Project Short Fuse

I GOT IT FROM A GUY IN RENO FOR $800.00 AND HAD A NEW ENGINE. I GOT IT HOME AND TOOK IT DOWN TO THE FRAME AND STARTED THINKING ABOUT WHAT I WANTED. A LOCAL GUY SOLD ME AN 87 EXTRA CAB TRUCK COMPLETE FOR $20.00 WITH TITLE :smokin: SO THE WIFE AND I SWAPPED THE CAB AND REAR END OVER TO THE STD CAB FRAME. NOW THE STD CAB WAS AN SR5 SO I SWAPPED THE WIRING HARNESS TOO.BUILT A BED THAT IS THE WIDTH OF THE CAB AND TAPPERS TO THE WIDTH OF THE FRAME. AS I WAS SWAPPING THE REAR END TO THE WIDER 87 REAR I FOUND OUT THAT THE 85 HAD 5:29 GEARS OH HAPPY DAY ONE LAST THING TO MESS WITH. AND WAY THE GEARS IN THE REAR WHERE JUNK SO I ORDERED MORE.I REBUILT THE WHOLE FRONT END SWAPPED IN THE IFS HUBS FROM THE 87 AND BOUGHT V-6 CALIPERS AND LC ROTORS. SWAPPED IN WAGGY SPRINGS IN THE FRONT AND WELDED IN A NEW FRONT SPRING MOUNT ( FACTORY ONE WAS FAWKED FROM THE ROLL). IN SHORT THATS MY JUNK HERE IS A PIC OF THE NEAR FINISHED YOTA. WE JUST PAINTED IN THIS LAST SUNDAY IN MY DIRT DRIVEWAY.......................HAHAHAHAHA WHAT FUN. SO WHAT DO YOU THINK

Fin

QUICK UPDATE. since the original build i have added dual cases that i scored for $300.00 with the fror crossmember. i added 4.7 marlin gears in the rear case and a bobby long output shaft for good measure. then i built some slider's. since this WAS my daily driver i never got to crazy with it. now onto the rear spring's

SO WHEN I BUILT THE YOTA ORIGINALY IT HAD SUPERLIFT 3 1/2 REAR SPRING'S IN THE BACK. AND I HAD PUT STOCK 7 LEAF WAGONEER SPRING'S IN THE FRONT, WELL THE FRONT FLEXED GREAT AND THE REAR SUCKED ASS. THE REAR WAS SO STIFF THAT ANYTIME I WENT WHEELING IT WOULD LIFT A TIRE. THIS WOULD ALSO FORCE THE FRONT TO TAKE FLEX. THIS MADE FOR SOME SCARY WHEELING. SO AFTER A OUPLE YEAR OF BEING MY DRIVER IT WAS TIME TO FIX THIS. I DID A TON SEARCHING AND DECIDED THAT THE F-150 2 WHEEL DRIVE REAR SPRING WOULD BE PERFECT FOR ME. I KNOW THAT THE CHEVY 63" SPRINGS ARE POPULAR BUT WHENI BUILT THIS RIG I HAD CUT THE FRAME OFF RIGHT AT THE FACTORY SHCKLE SO I COULDN'T USE THEM, I ALSO DIDNT WANT TO KILL MY DEPARTURE ANGLE EITHER. HERE ARE A FEW BEFORE SHOT'S OF THE REAR AND THE FRONT AND IN THE REAR SHOT THE REAR TIRE IS OFF THE GROUND

When i was doing all my research i found that the 2 wheel drive ford spring's are 57" long and 2.500 inches wide. The 4x4 spring's are the same length and 3 inches wide. I went to pick-n-pull and found a near perfect ( thanx cash for clunker's) 1992 2x ford extra cab. So i grabbed the spring's and headed for summit for some new bushing's. They only had gay red and we all know about summits special order's and i wanted to get it done sometime this year. So gay red it was. I tore the whole leaf apart and cleaned and painted everything. I also installed new shackle bushing's too. I left the overload's on so i could see how high it sat before i removed them.

