The back story:
I am building this rig for "johnnc". John first brought the sidekick to me last summer to build him a cage, at that point his plan was a cheap Rhino substitute/mild trail rig. He had already installed a suspension/body lift and some 31's and done some other stuff like bumpers and sliders. That setup served him well for a little while until he started doing some runs with a local club, after that he was back for a rear locker and t-case gears. John's big mistake was going to KOH with me and riding around in my buggy all weekend:grinpimp:, we had already been talking about doing an SAS but after that trip he told me "I want to go big"...so going big is what we are doing. John has become a friend and he will be helping me with the build so we can get it done in time for Tinbenders jambo in October. So far he has become well acquainted with the grinder and done a little of notching but he is eager to learn and will eventually take part in all aspects of the build.
The Parts:
-Toyota axles with all the good stuff
-39.5" irocks/Mayhem Metal Works weld on beadlocks
-2wd trans/built Sami t-case (6.4's, front output, twisted shifter, bucket)
-Prototype Mayhem Metal Works front and rear link suspension system
-14" sway-a-way coilovers front and rear
-Suspension seats/harnesses
-Lots of tube
The Plan:
Chop the shit out of it and replace most of the body with tube. I guess it will end up somewhere between a truggy and firewall buggy. We will be keeping the hood, windshield frame, upper sheetmetal, targa bar, firewall, and floorboards to the back of the rear seat. We will also be keeping the cage and rear seat. Everything else is gone and will be tubed out. The wheelbase is getting stretched to 105-107" and we are tying for a crew cab truck look so it will be getting a "bed" added to the back as part of the tube work.
The suspension will be a double triangulated 4 link in the rear and a three link/panhard in the front, all mounted to a mini version of my Toyota link suspension subframe/skid plate.
We are doing what we can to keep it low, It will have around a 21' frame height, 18" belly, and we dropped the body 1/2" from stock.
The Build:
I like telling stories with pictures so here it goes.
Pic#1 How it looked before we tore into it
Pic#2 Half way through day #1
Pic#3 End of day #1
Pic#4 Sheet metal cut off
I am building this rig for "johnnc". John first brought the sidekick to me last summer to build him a cage, at that point his plan was a cheap Rhino substitute/mild trail rig. He had already installed a suspension/body lift and some 31's and done some other stuff like bumpers and sliders. That setup served him well for a little while until he started doing some runs with a local club, after that he was back for a rear locker and t-case gears. John's big mistake was going to KOH with me and riding around in my buggy all weekend:grinpimp:, we had already been talking about doing an SAS but after that trip he told me "I want to go big"...so going big is what we are doing. John has become a friend and he will be helping me with the build so we can get it done in time for Tinbenders jambo in October. So far he has become well acquainted with the grinder and done a little of notching but he is eager to learn and will eventually take part in all aspects of the build.
The Parts:
-Toyota axles with all the good stuff
-39.5" irocks/Mayhem Metal Works weld on beadlocks
-2wd trans/built Sami t-case (6.4's, front output, twisted shifter, bucket)
-Prototype Mayhem Metal Works front and rear link suspension system
-14" sway-a-way coilovers front and rear
-Suspension seats/harnesses
-Lots of tube
The Plan:
Chop the shit out of it and replace most of the body with tube. I guess it will end up somewhere between a truggy and firewall buggy. We will be keeping the hood, windshield frame, upper sheetmetal, targa bar, firewall, and floorboards to the back of the rear seat. We will also be keeping the cage and rear seat. Everything else is gone and will be tubed out. The wheelbase is getting stretched to 105-107" and we are tying for a crew cab truck look so it will be getting a "bed" added to the back as part of the tube work.
The suspension will be a double triangulated 4 link in the rear and a three link/panhard in the front, all mounted to a mini version of my Toyota link suspension subframe/skid plate.
We are doing what we can to keep it low, It will have around a 21' frame height, 18" belly, and we dropped the body 1/2" from stock.
The Build:
I like telling stories with pictures so here it goes.
Pic#1 How it looked before we tore into it
Pic#2 Half way through day #1
Pic#3 End of day #1
Pic#4 Sheet metal cut off
