So I started out nearly 10 years ago with my LC 100 with a dream and simply never had the dollars or time to really invest into what I wanted to do. Then I was headed into divorce so that is never going to happen. Then some person smacked the back of my truck while parked at a light. The insurance company sent me a check for $2,000, I argued a year to the point of going to the state insurance commissioner and in the end after they tried to total it, I ended up with $7,000 more. This project used less then half of that, but the fab shop was a circus. I worked with someone that was talented, but had his issues. The work took a year to get started and another year to complete. However, we got some cool stuff in there and I think it turned out well. Who could believe it the truck was then hit with a hail storm and tree branch for another $2,000 in damage so forgoing some body work for the bumpers and suspension funded it. There is a noticeable dent still on the back corner, some trim i need to mount and a dent on the front to the left of the hood.
The base for the work was actually the front and back 80 series kits from Corey at Northwest Trail Innovations that was ordered in and modified to fit. Corey at NWTI was completely amazing in supporting the project with advice despite this unusual situation actually. It does not fit as closely as it should for this reason, but did work out. The 80 series is apparently more narrow. The welder did not like how the ends were open and added caps and polished them to look quite nice. Again THIS IS NOT THE NWTI kit for the 100 series, and they had no back for it at the time. This is a bastardized version of a NWTI 80 series kit. I HIGHLY recommend the NWTI kits, and I know they have a new rear kit coming out soon that will look better I'm sure.
I wanted the truck to have both a FRONT and BACK winch, without that receiver trick everyone seems to talk about (not a fan). I have my reasons on the front and back, one reason being that all winches are from china and other being an abilty to tie on and control my descent. I wanted to keep my ability to tow (I have an RV), and have a swing-out with the bike rack somehow built on.
The winches are a Badland Apex on front (aluminum) and a Tractor Supply 10,000 lb Aluminum case with synthetic rope on the back. There is an extra 100 amp hour AGM battery mounted in the back next to the winch up in the previous spare tire bay. This has a charge wire going to the front battery so it's topped off as a backup. The battery is mounted on a special shelf that was fabricated to hold it back there. I put some pics up of this part in progress so people can see how it was done and how much room is down there. You could build a cool storage box from the top.
Because my finances have not flourished during covid and my divorce, I had planned to neglect suspension until better times. This was not possible as on inspection we found my truck had 300,000 miles on what was likely the original shocks and the spring mounts were damaged. Apparently, when I had overloaded the truck during my move years earlier I'd even bent the spring mounts (pictured) . It was sitting on the bump stops with the added weight so I was forced to do all the suspension. It took me months to buy the stuff.
The springs were replaced with OME heavy springs, and Torsion bars, the shocks are OME and there is a diff drop (Dobinsons).
I was told the truck was not wanting to align and was all over the road, so I bought the Freedom Off Road Upper Control Arms. This made a HUGE difference and brought the truck back to riding easily straight despite the 2-4" lift. On that note, the UCAs from Freedom Off Road were only like $350 and everyone that saw them were impressed with their construction. We will see how the joints wear, I know that's an issue with some. There are some heavy duty sway bar mounts from someone in there that were not cheap I needed since 3-4" of lift make those not line up right either.
My light bar was apparently stolen while the work was being done in the shop and I have some matter of used light they put on there that has like 9 of the bulbs not working. I was livid, but I feel everything else came out well.
The last thing we did was pull the OE muffler, which hangs so low, and added a "Big Block" muffler up tight and a resonator. This was a challenge due to the tight fit of the battery and winch in the back. The welding on this ended up looking pretty spotty and when I posted pics that's all anyone commented on. Whatever it was done at like 3am. I was not interested in the sound aspect, but rather clearance on this. I swear the old OE weighed over 35 pounds from the built up carbon. There is true weight saving there.
The base for the work was actually the front and back 80 series kits from Corey at Northwest Trail Innovations that was ordered in and modified to fit. Corey at NWTI was completely amazing in supporting the project with advice despite this unusual situation actually. It does not fit as closely as it should for this reason, but did work out. The 80 series is apparently more narrow. The welder did not like how the ends were open and added caps and polished them to look quite nice. Again THIS IS NOT THE NWTI kit for the 100 series, and they had no back for it at the time. This is a bastardized version of a NWTI 80 series kit. I HIGHLY recommend the NWTI kits, and I know they have a new rear kit coming out soon that will look better I'm sure.
I wanted the truck to have both a FRONT and BACK winch, without that receiver trick everyone seems to talk about (not a fan). I have my reasons on the front and back, one reason being that all winches are from china and other being an abilty to tie on and control my descent. I wanted to keep my ability to tow (I have an RV), and have a swing-out with the bike rack somehow built on.
The winches are a Badland Apex on front (aluminum) and a Tractor Supply 10,000 lb Aluminum case with synthetic rope on the back. There is an extra 100 amp hour AGM battery mounted in the back next to the winch up in the previous spare tire bay. This has a charge wire going to the front battery so it's topped off as a backup. The battery is mounted on a special shelf that was fabricated to hold it back there. I put some pics up of this part in progress so people can see how it was done and how much room is down there. You could build a cool storage box from the top.
Because my finances have not flourished during covid and my divorce, I had planned to neglect suspension until better times. This was not possible as on inspection we found my truck had 300,000 miles on what was likely the original shocks and the spring mounts were damaged. Apparently, when I had overloaded the truck during my move years earlier I'd even bent the spring mounts (pictured) . It was sitting on the bump stops with the added weight so I was forced to do all the suspension. It took me months to buy the stuff.
The springs were replaced with OME heavy springs, and Torsion bars, the shocks are OME and there is a diff drop (Dobinsons).
I was told the truck was not wanting to align and was all over the road, so I bought the Freedom Off Road Upper Control Arms. This made a HUGE difference and brought the truck back to riding easily straight despite the 2-4" lift. On that note, the UCAs from Freedom Off Road were only like $350 and everyone that saw them were impressed with their construction. We will see how the joints wear, I know that's an issue with some. There are some heavy duty sway bar mounts from someone in there that were not cheap I needed since 3-4" of lift make those not line up right either.
My light bar was apparently stolen while the work was being done in the shop and I have some matter of used light they put on there that has like 9 of the bulbs not working. I was livid, but I feel everything else came out well.
The last thing we did was pull the OE muffler, which hangs so low, and added a "Big Block" muffler up tight and a resonator. This was a challenge due to the tight fit of the battery and winch in the back. The welding on this ended up looking pretty spotty and when I posted pics that's all anyone commented on. Whatever it was done at like 3am. I was not interested in the sound aspect, but rather clearance on this. I swear the old OE weighed over 35 pounds from the built up carbon. There is true weight saving there.
