Builds 4508 - Ultra4 Racetruck Build (4 Viewers)

[snivilous]

Dude. The build is sweet, but I love the friggin' camper idea.

Right?! I wish I had pictures of it with the floors in. But a plywood floor to sleep on, two plexiglass windows, a RV vent, some solar panels, lights, batteries, and then the pull out tool floor which will have like cubbies and spots so my tools won't move around. The sleeping area is big enough you can crawl through, so it's about as tall as a cab over camper sleeping area so pretty big for one person. And then we're thinking on the outside have two tire carriers for the 80s spare tires, and I'm thinking in the future make one door have fold out panels so you can have a fully enclosed area to stand in like some RTTs have and even integrate a shower and stuff. It'll literally be like a tear drop camper just added to the front of the trailer. I think it'll be perfect for all the races I go to where it's just me (or more like my girlfriend doesn't come).

 

[MTKID]

I’m sure you’re busy & scrambling but are you still on track to get down there and compete?

Great build!

 

[snivilous]

I’m sure you’re busy & scrambling but are you still on track to get down there and compete?

Great build!

Yea, every day I work it after work until I go to bed essentially. It will definitely be done to go down there, I have 3 weeks from today to finish it to be on schedule though have about 5 days of leeway on that if I'm behind. The truck should be driving pretty soon, and everything after that point is pretty minor and not really important. It already passes 90% of the tech stuff, so there's a few things like fuel cut off switches and correctly wiring in the master kill that need to be done, but otherwise it's ready to compete once it drives.

 

[darthyota]

Yea, every day I work it after work until I go to bed essentially. It will definitely be done to go down there, I have 3 weeks from today to finish it to be on schedule though have about 5 days of leeway on that if I'm behind. The truck should be driving pretty soon, and everything after that point is pretty minor and not really important. It already passes 90% of the tech stuff, so there's a few things like fuel cut off switches and correctly wiring in the master kill that need to be done, but otherwise it's ready to compete once it drives.

any photo updates?

 

[chap79]

How did I miss this build, this is awesome! Best of luck to you.

 

[TXBruiser]

any photo updates?

Pics of the Camper too.... if you have time, we are all salivating for more lol.

 

[snivilous]

No camper photos right now, nothing has really developed on it in the past week but we did get in a RV skylight with a little fan. Just need to bolt in the windows and skylight and seal it up and it'll be mostly ready for KOH, then I'll get some pictures with the floors in.

As far as the 80 goes, I got the front bump stops put in. I cut the frame and shoved them in, and then made some striker pads on the axle out of tubing and some 1/4" plate I cut into a circle.

Mocking everything up with the shocks. With the springs barely tightened down on the coilovers I get about 5" of up travel, so the spring rate (at least as far as ride height is concerned) seems perfect! I'll jack it up a bit more for around 6" of up travel, maybe 7".

I'm also partnering with Eibach and they're sending me new springs, so I'll get rid of these Viper springs and just sell them as mock up ones.

Yesterday I finished (maybe) welding up the front axle and the 3 link frame mounts. So the link mounts are internally gusseted and fully boxed in on the frame side. On the axle, the shocks mount above the 3 link mounts, so the shock mount is welded to one side of the 3 link mount, and then the other side of the shock mount sits above the heim. The shock mounts are internally braced, as well as have a little external bracing. The passenger side shock mount also integrates with the panhard mount to reinforce it. Additionally, the upper link mount is braced with a tube that goes down the passenger side and to the bump pad, kind of a mini truss on the passenger side of the axle. I was/am debating doing the same thing on the driver's side so the whole axle will be fully trussed, but I don't know if it's worth the time and am worried about warping the whole housing. For now the front axle/suspension is essentially done so I'll be moving onto other things. The last major thing I need in the front is limit straps, but those are obviously a quick job.

