Thought I'd take a minute and say thanks to all those that provided invaluable insights along the way over the last 7 years (you probably know who you are!) as well as especially to the vendors such as Marlin Crawler, Stephen at Off-Road Design, Jess at High Angle (of course) and Vic at Advance.

The rig is almost entirely complete and performing extremely well, especially for a 4-seater that drives very, very acceptably on the highway despite the 198% anti-squat predicted by the calculations ;) . I added a limiting strap on the rear at just over the length needed for full rear axle articulation and it's working really great. Surprisingly even though we haven't yet added the front limiting strap it only began to unload the front suspension once all day and that way probably at around a 60 degree plus pitch before it started unloading and I got out of it.

Pictures from the first couple days (still need to play with spring rates a bit more, but it's very close) are at:

4-Runner pics here (http://groups.msn.com/RockCrawler4x4/firsttripwiththerebuiltrig.msnw?Page=1)

I gave it a soft flop on day 2 (picture here) (http://groups.msn.com/RockCrawler4x4/firsttripwiththerebuiltrig.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=503) , but it hardly counts as it only fell about 18 inches into a soft sand side wall. Gave it 3 dents or so too(minor), had to break it in of course... Also made 2 obstacles the no other rigs in the small group made, and was never denied except for 1 loose rock climb. Had to drive it about a mile to the location at speeds up to 55 mph and no shakes, wobbles or significant handling issues at all. All in all, very pleased.

Anyway, thanks again all who pitched in the great info and time to bounce ideas off of all along the way, and thanks to Kash and S&N for the workmanship and letting me help out and learn along the way too!

I like it, looks good:eek:

here you go

and from the back

Looks good. Weren't you gonna exo it? I know you been working on it a long time, just decided to finally go wheelin?



Right click, save as-

VERY NICE!

:beer: Me likey! Very nice lookin rig!

How do you like the PJ Dirt Grips? Or is it too early to tell.....

Originally posted by Im4yotas
Looks good. Weren't you gonna exo it? I know you been working on it a long time, just decided to finally go wheelin?



Right click, save as-


THANKS Im4yotas, and thanks to you and MisfitCJ for posting the pics directly!

On the cage, ;) Wait to you see what S&N is doing with the cage, it was a stroke of BRILLIANCE on Jason's part! It should be done around Oct. 25th or so... I LOVE what he's thinking of (hint, doubt you've seen anything like it before (yeah, I know, it's a pretty vague hint LOL)

Nice....!

Great googley moogley that's a sweet Yota!

Where about in WA is that picture taken? I noticed the power lines and it somewhat looks like the Ravensdale area, but I haven't been there for a year and a half or so.

Damned nice!

Originally posted by cord318
:beer: Me likey! Very nice lookin rig!

How do you like the PJ Dirt Grips? Or is it too early to tell.....


Thanks! Yeah, it's pretty early but so far I am very impressed. The traction was better than I was expecting in both the compressed sand/tiny rock of the ravine shown as well as very good on the moist rock switch-back up towards Lake Isabelle - which it went right up with some great spotting from Rick W. No chunking despite some rather abusive behaviour and the street manners were just superb including at speeds up to around 50 or 60 mph up by Kash's on Hwy 2 :eek:

Originally posted by Josh 89XJ
Where about in WA is that picture taken? I noticed the power lines and it somewhat looks like the Ravensdale area, but I haven't been there for a year and a half or so.



Believe it or not that's just the Reiter area up near Goldbar, WA (about mile or 2 from Mike Kash's place.) It has a pretty good diversity of terrain albeit nothing competition-class still a ton of fun to be had up there and it's a large area; supports a lot of folks at once.

finally a toyota truck with decent axles HAHAHA:p

Originally posted by jeeper111
finally a toyota truck with decent axles HAHAHA:p

:confused:

What kind of axles beet the Pirates in the Carnage For the 'Con this year??? Oh yeah, they were BIRFS! :flipoff2:

Just wanted to interject a comment... VERY sweet rig, I like the concept and certainly looks like it will perform excellantly. Only one question.... am I the only one that thinks that Radiator is REAL vulnerable looking?.......or is the planned external cage and such going to fix that? I realize it's just a shake down cruise.......just wondering is all.

NoRM

nice work !

nice lookin rig!:beer: :beer: :beer:

Schawing!!!!! Looks good, cannot wat for the cage pics. Sounds hush hush, but I still wanna see pics when your done.:D :flipoff2:

Hey Scott,

I've asked this before, but cannot find the old info.

what is your shock spring rates front/rear..

thanks..

