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FullSize S10 Bogger/Mud Racer

Overview Gallery Discussion
Managed to get out there a little bit Wednesday before I had to stop working on my truck and help my cousin assemble a motor for his.

Got the new radiator swapped in and filled up Monday after work. Bled the cooling system and ran it for about 20 minutes before shutting it down. I was able to let the motor get 200* and bring it back down bellow 180* with just the one fan running. But that was with the truck idling @1500rpm. Once I get a load on it I'll know how soon I need to get the other fan going. Also order my shifter Monday, but it is back ordered. Summit says it should ship out the 6th. I usually get stuff next day from them so hopefully it'll be here next Monday.

Once the cooling system was squared away I tossed the front end back on. I probably should have waited until after I got the carb/timing dialed in...but I was getting excited to see it all one piece. I'd like to get it to where I can pop a few bolts and drop the whole thing off as one piece. Shouldn't be too hard to do that way. I wasn't sure what I was going to do for a front bumper. Didn't really like the idea of using the stock one, but it fits perfectly on there...almost like I planned it that way. Need to figure out a way to attach it still, but that can wait until after it's moving and has some bugs worked out.

Before bumper.








With bumper. Obviously I'll need to trim some of the plastic.









Tomorrow my cousin is supposed to come over and finish his motor so I doubt I'll get anything accomplished on this. Saturday and Sunday I plan to pull the rear axle to shave the bottom and weld the spiders, then get the driveshafts in. Also need to change out my spring plates up on the front axle.
 
Gotta be honest... I was t really interested in this build at first but now I like it! Looks good!!!
 
JoshHefnerX said:
Looks like a truck again!
Click to expand...

Sure does. I'll probably take the hood off again so it isn't so dark while I'm still messing with it.


F.S.F.W said:
Gotta be honest... I was t really interested in this build at first but now I like it! Looks good!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks! I know it wasn't the normal style build for this place, but who enjoys seeing the same thing all the time.
 
Was another productive day. Pulled the rear axle, welded the spider gears, shaved the housing, re-installed the axle, put in rear drive shaft, shortened and installed a new front shaft.

Started out this afternoon on the rear axle. Ran a die down the u-bolts so I could try reusing them (they were less than a year old and not too rusty yet). For this...I'm not concerned with reusing them. Shaved a decent amount off the bottom of the 14bolt. Probably could have gone a little more, but I was tired of running the grinder. Gained just over an inch under it once I reinstalled it in the truck. Carrier was a gov-loc, not sure if it worked or not. Took the governor and other parts out while I was in there welding. Set the carrier back in, set backlash/preload and sealed it back up.






Before:




After:





The front shaft that was in the truck originally had a worn out CV joint. Rather than rebuilding it I chose to move to a single joint shaft. Started with one from a GMT400. It came with the Nv3500/241 I picked up awhile ago. Took around 5" out of it. Had to put a conversion joint at the differential end. Should hold up better than the CV shaft...was never really a fan of them anyway.





I've got a running list of things that need to be done. Some are more important than other. I'll get the must needs done during the week so I can take it out next Saturday.
 
What kind of lift height are you looking at on that. May run into too much angle on that short of a shaft.
 
JoshHefnerX said:
What kind of lift height are you looking at on that. May run into too much angle on that short of a shaft.
Click to expand...

It's only got 4" lift springs in the front. I've done a few trucks like this before. Hanging free at the axle end....I have around 3" before the top joint starts to bind. I could clearance it a little bit, but don't want to take too much material from it.

Cruz89K5 said:
The bumper really makes it look like it belongs on there.
Click to expand...

It does look better with it on. Haven't looked too hard into what I'll need to do to get it on there yet.
 
Wired up the windshield wipers and washers today. Put a push button in for the washers. Used the stock resivoir and pump from the S10. I was only able to get one speed from the wipers, which was high so that will do. I did get them wired so they park correctly after turning off the switch....so no playing "time the wiper".

Also started running my breather hoses. Have the trans, t-case and front axle done. I was working on the rear when I got called back into work.


Tomorrow I plan on finishing the last breather, getting the seat belts in and starting on some kind of fill tube for the gas tank. After that, the only real need (other than the shifter) will be a battery hold down/box.
 
Been knocking out my list the last few days. Got the seat belts mounted, transmission mount bolted down, coolant hoses in engine bay protected, rear fenders cut, breather hoses done, gas filler neck and a few other things I'm probably forgetting. Only major thing I need to get done is the battery hold down.

Quick shot of the filler neck. Cut off the tube from a gas tank and used one of the left over bends from my coolant pipes. Has a tab to attach it to the box.





This shifter I wanted was supposed to ship out the 9th, but Summit says it's still on back order. They are saying it'll be available on the 23rd now...that's not going to work. So I canceled that order and picked out a different one. That was this morning. New one should show up sometime tomorrow (one of the benefits of living within a few hours of them, get stuff next day for free usually). If I have time I'll get it mounted, if not, then I'll get it in on Friday.
 
