove as many dents as possible. i wish the tire openings were smaller, but hey, who the fuck cares?
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=250548&stc=1&d=1150662955

after my cuts, i weighed the pieces out of curiosity, each new fender weighs in at 5 pounds. total weight of what i cut off (both fenders combined) was 50 pounds! :eek:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=250550&stc=1&d=1150663165

looks sick.

why not just pop off the 205 flange and bearing retainer to get the tcase out?
hmm, i had thought about taking off the flange, but the output would still keep it from coming out. dunno why i didnt even think about taking the output shaft out! :idea:

thanks dude! :beer:

i chopped out both headlight sections from the grill, and decided to attach the corner marker lights to what was left to make it look kinda like a truck still.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=250551&stc=1&d=1150663535

mocking up the corner lamps, grill, and fender...

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=250552&stc=1&d=1150663535

with the fender on there, i wanted to see how weird it would look with the wheel turned the opposite direction of the fender. fawk it looks pretty strange!

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=250553&stc=1&d=1150663535

damn, thanks again sbchero, i almost cut out the crossmember!

while im thinking about it, pics of the tranny case:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=250559&stc=1&d=1150665762

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=250560&stc=1&d=1150665762

:mad3:

oh and thanks everyone for the compliments!

:beer: :beer: :beer:

Reddman, Kick ass ride! Do you have any pic's on the front shackle mounts and hangers. I've got a 2wd beater beggin for a 60/14bolt swap:smokin: Thanks. Keep postin' those pic's.

So how does one crack a transfer case like that? I wish i saw that happen...
btw your rig is awesome.

I believe thats the tranny thats broken.

honestly if u could see through the frame from the side it would look like the links attach to the frame in nearly the same place. thats what i think my problem is, it acts like a traction bar working on a single pivot point at the frame. any other input?


I'm pretty sure you're right. looks like you need more vertical separation at the frame, your 4-link is acting more like a radius arm susp

Frank

I'm pretty sure you're right. looks like you need more vertical separation at the frame, your 4-link is acting more like a radius arm susp

Frank
ahhh, radius arm, i was having a brain fart when i posted and couldn't think of the word i was looking for. thanks.

i was just running a few #'s through the calculator. it looks like if i move my upper link frame mounts up about 4" it will end up at about 98% antisquat. right now its looking like its about 150%+ (i am at work now and only estimating the locations, so nothing is truly precise). i was running on no sleep when i originally plotted it all out, fawk i was way off!

it looks like you've got enough room to move them up above their current location, just needs another bracket welded in and it should be much better

Frank

Reddman, Kick ass ride! Do you have any pic's on the front shackle mounts and hangers. I've got a 2wd beater beggin for a 60/14bolt swap:smokin: Thanks. Keep postin' those pic's.
yup, it took me a while to dig these up from an old thread. here u go...
(oh and please ignore the sweet wiring ;) )
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=250578&stc=1&d=1150677806

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=250579&stc=1&d=1150677806

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=250580&stc=1&d=1150677806

i knew i remembered axist6 from somewhere here before, and i found where while i was searching. sorry for the massive thread jack dude. i was a bit of an ass in that one. :emb:

i found a pic of my dual alternator setup while i was searching too.

its just wired in parallel with the factory alt. they seem to fight eachother though :confused: i have gone out to my truck in the morning (after sitting all night) and one of the alts is pretty warm, almost hot, while the other feels normal. i figured it was some kind of a drain on the battery, but it will hold a charge for weeks and weeks, and the alt is still hot. :confused:

Sweet reddman! Thanks. Are the shackle mounts mounted with 3 tubes to the frame or just the 2 in the pic's? Cool alt setup.

haha, no worries man. glad i could help.

rig looks :grinpimp:
:beer:

Sweet reddman! Thanks. Are the shackle mounts mounted with 3 tubes to the frame or just the 2 in the pic's? Cool alt setup.
both sides have 3 support tubes, they are just hard to see from the angle both those pics were taken from. maybe ill take a better one tomorrow.

hey man can you come wire my truck for me? :flipoff2:

both sides have 3 support tubes, they are just hard to see from the angle both those pics were taken from. maybe ill take a better one tomorrow.
No he's just blind. it's easy to see... one on each side, and one up top.