(I've got my 16" 2.5 sways sitting ready to go, just trying to

figure the spring rates to start fabbing...

--Sherpa aka, Scott

Looking great!

SHHWWWIIIIINNNNNGGGGG!!!

I LOVE IT!

Excellent work! Looks killer!

SO... What are the specs? Come on, don't hold back. :flipoff2:

Originally posted by Beartrack



Believe it or not that's just the Reiter area up near Goldbar, WA (about mile or 2 from Mike Kash's place.) It has a pretty good diversity of terrain albeit nothing competition-class still a ton of fun to be had up there and it's a large area; supports a lot of folks at once.

Nice, I hadn't had a chance to try those trails. I recently moved to Eastern WA and its complete lack of decent wheeling, so I'm planning a trip to that area next month to run some trails. I'm actually familiar with the Gold Bar area, wanderingwillys on this board lives over there and I have been to his place a few times. I helped him set up the gears on his 9" and he helped me bend the tube for my cage. Anyway, maybe I'll see you up there and you can shame my petty little Jeep...:flipoff2:

Originally posted by P|n-BaLL
Just wanted to interject a comment... VERY sweet rig, I like the concept and certainly looks like it will perform excellantly. Only one question.... am I the only one that thinks that Radiator is REAL vulnerable looking?.......or is the planned external cage and such going to fix that? I realize it's just a shake down cruise.......just wondering is all.

NoRM

Yup, you are right and yup, the front tube bumper/cage will protect it!

Originally posted by SHERPA RIG
Hey Scott,

I've asked this before, but cannot find the old info.

what is your shock spring rates front/rear..

thanks..

(I've got my 16" 2.5 sways sitting ready to go, just trying to

figure the spring rates to start fabbing...

--Sherpa aka, Scott

Hi again Sherpa, give me a call!
(425) 422-1347

It looks like you could use some tender coils in the rear there. I may be seeing things though. Looks good, I dig it!

Originally posted by IndyCJ
Excellent work! Looks killer!

SO... What are the specs? Come on, don't hold back. :flipoff2:

First, thanks a ton everyone for the compliments to all of us!


Hmmm, on the specs, well I could just cut and paste the list but MSN Groups corrupted my MSN Groups "rockcrawler4x4" site! ...and then just sent basically a "oops, we're sorry!" email, so I'll give you what comes to mind:

85 Runner, all floor and most firewall sheet metal redone
85 X-Cab frame side rails (front 2/3rds) with all mounts shaved off and moved up
97 Vortech 350/4L80e tranny, both with 10k miles on them
All suburban harness, steering column, cluster and fuel sending unit (with an 89 K5 gas tank) refitted into the Toy
10 additional guages, mostly Nordskog white faces, digital interface and programmable for warning indicators wired to a buzzer, and have analog faces for quicker reading
Atlas II 4.3 hooked to an NP 203 doubler (came up with the idea and worked with ORD to get this out, first one)
Jesse's drive lines
D60 front w/ARB, 14-bolt rear with Detroit
38x15.5x15 Parnelli Jones on Trailready beadlocks, 2.5" backspacing
4-link front/rear with 2.5" King coilovers w/ remote res.
Canopy/body shortened a bit over 20" in length
4 Beard Ultra seats
...think that's about it except for the fuzzy dice ;)

Runs at stock '97 Suburban RPMs in high gear/high gear/OD (tranny); runs 4000 RPM at 4.3 MPH in double low :D

Oh, Pig, on the tenders, yeah maybe but since 2.5" tenders run 100 bucks EACH, I found a much easier and equally as functional way to keep the cups in, and it has added advantages (besides the extreme cost!)

All you have to do is take a poly mid-80s F250/350 suspension bushing and cut the large diameter, 1/4" thick flange off of it then it fits right down into the cups. As the shock shafts are 7/8" diameter and the F250 bushing was made for a 3/4" diameter bolt, all you need to do then is cut it lengthwise so you can slip it around the shaft, slide it down into the lower spring cup and it has plenty of tension on the shaft to keep the cup down. It has the very substantial benefit of acting as a backup bump stop to keep the coil from getting damage and this bump stop never gets misaligned under articulation! ... he, he, hee... the things you come up with along the way after having 7 years to plan a thing like this out :)