40th Family Wheeler (1 Viewer)

[Pascoscout]

Put on my Slee transfercase skid today. Install would have been cake but all three of the bolts that hold the factory "skid plate" to the cross member broke off so I had to drill them out. Ended up drilling them up a size and getting new bolts. Nice piece from Slee, should really protect that area. Sliders up next!

 

[Pascoscout]

Starting on my sliders now. First thing was to get the exhaust raised up to improve clearance. The magnaflow down pipe really put the CAT down low and I wanted it tucked up a bit more. Ended up cutting up the down pipe just past the wye and adding a couple bends to go around the body mount instead of under it. This made me also cut up the rear part where I crossed over the frame and rework that to get it closer to the body. Was able to raise it up about 2-3 inches.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Note that in the after pic the little side shield is gone so that give you an idea of how much it went up.

FRONT AROUND MOUNT:

REAR XOVER:

 

[Pascoscout]

Day 1 on the sliders. Got the main rail positioned where I like it and made the first mount. Took some time to figure out all the angles to get it perpendicular to the rail and under the CAT.

Going to stick with flat sliders. Wife and kids are gonna need a step once the lift goes on.

 

[Pascoscout]

Passenger sider almost done. Still need to cap the ends and add the tube rub rails. Hoping the drivers side goes faster since I won't have to route around the exhaust.

 

[Pascoscout]

Drivers side slider done. Working on the tube rub rails. For people that have them how far does the tube stick out? Even with the tires? Further than that? Trying to decide on a good distance out and looking for suggestions.

 

[Pascoscout]

Finished the passenger side today. Hopefully get the drivers done tomorrow and painted so I can get these on the truck.

 

[Pascoscout]

Drivers Side done. Gonna let them dry a couple days and then get them installed for the last time.

 

[Pascoscout]

Sliders done and installed. Pretty happy with how they came out.

 

[Pascoscout]

Started working on installing my lift today. Went with the Icon 3", Stage 1 and added the Delta Radius Arms. Also going through the entire suspension while I am at it and replacing all bushings and joints. Probably won't post a lot of pictures as this has all been documented before and the instructions for all the kits are pretty good. Here's one of the front though. Still waiting on some parts to button everything up.

 

[NorCalFJ100]

Looking really good!

 

[Pascoscout]

Lift complete. Replaced every bushing and rod end on the suspension. Cleaned, tapped/died and anti-seized every bolt and hole before it went back together. Also sanded and painted most of the control arms and the sway bars that were rusty to help stop the rust and make them look better. Flushed and bled the brake system while I was at it too.

Truck rides so much nicer now. I think that's mostly due to the suspension system which is amazing. I can maintain speed through big whoops now that I would have had to crawl over before. In addition to the DVS radius arms I added the rear panhard lift bracket and an OME steering stabilizer. I put a 10mm spacer under the front left corner but now I think I need to switch that to rear left to balance everything out. Was a lot of work but so worth it. Big thanks to DVS and metal tech for their advise and supplying the parts.

Gonna enjoy the cruiser for a while (month or two) before the next project. Thinking drawer system...

 

[NorCalFJ100]

Looking good! Just finished the bushing overhaul myself last weekend. That was lots of fun!! Haha. Well worth it though.

 

[Pascoscout]

So decided to work on the rear bumper a little next. Been wanting to add some rails on the end to help protect the lights and rear corner. Also when I built the bumper originally I thought that someday I'd come back and cut the fenders to run larger tires. Because of this I left the end of the bumper about 2 inches back from the fender line. I'm going in a different direction now and won't be cutting the fenders so I wanted to add some metal so the bumper lines up with the fender cut out.

Before:

After extension done and tube added:

And while I was at it I decided I didn't like to 90 degree corner on the end so I cut it off at an angle and added a new plate. Think this looks a lot better.

Hope to get the drivers side done tomorrow...

 

[Pascoscout]

Finished the mods to both sides. Took it wheeling today and the rock sliders and these rub rails did their job keeping the body out of the trees. Gonna add some new back up lights then will paint the whole bumper again.

 

[Ryan Towry]

looking good. planning on going up in tire size now that you have the 3" lift in there?

 

[Pascoscout]

looking good. planning on going up in tire size now that you have the 3" lift in there?

Maybe. Gonna wear these tires out first though. Just got back from Moab and the places I was able to go on 33's was more than I expected. 35's or 37's would have let me try some harder lines though...

 

[Pascoscout]

Took the Cruiser to Moab for 4 days of wheeling. We did Hells Revenge, Poison Spider, Golden Spike, Gold Bar Rim, Metal Masher and a couple easy trails to see some sights. Cruiser did great and I was flat amazed at what I could get over even with my front locker not wanting to engage (frankly I rarely needed the rear). Kept up with two jeeps running 37's and 38's. No damage to the cruiser but I left a lot pf paint behind from the bumpers and sliders but that's what I built them for. DVS radius arms and Slee T-case skid plate also took a beating but are no worse for the wear. Had an awesome time and can't wait to go back, maybe for a future cruise Moab event!

 

[Pascoscout]

So I started to repaint the rear bumper after the Moab trip so it doesn't rust too bad over winter and on the way decided to change a couple things I've wanted to since I built it. I realized that having the tire offset to the driver side makes the truck lean a little so I am moving that to the center. I also wanted to move the license plate and install some flush mount LED's I've had on the shelf forever.

In moving the tire I needed to make a new arm for the swing out. Rather than just go with the regular 3x2 box I decided to stick with 2x2 but make a truss for extra support (I like to be different). I did not take the truss all the way across because it would have pushed the high-lift jack mount up too high and made the handle stick above the roof line. I also installed the latch on an angle this time. Read an article in 4wheeler where they recommended doing that so it holds closed better. Tested it today and seems like it really works. It holds tight with not nearly the same amount of clamping force required so it should make it easier for my wife and kids to open the latch. Couple things to weld on still and needs paint but getting close to having all these mods complete.

 

[Pascoscout]

Mostly done with the changes to the rear bumper. Still need to mount the license plate, which unfortunately looks like it will cover most of the truss, and wire up the reverse lights. Looks good again, until the next wheeling adventure at least

 

[Pascoscout]

These went in a couple weeks ago but finally getting around to posting. New drawers from Rugged Bound Supply. Very happy with them. I did install with removing the carpet but I notice now that the road noise in the cab is much higher so going to take the drawers back out at some point, put the carpet back, and reinstall. Also need to get a slide for my fridge, hard to get into it now with it on top of the drawers (yes I strap it down).