Builds 4508 - Ultra4 Racetruck Build

[snivilous]

Tuesday we decided to trailer down to BFE which I had never been to before, again we were the only truck in the entire place. We took Strike Ravine everywhere, had a lot of issues figuring out where any trails were since we had missed the turn off of Strike Ravine to the main trails, and then eventually found the trails and got confused where they actually went so kind of just wandered around doing stuff. We think we did S&M, Lockjaw, and then definitely did Green Day (the only trail that didn't seem to merge with multiple other trails).

My buddy was pretty excited to drive the 80, this was his first time west of the Mississippi so needless to say it was an experience for him!

The 80 did REALLY good I think considering it's essentially stock below the body. I was on obstacles that were harder than anything I've ever done (by far) and the truck just kept going. Not to say we didn't find its limits, but considering its open diffs on 35s and just some basic old OME suspension it did great. On the level 8 trails we had to stack rocks since with much flex at all we'd lose traction, but there was a LOT of what I would call gnarly s*** we made it up without getting out.

Green Day was the final trail we ran, after the first fairly major obstacle we ended up bypassing most of the others since it was getting late and we knew it'd be slow going.

I made it up the rock ledge after a few attempts, which I thought was pretty impressive since it's easily a 4ft ledge or more in some places. After that I had to crank the drivers side up, which I could do but didn't have enough flex to go forward without losing traction so had to make a rock ramp to get the rear driver's side up.

And that's the last photo I took! Like I said, the truck did way better than my expectations and did way harder stuff than I've ever attempted before. The bottom got pretty torn up, the driveshaft/skid/axles/control arms are all wicked scratched up and the front frame rails got rammed quite a few times. A lot of the issue is that the front sits pretty low, since the back end was fine for the most part. Some more lift in the front and an actually flexy suspension, plus swap the 5.29 locked 3rd members and it'll be way more capable and I think could conquer the level 8 trails we had issues on.

The ONLY thing that actually broke was the exhaust broke off after the muffler. I had welded up an exhaust since it was so deafening a week or two ago, and stole the muffler from my 1969 FJ40 that's all torn apart. I guess the section of tube that went into the exhaust was just rusted in place and not permanently attached like I though, so it appears the tube literally just slid out of the muffler and snapped the little exhaust hanger I had made. So we threw that in the back and kept going, it wasn't even from hitting a rock, it just fell off as we were driving on the dirt road section on Poison Spider Mesa. Otherwise, it was probably one of the most successful offroad trips since the truck ran awesome with no issues and no breakage!

My buddy got a bunch of pictures of the truck actually in action that he should be posting up soon on here, otherwise that's the trip report! I also got my 4x4labs bumper kits in, hopefully get those tacked/welded up and then I tow the truck back to Utah for school in two weeks!

 

[snivilous]

Haven't done much since getting back from Moab. The last thing I did was go for a quick run on my test trail, and I hit a pothole and the whole truck died. I ended up having my girlfriend tow me home with her 4Runner. Fast forward and I couldn't figure out what it was, but it was pretty obvious the ignition wasn't firing up but everything in the harness I had touched seemed fine and everything else either checked out fine or just plain wasn't getting any power. I eventually said screw it and started ripping the harness apart, I figured I needed to get rid of a lot of plugs and wires anyways and maybe it would lead me to a wire that had been broken when we were in Moab or something. Fast forward again, and after a lot of research I went back and started being more systematic about testing everything, it seemed super plausible after more research that the fusible links could be jacked up even though they tested fine. When I was messing with one of them I heard the EFI relay fire up, so concluded it was indeed a fusible link not making good contact. What REALLY had happened though, was the plug right below the fusible links had the wire cut through but not enough to disconnect the wire; it had just been rubbed down due to the little battery cover/wall thing and there had never been a grommet coming off the hot side. So fixed that and everything turned out to be fine, plus I removed literally pounds and hundreds of wires from the harness by just tracking down what plugs I didn't need and cutting all the wires out!

Along side the electrical trouble shooting, I finished welding the front bumper up.

