Builds 1983’ mini-crawler RN48 “Clementine” Build (4 Viewers)

[mesa man]

More pictures north of Moab on a tight road to camp near a beautiful point!

 

[mesa man]

I re-jetted the Weber carb for 7k ft elevation where I live based on a friends 22r Weber 34/36 carb that starts and idles perfect. He took notes and I borrowed em. I bought a redline re-jet kit and swapped em out.

It purrs nice but cold starts are still rough.
She runs great at 13k! I would like to dial in the Aisin carb and plumbing eventually, but for now this Weber does the trick with 1 vacuum line to dizzy. Engine bay looks nice and simple!

 

[mesa man]

It’s been a minute, or year!

So I ordered MC Japanese made 23 spline competition 4.70:1 crawler gears and t/c gaskets during a 10% off sale so I finally pulled the trigger on the “starting gun”.
Off I go! Herd o turtles race, or er eh crawl.

I cleaned up my donor t case that I had bought from my neighbor for 100$. I drained the stinky gear oil awhile back and @Mesa Woman was cool enough for me to bring it inside the house to rebuild it where it’s warm over the winter.

 

[aztoyman]

Are you staying single case or going duals?

 

[mesa man]

The MC 4.7 gears are tough and full of improvements over the stock gears ! I plan on having plenty of time to do this build right while still keeping the integrity of the 1st gen 4x4 charm intact. Out with the old, in with the new!

I discovered this broken off inside the case
So I used another I had salvaged. I clearanced the inside of the case and shift fork with an Angle grinder for the larger 4.7 gears and put some lipstick on for show!

I Pressed the old 2.28 off and pressed the crawler gear onto the shaft with my new mini-press.

 

[mesa man]

Are you staying single case or going duals?

Duals for sure! I just got to tear apart another one of my donor t/c and hopefully it’s not rusty inside like the last few have been. I do have a clean forward shift that I can convert if need be. I’m excited to build more over the winter months! I’ve got shiny new parts piling up
Waiting for good weather and enough time and beer to dial it all in!

 

[mesa man]

I’m super stoked to FINALLY after nearly 6 months to receive fully built and warrantied USA built Yukon 5.29 hi- pinion front, and rear 4 cyl. third members with Grizzly lockers for little Clementine!

 

[aztoyman]

NICE! Grizzly's were my plan when my cheapie Aussie Lockers break. Had no idea they would still be working when I put them in 14 or 15 years ago.

I'm looking forward to hear what you think of them. Your truck should be pretty unstoppable.

 

[mesa man]

NICE! Grizzly's were my plan when my cheapie Aussie Lockers break. Had no idea they would still be working when I put them in 14 or 15 years ago.

I'm looking forward to hear what you think of them. Your truck should be pretty unstoppable.

Yes, I added up the total costs of building my own 3rd members and my time , not to mention IF I built it right also, and it was only about 300 more for fully built with Yukon life time warranty so it was a no brainer for me.
Good piece of mind on the trail.
And this way I get to keep the 4.10 diffs as spares also.

Do you think my stock axles will last with 22R
And 35” bfg mudders?
RCV axles are expensive so I may cross that bridge when I get there. Thoughts anyone?

 

[aztoyman]

I think your stock birfs will break in the hard stuff. Way back before I ever heard of RCV, my buddies went to 33" tires on their straight axle trucks and I got to hear the birfs pop one after the other when we were out wheeling. I was still on IFS and 31's. 33's looked huge on a mini truck back then.

It was always in a bad spot, wheels turned and giving it throttle. Stock 22R (RE) They weren't hammering on it either. Just rolling on the throttle trying to crawl up a bolder or ledge.

When I did the straight axle swap on my 88 the only axle options back then were Bobby Longs or Trail Gear Dirty 30's. TG claimed they were US made at the time. I got them on sale and so far they have been holding up to 35's and a 3.4 V6. My 88 weighed a little over 3500# I'll see how they do on 37's if I ever get my truck done.

I bought an extra birf and chromoly locking hub gears on clearance really cheap a while back just in case. (Longfield/TG ordered through Summit Racing)

Maybe watch for a good sale on some RCV's with the holidays coming up. I think they include the chromoly hub gears with theirs. That's a couple hundred bucks right there.

Scott in AZ.

 

[gnob]

stock axles aren't spectacular for real wheeling.
i broke three on 32 in just mud/dirt.

i ran og ringed longfields. these are actually amazing considering what they are. never broke but they were rattles when i tossed them. actually wish i had kept these, in hindsight.

i ran a set of empi longs. i broke them doing something dumb. can't really say if they were that amazing.

i ran og rvc longfields on 40/42s behind the 3.4, i broke the transfer twice during this time but no issues with the cvs. i bought these used and they clicked the whole time too

when bobby long died i bought new rvcs for warranty sake. probably rcv would have handled warranty but i just didn't want down time and extra conversation in future.

ymmv

 

[BDSeff1fitty]

TG did a sale earlier in the year where their "longfields" were 1/2 off. Bought a set to swap in next time I tear into the axle. For $350, it made it an easy decision to pick up a set.

 

[mesa man]

TG did a sale earlier in the year where their "longfields" were 1/2 off. Bought a set to swap in next time I tear into the axle. For $350, it made it an easy decision to pick up a set.

That’s a smoking deal!

 

[mesa man]

I think your stock birfs will break in the hard stuff. Way back before I ever heard of RCV, my buddies went to 33" tires on their straight axle trucks and I got to hear the birfs pop one after the other when we were out wheeling. I was still on IFS and 31's. 33's looked huge on a mini truck back then.

It was always in a bad spot, wheels turned and giving it throttle. Stock 22R (RE) They weren't hammering on it either. Just rolling on the throttle trying to crawl up a bolder or ledge.

When I did the straight axle swap on my 88 the only axle options back then were Bobby Longs or Trail Gear Dirty 30's. TG claimed they were US made at the time. I got them on sale and so far they have been holding up to 35's and a 3.4 V6. My 88 weighed a little over 3500# I'll see how they do on 37's if I ever get my truck done.

I bought an extra birf and chromoly locking hub gears on clearance really cheap a while back just in case. (Longfield/TG ordered through Summit Racing)

Maybe watch for a good sale on some RCV's with the holidays coming up. I think they include the chromoly hub gears with theirs. That's a couple hundred bucks right there.

Scott in AZ.

stock axles aren't spectacular for real wheeling.
i broke three on 32 in just mud/dirt.

i ran og ringed longfields. these are actually amazing considering what they are. never broke but they were rattles when i tossed them. actually wish i had kept these, in hindsight.

i ran a set of empi longs. i broke them doing something dumb. can't really say if they were that amazing.

i ran og rvc longfields on 40/42s behind the 3.4, i broke the transfer twice during this time but no issues with the cvs. i bought these used and they clicked the whole time too

when bobby long died i bought new rvcs for warranty sake. probably rcv would have handled warranty but i just didn't want down time and extra conversation in future.

ymmv

Thanks for the input guys, that’s kinda what I was expecting, if I replace them sooner than later I’ll have trail spares. All the torque multiplied thru the dual cases really shows where the weak link is.