Sketched out a front spring mount and talked connect into burning them out for me at torchmate (big thank you mike) then once i had everything together i need to figure how far forward i wanted to move the front spring mount so i mocked up the spring's and figured it would be around 8 inches forward from the stock front hanger.........and yes my youngest helped and yes he wore saftey glass' in this pic he was messing around

i wanted to french the mounts into the frame but there is just to much crap in that area. Since it is a standard cab fram and i have slider's i would have had to cut one tube of the slider out and move the rear cab mount... Screw that

I was happy with the shackle angle and did a little math and with my 6 inch long shackle it would be perfect 90 degrees or flat when the leaf was flat after that i welded in the front mount's. When i did all my research i could never get an exact answer on how much it moved my rear axle back when i installed the long side forward or how much lift it would give me. Well lift wise it sits pretty level maybe a little ass end high and it moved my axle back around 4 inches which i am happy with here is a rough pic of how it looked at mock up

Now that the rear mounts are all welded in it was time to go after the rear shock's . The original mounts i made did there job but the shock was behind the rear axle and just plain sucked. I went to shaffer's offroad and mike was kind enough to cut out some shock tab's for me (thanks again mike) and i mounted them on top of the rear axle and out as far as i could. I wanted them straight up and down but there is just no room under this short ass rig so i had to keep them angled hard to the center of the rig ( old school bitches) while i had the shock's off i cleaned them up and i was bored and had some sticker's laying around so i stuck them on to kinda look like the rancho sticker's lol

So once i was done with all that is was time a test drive and over all i am happy. I am ditching the rear overload's and im machining my own rear lift block with built in 4 degree to kick the pinion angle up a bit. It will only be around 1 inch thick so the ass end will be taller so i can haul camping stuff.the old springs rode so rough that i only ran 15 psi in the rear tire so i didn't have to wear a kidney belt one time levi was ready to test flex his rig when he finished the four link and he parked one tire on the bed and the spring's still had some arch in them.. Ok enough of that crap here is the testing pic's from behind the house i did have to build a new rear shaft and my homie james happen to have a long ass rear driveline from one of the many yota's him and i had stripped so i cut the cv off mine and cut the new driveline down to what i wanted and welded it up and i'm done

Ok and last a side shot of how far the rear moved back

before and after

After the rear block install i took it out for some test flexing to see how it does . And not bad but now the tire hit the bed

Now it was time to fix the next issue the bed. So out came the plasma and the welder again

Now i had a big hole under the tool box where the spider web gussets are that needed to be fill and help support the tool box when it's full of spare crap. So mike at torch mate banged out these little gem's lol

SO I WELDED THEM IN AND HERE BE THE FINAL PRODUCT LOL . I DID TAKE IT OUT WITH THE BED CUT AND NOW THE TIRE WILL TRAVEL ABOVE THE HEIGHT OF THE BED ROUGHLY 6 INCHES . THE WAGONEER SPRINGS IN THE FRONT AND THE F-150 SPRINGS IN THE REAR FEEL VERY STABLE AND FLEX GREAT OH AND CHECK IT ......NEW TO ME TIRES :smokin:

NOW THAT ALL THAT IS FINISHED I SCORED A DANA 60 FRONT FOR $350.00 SO I TORE INTO THAT AND NARROWED IT 3 INCHES ON THE LONG SIDE ( TO MATCH MY CHASSIS LONG SIDE ) I ALSO SCORED A DANA 70U WITH A LOCKER THAT WILL GO IN THE REAR. I HAPPEN TO HAVE A SET OF 39.5 TSL ON SOME BART WHEELS THAT I WILL INSTALL WHEN I DO THE SWAP

The ultimate plan changed a bit. i changed from the dana 70U to the 14 bolt that was for the rear of my tube chassis rig. it was already geared, locked and diff cover. so why not. been busy ass hell lately and money is tight so not much progress. last week i sold a bunch of stuff i had and ordered up some stuff. rear u-bolt's, conversion flanges front and rear, chromo axles in the front, yukon joint's, drive flanges, WFO springless arm and top plate, all the cross over steering stuff, bronze upper bushing's for the 60, all the rear disc brake stuff. here is is a few pics of the rear disc's finished