I like it, it's very "wingy" though with the fenders off, but that's not an issue. I did modify it a bit, plus there were no instructions that came with it or online, so I found pictures and then put it together how I thought it should go and how I wanted it. The only real issue is I can't figure out where to put the D-ring mounting blocks, since anywhere plausible will decrease my approach angle (which is almost exactly inline with the bottom of the frame and where the bumper juts out the most at the top). So not sure what to do about that... there might be one location that's conceivable, not ideal, but won't reduce approach performance.

And then a few days ago, and then today, I got a lot of work done on the cage. I got the harness bars in, the two rearmost columns, a cross brace between the rear columns which the fuel cell will mount to, and then got one C pillar brace done. Once the other C pillar brace is done, all the "big" components of the cage will be done, and everything else is just bracing/gusseting which is exciting!

I leave for Utah on Thursday which is why I haven't worked on the truck much lately. I have everything setup so once I get to school I can drop the 80 off and then have a place to store my trailer.

The most exciting news is I'm planning (or trying) to attend a local race on September 9th! It's held by Bonneville Offroad Racing, and is a 180 mile desert race. I was talking to some guys who run it and seeing if it was possible if I could race, and I got a list of things I need which the only things I don't have is harnesses, a driveshaft loop, window nets, and a rear firewall. The driveshaft loop and rear firewall are pretty easy, as is the harnesses which I already ordered today. The longest lead item is window nets, though a guy said he had some square ones I could borrow. So it's definitely conceivable I'll be able to be legal for the race!

I also plan to buy a dedicated offroad helmet and forced air and then some chase lights. The poor OME suspension will get destroyed, but I don't plan to be fast obviously, more of a chance to get my feet wet at a small race before jumping into KOH. That's the reason I got so much work done today, since now I have a deadline coming up I really want to meet! But we'll see, not a lot to do but also not a lot of time and school starts on Monday plus I have work. And that's all the news since two weeks ago!

 

[baldilocks]

Very cool project. Your posts are red hot with ambition and enthusiasm.

 

[ExpoGeorgia]

Love this build man, definitely cool wheeling rig! Keep us posted

 

[snivilous]

So here's some updates from the past week or so. I am on schedule to race at Knolls UT next Saturday! I've been talking with the tech inspector a lot to make sure I have what's needed. There's no performance upgrades to the truck, so performance wise it's still totally stock (well, OME suspension but that's essentially stock as far as I'm concerned). I could swap my geared and locked 3rds over (I picked those axles up already) but it wouldn't help me at all in the desert, if anything it'd be detrimental since I want more speed, not more torque. So going through all the stuff that I've done so far:

I added a 30" Baja Designs chase light and fully wired it in. So brakes work, and then I have two switches, one to turn the running lights and ambers on (left one blinks) and another to turn the center blue on.

I spent a TON more time on wiring, I've literally spent probably 10+ hours just cutting out the stock harness. After pulling all the inside relays, and cutting out every fuse I didn't need/want (which was all but main IGN) I finally got to the point where I didn't think it was worthwhile to strip the harness down more. I would guess stock the main harness has over 100 wires just going across the dash, I now have maybe 20 wires going across. I have them mostly wrapped up, still some more wrapping needed though, and have started adding in my custom made harnesses for fuel, air, chase lights, etc. and running all of them through the stock fuse box too.

Really big deal was getting window nets, I bought some cheap ones (though they meet the SFI spec) off of summit since I didn't think I'd have time for custom ones. They turned out smaller than I thought I ordered, but I got them to work and I think they actually came out really good. I have top and bottom latches, and it's literally a rod with a seat belt type buckle on the end, so slide the rod into this hole and buckle it down and voila. I'll honestly probably run these for a long time since custom ones would marginally help add more coverage.

The window nets was my #1 concern for not passing tech, so super stoked their done.

Additionally I also ordered another fuel pump from Summit, I haven't tested it yet but I think it should work so I swapped it in for the other huge ass pump I had. I was going to pull the stock one out of the fuel cell, but I've decided I'll just leave it in since it works fine, and I will just unplug the wires and tie them up inside the cell. Right now the stock pump is at the bottom of the fuel cell, and the main reason to get rid of it is I don't know how to elegantly get the wiring to come out of the cell (right now the wires just come out of the cap). So since everything works, assuming the new pump can just suck fuel through the stock one then I'll leave the stock inside the tank since the position is where I want it. And absolute worst case, I do TECHNICALLY have a backup pump inside the tank that I could hook up in an emergency. I also ordered a fuel filler and fuel filler tube that I need to route to a rear window, and some other odds and ends from Summit.

