Build 87 Wagon build “The Hashbox”

[Hashbox]

Super stoked at where we are at right now. Seems like the suspension is going to work well. I was worried about the leafs as we took a brand new Chevy 3500 HD pack and started bastardizing it how we thought it would work well. Seems to be soft enough but not 1/2 ton soft, has a ton of droop for a leaf spring and the bypass shock should make it ride pretty nice. Was built with the intentions of slow wheeling but I think we will be surprised how it handles with a bit of speed. When we started this project 6 years ago or so it was really hard finding a comparison for exactly what we wanted to do, theres thousands of tacos and 4runners out there that are pretty well built for off-roading but much less by the way of 60’s wagons so if you were ever wondering what an FJ60 with 43’s, one tons, king coilovers and bypasses would look like, well here you go, I think it looks pretty bad ass. Should get it hauled out of the fab shop this week and into my back yard to start patching the tub back together and working on mounting batteries and compressors before it heads back to the mechanic to get all of the motor systems plumbed and wired

 

[peesalot]

IMO the Balistic joint on the leaf lets the leaf rotate/twist a whole lot more which really increases the flex, saves the spring, and lets it work much better vs. the twisting load effecting the up & down control. Nice build. Did you ever decide on a driver side manifold ?

 

[Hashbox]

IMO the Balistic joint on the leaf lets the leaf rotate/twist a whole lot more which really increases the flex, saves the spring, and lets it work much better vs. the twisting load effecting the up & down control. Nice build. Did you ever decide on a driver side manifold ?

For now we are running the hooker exhaust manifold but we will see how the exhaust gets past the upper link. That’s a problem that we will probably solve in the next month or two. Seems like there is gonna be just enough room.

I think we are going to be pretty happy with the ballistic joint. Only downfall I really see is that it’s just one more thing to maintenance but such is life. I think the functionality we will get with it outweighs that aspect.

Pretty impressive to see how little twist the spring has at full bump, should make for a more predictable spring at full stuff

 

[peesalot]

Look at the bolt in the Balistic jnoint, if that were still square the top leaf would be twisted like 25*. Get this thing on the trail.

 

[Hashbox]

Look at the bolt in the Balistic jnoint, if that were still square the top leaf would be twisted like 25*. Get this thing on the trail.

We are trying to but with how everything worked out timing wise it’s seems like that right about the time we get everything buttoned up it’s gonna be winter here and I’m not really trying to deal with break in and troubleshooting issues at -20 and buried in the snow. Was really hopeful we would be 2-3 months ahead of where we are now but what are you gonna do. Come May we should well ready to start the break in process.

 

[peesalot]

Where you in AK ?

 

[Hashbox]

Where you in AK ?

Anchorage, so not to far north but usually by Halloween it’s full on winter. Maybe we will get lucky and have a late start to winter but that’s not likely

 

[clrussell]

Yeah I’m in on this

 

[peesalot]

Downtown or out by base, or out towards Palmer ? I really like some of the properties as you get into the canyon going towards Wasilla. I also love that camp ground right at the turn where you leave canyon and towards the T to TOK or Valdez or you can go out to Chittina / Kenicott right by there as well. Looks over Matanuska IIRC. When I was there in 1991 you could see the tip of glacier from the lookout at campground. I cant recall the town on the road out there before you get to T, great spot, has a Napa, a bank and I'm sure more now. I have my eye on 25 acres up on the hill east of town , looks over valley but its straight wild, make your own road. Wayes has a piece up outa Hanes with an air strip on it, he runs SEABA ( might be diff now ) Heli Ski guides for crazy people. Hope to come your way and spend some time poking around spots. You ever watch Gold Rush, the Beets dredge, the first one, that was a relic in 1991 and you could just drive out and climb around, I took all my tourist groups ( Suntrek ) there while we were in Dawson.