Today my girlfriend's grandfather and uncle came over to help which worked out pretty well actually! After a bit of a fiasco of bolting the tranny cross member back up (I had pulled it to finish welding the 3 link mounts on the frame), they were able to install some new motor mounts since the originals were ripped in half. The new passenger side mount had to be trimmed to clear the upper link heim, but since I had trimmed the stock one we already had to template to use. My dad also was able to drill out the old studs and redrill for the new shear pins for the rear axle shaft that I sheared the studs on in Moab.

All week I've had issues with the 2.5" links, so I bought new steel and new heims from Front Range Off Road and planned to just make some quick ones with 2" .25 wall steel, but even though FROR is like 2 hours from my house and I ordered Wednesday morning, the heims haven't shipped which made me resort to fighting with the 2.5" links and finally getting everything to work. Whenever I finally get the heims from FROR I'll either make some normal 2" links for the front or maybe make some for the rear lowers.

With the 2.5" links somewhat fixed and working and done, we bolted those up and oriented the coilover's resis the right way and notched the mounting plate for the resi hose and put them on.

All of that essentially wraps up the front suspension work. I still need to brace the shock towers, but for now it's fully sitting on the coilovers and has everything mounted.

I also got a Ford Taurus electric fan in which is apparently the way to go when it comes to electric fans:

The rear suspension is essentially done with the exception of mounting the new bump stops and limit straps. I'm hoping that tomorrow I can take the truck for a little drive since all I really need to do is mount up the radiator and some hoses. I ordered the stuff for a nitrogen setup and got a tank and nitrogen on Friday so will be able to fill shocks now, so once a cooling setup is installed the truck can move around under it's own power again. I'm really looking forward to driving it, even if it's just putting around the National Forest really fast since it feels like I've been working on it for a long time and not playing with it which is frustrating. Driving it also signifies that I'm getting close to done, at least on the critical stuff--plus if it drives well then that will be a big relief since the whole tear down was for the suspension work, which is still questionable if it's setup even halfway decently. With any luck I'll have some pictures tomorrow of it actually out of the garage for the first time in awhile!

Plan is to leave for KOH 3 weeks from today!

 

[MTKID]

Partnering with Eibach should be a big help! I assume they will be down there at KOH to help with tuning and possibly offer to swap spring rates if needed? Will ADS be offering you similar support?

 

[nukegoat]

Whats the details on the Kings? What models or whatever? I may buy them from you.

 

[snivilous]

Partnering with Eibach should be a big help! I assume they will be down there at KOH to help with tuning and possibly offer to swap spring rates if needed? Will ADS be offering you similar support?

Yea I'm super stoked! Obviously I already have springs, and am buying more springs now to just replace them, but the deal I get with Eibach and being able to get my foot in the door more than makes up for having to fork up some more money. I'm not sure if they'll be at KOH, I haven't ask, but the guy I've talked to knew what KOH was when I told him I was building a Ultra4. Considering they're the largest automotive spring supplier in the US it would make sense if they're there... I'm also not sure about the spring swapping, I'm not sure how that works when it comes to tuning, like if I swap springs with Eibach or have to buy new springs or if I'm with a tuner if they'll just swap with me? I talked to ADS and apparently got on a mailing list so I can reserve a tuning spot, though I haven't seen anything yet so was gonna talk to them again next week. Right now my plan is to go down super early and try to prerun all the trails at least once, and then meet with ADS and have them get the truck dialed.

Whats the details on the Kings? What models or whatever? I may buy them from you.

They're 14" x 2.5 piggybacks, one pair has the piggybacks inline with the top heim and one pair is 90 degrees to that. They're roughly 24" collapsed and 38" extended. I haven't removed any of them out of the packaging or even out of the box, so they're as new as you can get. Looking for $900/pair, and can ship. Assuming no one claims them before KOH, I plan to take them out there with me. I don't know where you live relative to Barstow, but if you're interested you could check them out there.

