Builds Flyingmonkey’s Pre-Built Build Thread (1 Viewer)

[flyingmonkey]

Purchased from Mud member @chap79 in 2013. He already had done a bunch of stuff to it. I think there is a build thread of what he did before I bought it, if I find it I’ll link it. I mostly need a way to keep track of the whats and whens that I do to it.

As of today has 266,524 miles on it.
To date the following has been done (listing as much as I can remember and in no particular order):
DC Fabrications custom armor all around, rear swing out tire carrier
4.88 Nitro gears
OME heavies in rear, J's in front
Puma compressor
Warn Winch
Adjustable rear panhard
Bunch of other stuff

I wheel it (not so carefully I suppose) so it’s not as pretty as the day I bought it.

This is how it pretty much sits today, minus the roof rack.

Dishpan Trail, Big Bear CA

 

[flyingmonkey]

In July of 2015 I moved to Germany for three years and left the truck parked at a friend’s house in Jamul, CA.

Fast forward to now. I moved back a few weeks ago and went to get the truck. As soon as I opened the passenger door I knew something was wrong. There were little black dots covering the passenger seat and dashboard, and then the smell hit me! Unfortunately the mice were having their way inside. I didn't take pictures, but believe me it was nasty. There were four dead mice in the passenger foot area and I saw at least three others scramble out and make a run for it. I then went around to the driver's side which fared a little bit better, only two dead mice! Yay. As I continue to open the doors I notice more mice running for it, I lost count of how many. Pop the hood, air filter is full of acorns and nesting, engine is covered with acorns and mouse poops. Entire truck stinks to no end. I ask my buddy if he happens to have a respirator or at least medical masks. He only has masks, but I'll take what I can get.

Long story short, I get what I can cleaned out, put a battery in, tighten plugs, and other "stored it for a few years" things, bump the key a few times and try to turn the engine over. It fires right up no problem. Drive it home (while still wearing mask), park it and get to work on it.

First thing first, removed the interior and replaced carpet with set from Stock Interiors.

Brother-in-law helping me install new carpet and pad.

Doing this GREATLY reduced the mouse pea smell. I may take my original and power wash it and reinstall it. We'll see.

I can't run my AC right now because the evaporator core needs to be removed and cleaned. Plus, when I do turn it on mouse poops come flying out of the vents. Suffice it to say I have a really long laundry list of things to do.

 

[flyingmonkey]

Completed a much needed brake job. One of the rear calipers was seized and most of the piston boots were shot. Replaced calipers with Napa remans and resurfaced my rotors. I could have rebuilt the calipers but having done that before I figured my time and sanity were worth the price of the remans. Went with 100 series pads up front.

Also replaced battery with a new Interstate MTZ-34R.

PSA: Remember to ensure you start your lug nuts (or anything for that matter) before using an impact gun. Don't get cocky and think you are lined up. I hit one of my studs with like three ugga duggas while cross threaded and had to press out and replace the ruined stud. Not a huge deal, but wasted time.

 

[chap79]

Looks great!

 

[flyingmonkey]

I convinced the wife since I haven't been spending money on the rig for the last three years the coffers should be opened. She agreed. Big mistake. Spent last week ordering a bunch of parts, I mean a BUNCH! With @chap79 standing over my shoulder he talked me into getting all kinds of stuff. Shot through the agreed upon amount in a few clicks but kept going, but the better half is ok with it. Now the wait for everything to arrive begins.

Since I didn't have much else to do this weekend I decided to have my oldest run the grinder to get some rust off the bumpers and sliders. I primed and she painted. Paint job isn't the greatest, but I'm pretty proud of it and she is too. I have two girls and both are always willing and excited to help. I tell them I only want them to be able to change a tire and their oil, but they jump in on other projects whenever they can.

 

[flyingmonkey]

Ordered parts are starting to trickle in. You can get a general idea of some upcoming projects from this picture.

Still waiting on other stuff to arrive. I'll be busy over the next couple of weeks for sure.

 

[flyingmonkey]

So the attempts to recover from the mouse infestation continued this weekend, but I'll admit it ended in a lot of frustration and even thoughts of selling/parting out and starting over with a new rig.

So the mouse pea smell is still very noticeable. I have not been able to run my A/C because it makes a horrible noise when I turn it on. I knew I needed to pull the cooling unit to look for nests and poop. I followed this great write-up: A/C System cooling unit removal.

After getting my cooling unit out I noticed these little wires had been eaten through. I figure it’s a temp sensor or something along those lines.