I ordered a pair of PRP Harnesses (their SFI 16.5 ones). I need to install those, I thought they would come with mounting hardware considering how much they cost but didn't so will have to fab something up.

I ordered some new fire proof gloves since the Oakleys I originally bought were too small, so the Oakleys will be backups. I then also ordered fire proof socks, long underwear pants/shirt, boots, and a second fire suit so if whoever wants to codrive doesn't have a suit I'll have a (cheap) suit they can use if they don't want to buy their own.

And lastly, I talked to PCI and was on the fence of what to order. I ultimately ended up buying a HJI race helmet (wired with mic, comms, and air hookup) as well as a NecksGen Rev2 Lite neck brace, a dual outlet forced air pump (which I got sent two of....), a chase radio for my girlfriend's truck, and a 50W race package from them that includes the radio, intercom, inline signal processing thing, antenna, etc.

So I need to hookup essentially all of that stuff, I got the forced air hooked up and holy s*** is it loud blowing into the helmet.

I won't have time to make a dash, so most things will be zip tied to the cage most likely. Right now I have 6 switches to control everything, and they're all just zip tied to the cage which is probably what I'll do with the radio too as a temporary solution.

Still TONS to do, mainly I have to make driveshaft hoops and need to weld up the rear bumper still, plus all the other s***. I'm currently on a business trip this weekend and don't get back until late Monday, and I want to take the truck for a quick test run on Thursday to make sure my codriver and my helmets are talking to each other and stuff, so essentially have two days to get most of the big stuff done. I also need to get fire extinguishers mounted, radios mounted, fuel pump wired, fuel cell straps made, clean up the wiring, mount the harnesses, driveshaft loops, rear bumper, etc. BUT as of now, I am essentially race legal as far as this race is concerned once I get the driveshaft loops done. So I am about 95% to being race legal, and like 80% to being race prepped---again, not trying to win, I just want to go through the motions and get my first race under my belt so I'm not a complete amateur going into KOH next year.

Anyways, that brings everything up to date for the most part! Hopefully the next stuff I post is the truck about to (or having) done its first race!

 

[snivilous]

I finished my first offroad race!!!!

For some back story, I have been completely hauling ass through the build for about the past two weeks since I decided it'd be possible to actually make this race in time. I usually spent from 3-4pm all the way to 9pm or later everyday at the shop working on it and going through my list of things needed to make the truck race legal. I ended up buying a full communications race package from PCI plus a chase radio, forced air, harnesses, more fire gear, helmet, etc. On Thursday my codriver came up to the shop and we worked from about 10am all the way to 1am busting ass on the truck and got it most of the way done, but I ran out of welding wire so Friday morning I (tried to) haul ass through finishing everything off and was able to--though it was a total bitch since none of the outlets at the shop space I'm renting have big breakers OR 220, so the circuit breaker literally would blow every 5-10 seconds trying to weld the thick stuff.

Friday by 330pm my girlfriend and our puppy and I were rolling down to the race at Knolls, UT and hosted by Bonneville Offroad Racing. Luckily it's only about a 2.5 hour drive from our place, though nonetheless we ended up missing the driver's meeting. My parents had driven out from Colorado to watch, and had shown up before us so were able to attend the meeting and take notes though, and everyone was SUPER cool and most people knew who I was since I had posted multiple times on the BOR page and talked a lot to the tech inspector in the weeks leading up to the race, so a lot of people knew who the total newbie with the Land Cruiser was.