While waiting fof FedEx to show up I made a few final trim cuts on the rear fenders, then mounted the front bumper.

Cut the rear quarters about 4" below the body line. As it was, the tires would have hit when the suspension compressed.






Used some of the stock brackets from the S10 to hold the bumper on. Welded them to the core support crossmember. I only went with two tabs, the fenders have pegs that the bumper hooks onto. I don't plan on bunping anything....mainly using it to cover the gap.




Shifter showed up around 2. Went with a B&M Pro Ratchet. I wanted a Winters style, but everywhere was backordered. Cut out a plate for it to sit on. Used one of the bolts holding the switch panel and built some legs for the front of it. Feels real solid when moving it around. The cable routing isn't ideal, but it move freely....if anything I need one about 1' longer. I need to put the cover on and wire up the park/neutral saftey switches, will do that tomorrow, but it's in and works.








After getting that installedn I fired it up and backed it out of the barn for the first time. Only backed it down the yard and pulled it up once (didn't want to tear up the yard too much, working on getting grass planted and a drive put it). It stops ok, hard to tell with just idling around. When I gave it some throttle coming back into the barn it lit the tires up and flung dirt everywhere...can't wait to get it out this weekend.




I need to get the battery strapped down still, the hose for the windshield washers and a fire extinguisher in there still. That'll be tomorrow and Saturday morning.
 
Finished off the shifter, everything except the wiring for the neutral/park switch....will get to that down the road. Tie up a few other loose ends too, new hose for the windshield washers, seat covers, took the rails of the top of the bed, radiator overflow hose, checked fluids. Should be all ready to go for tomorrow, just need to grab my tools/tuning parts/fluids and load the truck on the trailer.


Cover/knob/reverse lockout lever on the shifter.





Battery hold down strap I made. Piece of 1"x.25" flat bar bent into shape. It bolts to the box side with a welded nut, bottom has a bolt to tighten it down. Battery is tight and doesn't move, may add a spacer between the strap and battery if I feel like it. Also ran the battery cables through some radiator hose while I was in there.





Plan tomorrow is to load up around 10am and go meet one of my friends when he gets out of work at 1pm. Should get to the bog around 2 or so, they open the pit at noon and run till dark. I mainly want to get some passes in to get the timing/carb dialed in. I like this place because it's the same style as the competition pits I run. One truck at a time, you drag cable behind you so if you don't make it they pull you back out and you go get back in line.
 
Went out for a few hours today, made some passes, changed a few things. Got out there about 1:30, fired the truck up and got inline. We should have walked up there and looked/watched a few runs first. Apparently they had made some changes to it since last year. They brought in a bunch of clay, dug out the last 30' deeper and about 40' in was a big hole with a shelf to climb up/out of. First pass I made it to the big hole and hit it like a brick wall. Got pulled out and went back inline. Second pass, made it further. Went back to the trailer and changed the advance springs in the distributor, brought it in a little quicker. Made another pass, after this one the alternator quit charging. Was going to make one more before calling it, but as I was waiting, the truck started to get hot. Turned the fan on which brought the temp back down, but the battery was down to 11volts by then. Decided to park it.

Truck ran great overall. I think I need to go a little leaner with the jetting/metering rods, possibly change the step up springs. Only saw one truck make it all the way through, he was on 48" tractor tires/Rockwells. I'm fairly confident I could have made it once I figured out a good line. Saw one truck with a HP44 break the drivers side u-joint and tear off the outer knuckle/wheel when the balljoints let go. Few other trucks get flooded out.

Somethings I need to change/add. More protection for the motor. Cover up the headlight holes and grill, add some rubber between the inner fenders and frame. Motor still got more mud on it that I would like. Brakes felt alright, but not all that they should have been. When I gut the doors...defiantly need to put a crank on the drivers window (have the crank but lost the clip). A way to clean the side/rear windows would be nice too. Wasn't expecting the rear to get covered like it did. Had a rattle from one of the firewall block off plates and two holes in the kick panels that let water in need to be covered. Overall minor stuff considering a new build that I had only driven 100yards before hitting the pit.

Supposedly someone was taking video/pictures. Will have to track them down and post them.



Did mount my fire extinguisher. Put it on the floor next to the t-case shifter. Easy to reach by either the driver or passenger. Because of the style of mount and how I mounted it....it ratted. I put a single wrap of electrical tape, with the seem up, around the bottom. Still easy enough to pull out, but not rattle. Tape was after I took the picture.





Only pictures I have as of right now. Got a pretty even coat on everything. Normally I would unload the truck when I get home and power wash it right away. Didn't do that for a few reasons, 1: It's like 43* and windy as hell, didn't feel like getting all wet. 2: The mud makes it easy to see things that are hitting each other. The clean whitness marks let you know where you have clearance issues. I'm going to get under it while it's still on the trailer and check everything over. Mainly the front drive shaft as there was some concern there. Shock shafts show I was getting about 6" of travel.





 
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