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Help me spend $1800.....

stallion85

stallion85

1/2 ton status
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
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Location
Cedar City, UT
All right guys, here's the deal. The old lady said when I get back from Iraq I can have all my TDY pay which will come to about $1800. First off I want to mention that my Father and I are building front (existing winch will be installed at this time) and rear bumpers, sliders, and a new tranny crossmember. How much would you guys guess $$ Ballpark in steel?? Everything else after that is open for suggestions.

Here is what I have now: 3/4 ton, x-over, ARB front, thrashed gov lock in the rear, rock ring on the front with rock stomper tie rod, shaved 14ff, stock drive shafts, 35" mtr's

I have a list of things I have compiled and would like to know what you guys suggest and or think of my upgrades.

Some of these I need and some I just think are good to get while I have some extre dough.

1" Body lift from ORD

Poly-urethane body mounts

Heavy duty greasable front shackles ORD

New transfer case mount for new x member

14ff rock ring from Poison Spyder customs

5/16" 100' synthetic winch rope (for 8K warn winch)

Aluminum Hawse fairlead

Ford shock towers and new shocks for front end


That's pretty much what I have, open to suggestions??:)
 
ORD HD shackles are a waste of money if you have any half way decent fab skills. I bought them before I knew better and found out how easy it is to make. All you need is some 3/8" flat stock and a drill bit and a special thin wall bushing sleeve. Matt (az-k5) can tell you exactly what you need for that. He has built a couple sets of 9/16" shackles.

Personally I would say upgrade the suspension to 9/16" not 1/2". I have seen 9/16" bolt break after less then 1yr of hard use on front shackles which tells me they are barely strong enough.

I also say call up DIY and get his 14bff cover kit or contact Simply Offroad and get there rock ring. It will probably be less then what Poison Spyder is going to charge you.

I think getting a Detroit locker in the back would probably be a damn good idea too. Beyond that I think you have a pretty decent setup and decent ideas. A good setup of seatbelts and seats would be nice too. Maybe invest in spare parts if you don't already have everything you need or tools too. You can't go wrong with bumpers, sliders, and cage work, etc though.

Harley
 
$1,800.00 would buy a nice set of heads, and leave you a few buck, or a maybe a fuel injection set up if your carbed.
 
You need a rear detroit before you talk about anything else.

1" body lift is a waste of both time and money.

Shackles have been covered. I do not sell them because I personally don't believe in charging someone an arm and a leg for $8 worth of steel and a $5 drill bit which is exactly what it cost me to make mine. I'll even go on a limb and say that I wasted my money on the greasable bushings and bolts too, they've netted zero benefit and they represent a cost that was unnecessary on my rig.

I'd spend all the money you just talked about wasting on upgrading those stock driveshafts. It's not a matter of IF they will fail, but when.

That said, you've still got money left over after all of that. Invest $100 and make your own hydro assist steering setup.

Take the money you have left over and take the ole lady out to dinner.
 
These are some great ideas, the front shackle issue shouldn't be to big of a deal then since my Father in law works with steel for a living:) Thanks for the heads up on that. $100 saved there.


Detroit in the rear would be awesome. I guess I would first need to find an open carrier then purchase the Dee-troit from Tim.

Hydro-assist--Good idea, didn't even think about that one, could be done for about a $100 if I do it myself

I do need some spare parts...

Keep em' coming guys, the gears are turning:)
 
Z3PR said:
$1,800.00 would buy a nice set of heads, and leave you a few buck, or a maybe a fuel injection set up if your carbed.
Click to expand...

Good idea, though I am pleased with my Q-jet and just rebuilt the heads and put a cam in my rig last January. I am done with the engine for a while.....:grin:

Long story, but I would rather do some upgrades to enhance my wheelin and my 350 is pretty strong for my application.:thumb:
 
stallion85 said:
Hydro-assist--Good idea, didn't even think about that one, could be done for about a $100 if I do it myself
Click to expand...

You'll wonder how you ever did without it when you're done man. I paid $50 for my steering box (already tapped) and $86 for my ram/hoses and made my own tabs to mount it. If I'd known how easy it was, I'd just tap my own box and go from there.

Hydro rocks!! Especially in a locked rig with 38.5s and crossover and a 5'4", 135 lb driver!
 
sell that ARB'd front end over on pirate to some jeep nerd and buy a D60 + locker + gears.

j
 
I personally have reservations about putting hydro assist on a D44 or 10 bolt. If you can't steer your truck when your rock crawling it means your frontend is bound up. If you have hydro and start to push threw the bined you will be putting ALOT of stress on the front end parts. Even with CTM's and Warns you will probably eventually break them if you do that repeatedly. It may be more of a hassle to have to jokey the truck around a little to be able to turn but you are being alot easier on the equipment. If your ujoints are bound up and you start using hydro assist on them and creating more force on them and start to power out of things bad things will happen.

Harley
 
I didn't notice you mentioning anything about gears I would put some 4.56's in it or possibly even 5.13's if you are getting bigger tires in the future. You running lift blocks in the rear? If so I'd get rid of them and replace them with the right size springs.
 
I have springs all around, gears are a good idea, just loosing the ARB up front would suck. Maybe I could sell it and get enough dough to buy new gears and a new front locker.:thinking:
 
Don't mess with it if it ain't broken. If it works it works. Put money into something that needs attention, is broke, or is going to break.

If the gears are low enough for you to crawl it without problems then don't mess with that. If you bump up axle gears your RPM on the highway is going to go up.

Harley
 
That's the way I always felt about it. With 3.73's it has No balls on the road but it crawls fine with the granny gear on the SM465 and in low on the 208.

If I ever get a Dana 60 I guess I would change gears then....
 
Not to be a wiseass, but you could be smart and put it into your retirement fund. That's what I do with all of my extra money. Life is all about retirement.
 
sickquad said:
Not to be a wiseass, but you could be smart and put it into your retirement fund. That's what I do with all of my extra money. Life is all about retirement.
Click to expand...

What fun would that be, Life is all about wheelin' and family to me. My old lady will support me when I retire.....or my kids:grin:
 
Retirement fund? where the hell did HE come from? lol.... JK.... but wow, that ain't no fun... plenty of time to retire later...


Detriot!! you have a gov lock in back, and ARB in front?

LOSE the ARB, get a detroit... and my taste would be to lose the MTR's and get some tires...

Buy a welder..... Buy a drill press, a bench press, whatever you don't have tool wise, that is a good investment... maybe a portable arc welder, and a 24 volt battery set up for it?

Buy stuff that will enhance your wheeling experience... like TOOLS! you can't go wrong with tools, especially ones you can MAKE toys with!!
 
THe only reason to loose the 35" MTR's for the rocks would be if you get 37" or 40" MTR's. MTR's kick ass in the rocks, and it would be foolish in my opinion to get rid of them for what he uses them for in Vegas.

Harley
 
Hossbaby50 said:
THe only reason to loose the 35" MTR's for the rocks would be if you get 37" or 40" MTR's. MTR's kick ass in the rocks, and it would be foolish in my opinion to get rid of them for what he uses them for in Vegas.

Harley
Click to expand...

Ok, I hear you... but still, then how about BIGGER MTR's then..


I just don't likem, I don't really like anything Goodyear....


Rocks=Pro Comp in my book, and

Mud=TSL's well siped

But then again, what do I know, I have never had anything that could even handle big rocks...

I can handle being wrong.....:cool1:
 
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