The Cuda K5- from mall crawler to rock crawler

[g-wizz]

Originally Posted by ibelonginprison

I got the Cuda reference... based on the font used on your back window.

But the random splotches of Kawasaki Green......... meh.

Anyway - can't wait to see the rest of the pics and where it sits now.

grabber green, not kawasaki. its a mopar color. and yes its a bit of a "look at me" color but if he does a clean job on the blazer it should look alright.

[g-wizz]

Originally Posted by Cuda K5

ha wow thats alot of rear end in not a whole lot of car. did you take pictures of the suspension?
congrats on the axles. one of the first things i was going to tell you was to change the ratio of what you got, but you seem to have that covered now. get crossover steering (brace the shit out of the frame as said earlier, search steering box brace in the chevy section) then buy hydro assist. especially if you run a locker or spool in the front. which from the looks of it its something your probably going to do. even if you dont its still a good idea. you can grab the power steering set up off of a diesel(if you want hydroboost, and if you want a stock "modded" pump) or a van and use most of the parts from that, like the remote reservoir and can for the pump

[ibelonginprison]

Originally Posted by g-wizz

grabber green, not kawasaki. its a mopar color. and yes its a bit of a "look at me" color but if he does a clean job on the blazer it should look alright.

Yes, I realize it's supposed to be "grabber green," because of the 'Cuda reference. I had a friend in high school oh so long ago with one. However, what's the different between grabber green and kawasaki green on a Chevy?

Speaking of which... why not take a cuda body and drop it on the K5 frame. Then you can actually live up to the name.

[AngleIron]

For Christ's sake who gives a fuck what color he paints his truck. Should his shoes match his belt too

[Brian Thomas]

Originally Posted by AngleIron

For Christ's sake who gives a fuck what color he paints his truck. Should his shoes match his belt too

Best line Ive read today!

[sjracer]

now that's f-in funny

[Cuda K5]

I have recently cut the bed down and dove it as far in as possible. I plan on doing a comp cut and making my own inner bedsides welded to the middle section of the floor I kept.




I failed to mention that i completely tore out the original wiring for this truck. It looked like somebody had given a 4 year old blind child a pair of snips and let him have at it. I have the new harness, which is a TBI 350 harness, and have mounted it, ran wires to the column and most of the engine/comp. There is still work to be done there.

I got some 14" travel billstiens and tabs along with ferd shock towers



I will be fabricating my own inboarding crossmember soon.

my frame where the passanger rear shock mounted is trash. Almost cut all the way off its cracked so bad. So I got some 3/16"s to plate that with along with ord's steering box plate to prevent the inevitable

After I get this thing going ill start making my anti-wrap bar. I got these so far

[az_eric]

Originally Posted by AngleIron

For Christ's sake who gives a fuck what color he paints his truck. Should his shoes match his belt too

no but his tie has to match his hat. lol. nice rig man cant wait to see it on the trails

[Cuda K5]

Originally Posted by aaronr10

Not to piss in your cheerios, but I noticed that you are running grade 5 hardware store bolts on your RF spring plate going into your D60. Not a good idea. Many people get away with grade 8 bolts, but I run and recommend studs and nuts. I got my stud kit from WFO years ago when I did my wonton swap.

yea they will be gone soon, I just havent gotten around to going to a catipillar dealer yet to get their studs

[Cuda K5]

Originally Posted by K5runner@hotmail.com

It looks very good, keep the momentum up.

One word of advice keep the windshield and wipers, make it so you can still drive in the rain. It gets really cold without a windshield. I love seeing trucks that are capable offroaders and still be able to go down the street in the rain (with the driver/passenger being comfortable).

This rig will remain very streetable. Im keeping 4.56s and putting in a doubler, windshield, wipers all the goodies. I like to be able to jump in it and cruise to a car show on the weekends

[BB1]

Originally Posted by Cuda K5

This rig will remain very streetableable. Im keeping 4.56s and putting in a doubler, windshield, wipers all the goodies. I like to be able to jump in it and cruise the mall parking lots on the weekends

Fixed it for you.

