elotsip's stretch and build up thread

[elotsip]

Well, spring is here and the birds are singing and the flowers are blooming. You know what that means, time to upgrade the rig that I only drove like 3 times on the trail last year...

This time the plan is to stretch it 18", install my sidekick tranny, install my sidekick dual tcase setup (from Rock 4x fab), install Horizen offroad's toyota axle coil kit and install a set of staun internal beadlocks. I'll also be stretching the internal cage 18".

I've got most of the parts already, got a donor tub for the floor section of the sammy, two doors for side panels, tranny, tcase, beadlocks, trying to get the coil kit ordered but Okie Zuk hasn't replied to my PMs yet.

I'm contemplating an exo cage and tube front end but that's way secondary at this time. Once the stretch is done I will be lining the inside of the tub.

I'll keep this thread going as I make my progress...

[elotsip]

Here are the pieces of the puzzle...

Sammy as it sits today:




Sidekick tranny:


Modified sidekick tcase:


Donor tube:


Donor doors:


and four beadlocks:




Only outstanding item is the coild kit but I can start the stretch while I wait on that.

[elotsip]

Horizen Offroads (Okie Zuks) coil kit for toyota axles cost is $1429. I just got it ordered.




Here's a quick mock up of what I plan to have it look like:

[elotsip]

Almost...

Got some work done last night. Pulled out the seats, targa, flares, shifter boots, seat belts and a few other odds and ends.

[elotsip]

Got some good work done on the stretch today.

Got the lines drawn for the cuts.




Making the cuts...


Side one done.


Both sides cut.


Rear section removed.


Here it is on the ground.

[elotsip]

Frame without the tail end.



Removing rear bump stop support.


Cutting the frame off now.


All chopped off now


Got the new frame peices in. They are 18.25"s. We got really lucky and got the right the first time with very little tweaking.


Ricks beautiful welding


Spliced in section gussets.

[elotsip]

Here what she looks like with the rear bed in place.









I ran out of gas so I couldn't finish welding the gussets.
Next step it to lengthen the wiring harness, brakes lines, fuel lines, and breather line. Still need to drop the rear drive line, trac bar and front spring bolts.

[Hvy_Chevy]

nice

[red90runner]

looks really good!!

[roczuk]

Right On!

[elotsip]

Got a little more work done tonight. I Was able to get a new bottle at lunch and finished welding up the gussets on the frame.
I also got the wiring harness stretched by splicing in 18" pieces of wire and then rebundleing it all.
I'll be buying the new gas lines and breather lines tomorrow...

[elotsip]

Alrighty, finally got some time to work on the sammy some more. After Easter I went to Belize for a week and then got sick when I got home. Sorry for the delay in posting but this is the first real work I've done.

I had already removed the rear springs, spring hangers, axles, and drive line. Today we worked on splicing in the new sheet metal to fill in the 18" gap created by the stretch.

Got the first panel sized and mocked up to test fit.


Got the first panel tacked in place.




Now the passenger side tacked in place with the additional lower section.




Got the first upper rail spliced in here from the donor tub, you can see it in the background.






Got the rail and the lower piece spliced in on the driver side as well.


All in all we got a lot more done than we anticipated today. Only worked on it for about half the day. Then we had fajitas for dinner since it's Cinco De Mayo.

Tomorrow we shall work on the floor and try to knock it out.

C&C appreciated.

[zukisuzi]

Man, it's lookin' GOOD! I'll keep watchin'. Happy Cinco De Mayo!!!

[Greenhorn21]

Nice build! Keep up the work.

[samota87]

Thats a good idea.....I just couldnt kill a set of doors knowing someone would buy them. Keep up the good work.

[Rockrat]

Nice pics Bill. I like the modefied Box, But I made to be used in the stock location you didnt have to stretch the zuk for it. LOL

[elotsip]

Haha, yeah, I know. But I figured I might as well while I was installing it.

Got some more work done today. Today we got the center floor cut and welded in place. Rick finished welding up the side panels on both sides.

Center floor piece from donor tube.