My repair isn’t the cleanest, but my excuse is I’m still not settled after returning from Germany and all my tools are still in storage. I used what I could find in my friends garage. Should work.

I didn’t take any pics of the nasty nest filled side because I was so disgusted I wanted to just get it done. Suffice it to say that if I did take a pic the caption would read, “Do you want hantavirus? Because this is how you get hantavirus.” Once I got the unit cleaned up and back in, I started the truck and hit the "HI" fan button on the dash board. Terrible sound from the blower and very little air coming through the vents. Must mean the vents are clogged. That’s what I hoped the case would NOT be. The blower sounds fine at all settings except for high so I’m supposing the noise starts because of pressure or something since the air can’t escape. I could be wrong, and probably am.

So now I’m guessing I need to pull the entire dash off, remove the cooling unit and blower (again), and figure out a way clear the vents. Maybe rig something up I can hold at the vent and use a shop vac to try and blow everything out. Not sure yet, recommendations are appreciated.

 

[flyingmonkey]

After calming down from the previous days realization that I would need to pull the dash, I decided to add some fun stuff.

1. Installed a new OME adjustable front panhard. Ride quality was greatly improved. No longer feels like I'm driving one of those shopping carts that all four casters have the ability to turn. I hate those things. Front end doesn't jump around and feel mushy in turns anymore. I'm no bushing expert but I'm pretty sure mine were bad.

2. Installed the Bent Motor Sport skid plates.

3. Increased offroad capability by 3% by installing LED light bar.

Bigger projects to come. Parts are in, just need to find time to do them.

 

[flyingmonkey]

With A LOT of help from @chap79 I was able to get my dual battery setup installed. I got to his house and we started working around 7:30 am and we didn't finish until 8:00pm. For someone to happily dedicate a whole day to teaching and helping is one of the reasons this community is so great. I will admit we may have been able to get things done a little faster if the tops would have stayed on the whiskey bottles.

Since we were basically duplicating his dual battery setup things went pretty smooth. We got the system installed at his place and the following day I did a little cleaning up and migrating stuff like the light bar, ham radio, CB, puma compressor, etc to the house battery. Oh, I also wired an accessory power panel into the rear. I decided to make one port always hot and the others switchable. Also have an LED readout for the house battery so I can monitor from the back while I'm sleeping or something.

Installed the Indel B TB51A fridge/freezer. I went with this one over the ARB mostly because it's about $300 cheaper but still uses the danfoss/secop compressor. I plugged it in at 7pm, set the temp to 37 degrees and let it run until 7am. House battery went from 12.6 to 12.3 volts over the twelve hour period, so I was pretty happy about that. That is with the insulator and the nighttime temp in San Diego was I think 67 or something close to that. I still need to fab up a better way to tie down the fridge. I don't want to spend the money on the ARB fridge slide, so if anyone has other recommendations I'm all ears.

Still need to move some accessories over to the house battery, install a few relays, mount and wire a switch panel, etc, but overall my dual battery is up and running!

 

[White Stripe]

Yea rodent infestation is a pain. Pulling the dash and the evaporator and heater core and all the vent ducting isn't hard, just time consuming. Get some simple green in a bucket and a new toilet brush and clean everything really well.

 

[flyingmonkey]

I've had the Metric TLC (out of business, no longer available) for years and just got around to having them installed. Now my truck is a mix of new car and mouse piss smells. Replacing the foam and leather helped a bunch with the mouse pee smell, but I still need to pull the dash and get, hopefully, the last areas clean. But the seats are comfy and clean!!

 

[flyingmonkey]

Went from Procomp ES9000's to Icon 2.5 remote reservoir shocks. I ordered the rears with the CDC valve and the fronts without. I figured I would only need the adjustability for the rear. Now that they are installed I feel I should have ordered CDCV all around. It would have been a few hundred more to outfit the front with CDCV and at the time of ordering I appreciated the savings, but with hindsight....

The shocks came with a mounting bracket for the front and rear reservoirs. The front RR mount is installed on the spring perch, the rear RR mount attaches to the frame, right above where the LCA attaches. I ran into an issue because of a plate used to mount the sliders. There wasn't enough room to slide the reservoir through. To get home I ran the hose underneath the slider with plans to have some of the plate cut out in order to be able to run it properly. Once the plates were cut out they mounted up no problem.

The reservoir hose contacts in some places, most concerning is it rests against the rear sway bar mount. Anywhere there was contact I cut 3/4" heater hose and zip tied that around the reservoir hose. Seems to work and I'll keep an eye on those points for wear. I also had to increase my bumpstop length by another 1.25 inches, so overall they are 3.25 inches longer than stock.

