What was wrong with last time?
Looks good!
Rene
Well, I could probably write a book on what didn't work out with the green '83/'73 truck. The drivetrain is sweet on that rig. I love that 6.2 and the manual trans., with the locked up 14 bolt. So killer.
But one of the immediate problems is that the truck isn't multi-functional. I need to haul lots of materials for sculpture and photo work, and the jungle gym I built into it just made that too much of a challenge.
The soft top wasn't good for year-round use. It was near impossible to use in the winter. Also, I built the cage to hold the soft top up, and as such a hard top wouldn't fit on the truck. It wouldn't seal at the doors, which may have been a result of my cage-support, but I don't know.
I contoured the cage very specifically to the windshield frame before there was a windshield in it, then found out that the window frame was tweaked. So I had to straighten the windshield frame and then the cage stuck out the driver's side a bit which was a problem with closing/sealing doors.
I never could get the gauges working.
We're looking at planning for a family in the next 3-4 years, and this truck wasn't family friendly. It would be hell to get a kid in and out of the back without the folding seats and with a giant roll-cage bar in the way. Also, the fact that it had no A/C was a problem with that too. You can't just stick your baby in the back of a truck in 100* desert weather and cruise around all day without some way to keep the kid cool.
It had no inner fenders, and because I cut the rockers out on it, the whole front clip was held on by 6 bolts.
I had a plan to extend my sliders with tube up and over the wheel well and bolt them to the frame and main cab/body to make that stiffen up, but I never got there.
The radiator support needed attention.
It had hard plastic seats.
I killed ball joints regularly w/ those 38's on the Dana44, and the small hub Dana44 sucked because the selectable hubs never would stay tightened down.
I was a dumbass and cut the e-brake cables off of the 14 bolt hubs WAY back in the day when I had an auto trans. and lacked the cables to run the foot pedal.
Frame is tweaked.
Also, I'm not sure if I can register a vehicle with a different frame VIN from the body VIN in NV.
Someone mentioned that might be a problem on a local 4x4 board, but I never looked into it.
Basically, I was in over my head w/ stuff to do to the point where it wasn't fun to deal with any more. I realized I could be miserable and fix all that crap, spend a load of money doing it and still not have a truck that would work for a family. So, cutting my losses and starting fresh. I'm going to miss that low-end pull of the 6.2 and the manual trans tho. Not sure what I'm going to do with the old rig yet. I'll probably part it out if I can find space to do that, which will help recover the cost better than selling it whole. Plus, I want some parts off of it.
Yah buddy awesome.
So whats "right"?
Well, I'm going to think things through a lot more. Go slow, keep it driveable. I wanted to start with a properly running truck this time (rather than starting with a project like I've done in the past). That way I can mod it slowly without feeling the pressure to "get it done so I can use it."
I'm going to shoot for 5"-6" lift, one-tons, detroit rear, open front.
Not sure how I want to do the lift as I want it to be able to tow a small trailer when we have a house to bring gravel or dirt or whatever home for projects. I have 4" procomp springs on my '73 that I actually think flex quite well, I just had shocks as my limiting factor. So I might put those on there with an e-z inch to offset the axles forward/backward.
Pretty sure I'll want to do a doubler.
I'm thinking plate bumpers would be fun to build.
But, I'm going to include some comforts this time and keep it multi-functional and drivable the whole time.
Whoa.... I thought this was going to be another "sex coma" thread.
Colby's woman is a cutie.
I don't kiss-and-tell.
Did you make it all the way through this post???
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windows roll up fast, a/c has already been converted to 134a with a brand new compressor less than a year ago. Dude recently replaced all the weatherstripping, etc. NO rust. New transmission 20K ago. 