 

[snivilous]

First, here's two camper photos, hasn't really been touched much in the past week or so. To reiterate, it has a skylight and side window, then a RV vent with a fan, 15W solar panel, doors on both ends with locks, little LED lights inside, bunk on the top with about 2.5ft tall and 2ft wide and 6.5-7ft long, and then a removable floor on the bottom that has a foot or more of vertical space and can be slid out and can hold tools and stuff. Plan is to wire in some of the LED bars we have laying around so it can be used to light up the area and the trailer.

Onto the truck, made a lot of progress in the past week (and a lot today specifically). Didn't take any photos except today, so here are a few.

Got the reservoirs mounted, and cut up the hood a lot so it sits about two inches lower so the resis and the shock hoops all poke out.

Got the rear resis mounted up and routed:

Today my dad and my girlfriend's uncle and I worked on the truck all day and made a ton of progress with the goal of driving it tomorrow. We got the front driveshaft in, new tie rods on from Cruiser Outfitters, the brake system is all done and now has a proportioning valve for the rear as well as braided stainless AN-3 brake lines everywhere and I also ripped out a lot of old brake stuff, the radiator is now plumbed, and the electric fan has been integrated to the stock fan shroud.

Additionally, I got a deal from RSG Offroad in Golden CO and they hooked me up with six 37" Toyo MTs. As some of you may know, I am required to run 37s (or smaller) for the Ultra4 class I'm in which is why I won't be running 40s for racing. There were only a couple tires that met the price point I wanted, and the guys at RSG said they really liked the Toyo MTs so I decided to go with them. I was also looking at the Falkens and General X3s, but the Falkens I don't like the look of the tread very much, and the X3s I haven't seen run in the rocks and saw a post on mud about a guy blowing a brand new one on a "not very sharp rock" so was hesitant to try them. We'll see how the Toyos do, I've never had Toyos and coincidentally I also bought a set of ~35" Toyo RTs for my Tundra a few days prior so hopefully all the Toyos work out!

Oh, I also got all my beadlocks in from Trail Ready...

I'm not sure what to do with the 40s now, I'm on the fence about them. Originally the plan was to have the 40s as rec wheeling tires, but then it seemed like if I'm racing on 37s and have all these beadlocked 37s laying around may as well just run those all the time since I would either need to buy beadlocks for the 40s or run non-beadlocks, but then I saw the 37s compared to the 40s and even though it's one tire size different the 40s DWARF the 37s, but then I realized I can't turn all the way with the 4runner wheels that the 40s are on now--which is why I decided to go ahead and put the 37s and beadlocks on tonight since the beadlocks stick out a lot further--so now I can't run the 40s without buying new wheels which makes me lean towards selling them..... hmmm....

And for comparison, MTZ 35x12.50R15 vs Toyo MT 37x12.50R17 vs MTZ 40x13.50R17

I'm hoping to FINALLY try this beast tomorrow, though I've been saying that for weeks now. There's a few little things still, like one of the link bolts isn't torqued, and the radiator tubing needs exhaust hangers hooked up. Besides that, the real big thing is locate the battery and do the wiring to the battery and for the electric fan. Otherwise the shocks are all on, the radiator is all plumbed, the brakes are all hooked up, etc. So I think with a couple hours of work I should be able to run over to the National Forest and run the test loop a few times (fingers crossed)!

Finally starting to look like something that would race Ultra4...

 

[snivilous]

So I'll skip past all the details, the only thing really to note is I made a battery tray on the passenger side between the shock hoop and engine. Around 4:30 she drove out of the garage herself!

One of my local friends who also owns an 80 series and also races 2WD trucks helped today and then followed for the quick test loop to make sure we could make it home, interesting to see them side by side. His has an OME lift. I think it's interesting how mine isn't that much taller, but looks massive at the same time!