Sweet ass rig, again. can't wait to see the next encarnation...

So how does one crack a transfer case like that? I wish i saw that happen...
btw your rig is awesome.
thanks.

i'm not sure how it happened, it made some odd sounds for a couple days before it came apart. i am guessing that the initial damage occured when i was blasting down a dirt road (around 60 mph) in moab and hit a big wash, which launched me pretty well. actually that happened twice. :emb:

it didn't come apart until i was on a steep climb on rusty nail (i was runnin it with lance, the owner of this site). all of the sudden it just started gushing out atf. i lost 5 quarts at least right then. so i backed off the obstacle and shut her off to see what was up. when i saw it pouring from the case, fawk i was :mad3: .

amazingly enough i was able to drive off the trail under my own power, even though the trans was bleeding bad the whole way. pretty impressive since it was like 5+ miles back to the trailer.

i have a 27 spline atlas sitting in my garage, with a 700r adapter, but after seening how tough that t400 performed even after losing half its fluid, i'm temped to sell it and run a t400 in my buggy.

No he's just blind. it's easy to see... one on each side, and one up top.

Sweet ass rig, again. can't wait to see the next encarnation...Hey American:flipoff2: Thanks for clearin' that one up.

Would anyone be interested in buying this chassis with the motor, trans, doubler? Most of the other stuff I will be taking off for a buggy, I just figured I would see if you guys think anyone would even be interested.

I would leave all the body and cage etc., 350 TBI and howell wiring harness, motor with accessories (including one of stations pumps just like dan dibbles), T400 (i will hopefully be replacing that before she gets torn down), custom adapters and t-cases (with 32 splines on everything), cable shifted 203, twin sticked 205, custom crossmembers, power brakes, tilt column, artcarr shifter, rear bench seat, 16 gal. fuel cell with sender unit, fuel pump, tool storage, led taillights, etc.

im undecided on taking the gauges out, the front seats will be staying with me, axles, susp links and rod ends, drivelines, steering minus pump (i may leave the orbital valve and ram with the truck too, we will see), hi-lift, cd player will all be moving to a new vehicle most likely.

I'd buy it if I didn't already have my Ram. That's without a doubt.

Give it a shot.

reddman, what bushings and what size tube(inner diameter) are they mounted in on your front spring shackle hangers.

reddman, what bushings and what size tube(inner diameter) are they mounted in on your front spring shackle hangers.
they are yj wrangler leaf spring bushings. i cant remember if they are for the spring eye end or the shackle end. either one will work for you.

if they are spring eye bushings, then they fit perfectly inside of 1.75" OD x .120" wall (1.510" ID) DOM tube.

if they are shackle bushings, then they fit perfectly inside of 1.5" OD x .120" wall (1.260" ID) DOM tube.

i would probably recommend using rubber eye bushings. the poly ones dont have much give at all and tend to just get ripped up if you flex your rig out a lot. my poly bushings are way torn up. it makes my whole front end slopply. rubber is a far better choice for what we do. you could probably get the bushings from your local mopar dealer.

On your dual alternator setup does the factory alt just bolt into the A/C compressor mount? I dont want to pull my compressor out to find out.

sweet ass build i hope my rig can one day be that awesome

I really dig how you did your cage.... I have put off putting one in my truck far to long and need to get on it.

For that 4 link.. if you wanna try something cheap and quick , why dont you just knock your lower tabs off and rotate them downward on that tube. That will give you a couple inches of vertical sep @ the frame... that is if there is enough adjustment on your links to get away with that....(youll have to run the ends out quite a bit ) I know the lowers will be down a bit more but I seriously doubt it would hinder clearance enough to matter. Just a quick cheap fix you could try.

Ill cry if you sell your rig and build a buggy. :flipoff2:

On the tab note... hell you could turn up the uppers as well.. it appears in the pics you have room Im sure you could keep all the tube bracing you've welded in intact and "re-tab" up there and get a few inches of seperation.

How much vertical sep do you have at the axle ?


