Builds Merl the Pearl Build
- Thread starter Ecliff5
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Awesome place to break things in comfort.Shhhhhh! They look better on the shelf than in pieces Lol Labor Day at Daveās place next weekend. Putting Merl to the test
Ecliff5
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #63
Taking Merl on her first wheeling trip this weekend so figured I would spit shine my old crusty sliders from Shannon. These sliders have seen better days, and were not built/mounted the greatest. I think some of my frame rust/cracking on Shannon was due to how the rear most legs were mounted to the frame near the body mount/lower control arm mount. So I cut those two mounts off and left the rest. I need to get some new mounts welded up and get a better mounting option asap. Also half of the cat skid was cut off when I had exhaust work done years ago. Right now it is less than ideal but should hold me over... or cause more damage. Any good welders in my neck of the woods want to link up?
Daveās Place is such a fun place to wheelā¦. Are you going to stop in Samsonville and get a hawt dawg?
GX DAVE
SILVER Star
We'll see how far she gets without lockers 
Beautiful build man. Best color 
Ecliff5
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #70
Labor Day weekend wheeling at Daves place with @GX DAVE was a blast. Merl did well for being pretty low and not having lockers, kept up with the rest and never needed a tug. I like to put tires on everything just to see what happens. It was a slippery one and there was quite a bit of "gonna have to bump that" Need to get my diffs from Shannon rebuilt, they have 4.88 and ARBs but probably 200k miles on them so i'd like to get all new bearings and seals before I throw them in. If anyone can recommend a place in or near NY that wouldn't require shipping them out? I also really want 37's lol need to get some 17" wheels first, ugh. Only damage was my stock rear swaybar bracket bent, couldn't handle the beefy land tank link and the top of the link is now wedged on the frame. Going to get some Land Cruiser Phil severe duty links and brackets to replace these. Also my s***ty sliders are now hitting the body and exhaust so going to need to fix that. Overall, very pleased with Merl.
Ecliff5
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #73
Got my Land Cruiser Phil swaybar links and brackets installed. My power steering boiled over at Daveās place so Iāve been collecting all the parts for a power steering overhaul that is next up. Got a new reservoir, new banjo bolt and washers, my new pump that I pulled off of Shannon, new high pressure hose, new hose clamps, new gates hose and going to add a 12ā dual pass cooler. Should probably just order up a 105 steering box from red head while Iām at it lol. Need to swap radiators also so figured Iād do all that at the same time, figured I should replace the transmission hoses as well so grabbed 25ā of gates hose and plastic spiral hose wrap protector stuff. Need to find the time to get started.
Whoahā¦.
Ecliff5
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #79
Trying to get an idea of what Iāll need to make the 37s fit. Flexed on a Little Rock and took some measurements. Plan for now is to lower the rear bumps 2ā I had 3ā of shock left for uptravel and 4ā away from bump with plenty of room for the tire to tuck in the fender which is why I went with a -10 offset wheel. The landtank extended rear lowers center the wheel nicely, I donāt think Iāll need to trim the rear but weāll see.
The front will take some work, the delta 3L arms push the axle forward an inch or more, Iām on like a 2ā lift and want to keep it low. Iāll need to trim the forward section of the fender and inner guard and the bumper corners as well as the front core support. I want to drop the top of the shock down 2ā the tire was into the fender and still had about 4ā of shock left for up travel. I donāt want to cut too much, Iād rather limit some uptravel and gain some down travel with these fox 2.0 shocks.
The front will take some work, the delta 3L arms push the axle forward an inch or more, Iām on like a 2ā lift and want to keep it low. Iāll need to trim the forward section of the fender and inner guard and the bumper corners as well as the front core support. I want to drop the top of the shock down 2ā the tire was into the fender and still had about 4ā of shock left for up travel. I donāt want to cut too much, Iād rather limit some uptravel and gain some down travel with these fox 2.0 shocks.
