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*-j-rOds 85 Trail Roach*

85K views 240 replies 71 participants last post by  mystikk27 
#1 ·
Figured Id start a build thread now that I have enough done to warrant one...

Started with an 85 reg cab toy that I bought from a coworker, it had a fresh 22r, weber38, LC engineering header and exhaust, 3 inch procrap lift and 32s. I sold the bed, tires and wheels off of it and started doing work. First job was to get rid of the awful paint, so I scuffed it up and shot it with some krylon khaki rattle cans. Next was to swap in a IFS rear, do a 1 inch roger brown body lift, 2 inch spacers on the front and some sky boomerang shackles, all of which i did at my house in the driveway. I already had a set if 36x12.5 tsl sxs and some 5.29 thirds with a detroit in one so tires and gears were taken care of. Next was to gather parts to do 63 chevy rears, 3" trail mart front springs and shock hoops, skys front hanger, chevy swap kit and ubolt flips, Kongs hi steer arms, Shakerbuilt draglink and tie rod, all pro rock sliders, warn 9.5 ti, and dual cases. Got all of the parts together and got time to get out to a buds shop this past weekend and get the suspension and steering done. Still have to order shocks prolly gonna go with a set of 14" bilsteins, Weld on the sliders, order a budbuilt xmember and install the duals, and get a tube flatbed and exo done so I can keep a windshield in it when i happen to flop it on the trail. Anyhoo heres the pics so far, enjoy.

easy

-j-rOd:smokin::grinpimp:
 

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#4 · (Edited)
Drilled the perches 1 and 3/8" back so with that and the trail mart springs I am 1 and 7/8" fwd with the skys xmember in the stock location.
 

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#5 ·
went out this morning and messed around on a small hill outside the shop, doesnt flex bad for brand new front springs and no weight in the rear...
 

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#6 ·
heres a few other pics of the junk i took off and some parts yet to be installed.:grinpimp: still have to do OBA with an arb compressor I have and a 10 gallon air tank, figure out what tail lights im gonna use, weld a receiver into the rear xmember, Build a front bumper/flat be/exo, Extend the froat bowl vents and lower float level in the weber, i have an adjustable fuel pressure regulator as well if it needs it... its awesome to finally build a truck with ideas that I have gotten from this bulletin board, my advice to anybody reading this without a red star is to pay up the 20 bones so you can search and learn... everything that I did on this truck I read/learned right here....

easy

-j-rOd
 

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#9 ·
Im gonna run it in the Nextel cup series next season...:flipoff2: its gonna be a trail truck that I can still drive to town to make a beer run.
 
#10 ·
I didnt do that because the stock front xmember is kinda bent up from the Previous owner rearending an explorer when it was his daily driver... its not going anywhere though, especially once the front winch plate/bumper ties into the spring hanger and Im probably gonna cut the stock xmember out anywaht so I can sink the winch back as far as possible so I wont jack up tha approach angle. its a work in progress though... itll take me a lil time to build it to please all of the web wheelers on Pirate4x4...:flipoff2:
 
#12 · (Edited)
Ordered a set of 14" bilsteins, winch plate, front diff maxi-pad, and tcase flanges from trail mart last night, Im hoping once I get the rest of the bumpers/bed built that the truck will sit down a little more.. im at 27" to the bottom of the frame right now... Stay tuned for updates as progress is made.

easy

-j-rOd
 
#13 ·
Parts from trail mart should be here on monday and i made a to do list so I can get an idea of the work still ahead of me...

Now:
- Sliders
- Bump Stops
- Winch Mount
- Shocks/ Mounts
- Steering/Alignment/Torque TREs/ Stabilizer
- Front Driveshaft
- Carb/ Bowl Vent Ext/ Float Height/ Air Filter
- Front Brakelines/ Bleed All
- Tail Lights
- Battery/Hold Down
- Spare Tire Mount

Later:
Dual Cases-
- Tcase/Xmember/Mounts/Flanges
- Re-tube Rear Shaft

Misc:
- Bed/Exo

Still got a ways to go before I get anywhere near a trail with this pile... I hope to have it done by march 8th for a ride out in Crozet Va with a local club... we'll see if I can get it done...

easy


-j-rOd
 
#16 ·
yup got them from sky, the only thing I had to do to use them was to slightly enlarge the bushing holes in the springs from trail gear and notch the front of the body mount so that at full droop the outside shackle plate wouldnt hit it...
 
#17 ·
the wife surprised me last night with an early b-day present. She got me 2 sets of Simpson 5pt harnesses for the roach... now i will be firmly attached to this heap of shit whenever it happens to go over...:smokin::grinpimp::flipoff2:
 
#18 ·
Got all of my junk in today from Trailmart, and ordered a set of 300 zx front brake lines from nappy.. hopefully ill have enough time to get the shocks, mounts, and sliders on this coming weekend... gonna be cutting it close to the trail ride on march 8th...
 

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#22 ·
2/15/08 Update

Got a decent amount of work done today, winch mount is burned in and gusseted, winch installed and wired, grill cut and reinstalled, front shock hoops installed and gusseted, front shocks bolted on, front diff maxi-pad installed and thats all I had time to do today... heres a few pix of the progress.:D:smokin:
 

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#24 ·
No its a steel fairlead, eventually i might switch to synthetic line and an aluminum fairlead but thats a ways down the road... :D
 
#25 ·
Looking good so far...Glad to see you got a lift to work with muct be nice....I just got me a new B-day gift for my blazer and sold the dual case set up....making new x-members again....Glad to see the steering worked out ok for you.....Ok I'm off to my cave to design....:shaking::laughing:
 
#26 ·
Yeah the lift at the new swamp rat shop is dayum nice... The steering worked out saweet fer sure... thanks again man. Take it easy.

-j-rOd:smokin:
 
#27 ·
Got a little done this weekend, Rear receiver done, 300zx brakelines installed, and sliders burned in... gonna order a budbuilt xmember with my tax returns and get the duals in next.... onto the pics:D
 

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#28 ·
Ordered a budbuilt xmember, 4xinnovations tcase mount, and a steering stabilizer last night, that should be the last things i need to get the truck together... stay tuned for updates once parts arrive...

-j-rOd
 
#31 ·
looking cool. i think we are going to build an 85 xtra cab for my younger brother here shortly.
 
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