*** And you asked on page 2 about my rig's evolution... on my site a guy I helped build a 1tonTJ for just started a thread with this topic... scroll down a bit and youll see my truck going through the paces.. ***

http://www.alteredhope.com/hardline/viewtopic.php?t=1148

Ill cry if you sell your rig and build a buggy. :flipoff2:
As will I. But that goes for you too, Paul.

Two :smokin: rigs, and ya'll want to scrap'em... ghey

finally, some new pics.

i havent really posted much on the bed section for this year, so here goes nothin. i got a seat and belts out of a montero for $20, used self drillers through the bottom of the cooler to hold it in place, sunk the fuel cell into the bed, and screwed a rubbermaid down next to it for storage.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=251760&stc=1&d=1151405757

i chose the montero seat cause it looked easy to mount, and i wanted something fairly narrow that i could fold down. that netted me a little extra storage space, perfect for my tool bags and extra fluids.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=251761&stc=1&d=1151405757

inside i mounted the ammo can i have been waiting years to use, and stuck a new cd player inside it. sorry for the crappy pic, but its 5 am right now and im not about to go outside and snap another.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=251762&stc=1&d=1151405757

on the front of the ammo can i put a 12v outlet to power my ipod charger. :smokin:
(sorry about the shitty pic again)

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=251763&stc=1&d=1151405757

Ill cry if you sell your rig and build a buggy. :flipoff2:

As will I. But that goes for you too, Paul.

Two :smokin: rigs, and ya'll want to scrap'em... ghey

but it will be so easy for me to build a buggy! ;)

click here and scroll to the bottom of the page... (http://www.bluetorchfab.com/the_shop.htm) :grinpimp: :grinpimp: :grinpimp:

edit: btw, shhhh ;) im tryin to keep it kinda on the d-low till im there... :D

Come on over to Alabama mang! We need some more crazy mofo's!

Frank

congrats on the new jobby

Right on man !! We are gonna have to go wheel and put up pics of the damage !! :smokin:

man, I kept it secret, and now you go and blow the top off of it?? ass hole :flipoff2:

You should rethink the small displacement thinger though. you should definitely keep it v8... and big tires... etc.

now to the drivetrain: here is the billet t400 to 203 (clocked up about 100 degrees for ground clearance) i made.

just wondering if this could cause your broken tranny case. a solid mount absorbing all the engine torque plus the 203/205 hangin off the back.

:laughing: .

It almost looks like a dunebuggy :laughing:

don't fawkin do it redd...

DON'T FAWKIN DO IT!!!!

definetly congrats on the new job bro. I'm excited to see what you produce with them. keep it fullsize so when my new rig is done we can both go rock it up in fullsizes. hope you enjoyed your long ass drive.:flipoff2:

I spoke with him yesterday and he was in Iowa... he didnt sound rational at all... he kept quoting Field of Dreams and shit..

reddman: Is this heaven ?
Kevin Costner : No its Iowa, wanna play some catch !

yeah he was texting me and my wife that shit all day long. wtf?

Hi Reddman I love the thread, its badass!:smokin:

fullsize baby!:flipoff2:

what would you do with a million dollars?

two chicks at the same time:eek:

definetly congrats on the new job bro. I'm excited to see what you produce with them. keep it fullsize so when my new rig is done we can both go rock it up in fullsizes. hope you enjoyed your long ass drive.:flipoff2:


how the hell do you see with that big ass bow tie up there?? I think you mistook which window was the rear one.

two chicks at at the same time can be had for much less than a million dollars
all you need is lots of :beer:

I spoke with him yesterday and he was in Iowa... he didnt sound rational at all... he kept quoting Field of Dreams and shit..

reddman: Is this heaven ?
Kevin Costner : No its Iowa, wanna play some catch !
Oh.... so those were "load it on the trailer" pics? That's much better.





I wanna go fullsize wheelin' too!... I have a couple months before my rig will be ready. Fawkin $$ keeps going all over the place, when it should be going towards my pile of junk.

He should be in Dothan soon.... he stopped by and mooched pizza , I never saw such a skinny bastard eat so much ! :laughing:

Good to meet you man

the bow tie really isnt in the way. the rear window is a slider so the sticker wouldn't of worked good there. and trust me i don't have anywhere near a million dollars.

