Builds Joez's Built Thread/Recap. Hybrid Cage, 4Ds

[joez]

I had the same disappointment when I got my gears for 800 bucks. Then trail gear produces the same product for 300. We want to believe ours are better because not trail gear but... it still stings.

Supply and demand.

So I used to be all about the minimal uptravel low cg thing but I have changed my perspective a bit. For one, you need uptravel for any sort of go fast... for two, having no uptravel means you are always going to have to articulate the body when you go over obstacles.

Tbh i think the appeal for most of us with droop is the sweet poser shots and the ease of engineering. Nothings in the way when you droop out...

I tell myself my gears are $700 better, but I don't believe it.

I still love low Cog, but I love it for a variety of other reasons. I do think there needs to be a balance, I still have enough vertical up travel to bomb around the dunes, but barely. My bumps get used a lot. When I add a wider axle I know I will have to go taller, as I have run out of areas to cut.

Though I disagree with you on the poser pic thing, and that it's easier. Typically a super low rig looks pretty lame when they are all drooped out, as only then do they look normal. And when I built my 1st Gen on 42's and 3" springs, I had to tub my firewall, move my body mounts, relocate a battery and fuse block, and build a new oil pan to clear my steering. It would have been WAY easier to just bolt on 6" springs.

 

[nukegoat]

I tell myself my gears are $700 better, but I don't believe it.

I still love low Cog, but I love it for a variety of other reasons. I do think there needs to be a balance, I still have enough vertical up travel to bomb around the dunes, but barely. My bumps get used a lot. When I add a wider axle I know I will have to go taller, as I have run out of areas to cut.

Though I disagree with you on the poser pic thing, and that it's easier. Typically a super low rig looks pretty lame when they are all drooped out, as only then do they look normal. And when I built my 1st Gen on 42's and 3" springs, I had to tub my firewall, move my body mounts, relocate a battery and fuse block, and build a new oil pan to clear my steering. It would have been WAY easier to just bolt on 6" springs.

That was only hard because you wanted uptravel. Thats exactly my point, because you did all you could to maximize uptravel. Uptravel is challenging to engineer for since theres interferences.

 

[joez]

That was only hard because you wanted uptravel. Thats exactly my point, because you did all you could to maximize uptravel. Uptravel is challenging to engineer for since theres interferences.

Yes, but it would have been significantly easier to gain uptravel just by lifting it higher. I guess i like to think that most who want low COG want the whole package, and will work to get to that point. Rather than just cramming big tires on and doing nothing else.

 

[joez]

2013
Officially time to tackle the rockers, and reinforce steering. One thing i regret, was not chopping my rockers sooner. Primarily because of the strait line you would have to reference while cutting. With the rockers demolished, i had to beat them halfway straight just to try and get a decent line to go off of when chopping them. I replaced the rockers with 2x4-.25" box tube. I used 3/16" plate and angle iron to reinforce the A and B pillars. A pillar plate is perimeter and rosette welded, and the entirety of the rocker outside and in is welded to the box tube. You dont realize how stout these parts of the body are until you are trying to cut through them I found it much easier to do this mod with no doors or fenders, even though i inadvertently removed all lower mounting points for the front fender. Thankfully a couple small weld beads and they were secured. To get the doors back on, a quick cut to the remove the bottom 3/8", some tack welds, and the doors were re hung.

Called IPOR again, this time for some steering links, as mine were in rough shape. By the fall of 2013 i had put over 35K miles on my Pitbull Rocker Radials, and was at a point where they still had enough tread to be a good trail tire, and i wanted to move to 40's. So, started watching the vendor forums on Pirate hunting for deals, and the first pieces of what i was going to need started to arrive throughout the fall.

View attachment 1661070

 

[joez]

January 2, 2014 is the day when 424 pounds of awesome got delivered. 106 pounds per tire completely negated any weight savings i was gaining by going to aluminum wheels over the Hummer beadlocks. I also decided to gamble for the very first time, and NOT run a full size spare tire. I would push my luck for a couple years, but ultimately i was never comfortable with the choice, even with two sources of air, plugs, patches, and a stitch kit. Mounted them up in the cold, and realized just how much more was going to need to be cut. I also realized very fast that the front axle was going to need to move forward eventually. Luckily the factory front arms dont flex very much, which helped my situation.

I was debating a new front bumper at this point, but decided to invest the time making the changes needed to make mine accept my HS9500 over my M8000, and add some tube.

To get my HS9500 to fit the bumper, the fairlead and mounting holes were going to have to be moved about 1.5" to the driver side. So, i cut the front of the bumper out, welded in a new 1/4" plate filling the front between the recovery points, and mounted up my winch. Decided to rebuild it at the same time, with a new motor, new synthetic rope, new contactor, and a new aluminum fairlead. Picked some tube up from metal supermarkets, and dusted off the bender. I have always had a soft spot for ORD and K5 blazers, and modeled the tube off of their original bumpers from the early 2000's.