This thing is an absolute monster, there were holes and dips we hit that you literally couldn't even feel. I've never driven anything that even came close to how smooth this is. Like my girlfriend's 4Runner with Fox suspension, or my LT 3rd gen 4Runner, are really smooth and you hit something and go that felt great -- this is a totally different level, like I said there's things we would go over where you couldn't feel or hear the bump and I'm not talking about little stuff. Not everything is like that obviously, but this thing is so much more capable than what I can do with it that no matter how fast or what we hit it was soft (not that we did anything hard). There was one dip we hit that has gotten a lot more chewed out since I last drove the loop over the summer, and we caught air (apparently a lot according to my buddy behind us) and of course you could barely tell you landed since the transition was so smooth.

Now that is not to say there are not some huge flaws -- body roll being the predominate issue. As everyone has warned me, this thing has huge body roll. The theme of the truck seems to be that everything is elevated with this suspension; the body roll is REALLY bad, not like having a lifted truck with no sway bars and big tires bad, like you go around a corner at 15mph and the whole body literally rotates so far over, that if you were in a stock vehicle you would of rolled a LONG time ago. I've flopped my 4Runner, I've done a high speed roll with my FJ40, and I've flopped this FJ80 twice, all of those was very obvious and understanding of when the roll point was hit and the truck started to go over. This thing, is like the body rotates 30deg over and you're on flat ground and still on all four tires. 14" travel shocks compressing on one side and unloading on the other gives a lot of of motion for the body and it's really unsettling. Not to mention that, as you'll see in a few photos, if you take a corner and stop the body will have rolled over and just sit there. It has minimal tendency to right itself, so if you go around a corner at speed you can exit it and the body will still be cranked about half way over. This is obviously a side effect of no sway bars, 3 link and coilovers everywhere, and a spring rate of like 65# in the rear and like 90# in the front. I will see about getting a sway bar before KOH, I didn't think I would have time before but I REALLY need one. I can handle it, but I will be drastically slower without one and like I said, I was expecting lifted truck body roll and this is about 4x more. Sway bars are expensive though, the Currie anti-rock is about $300 it looks like for everything, and although I'd like to dial the bar in I think my only bet is to buy a random one and see how it does and go from there.

She flexes alright, this was just kissing the bump stops:

Here you can see the suspension unloaded on the driver's side after going around a little corner and stopping for a picture:

Of course there were a few other hiccups as expected; there seemed to be a fuel issue though my friend theorized it's because I have no rear O2 sensor hooked up and it was running super rich. I might change the filter and maybe get a Holley Hydramat and do the O2 sensor and try to make the fuel system reliable finally. Another issue was the brake fitting going into the proportioning valve started leaking. Another issue was the torque converter felt like it kept slipping, might be low on fluid or maybe the shifter isn't aligned since it didn't seem to want to sit correctly in each gear. Another issue is the rear seems way too soft since the rear bumps kept tapping the axle. And finally, I think the front tires are rubbing the bypasses more than I thought--well actually it's kind of a secondary issue since they rub at full compression and full lock, which when the body rolls a s*** load and you're turning then they start to contact. I'll see if I can move the bypasses to the back, but I don't think there's room for the resi which is why I put the coilovers there. Again, if the body roll issue is fixed that will be fixed with the exception of max flex/turn.

Anyways, it runs! Lots of things are ghetto'd up, but now I can start fixing those things and fixing the other issues that have come up and at the same time can start testing the truck and getting some miles on it which is exciting!

 

[midfat]

Check out Hellwig sway bars. Awesome group. They made a set of custom bars for a long travel F250 Super Duty I built last year. They will also be onsite at KoH. Tell them your working with Eibach. I’ll PM you a name.

 

[snivilous]

Check out Hellwig sway bars. Awesome group. They made a set of custom bars for a long travel F250 Super Duty I built last year. They will also be onsite at KoH. Tell them your working with Eibach. I’ll PM you a name.

That would be awesome! It's funny you say that too since my dad said to look up Hellwig since he had their stuff a long time ago, and I had never even heard of them and then you say the same thing!

