Another first gen.

[mrboyle]

Originally Posted by MT-Toy

How ' bout them MTR's???

I love them. Searched for a long time to get a set, but the first trip out proved that it was worth the wait.

Got the new rear springs mounted today with the help of Clint at Battlement Fabrication.
I traded a friend some stuff for a set of 5" Trail Gear springs off his old 4runner that he turned into a buggy over the winter. Mounted them using a set of RuffStuff frenched hangers.




Followed the install recomendations on TG's site which recomends moving the hanger 6" forward. The resulting shackle angle isn't perfect but far greater than what I had before.



Finished up by mounting some 12" travel Bilsteins.



Only real problem is, the springs moved the rear axle back far enough that I'm going to have to get the driveshaft retubed. Hope I can get my boss to pull the friend card with the driveline shop tomarrow as I have to be at Cruise Moab with the truck (getting paid to wheel) on Wed. morning.

Shafts just a little short!

[kaiserdtm]

Truck looks great man, love the seats.

[cobronco69]

Looks good mike! hope everything we did at the shop works out, had fun today!

[mrboyle]

Thanks again for all the help Clint.

[dirtrdobberoffroad]

any more updates? Im watching now.

[83crawler12]

Originally Posted by dirtrdobberoffroad

any more updates? Im watching now.

x2 sweet truck man

[mrboyle]

Originally Posted by dirtrdobberoffroad

any more updates? Im watching now.

Haven't done much more than wheel it all summer. Current plan is to run it for a few more months then tear back into it once the cold weather hits. Need to redo front shocks, add bump stops front and rear and hopefully before next year get the hydro assist done.

Originally Posted by 83crawler12

x2 sweet truck man

Thanks. It has done great so far this year. Impresses me more everytime I take it out.

[mrboyle]

Haven't done much to the truck lately other than mount front shock hoops and bump stops. Getting ready to head to Moab and took the truck to work to change out a bad u-joint in the rear driveshaft and noticed something looked odd with the rear springs. Good thing I did, here's what I found.



Not sure how long I ran them this way, but they were new when I installed the springs last year. If I had to guess I think I broke them in Moab on the first trip out after installing the springs and ran it all summer this way.

[ocdropzone]

^^that is crazy, another thing to add to the 'pre run checklist'

[E-Rock 87]

Nice 1st gen!!! Do you think your u-bolts could have been a hair loose alowing the spring to shift to much?

[crash]

Looks good. I have a soft spot for first gens.....

[mrboyle]

Originally Posted by E-Rock 87

Nice 1st gen!!! Do you think your u-bolts could have been a hair loose alowing the spring to shift to much?

Possible. I ran them down with an impact and then checked them again before that first trip, but it is possible they stretched/loosened up a little.

Originally Posted by crash

Looks good. I have a soft spot for first gens.....

Thanks.

[mrboyle]

Finally got some shop time in today. Nothing ground breaking, just wanted to add some pics for anyone searching.

Since I bought the truck I've never been impressed with where the steering box was mounted. I am in the process of adding hydro assist and figured now was as good a time as any to move it.

Where it was:


As you can see the p.o. left all the origional bracketry on the frame. You can also see his quality welding job on the frame tube.


Part way through cleaning the inner rail.


Ready for mount.


I used one of FROR's mount plate kits. Located the front hole in line with the stock push-pull box's front hole. This moved the box forward 2" from where it was previously. I would have liked to have gone further, but it would have taken a lot more cutting of the core support than I wanted to do.


Got a little further, but my phone battery died so I gots no pics. Box is mounted and bracket for PS resivor is almost finished. Tomarrow I plan to get the get the pump and ram mounted and hopefully have some hydro assist.

[83crawler12]

Truck is sick bro

[mrboyle]

Got the res mount built and installed.




Got the box mounted up and covered the bare metal with some paint.


Installed the ram.


And this is where things went to shit (like they always do for me). When I went to plumb everything I realized the fittings on the box (I bought from a member here on Pirate) were wrong so I found some fittings and when I tried to swap them out I found that whoever had done the drill & tap on the box had completely fucked the holes up and used JB weld to hold the fittings into place. Luckily boggerunner here on the board had a box and was able to get it tapped for me today. Got everything installed, bled and it seems to be working fine. I leave for Cruise Moab tomarrow. Squeeked another one in under the wire.

[Peterbuilt84]

Similar thing happened to me when I bought a drilled box. The guy most have drilled too close to the edge so the tap cut right through the side. Leaked fluid everywhere. Good to hear you found a new one so quick though

[mrboyle]

Just got back from Cruise Moab and can tell you that the assist has been the best money spent on the truck so far. I actually enjoy wheeling on slick rock again. Not sure if anyone got any good pics of my truck but I'll add a few if I get any.

[mrboyle]

Need a little advice/recomendation.

Since mounting the rear springs they have sagged enough that whenever the rear compresses the shackles overextend and flip causing me to loose all rear suspension.

Here's a pic of the shackle angle when the springs were first mounted.


My idea is to put a new shackle mount on the rear verticle face of the frame and remove the stock mounts.
Like this:

Is there any reason this isn't a good idea?

[RcBro]

Looks like a good solution to me!