This is an awesome thread!!! I've been thinking of narrowing my fullsize and was wondering how difficult of a process it is. I just can't bring myself to parting it out and building a buggy...here's to fullsizes:beer: :beer:

1 more

yeah he was texting me and my wife that shit all day long. wtf?
Damn it's still a little weird to hear you say wife. Congrats again dude!

BTW, had you been as bored out of your skull as I was on that 2100 mile drive, you might'a said the same thing! :D

Hi Reddman I love the thread, its badass!:smokin:
Thanks Ms. Tillia! :laughing:

He should be in Dothan soon.... he stopped by and mooched pizza , I never saw such a skinny bastard eat so much ! :laughing:

Good to meet you man
Thanks again for the grub! Wow, I thought it was humid in B'ham, fawk, I just finished my second day of work and my shirt is totally soaked! :(

But other than the nasty humidity, the job is awesome! I'm almost halfway done with my first Fusion Chassis. :D Everyone down here is badass, well, all the people at BTF at least... Some crazy religious lady got all pissed at me about my Guns 'n' Roses shirt cause it has the cross from the Appetite cover. Shit she was so pissed at me you would think I killed her firstborn! I was just tryin not to laugh at her.

This is an awesome thread!!! I've been thinking of narrowing my fullsize and was wondering how difficult of a process it is. I just can't bring myself to parting it out and building a buggy...here's to fullsizes:beer: :beer:
Narrow that shit up man!!! :flipoff2:

Nice truck, I love the old box Chevs.

It's called the Bible Belt homey. was the cross upside down?

Yea the ol school Southern Babtist down here have no problem cramming there thoughts down your throat on thier way to the ABC Beverage store :laughing: :beer:

Man sounds like your bucking the chassis out, thats cool.

This is an awesome thread!!! I've been thinking of narrowing my fullsize and was wondering how difficult of a process it is. I just can't bring myself to parting it out and building a buggy...here's to fullsizes:beer: :beer:


Thats a good lookin old school. I did a full tube /narrow bed similar to mine on my boys back in Kansas...his is a 78' DO IT !! :evil:

It's called the Bible Belt homey. was the cross upside down?
nope. i just though it was funny she was so bothered by it. i cant wait to sport some of my other band shirts! :evil:

UPDATE

She is running again, I swapped all the tranny guts into a new HD case, and I chopped down the front drive line and adjusted the rear links to make sure they dont make it break again.

I took it out to the local wheelin spot. Wow, wheelin in LA (lower Alabama) is different! (editted cause Gaither was offended that I prefer west coast wheelin :flipoff2: I admit, there was one hill that I didn't champ, but it rained monsoon stlye the night before and it was wicked rutted out, and since I was the only rig there I didn't wanna risk anything that could tip me)! There was nothing very challenging so I ended up in a big wet clay field doing donuts in front wheel drive only in reverse. The axle started hopping and before I could let off I popped a 35 spline warn premium. Time to put my drive flanges back on there.

Anyways, this week, my big tasks are to correct my rear suspension geometry (IC is waaaaaaaaaaay to far back) and put a sway bar on the rear (made out of an old toyota torsion bar I stole from Tin Bender after he did a SAS on his toy) :grinpimp:

I will post up when I can, but my camera dissapeared :mad3: :mad3: :mad3: so pics will all be shitty phone quality.

Get that thing sorted out and come up to the Fall for All in October bubba !!

Mines sitting at 116" wheelbase now,(Down from 125)
I got bored over the weekend :laughing:

just heard the Guns and Roses will be here in Jacksonville on Oct. 20th....

wheelin on this side of the country is definately different, gotta get the wheels spinning!

Brian

Broke my trans/tcase crossmember today. :mad3:

A few of us from the shop and some local friends went out to the local playground and held a mini-comp. Bender set up the courses, dayum they were rough for the guy with the longest wb, widest width, and largest turning circle (welded f/r), oh that was me if you haven't guessed. There is no terrain out there that really challenges my rig, but by making the driving very technical and forcing strategy upon us it was tons of fun. It was cool cause every run, someone would think of a new way to make it with less points than the guy before. I had to have some unique strategies for my rig since turning is such an issue.