 

[MTKID]

So what is your plan? Do you think you can get away with just a rear sway, or are you going to try to fit both front and rear before KOH? I’m really excited for you but also nervous for how close the race is. Make sure your priorities are on safety items first. We want to see you go back to KOH every year doing better and better! And I really don’t have any race experience, but is there any risk of hot coolant exposure inside the cab w/ the rear mounted radiator in an accident? How do others alleviate that danger?
Keep cranking on it!

 

[snivilous]

So what is your plan? Do you think you can get away with just a rear sway, or are you going to try to fit both front and rear before KOH? I’m really excited for you but also nervous for how close the race is. Make sure your priorities are on safety items first. We want to see you go back to KOH every year doing better and better! And I really don’t have any race experience, but is there any risk of hot coolant exposure inside the cab w/ the rear mounted radiator in an accident? How do others alleviate that danger?
Keep cranking on it!

I appreciate the support!!! I emailed a guy that @midfat connected me with, we will see what he says about front vs rear or both. Ideally I'd like to just run a rear bar, but I have no idea about setting up sway bars or even if I can fit one in the front (rear has a bit more room to play with).

I'm super nervous with how close the race is getting too! I'm already thinking of pushing back my departure date to 2 weeks from tomorrow (Monday) so I get two full weekends to work on it before I leave. Tomorrow I will make a list and prioritize what needs to be done to pass tech, and then everything following that. I still need to gusset the cage, put a firewall in front of the fuel cell, add cut off valves to the fuel lines, and some other stuff but most of it is pretty minor as far as mandatory requirements go.

There is definitely a risk of coolant melting me, but the lines are pretty far back. I would like to make a shroud that goes over the piping--which actually since the piping goes over the fuel cell, that shroud might work good as a rear firewall to completely isolate me from any fluids except line of sight with the radiator itself. What a lot of people do is put netting or mesh in front of the radiator so it can't be punctured, I saw one guy say that he put mesh behind the seats and somehow that would stop coolant if it blew forward?? Even if the radiator punctured I think it would be pretty hard pressed for any of it to get to me since the radiator is as far back as possible, and with the motion of the truck and the fan sucking air everything is trying to get blown backwards not forwards. So that's the plan as of now, mesh around the radiator and then do a sheet metal firewall that completely encloses everything but the radiator and shocks.

 

[Jgunner]

On the cheap, speedway for sway bars, but you’ll appreciate a better part in the long run. I’d run just one in the rear, should be enough. Been in lots of long travel trucks and a property setup sway bar is just as important as spring rates and shock valving. I’m really digging your ride, I’d LOVE to swoop those Kings off of you but I have bigger fish to fry first. Kings are my favorite, but I’ve heard many good things about ads.

Post more often! I love seeing and reading about your truck!

 

[snivilous]

Took some pictures today and super stoked with everything so figured I'd do a mid-week update.

First of all, I tried moving the front shocks around and nothing alleviates the rubbing from the tire at full flex/lock. I decided to just leave the bypass in the front with the tubes pointing outward since it's setup for that, and I just have to keep in mind the upper tube gets some tire loving if I flex and crank it hard but there's more important things to work on and right now the suspension does work, which is more than can be said for some things I need to do.

On a related note to suspension stuff, when I drooped the suspension out in the shop the front driveshaft came apart--not surprised. Took that in to a driveline shop and the dude said I already essentially had a "long travel driveshaft" and the best course of action is to lengthen it--the next option being a custom build Spicer shaft that would run $500 vs $120. Tomorrow I should get the driveshaft back and it will be lengthened and hopefully enough to not fall out. At full droop the two ends of the shaft are literally flush with each other, and I need 4" of slip in the shaft which is about what the stock shaft has, so the guy was gonna adjust it so at full compression the shaft was set to what I needed and hopefully that'll be enough for full droop. Which really, as long as it doesn't fall in half it should be fine (hopefully) since I won't be at full droop THAT often I don't think. We'll see, but I don't plan on buying a $500 driveshaft for awhile...