My girlfriend and I went through tech since my codriver hadn't shown up yet, and tech turned out to be good with only some minor issues that were solved with some zip ties and paper clips. My codriver and his girlfriend showed up with their RZR, and late that night we preran about 10 miles of the course, which actually turned out to be really nice to do and I wish we could of done more of the course in retrospect but we were crunched on time. Also, prerunning in the RZR, while being a lot smoother and faster than the 80, won't be my first choice in the future since prerunning with a total different vehicle isn't ideal (though anything is better than nothing). Friday night I spent some time prepping the truck at our camp site, really the only "tuning" I could do was set the tire pressure. I decided to run 15psi, I figured that higher pressure would mean I could go faster but at the loss comfort, and the truck wouldn't be fast regardless. At least since I have beadlocks and 10" of sidewall, I have the benefit of being able to run super low tire pressure and not worry about the tire or wheel squishing or coming apart, so may as well use that advantage! Most of the cars we were racing against had a lot smaller tires too, so 35s with lots of squish would give us some edge over everyone else with little skinny 30s.

Saturday morning I woke up and had a muffin and got to prepping the truck. We originally were supposed to race the unlimited race that started at 1pm, but luckily the race officials said we could do the earlier limited race since we were new to racing and would be so slow (vs the unlimited class that were all big V8 trucks and even two trophy trucks). What was also nice was there was probably 20 cars racing in our race, between UTVs, quads, and smaller buggies/VW bugs vs the unlimited class that was like 5-6 trucks, so there was a lot more going on in the limited race. The limiteds started at 730am, with staging starting at 7am. My girlfriend and I spent 40 minutes in the morning prepping the truck and strapping our tools, spare tire, hilift, etc. down and ended up taping my phone to the cage with a speedometer app (mainly so we would stay within the speed limit through the pits).

We suited up and followed everyone else through the starting line in 30s intervals, with us being last. This was the first time I had ever legitimately raced anything, let alone the truck I had spent the past 4 months working on, so it was super exciting and lots of adrenaline leaving the line! My main goal was to finish, with a secondary goal of being able to pass anyone, though that was doubtful. There was a VW bug in front of us so I tried to chase him down, and I think we may of been a bit faster actually though he was a 1/4 mile ahead of us when we started. The race went through miles of lakebeds, lots of big deep whoops, sand sections, up and down little hills and all over and was 41 miles per lap, with a total of 4 laps. Starting off the truck was a lot better than I expected, with it being stock performance wise I didn't expect much but it was decent. The high speed lake beds we were around 57mph, with our peak race speed recorded at 62mph. The whoops killed us though, the truck could handle small stuff like 6-8" tall if I stayed on the gas, but anything bigger and it would just buck the truck all over the place.

One of the coolest moments was around 10 miles into the first lap, we got into this little gully area and this one buggy was stuck, and another buggy was trying to pull him out, and then a quad and the VW bug were lined up behind them waiting to go. It was pretty funny actually since I'm not used to 2WD stuff, so they had literally no option but to sit and wait, so we pulled up behind the VW and then just turned and went up the side of the gully and around and back down onto the trail in front of the stuck guys so ended up passing four people! That turned out to be the only pass of people that weren't broken down. Shortly after we got near the remote pit and started smelling gas, so pulled over and it turned out our spare tire had come loose and knocked the filler hose off the fuel cell so fuel was sloshing out of the tank. That took awhile to fix and strap the tire down well enough it would stay there.

After that we ended up being plagued by fuel issues all day long. First the rubber fuel hose before the pump kinked, and we didn't realize it for a long time. Our girlfriends even ended up chasing us down in the RZR with a jerry can because we thought we were out of gas since it wouldn't suck, and then out of the blue we noticed the rubber line was barely kinked and blocking all the gas. With that fixed we finally made it to the pit to complete our first lap. We ended up pulling into this other Ultra4 team's pit who said we could use them, that was super nice and cool especially since our "pit crew" was our two girlfriends more or less. And these guys were LEGIT, crawling all over and under the truck and yelling out "driveline check", "sidewall check", "diff check", "brakes check", etc. It was one of the coolest parts of the whole race! Now that we thought we had solved the fuel issues, we took off trying to make some time. It was obvious we wouldn't have enough time to complete all four laps, but we thought we could finish the second lap and be able to do the third lap.