We competed for a few hours until I noticed a funny thumping, both heard and felt in the floor, whenever I was moving. My 1350 cv was rubbing on my rear link crossmember, but all my drive train was still intact, unlike the first time I heard this sound. Then Bender spotted a crack almost completely through my crossmember. It's made of 1-3/4" .120 wall DOM, but has seen 5+ years of HARD abuse. At this point I'm torn between polishing this piece of shit with lots more work and upgrades, or just tearing down and building a flatty buggy. If I build the buggy, it won't be just another buggy. I plan on making it streetable and extreme wheeler, all in one package. With the tools I have access to at BTF, it should end up pretty sweet.

I pretty much finished my swaybar yesterday, a couple loose ends to tie up, but it's pretty much there.

buggy that shit. When the body of the '79 is finnaly no more I'll be getting a BTF chassis for my fix.

you got a 465 205? I have a adapter if that is what you broke i can see you for like 30 bucks plus shipping

Cmon man, you gotta give us some more info than that on the sway bar. What material is it, what did you use for a torsion bar blah blah blah. Interesting lookin.

buggy that shit. When the body of the '79 is finnaly no more I'll be getting a BTF chassis for my fix.
Well I will be building your chassis, let me know if you want any "extras" on your chassis :evil:

you got a 465 205? I have a adapter if that is what you broke i can see you for like 30 bucks plus shipping
No, T400/custom homemade billet aluminum adapter/203/homemade custom steel adapter/205. They are all in fine shape, I just broke my custom crossmember that holds it all in place. Shouldn't be a hard fix, time is the only thing that's hard to come by lately. :(

Cmon man, you gotta give us some more info than that on the sway bar. What material is it, what did you use for a torsion bar blah blah blah. Interesting lookin.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=509819

sick truck, cool thread man. fullsize is where its at

New pics and updates on the first page...

Any new progress on the truck?

:( No, she has been sitting in the corner at BTF for months now. If I ever catch up on all my work projects I will tear it down and build my uber-lowrider '49 Willys CJ3A buggy! :grinpimp:

edit: I just remembered the latest mod I made to her that somehow I forgot to mention here, a "Custom" logo where the bowtie should be, I'll get a pic of it and post up.

I have been entertaining the thought of selling off the 42's in favor of some sx's, along with most of the powertrain (motor, trans, t-cases). Biggest prob with 38's will be the 5.86's in my axles, I NEED a trans with an OD.

What do you guys think?

I think you should get them to me, for the Blazer. :)

you still here? or back there?

I got a set of 5 rock rashed high tread 38 TSL's on 15" 8lug BL's Id trade you for the 42's

(Tires that were on the Turd)

i found a pic of my dual alternator setup while i was searching too.

its just wired in parallel with the factory alt. they seem to fight eachother though :confused: i have gone out to my truck in the morning (after sitting all night) and one of the alts is pretty warm, almost hot, while the other feels normal. i figured it was some kind of a drain on the battery, but it will hold a charge for weeks and weeks, and the alt is still hot. :confused:

:confused: truck has sat for about 2 months now, without being started at all, and a couple days ago I checked and one of the alternators is still hot, but she cranked up easily. The only reason the alt is hot that I can imagine is some kind of a current drain, but after 2 months of sitting, there's no way it would still be fully charged. WTF?

I think you should get them to me, for the Blazer. :)

you still here? or back there?

I'm back in Bamastan now. Next time I'm back there (probably 6 mo. or so) we will have to hang out. What's the Blazer looking like now?

Hey, I just added a few videos of my truck and more info on the first page, check it out!

Damn Redd, that truck's been through hell. Is there any stock piece left :confused:

Looks good man, gotta love them fullsizes :smokin:

Damn Redd, that truck's been through hell. Is there any stock piece left :confused:

Looks good man, gotta love them fullsizes :smokin:

Most of the cab, most the frame and, um, well I thing that's about it! :laughing:



I may have just located an LT1, probably trading my tube bender for it! :bounce:

Hey Redd you got any pics lying around of what your fenders and shit are mounted to?

Man Redd, I can't believe I missed looking at your rig while I was there this weekend. I dig the fullsize truggys, just throw some BTF swag at it and keep it.

http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=566634

I tore her down last weekend. :(

RIP 132