[sjracer]

wait till the whole rig is damn near done to make your wrap bar, it should be the last step before exhaust. ya want all the weight on the suspension to get the angle right. also, don't do like ive seen other's do on here (and fail miserably) and mount those directly to the end of the bar. there are fail threads on here with even heims that big bent to shit. i made mine the link between the bar and the frame crossmember, and have had no issues as of yet. I used a short piece of DOM between the two heims, and a note: DO NOT WELD THE BUNGS WITH THE HEIMS THREADED IN, IT WILL F-CK THEM UP AND THEY MIGHT NOT THREAD BACK OUT! yes I learned this the hard way and $70 later i had it fixed again.

[MaxPF]

Dude, WTF is with that ghey-ass green shit?

[sjracer]

ok let's get over the fact that the OP wants to paint it different. as long as its not a rainbow warrior we should all be ok. a friend of mine has a cuda in in bright f-kin orange and it looks cool (specially with the big ass hemi stuffed under the shaker hood). get over the color thing already and let's get back to the build, it seems to be coming along good and he's doing it right so far. so i say:

THE COLOR OF IT DOESN'T MATTER....F-CK!!

[Cuda K5]

Originally Posted by sjracer

ok let's get over the fact that the OP wants to paint it different. as long as its not a rainbow warrior we should all be ok. a friend of mine has a cuda in in bright f-kin orange and it looks cool (specially with the big ass hemi stuffed under the shaker hood). get over the color thing already and let's get back to the build, it seems to be coming along good and he's doing it right so far. so i say:

THE COLOR OF IT DOESN'T MATTER....F-CK!!

Ha I agree

Unfortunately greg had my doubler intermediate shafts machined and splined, and he will also be making the adapters...... So I pretty much have to take his ridicule

[HEAVY METAL]

right on. i'm enjoying this build, keep it up son!

[JUNKYARDDOGK5]

The build is coming along nicely Jake!!

[MaxPF]

Originally Posted by Cuda K5

Ha I agree

Unfortunately greg had my doubler intermediate shafts machined and splined, and he will also be making the adapters...... So I pretty much have to take his ridicule

You like it

[Cuda K5]

I didnt get much done this weekend. I spent saturday at a wheelers4warriors fundraising event. Got to check this out



It was like being at a strip club... Only I could touch

Friday I picked up my rear dshaft. Its .250 wall DOM 1350 yoke.



I also bolted up my starter, wired it up, bolted up my P/S pump. Bunch of small shit like that

Yesterday I went to my buddy's place and made my 4 spline front dshaft



I still need to clearance the CV and cut it down today

[chevy76]

Im rely diggin that 4 spline front shaft. Well i like the whole truck. good build. keep it up

[HEAVY METAL]

why did you kep the cv on the front shaft?

[Cuda K5]

Why not keep the CV? My friend Brent has built quite i few of these dshafts now, all with CV's. The most recent one he built has driven 60 mph with no vibrations, tons of slip, and strong. I never had any reason to think it would work better without the CV. I'd be interested to hear the pros/cons

I also forgot to mention that the aluminuim draglink pictured previously, was too long. I cut it down and had another buddy take it to his work where he had a lathe and tap. The lathe's throat wasn't big enough for my pole or something like that anyway he got me some cheap 1.25" .215 wall DOM and tapped both ends RH 7/8x18. I ordered a couple TRE's from WFO yesterday should be here this week. Then I will be able to steer and have a all the spare TRE's I need.

[Jeepaholic86]

I like it bud! Great build so far! Are you going to paint the rig green or black?

[Cuda K5]

i plan on doing boatsides and painting those black along with the tube. but the few body panels that will be left will be green with the AAR strobe stripe

[MaxPF]

Is it done yet?