The second lap was going really good, we were averaging a lot faster than the previous lap but then started having fuel issues again... We thought the hose was still kinking but it seemed fine, and the truck would run great and then start coughing, and if I pulled over it'd start running again and we would take off for 5 minutes... Eventually it got really bad and the truck just died on us on the course, and we were only able to pull off the trail halfway. We spent probably an hour trying to fix it, and it was really frustrating since we thought we fixed it and the truck fired up, so we got back in and suited up and then it wouldn't start again. And getting in and out of the truck is REALLY annoying, helmet on, neck restraint on, hook up the forced air, hook up comms, hook up the harnesses, steering wheel, etc. It's a long and very hot process being in a fire suit. So we got out AGAIN, and finally found that BOTH fuel filters were clogged. I have a 100 micron big filter before the pump and a 40 micron small filter after the pump, with just the 40 micron filter in there wasn't anything coming out of the return line, and with just the 100 micron in there was hardly a trickle coming out the return line--with both filters off, it was a complete pressure stream like it should be. That, coupled with the fact the fuel pickup appeared to not be working, so we ended up taking the hose going to the fuel pickup and just sticking it down the filler neck, we finally were able to get moving again. But it was so late now that the unlimited trucks had already started, and we only vaguely knew that they had been on the course for 20 minutes. So now we were putting along with our jerry rigged fuel pickup with no fuel filters, and had trophy trucks breathing down our necks. We went down the course for a few miles, and then had a big red truck pass us, and made a few more miles and then I thought I heard the roar of an engine so pulled over and this huge 6100 trophy truck went flying past us which was scary! Luckily we were close to the pits by then so no one else passed us before we crossed the finish line!

So we didn't do all four laps, but we did cross the line under our own power which by the end I was afraid we would have to get towed. All in all it was a ton of fun, and I'm glad I put in the time to do it and figure everything out and know what to do and not to do for King of the Hammers, which is the next race. Also, it turns out the foam that Jaz puts in their fuel cells is this s***ty stuff that degrades from ethanol, and of course we didn't know that. Everyone we talked to said oh yea, fuel foam issues. So that's apparently what clogged up the entire fuel system. Oh well, only way to know is from doing it!

I only got photos from after the race, so here's a few. Hopefully I'll find someone who got photos of us during the race.

Besides the fuel issues, the only other casualty of the race was the steering linkage buckled and is so bowed that it's sitting on the panhard bar.

Time to take a break for a few days, then to tear her back apart and start doing performance mods in preparation for KOH!

 

[snivilous]

TL;DR: Has anyone built a 3 link using the stock radius arm mounts (frame side and rear ones on the axle), and then just added brackets and a 3rd link onto the top?

Two more pictures from the race, credit to my codriver's girlfriend (Cydney) and Mrs. Patterson.

I have started pulling the front end apart. The front diff had started leaking and the driver's side knuckle had been leaking for awhile, plus I have the new 3rd members laying around so decided it was time. This is the first time I've gone into much depth on Land Cruiser axles, the passenger side took some trial and error to get the cone washers out but everything else seems straight forward. Driver's side I have mostly torn down, just need to pull the actual knuckle off but the grease is so soupy I just let it sit last night and leak out.

I ordered shocks from Filthy Motorsports the other day, so I have four 2.5" x 14" Kings being built. Filthy is local to me back home and I met with Ben, the owner, before I left for school and really liked him. Coincidentally he also owns a 80 series which is sweet. He's hooking me up and I talked to him a lot yesterday finalizing the shock customizations.

I also talked to Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters @cruiseroutfit yesterday and bought axle rebuild kits for the front and rear and some other little stuff (like I destroyed two studs during the trial and error process to get the cone washers for the hub off). Kurt and Cruiser Outfitters are local to me here in Utah where I go to school, and I've talked to him before and he had seen some pictures of the 80 from the local race over the weekend, and during our conversation I was explaining how my drag link got buckled and if there's a heavy duty drag link since it's a race rig. Kurt knew exactly who I was and ended up hooking me up big time as well! Plus he gave me lots of advice of what parts I should keep as spares which was a ton of help.

So I'm very very excited to have Filthy Motorsports and Cruiser Outfitters helping me with their parts and knowledge on the truck! Lord knows I've had no idea what I'm doing for so much of this build, that having people and companies supporting me is really cool and something I only dreamed of happening when I first started the build.