With that taken care of, I talked to an exhaust shop across from the driveline shop which takes us to today where I dropped the 80 off this morning for the dude to look at (and build) a custom exhaust.

Oh also, my stuff from Eibach showed up and since the front coilovers were taken apart last night I threw the Eibach springs on the front. They also sent me a s*** load of stickers and some swag, plus I got some shocks for the Tundra that were much needed!

Talked to the dude at the exhaust shop for a bit and talked about exhaust routing and what to do since there's minimal room between the 3 link and coolant and shocks. I was expecting it would take until tomorrow but the dude got it done by 3pm so I went and picked the truck up and the exhaust is GORGEOUS I think!

What he talked about so I thought he was gonna do, was follow the stock exhaust and go over the frame and hug the firewall tight and squeeze behind the tire/shock hoop. Well, he decided a much cooler option of going straight down, hugging the oil pan, and down the driver's side and over the cross member and dumping in front of the rear axle. I had suggested this idea since the passenger side was really cluttered with the 3 link upper, the driveshaft, and the cooling line--and he changed his mind and did it which I think is awesome!!! He said his reasoning was that this way I could fully unbolt the exhaust if I needed to, where as going around the shock hoop essentially made it a permanent solution. Top it off he threw a glass pack on, which I must admit I'm not a huge fan of the sound the truck makes now (it's not as deep and rumbly as it was with open headers, but I guess that's expected) but the reason we chose a glass pack was to keep everything neat and tight and compact. I could of got a Magnaflow or something, but I really don't care what the exhaust sounds like as long as the packaging is nice which this dude pulled off AWESOMELY. I've never had exhaust work done on anything I've driven, so I am really impressed and excited about how cool it turned out. Not to mention if/when I get rid of the 1FZ, I think this exhaust will bolt onto a stock FJ80 so I can pass it on!

We grabbed the truck and ran back up the mountain and I unloaded it and did some quick changes on the bypasses and added max rebound to the rear, and some rebound and compression on one tube in the front and it helped the body roll a LOT. Like there's still a lot there, but now it doesn't throw the body completely over in a small corner. This is HUGE. I was really worried I built/designed the suspension totally wrong, but once I got thinking about it I concluded that it was a 95% chance that it's purely from ultra soft suspension. Like you can literally move the body by yourself with one hand it's so soft, and when I was driving it around the exhaust shop I realized that just putting it into gear the whole body rotated a s*** load just from the torque converter slipping. The truck has a really low spring rate, soft shocks, and no sway bar, so I was confident that it wasn't a suspension issue (though I'm no suspension expert, but it has a good roll axis angle and the roll center is where a stock FJ with like a 2" lift would be). So the quick adjustments and the big results really proves a lot and it can only get better! I still need to see about packaging a sway bar, I think the solution might be to have super short end links coming off the rear axle so the arms won't get pinched between the frame and the tires so I'm gonna measure that in a bit and then (hopefully) order a TK1 Ultra4 sway bar. If you're wondering why not just run stiffer springs, well right now I'm almost at the stiffest springs I can run since I barely tighten the coilover spring collar just so the springs won't rattle at full droop and that's it--plus everyone I've talked to and see runs similar spring rates to what I run, so I'm pretty sure I just need shock tuning and a sway bar to fix the issue. Not to mention, when I was adjusting the bypasses I realized that I think all the bypass tubes are at their softest settings so that also explains why fully tightening the rears and a little in the front did so much.