Spent another week over the summer at Flat Nasty ORP for our annual PYS trip, hit Badlands a few times, and my fall trip to Silver Lake on the 40's. 2015 would bring about a year of minimal wheeling, only making a few days of PYS and our Silver Lake trip, and no changes to the 80 as my wife and I welcomed our first daughter into the world, and spent a lot of time renovating our house. 2016 is when i actually started documenting things outside of a photo here and there, as the suspension needed some serious re-work before driving 1000 miles to Black Hills South Dakota for a second time.

 

[nukegoat]

Have you taken daughter out wheeling?

 

[joez]

Have you taken daughter out wheeling?

We didn't until she was almost 2, and still have only taken her to Silver Lake Sand Dunes a couple times. Once she gets older we hope to take her on longer, more difficult trips with camping, though the time to start building our '15 into a mild family wheeler has arrived.

Of course, the first time we took her to the dunes I ruptured a trans cooler line and had to patch it up right then and there.

 

[nukegoat]

We didn't until she was almost 2, and still have only taken her to Silver Lake Sand Dunes a couple times. Once she gets older we hope to take her on longer, more difficult trips with camping, though the time to start building our '15 into a mild family wheeler has arrived.

Of course, the first time we took her to the dunes I ruptured a trans cooler line and had to patch it up right then and there.

View attachment 1661565

"Every friggin time!"

 

[maxamillion2345]

Awesome to see how you've done things. Really looking forward to seeing the cage build.

 

[GW Nugget]

35K on Pit bulls, that's great.
What is the size & BS of the wheels again?
Awesome build.

 

[joez]

35K on Pit bulls, that's great.
What is the size & BS of the wheels again?
Awesome build.

With the 37's was 16.5x9, 3.5"of BS.

Currently on 17x9.5 with IIRC 4.5" of BS. Exact part number is Rt233-79560.

 

[joez]

Spring 2016. By now this time our daughter was 1, and to get ready for her 1st birthday party i had spent zero time on the cruiser. On the bright side, the deck was stained, house was painted, kitchen had new cabinets, counter top and appliances, and the main floor bathroom was gutted down to studs and floor joists and now 100% new.

By May everyone in our group all decided that right before a long drive to South Dakota from Chicago, we would all take on ridiculously complicated projects with zero extra time. One Solid Axle swap on a tacoma, one FJ60/80 axle swap under a 2nd gen 4runner, and i decided to longarm my 80 and convert to Y-link steering.

Got the 80 in the garage where it was going to be parked for a little while, built some risers for my jack stands, pulled the front bumper, got ride height set, figured out where i was set for caster, and busted out the impact and grinder. While i was waiting for a all of my parts to arrive from RuffStuff and Down South Motorsports, i went ahead and installed my Daystar Stingers since i blew my air bump budget on a kitchen counter top upgrade. Really simple install, i just cut the factory bump mounts to where i wanted them set, and welded the threaded mounts to what was left of the factory mounts. figured at this point i would be moving forward with my 30mm spacer on top of the OME springs as well.

Try not to be jealous of all the rust, after all this was a DD through several Chicago winters before picking up my 3rd gen.

Parts list for this phase:
-RHD Steering Arm
-RuffStuff DIY universal Long Arm Kit
-RuffStuff 1-Ton GM Y-Link steering
-RuffStuff front diff armor
-RuffStuff Knuckle Ball gussets
-1.5" per foot tapered reamer
-Daystar Stinger bumpstops w/weld on mounts
-Fox 2.0 Factory Series Remote Reservoir shocks front and rear
-GM Single shear stud style shock mounts
-"The Cure" steering bushing

I ordered my Trail Gear hydro assist setup at the same time, however i was not able to get it installed by the time we had to leave for SD, so it got shelved for a later date.

 

[joez]

Started getting things mocked up before i went ahead and blew off all of the factory brackets. What a PITA job that is.

You will notice i did a lot of this job with the factory panhard rod attached. I really wanted to see just how much i could get away with pushing the front axle forward and keeping this piece in place. I liked the idea of using a panhard with rubber bushings since i was still going to be running a radius arm setup.

Long term goal, is to change my panhard setup, remove my two upper radius arm links, and convert to a 3 link with ORI Struts using the brackets i already have on the axle. So, i wanted to set myself up to be able to do this later, without adding too much cost. Why didn't i just go strait to a 3 link? Well, cost honestly. This allowed me to do it in stages, provided i wasn't happy with its performance.

Lower links are 2" x .250 wall DOM, with 1 1/4" Heim joints at the frame end, and rubber bushings at the axle side of both the uppers and lowers. Total length is just under 40", and it required modifying my cross member and losing one mounting point per side in order to get the arms this long. Radius arms work best when they are long and flat, so that was my goal.

Got the axle cleaned off, all new brackets welded on, primed, and started working to get the axle back under neath the truck.

Ended up with just over 9" of vertical separation at the axle, which should translate well when i decide to 3-link it, especially with the almost 40" long lowers and 40" tall tires.

 

[joez]

At this point i took a break from the 80 to do some gear setups for a couple friends. Pretty easy when you do them all the same. 4 9.5" LC thirds, 5.29 gears, and Spartan Lockers.

