DAY 1
UPDATE 2006-02-11 11:00AM

Last year Pirate4x4.com received a phone call from the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department asking us if we would be willing to help them build up an extreme duty Search and Rescue vehicle. This vehicle will be based out of Lake Tahoe, and be subjected to the harshest winter condition rescues. It would also need to be capable of doing rescue missions on the Lake Tahoe end of the Rubicon trail, and other remote Sierra back roads and trails.

Never one to turn down a great challenge, Camo and I went to work calling vendors to participate in this worthwhile cause. Our goal was to build the most capable, extreme Sheriff patrol vehicle in the country. Our base platform was a 1988 Toyota 4Runner that served in the force over the years as a "DARE" vehicle. This 4Runner would be the perfect platform for our buildup. Stayed tuned for live progress of our transformation of a mild patrol vehicle into a rig able to tackle any hard core trail in the country, and haul prisoners in the process!

UPDATE 2006-02-11 11:50AM

The Shaffer's Off Road crew is going nuts! They are tearing into this 4Runner like mad. Joe Dirt is currently cutting out the stock IFS front end so we can swap in a Marlin Crawler solid axle swap kit.

Kyle is bending up some custom Shaffer's Off Road DOM rock sliders, and bumpers.

Camo is assembling the trick Inchworm dual cases with Advance Adapters 4:1 gearset, All Pro Transfer case E-brake, and Front Range Off Road crossmember.

UPDATE - 2006-02-11 12:22PM

The front IFS junk is out!!!

UPDATE - 2006-02-11 2:30PM

The noise is deafening in the shop as Joe Dirt cleans up all the left overs of the IFS brackets off the 4Runner frame. Everyone is working on a specific task, with the goal to have both axles hung under the rig by the end of the day.

Detective Wright from the El Dorado County Sheriff's office is here helping with the buildup. Here he's cleaning up the rear axle, and prepping it for reassembly. The rear axle will be getting a new rear disk brake kit from Sky Manufacturing, Detroit Locker, and 5.29 gears from Superior Axle & Gear.

Camo is hard at work painting the trick Stazworks double beadlocks and Sky Mfg brake calipers.

Not only will this be the most capable Patrol vehicle in existence, it will also be the most comfortable thanks to these trick PRP suspension seats from Rock Buggy Supply. Snow and rocks shouldn't be an issue with these 35" Interco Truxxus M/Ts.

Izzy is working on creating some plates to beef up the 4Runner's frame around the new Rock Logic hydraulic assist steering box.

Mike pulls the rear third member out of the hot tank in preparation for disassembly. It will get new Superior 5.29s and a Detroit Locker.

UPDATE - 2006-02-11 3:20PM

Kyle is making good progress on the new SOR rock sliders. He should have ready to mount soon.

Todd is tearing down the donor front axle that was sitting in Mike's backyard collecting dirt. He will strip it down to a bare housing and rebuilding everything.

Just in case Rosco needs to be in "hot pursuit", LC Engineering kicked down a bunch of motor goodies to bring the old 22RE back to life.

Dunks Performance supplied us with super sweet Bilstein 5150 remote reservoir shocks and shock hoops.

Possibly one of the most important tools on this Search & Rescue rig, are these Ramsey 9500 and 8000lb winches for the front and rear of the rig. The winches will sit in custom built Shaffer's Offroad bumpers.

UPDATE - 2006-02-11 4:20PM

Well our live feed took a crap, so we are done doing the live video feed. I will continue to do updates throughout the day, however...

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this sick beast sitting in the shop. It's got a Dana 60 front, 14 Bolt rear, 42" Swampers, and an LS1. Can't go wrong with that combo!

Det. Wright takes the plasma cutter to the donor front axle housing. He is cutting off all the unnecessary brackets.

Joe Dirt aligns the Marlin Crawler SAS bracket for welding.

Camo and Izzy battle the tire and rim in the quest to get them together. In the end, they were victorious, but I did hear several colorful words come from their direction in the process...

UPDATE - 2006-02-11 5:00PM

Kyle prepares to weld up his rear spring hangers.

Mike finishes up the install of the rear Detroit Locker and new ring and pinion by torquing the caps.

Camo took over grinding duties from Det. Wright on the front end.

The rear housing is all cleaned up and ready for reassembly.

Kyle finished up the rock sliders, and they are about ready for install.

Todd cuts off the rear spring hangers because the new All Pro Off Road springs are much longer. Kyle's new custom built bling hangers will replace the stock ones.

The rear spring hangers are ready for mounting.

FINAL SATURDAY UPDATE - 2006-02-11 6:30PM

We didn't get as far as we wanted, but that's ok. We need to build shackles - we thought we had some in our parts pile, but it seems they were overlooked. In addition to the shackles, we need to come up with some u-bolts.

Dirt and Kyle tack weld the hangers into place...

Camo installs the Sky's rear disk brake conversion onto the rear housing.

Well apparently it's time to call it a night! More 4Runner action tomorrow morning...

[DAY 2 COVERAGE]