And for some finishing thoughts; Ultra4 Nationals is October 21st which is also the same weekend as Rock Therapy. If the truck is built enough I will probably opt to go to Nationals which is in Reno...but the shocks have to have some welding done to them (lower mounted piggyback) so the build timeline is a bit longer than "normal" custom built shocks. Ben at Filthy said right now it's looking like 4-5 week build time, which is how much time there is until those events. So in the event the shocks show up early and I can get them mounted up, I'll shoot to go to Nationals--more likely, I will go to Rock Therapy and play at BFE with either the stock suspension on it now or have just finished installing the Kings and have it be the first test run with the suspension. So that's up in the air, in the mean time I'm obviously rebuilding both axles and swapping in locked/5.29 geared 3rd members. Yesterday I also gave away all 30 gallons of gas in my fuel cell that has been compromised, and will pull the foam out and probably install diesel lower screw on type fuel filters and fix the pickup issue. I also need to gusset the cage in a few places, build the rear firewall, build a real dash, and make some rear cargo mounting features. All of that should be done in the next few weeks, plus the suspension once that shows up.

As far as suspension goes, I will build upgraded links for the rear but keep the rear geometry. I would really like to go to a custom triangulated 4 link and a 3 link up front, but I do not want the truck to be down for weeks at a time right now. Keeping the rig reliable is the most important thing, and next year I will probably relink it but for now it is much easier and safer to just keep the stock geometry. As far as the front goes, I really don't like the radius arms, but not sure if there's much I can do. I feel like it's possible to run a "cheap 3 link" and just run a single link to the rear mounting points for the radius arms on the axle, and then just add a 3rd link on the top? Most people build custom brackets, but I feel like that's not entirely needed since the radius arms are already 2 links... I don't know, I need to research it more. Chances are, in the front at least, I won't be able to use the full potential of the shocks, at least not flexing. Which kind of sucks, but oh well. I know I can fit 14s (max size for my class) so figured it'd be better to just get the largest shock I'm allowed to run, and if the suspension can't handle it then oh well, better than the opposite scenario. So we'll see...

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Excited to be able to help you out!

 

[chuckles89]

Looks good Tony

 

[snivilous]

Been distracted so haven't done much with the axles. Went through the fuel system yesterday, turns out the rubber hose for the fuel pickup had gotten worn through within 70 miles right where it connects to the fuel cell pass through so was sucking air (not clogged). Regardless I'm replacing the fuel pickup and getting rid of the stock fuel pump that was still mounted in the fuel cell. I pulled the foam and it looks fine, but lots of black s*** fell out as I was pulling it. Also, it turns out my steel hose can mount directly to my pump and I don't need the rubber hose that kept kinking before (though I do need a rubber hose after the pump that then goes to an adapter nipple and back to the steel lines, but at least that side is pressurized and not under vacuum). I need to find different fuel filters, but technically the fuel system is fixed.

The real reason I haven't done much is I've been playing with the suspension and just measuring stuff and playing with crazy ideas... The results of which was I BOUGHT 40s!!!

Long story short, I had a friend suggest having the 80 run 40" tires and then just run 35s to race. I thought it was a dumb idea since that's a huge tire size difference, but then I pulled the shocks and was playing with the suspension travel (which by the way, the stock rear is INSANE with what it's capable of) and realized that I could run 40s with my current ride height and not lose any suspension travel effectively. The rear I can trim the fender lip up which is a little under 3" tall, so by just trimming the fender so it's flush with the inner fender, I can have the bump stops set to the exact same place as the 35s are set now. The front isn't quite the same case since I've already trimmed it flush with the inner fender, but I wanted to lift the front 3" anyways to level the truck, so by doing that I would retain the same up travel I already have with 35s. Everything seems to measure out to clear 40s really well actually, the biggest issue will be turning in the front and mainly hitting the exhaust which I planned to reroute anyways for sliders.