Once those were all set up, i still had to finish the shock mounts, steering, and set caster.

Shock mounts were easy. GM single shear stud mounts were used to gain a little length, and minimize bind. The factory shock mounts were cut off just behind the steering stops, capped with 3/16" plate, and drilled to accept the new shock mount. Once they were bolted in, i tacked the nut from the back side to prevent them from backing out. Reamed out the pitman arm, and both steering arms to accept the GM 1-ton TRE's. If anyone decides to do this, i highly suggest either using a spiral reamer, or just drilling out the arms to 7/8" and dropping the inserts in place. The standard fluted reamer is terrible to use if you don't have a drill press.

 

[Redgrrr]

Been waiting for this thread!

 

[nukegoat]

My straight fluted reamer doesnt suck as bad as you describe but agree that inserts are way easier. Gm single stud mounts are a new thing to me

 

[joez]

My straight fluted reamer doesnt suck as bad as you describe but agree that inserts are way easier. Gm single stud mounts are a new thing to me

You can get them off the shelf at any auto parts store for about $6 as a "universal" part. The GM ones cost about $20 for the exact same thing.

Obligatory flat ground driveway pic as it was out on its own.

 

[joez]

Just got back from Windrock on Monday, chalk up another 1000+ mile wheeling trip without issue. So, means its time to get this back on track again.

Got the front end dialed in DD'ing it before we loaded up and headed for Black Hills again. Suspension definately is softer than the factory radius arms, and at the same time a little harsher with the Heim's, but it rides like a dream on the road. I know its not a 3-link kit with coilovers like all the cool kids run these days, but i am extremely happy with how it has been performing. Is it perfect, no, but neither is the 80 in general. It is very well balanced for what i use this thing for. One day i may add another bracket, upper link, and convert to a 3-link with a sway bar, but for now I am satisfied.

Rear shocks are eye/eye now, and as i am sitting here i realized i have no pics of my upper brackets i made that replaced the factory upper shock mounts. I will try to get some in the near future.

Few pics from SD, mostly on Jason's Rock.

 

[joez]

Changed my 5 gallon air tank out for a 2.5 gallon Viarr mounted right under the rear floor, tucked up behind the rear bumper. Went ahead and added another air chuck to the rear of the truck, to make it easier to reach other vehicles since i tend to be the air up station when we are out somewhere truly remote. Lets the rest of the guys who carry CO2 save that for when its really needed.

Once we got back from South Dakota, the Moab talk started. During Hosier Hoedown '16, we had planned to discuss it further in camp and see if that was what we were officially going to do. We were at the Badlands off road park, and between the Moab talk, a close call in black hills, and a very, very close call on an obstacle i had done plenty of times before, i decided it was time to start figuring out how to cage this thing. Being stupid i nearly rolled sidways and backwards off of Rock Face, just outside of the Quarry in the Badlands. No pictures, as i think everyone except for John froze when it nearly happened. With one hand he was able to to pull the passenger side nose down almost 4' to be able to pull cable and get me tied off to a tree.

So, i decided i wanted to do a few things over the course of the next 10 months before Moab. In no particular order:
-Full Cage of some sorts.
-New front seats
-Full Size spare tire
-Better tunes
-Cupholders
-Rear lower control arms
-Hydro Assist

I had my old amp and sub setup from my old tow rig in the garge, so i decided to use the rediculously gigantic Infinity 611a i had to power one Infinity 10" sub. I wanted an easily movable enclosure, that was durable, and a little different. So, what better solution than a 20MM ammo can lined with 3/4" MDF glued and screwed to the can itself. No rattles, can be moved easily, and doesn't take up huge space.

 

[joez]

Hydro assist time! I knew i had wanted to do this from the get go of moving my steering up front, but really wasn't sure about the whole drilling and tapping my steering box thing. I hate tearing appart steering boxes, because it always seems like they never are as tight afterwards, even though im pretty sure its all in my head. But, i was tired of carying a spare steering box, waiting for the day i broke a sector shaft trying to he man the steering.

Anywho, picked up the trail gear kit that is meant for a minitruck housing. Had two friends over just hanging out in the garage, consuming frosty adult beverages when we decided at 11:00 at night that it was the perfect time to rip the steering box apart and start drilling and tapping. I had found a great tutorial on Marlin Crawlers board, which i followed without issue. Honestly the disassembly, drilling, tapping, cleaning, and reassembly took less than 2 hours. It was so simple i was kicking myself for a week for not doing it sooner.

Hydro Assist:box and pump mods

As for the ram mounting, it was like the trail gear kit was meant for this. The only thing i had to change, was instead of a full size nut on the back of the bracket, i welded a jam nut to the back side where it is against the axle housing, and cut the bolt down to the exact size it needed to be. Instead of welding the housing bracket to the top of the housing, it fits perfectly right up front behind the tie rod. Took a couple measurements, and welded it up.

Lines were easy to run, but bleeding the system took some serious time. Probably close to 3 hours to get all of the air out. Fun fact, 4" PVC fits perfectly on the housing and seals tight enough you can use it to contain any splashing fluid as you are working the air out without any problems.