Center piece tacked into place.



Here what it'll look like with the stick rear seat and my internal rack. I'm going to have to shorten my rack by a few inches. This was expected since the rack is 24" and I am only stretching 18. So I will shorten it by about 6" or so.




Here's a shot of the side panels completely welded up.


We also got the left and right floor sections cut out but then still need to be fitted. We also got the peices that will extend the section of body where the seat belts spool up at. These will go all the way to the floor.





Rick had a good idea of installing some ammo cans in the side floor section recessed down into the floor. That should be pretty neat.

Next thing on the list is to get the side peices fitted and welded in place. Then a whole lot of body work.

Still waiting on my coil kit to show up...

[elotsip]

Got the floor done tonight. I also picked up some ammo cans and they will fit perfectly.







Full shot.

[Lowtorious]

I'm assuming the link kit is for front and rear - right? If so - did you incorporate the wheel base stretch into the links? It looks great so far - keep up the good work.
-Andy

[elotsip]

Yes, the kit is for front and rear. I am deciding on what to do about the rear control arm mounts. Either I lengthen them or I extend the frame for the mounts. I'm not sure which option I will go with at this point. I guess it depends on how extending the arms would effect the geometry of the suspension in the rear.

Edit: Decided to stretch the links, 8" for lower and 6" for upper.

[elotsip]

We got the samurai tranny and tcase dropped last night. We start building the new setup but I didn't have a large enough socket to get the samurai tcase taken apart. Looks like a nice setup.

Stock samurai tranny on bottom, sidekick tranny on top.


Modified sidekick tcase aka Rock4x Reduction Box. Also my new shrockworks gas tank skid plate.



Pic of the tranny tunnel.



I do have a question about this. When people swap in the sidekick tcase setup what do they do about the rear tranny crossmember? It looks like it will be in the way.

Thanks

[elotsip]

Got some work done this weekend. Not nearly as much as I was hoping for though. After chipping all the sound deadening/insulation crap out it was time to cut the tranny tunnel.

We removed the stock tranny and tcase, cut the stock tranny support out and then installed just the sidekick tranny. We then mated the sidekick tcase up. First shot we had a little clearance issue so we cut some more.

The real issue came when it was time to install the sami tcase.
First off it was next to impossible to get the shaft to slide into the coupler with the mighty kong attached.
Second major problem was that none of the stock tcase mounts lined up with the bucket. One of the main reasons I bought this setup was so that I could use my stock mounts. I'm fairly sure the problem is that I am using petroworks motor mounts which make the motor sit lower on one side to clear the motor and the hood so that no body lift is required. What this did was twist the whole drive train once it was all married up.

We thought about it for a long while and tried various ideas to get it to fit but nothing works. Finally I just hacked off the stock tcase mounts and started making some new ones. That's were I am at now. We've got the drive side mount done and welded in and I have the two passenger ones cut but not mounted yet. Hopefully I can get that done this week.

Here are a few pics though:
Tranny tunnel cuts:
Drive:


Passenger:



Drive train all bolted together:



Where the passenger tcase mounts now sit. Higher up and closer to the frame:

[red90runner]

how did you manage to get all that back crap insulation out of there? Any tips/tricks for scraping it all out?

[red90runner]

Originally Posted by 4RnrRick

To get the OEM sound deading stuff off, just get a wide chisel, screw driver, pry bar, seal scrapper out and use a hammer and tap on the edge of it. It should just chip off in pieces once you find the right tool. It goes pretty quick once you get the hang of it. But its not really worth any weight savings IMO, but it sure helps with welding!

thanks. thats what i was doing but i was hoping for something easier and less time consuming. I'm getting rid of all that crap to get a clean, smooth surface for laying down some bedliner.

[elotsip]

Yup, that's how I did it. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I will doing a bedliner as well once I get everything else done.

I got the mounts done last night.

I also made a few purchases this week for the rig.

1. Petroworks sidekick clutch.
2. 36" Iroks
3. 5.29 R&P Gears.

Next on the list are Longfields. Better start saving my pennies again...