So I thought about it a lot, talked to all my friends and my dad and the conclusion was, why not? It's a purpose built offroad truck, will be used more for trail rides than racing and would be plain cool! If I ever had a truck to experiment with and make a monster, this is the one right now! As I said, it will still be 100% race legal just for rec wheeling I'll have my 40" set and for racing I'll have the 35s--and in the future if/when I bump classes, I can run 37s without changing anything out. So I'm pretty stoked, those will show up in the next day or two. I need to buy 17" wheels, so will probably order another set of Trail Ready beadlocks near the end of the month. My goal is to have the 40s fully setup and bumped by Rock Therapy (October 18th).

So that's the only exciting news. I've decided not to go to Nationals, I would only go if I had my shocks by then and best case scenario I will have them mounted but not tested enough to be comfortable the setup is good, so Rock Therapy in Moab/BFE is the plan! Should be a good time and will be a humongous change since the 80 was already one of, if not THE, most capable truck I've ever wheeled and with 40s and locked and geared it will be a monster. I ordered a pair of PCI prerunner headsets from SRQ Fabrications so my girlfriend and I can talk without yelling, plus help quiet out some of the exhaust noise. I also have some Trail Gear sliders that should show up today and I will modify and make work on the truck. So a few small tasks before Rock Therapy, but technically once I put the axles back together the truck will be totally fine to go. Hopefully get more pictures once I can start driving it again soon.

 

[snivilous]

So I'm gonna try to 3-link it! Reference this thread I made which will hopefully garner more attention than my build does, I'm super excited and think it will work great! Simple DIY 3-Link Using Factory Mounts Build

 

[snivilous]

So the 3-link stuff it turns out is not as simple to work with the stock mounts as I thought. I think I will still 3 link it soon(ish), but not right this instant because I'm signed up for the rock race at Trail Hero! I'm going camping all weekend with my girlfriend, and then leaving next Wednesday after class, so I effectively have 6 days (and have work and school during those 6 days) to prep the truck. So that means putting a new drag link on, new front calipers (like 3 pistons are seized), putting the entire front axle back together, putting the suspension back together, finishing the fuel system up, and hopefully install these:

My girlfriend said 40s would be useless if I won't ever race on them, well as it turns out they'll (hopefully) be getting raced on next week down in Sand Hollow! My buddy is picking up some $50 4th gen 4Runner wheels since i don't have any 17s and I talked to Filthy Motorsports and I can't get another set of Trail Ready beadlocks in time, so assuming the cheap 17s have a workable back spacing to clear everything I'll be running 40s next week! If not, worst case I just throw my racing 35s on.

 

[2fpower]

If they are like the FJC rims, you likely will need 1.25" spacers.

EDIT- I have FJC rims on FOO, used 1.5" spacers. I would pair down to 1.25" if I did it again.

 

[ExpoMax]

So the 3-link stuff it turns out is not as simple to work with the stock mounts as I thought. I think I will still 3 link it soon(ish), but not right this instant because I'm signed up for the rock race at Trail Hero! I'm going camping all weekend with my girlfriend, and then leaving next Wednesday after class, so I effectively have 6 days (and have work and school during those 6 days) to prep the truck. So that means putting a new drag link on, new front calipers (like 3 pistons are seized), putting the entire front axle back together, putting the suspension back together, finishing the fuel system up, and hopefully install these:

My girlfriend said 40s would be useless if I won't ever race on them, well as it turns out they'll (hopefully) be getting raced on next week down in Sand Hollow! My buddy is picking up some $50 4th gen 4Runner wheels since i don't have any 17s and I talked to Filthy Motorsports and I can't get another set of Trail Ready beadlocks in time, so assuming the cheap 17s have a workable back spacing to clear everything I'll be running 40s next week! If not, worst case I just throw my racing 35s on.

This is like the most awesome thing ever. Racing on 40s.... I will be very interested to see if your axles, axle housings, steering, and wheel bearings don't blow up.

 

[snivilous]

If they are like the FJC rims, you likely will need 1.25" spacers.

EDIT- I have FJC rims on FOO, used 1.5" spacers. I would pair down to 1.25" if I did it again.

Thats good to know, I have 1.5" spacers but that's it so we'll see how they fit up!

This is like the most awesome thing ever. Racing on 40s.... I will be very interested to see if your axles, axle housings, steering, and wheel bearings don't blow up.