On this little drive earlier the truck REALLY impressed me. I tried to crawl off the back side of that big rock I flexed out on in earlier photos, and ended up getting high centered and the only way I could move was to essentially back down along the side of the whole rock. I was by myself and figured what the hell, maybe the truck will be fine (keep in mind I'm in 2WD which is why I got stuck) and worst case I'll flop it and call my girlfriend. So I back up and the truck is just totally composed and stable--and I am REALLY off camber, like I have never been anywhere near this off camber in anything I've ever been in, I wish I could get a picture but it was pretty dark out. I have no idea how I didn't roll, but this truck is so far beyond what my capabilities are it's crazy. I love how on it's second little trip, I was able to push it to way beyond my personal limits and comfort and it was totally happy and took it like it was nothing--and was in 2WD the whole time.

And on a final note, the fuel pump seems to not be sucking fuel so I'm going to tear the fxxxing tank apart AGAIN. As usual the truck is doing awesome but I cannot get this stupid fuel cell to work worth a s***. I don't know if it's just way low on gas (I put 10 gallons in and it's a 32 gallon tank, I can't believe it's so low that the hose isn't sucking) but the fuel pump you can hear whining and unloaded whenever the truck starts sputtering. Gonna see if I can solve that issue, and then also wire in the O2 sensor on the new exhaust so hopefully the engine will run a little better!

 

[snivilous]

Been working on the truck a little bit and trying to get it somewhat dialed and learn how it drives.

Only issue I've been having is fuel, which of course is the one thing this truck can never get to work correctly. I tore the fuel cell apart yesterday and everything looked totally fine. I even went and removed some line and rerouted the pickup so the pump wouldn't have to suck as much air when I initially prime the system. I then filled it up with more gas and that seemed to help since it was somewhat low, right now I think it has 15 gallons or so in it. But no, I take it out today and still having issues... but the issues now seem to be isolated to high rpm fuel starvation. I even pulled the filter out and ran it with no filter thinking maybe that was the issue but didn't solve anything.

It seems totally fine until I'd guess it hits 3000-4000 rpm and then just coughs, it doesn't die though and if you let off the gas and go to low throttle it acts totally fine. If you come to a stop and floor it, it acts totally fine too until it revs up a bit. Sometimes it'll start coughing and if I keep it floored and it can upshift then it'll be fine for a bit until it revs out again. It's really weird... So I've isolated it's not the filter, and it's not fuel or associated with the fuel cell, so it seems like it has to be the pump or something down stream of that. I can hear the fuel regulator working when I stop, though I don't have a fuel pressure gauge at the moment (thinking it might end up being one of, if not the only, gauge I end up having for KOH). I haven't looked at the lines thoroughly yet, but unless something is super kinked I'll be surprised if that's the issue. I still have the stock pump so am thinking of either retrofitting it to work right now, or maybe even permanently install it into the fuel cell since it's the only pump out of three now that seems to have had no issues.

Besides the fxxxing fuel issues though, it runs like a charm! Turns out it only rubs the driver's side bypass, the passenger side I guess gets pushed over far enough from the panhard to clear the shocks which is good to know. Every trip I mess with the bypasses and try to see if I can find some settings I like. Right now I have it set pretty fxxxing stiff, it feels okay if I hit big stuff but little stuff is too harsh. I think I'm going to raise the ride height to 7" of up travel, and I'm also going to increase the rear spring rate since I think it's way too soft in the back especially once I put the rear bumper back on. Luckily since I have the Eibachs and the Viper springs I have a full assortment of 14" and 16" coils ranging from 125, 150, and 175lb/in rates.

I also got the front driveshaft back yesterday, and put in today before going out for about an hour. I'm starting to test now with at least my helmet and window net, both for safety and so I can figure out the best ways in and out, buckling up, how to see, etc. I went through all the Ultra4 rules and found what I don't comply with and made a list, there's probably 20 things but they're mostly super simple like have the lights wired to the ignition and have red reflective markers on the back. Hoping to get a lot of the tech stuff finished this weekend, and hopefully figure out what the fxxx is happening to the fuel system since it was totally fine at Sand Hollow and Moab the last two trips, and now all of a sudden doesn't want to supply fuel....

 

[bhsdriller]

This thing is sweet...will be looking for it out at KOH