Can't express how much better the ride is. No wallow, feels planted. Took it out to some local trails (Corral Canyon, Alpine CA) after the install and am extremely happy with how they performed. No more rocking and bouncing back forth. On the highway I feel almost like I'm driving a car. Bottom line they are worth every penny. Thanks to those who answered a few questions I had during the install. Oh yeah, sometime since last post also replaced all rear LCA and UCA bushings, rear sway bar mount bushing, and a few others so I'm sure that helped with the improved drivability.

Now I'm looking at different springs. I currently have J's in the front and heavies in the rear, both with spacers. I want a true 4 inch spring to ditch the spacers. Of course with anything the more you look into it and begin to research the more you talk yourself into circles. Whenever I settle on a specific spring I read something else and change my mind. I'll pull the trigger on something at some point. Anyway, a few pics....

From these.......

To these...

Initial routing UNDER the slider just to get it home. You can see the offending plate above it.

Having the plates cut out. Took it to a metal shop down the street. Took longer to set up the torch than to actually to cut. Once the plates were cut enough mounting was fairly easy. The RR hose is stretched tight, but I guess that's how it's supposed to be.

 

[RFB]

Completed a much needed brake job. One of the rear calipers was seized and most of the piston boots were shot. Replaced calipers with Napa remans and resurfaced my rotors. I could have rebuilt the calipers but having done that before I figured my time and sanity were worth the price of the remans. Went with 100 series pads up front.

Also replaced battery with a new Interstate MTZ-34R.

PSA: Remember to ensure you start your lug nuts (or anything for that matter) before using an impact gun. Don't get cocky and think you are lined up. I hit one of my studs with like three ugga duggas while cross threaded and had to press out and replace the ruined stud. Not a huge deal, but wasted time.

View attachment 1738262

great calipers mate those to a set of EBCs and your stopping as well as they stop

 

[flyingmonkey]

In my on-going recovery from the mouse infestation I pulled the blower. I'll consider this maybe a "little" clogged. Pulled everything out and cleaned it with bleach and water, being careful to not get it everywhere. Should have taken the time (15 mins) to do this weeks ago, you know, like during the summer or something...

After getting the fan back in air is now coming through the vents once again with only a slight hint of mouse pee smell. Guess I need to get in and clean the vents. Don't know if the A/C works as system is currently drained. I'll have it charged up at the shop and see if I get cold air again, just in time for Fall!

 

[rolliges]

Cozy nest

 

[flyingmonkey]

After cleaning out the blower it ran fine for a few days then the vibration and noise came back, kinda frustrating. I suspect more nesting material got pulled in. I'll open it up and check it again. I'll probably remove the passenger seat, that way I have more room and can really inspect the intake vent so I can make sure I get everything this time.

I noticed my front PS knuckle was to starting to weep. I was planning on rebuilding both knuckles when I got around to installing my front locker, so I figured it would be ok until then. I would check it out every other day or so and it seemed like a slow, manageable leak. It's not my daily driver, more like my once a week driver if that, so it stays parked in front of the house for the most part. Well, the gremlins in my rig struck again. I get home from work and park behind my truck. I notice a gear oil smell but don't think too much of it. I come back out to do my daily check of the knuckle and see this.

The inner seal complete let go.

It was a complete mess. Oh well, I use it as a teachable moment and explain to my youngest why and how to properly clean up a spill of hazardous waste and how to properly dispose of it. I didn't have saw dust, kitty litter or any of the commonly used stuff around so I ran to Home Depot and picked up a few spill kits. She went a little light on the application at first, but she eventually got enough laid down.

I decided not to rebuild the knuckle and just replace the inner seal. When I got to the point of pulling the inner seal I decided to drop the arm so I could swivel the knuckle housing to get a good angle with the seal puller. That's when I noticed this:

See anything wrong here? (pic was actually taken after I reassembled everything)

Yep, a stud is completely missing and the others were loose. Everyone says it, and I thought I was doing it, but this serves as a great reminder to me; "CHECK YOUR NUTS!!" I ordered a new stud, cone washer, washer, and nut. The new one has a hex head on it, so that's pretty cool.

So it's been a few days and it's not leaking, so that's good. Now to get back to fixing my a/c, and installing my winch controller, and replacing my tail light, and installing my locker, and flushing my coolant, and fixing the rear DS door because it does not lock or unlock with the remote, and re-grounding my air compressor, and figuring out why my dash lights come on when I press the brake pedal, and etc, etc, etc........