You and me both! Honestly from the videos I've seen and talking to the event coordinator it's a super easy race and more of an exhibition to show off to the public what rock racing is, so I'm not super worried--if it was a high speed race I would definitely be worried!

And honestly if these axles last me to the end of KOH I'll be really happy, I'm already mentally prepping to have to throw down next year for bigger stuff. That's the reason I haven't thrown tons of money at the axles, because at the end of the day I think they'll get me through KOH but not much further before needing an entirely beefier axle. But we'll see! I'm more worried about not being able to turn when aired down than anything

 

[ExpoMax]

Thats good to know, I have 1.5" spacers but that's it so we'll see how they fit up!



You and me both! Honestly from the videos I've seen and talking to the event coordinator it's a super easy race and more of an exhibition to show off to the public what rock racing is, so I'm not super worried--if it was a high speed race I would definitely be worried!

And honestly if these axles last me to the end of KOH I'll be really happy, I'm already mentally prepping to have to throw down next year for bigger stuff. That's the reason I haven't thrown tons of money at the axles, because at the end of the day I think they'll get me through KOH but not much further before needing an entirely beefier axle. But we'll see! I'm more worried about not being able to turn when aired down than anything

Well said and good point! I've been down to 12psi with my 40s, will little trouble steering. I wouldn't worry about that part much

 

[snivilous]

Long night in the shop! Got the axles and fuel system all put back together, ended up using my tube bender to try and unbend the drag link as much as possible, and then go the 40s on and went for a drive around the block! And that's probably the last time I'll drive on the street, since dualed locked sounds and feels horrible unsurprisingly! The 40s need a lot of work to fit still, the rear fenders are just roughly trimmed. Right now it's a toss up of more flex or more tire for next week, probably do the 40s just since I have them. I thought about making a ghetto shock drop bracket thing that would move the OME shocks I have down so there's still a bit of down travel. Right now it's about 6" up and like 2" down everywhere. The rear clears pretty well throughout the travel range, the front has pretty big issues turning but like I said, that's using a full 6" of bump travel, if I bump it lower it won't be bad.

The other big thing now is should we stay in 4600 class, the only Ultra4 race we will do near term is KOH, and as a 4600 car we will race against 4500 mod class and 4800 legends. The more and more I work on it, the less and less I want to keep it stock class. I could of cut the s*** out of everything and cleared the 40s completely, but stock class requires stock inner fenders--I've talked about bumping classes next year, but why not just do it now? We will be racing against them regardless, and aren't trying to win, we just want to finish KOH. So the class we're in frankly doesn't matter besides "some chance of being on podium vs no chance". I still definitely want to race, but I this will be used a ton for rec wheeling and I want the 40s and everything else for that, being limited to stock class race rules seems like the wrong path to go. I need to look at the rules more, but I know legends class is single shock per corner and 37s, I think we could fit into that pretty well with the main drawback being horsepower but that can come next year. I don't know, a lot to think about.

The 40s will probably stay on the truck for Trail Hero! Need to trim and pretty up the cuts I did, but it did drive and it a monster! The only thing I don't like is the 4Runner wheels we're using sit inward super far, even with the 1.5" spacers. So the tires are 5" taller but the overall width is less than with the 35s by quite a bit. Oh well, that's easy to solve once I get new beadlocks in a few weeks!

 

[bryson]

Stay in the stock class with the 80 if you want a chance to be competitive. If you want to move outside the stock class and stay competitive, don't build an 80. If you don't care about winning and just want to race, build the 80 as you want, race unlimited class and enjoy the hell out of it!

Whatever you do, I'll watch and enjoy.

 

[snivilous]

Stay in the stock class with the 80 if you want a chance to be competitive. If you want to move outside the stock class and stay competitive, don't build an 80. If you don't care about winning and just want to race, build the 80 as you want, race unlimited class and enjoy the hell out of it!

Whatever you do, I'll watch and enjoy.

That is exactly my thoughts! I'm not trying to be competitive at this point, I want something I can race but have fun with on the weekends and stock class has so many limitations it's hard to build the truck how I want to. I don't care if I win, I just want to be able to finish the race and have fun!

 

[ToyotaDon]

Am I right that you couldn't go to 3-link and stay in the stock class?