Background: Sam & Lucie have a plan to travel all over the world in this clean 1970 Jeep Cammando they picked up recently.
First, however, they wanted to modernize the drivetrain using parts Sam has been collecting. So, they dropped the rig off at Triple X Traction, in Seaside, CA to have renown fabricator Toby Lavender work his magic.
The goal with this build is to provide a reliable vehicle capable of tackling third-world roads with confidence while providing comfort to Sam and Lucie during the multi-year trek across the globe. An emphasis was placed on using parts that are readily available virtually anywhere they go. As such, Sam insisted on Toyota axles and transfer cases, a stock Chevrolet 4.3L Vortec V6 and the tried and true GM 700R4 transmission. Watch as we combine these stout components under vintage sheet metal over the next few months.
Sam had a pair of stock Toyota driveshafts for this project. They were a good start, but of corse needed modifications. The front suspension has a lot more travel than stock Toyota so the front driveshaft didn't have enough useable slip. Here's the new long slip that we use for Toyota driveshafts. You won't find square driveshafts on this rig!
You can see in the first pic that when the tire is totally stuffed it tucks to the rear of the fender but does not rub. When it's dropped it naturally swings forward and at ride height it's perfectly centered. I'm really happy and honestly quite relieved about that!
I love reading this build. It's giving me flash backs of the old days of pirate. There is engineering which is uncommon to see, fabrication that is a notch above, out of the box ideas, and good people. It's all too ironic that it's the same people... Only 14 years later.
Nice work. I'll be following along like its 2000 all over again :flipoff2:
Wow. Just wow. That is exactly what I was envisioning (and then a whole lot more).
It's awesome to see how stock the body lines still look, but all tired out with high clearance yet a low stance. It even has that typical Jeepster low butt look. I'm sure that front winch will bring that front end way down once in place.
I love this before and after comparison:
It's funny you say that. I look across the Pirate pages and I don't feel as connected as I used to be. Of course I have been out of the wheeling scene for some time and it has exploded into a completely different beast. My time was back when this was actually the start of the POR club page and we got into text battles, ribbing, and canoe wars on Spider Lake. It's tough to beat that kind of friendship and harassment.
Back in the pre 2000 era, it was awesome to see crazy ideas built into rigs (good and bad). There was a lot of Frankenstein designs and wild ideas of what people thought would work better all while being kept on a modest budget. I'm sure that still goes on, but I think a lot of times it is over shadowed by the current trend of high speed racing designs which is awesome too.
I'm excited to get back into a street / trail rig to travel around the world in one day all while doing it in classic sheet metal style. Hope to run into you on the trails one day to swap old POR days stories.
That is great info GRMhick. Thank you!! I am looking into that bearing to be sure we put the right one in. I was not aware of that problem with the dual cases.
Sharing info like that and learning from others is what I love about the Pirate community.
Anytime. I read that thread again, and the part number is MRC 5209CG.
Let me know what you find out, as something in my transfer cases is starting to make noise again, and I haven't installed one of the MRC bearings to fix the issue yet (I've rebuilt my dual cases 3 times in the last ~20k miles)
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Pirate 4x4
18.7M posts
366.4K members
Since 2000
A forum community dedicated to custom off-road vehicle owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about trail reports, builds, performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, fabrication, drivetrain, and more!