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ORD Ultimate Adventure truck prep

Holy cow that looks like a familiar build!

Mine is a 95 Tahoe running a 79 HP D60, 14BSF with 37" Kevlar MTRs :haha:

Better get my butt in gear, I've had my truck for a few months now and have only managed to bolt the front SFA swap brackets on, LOL

If our UAK2500 build doesn't inspire you, maybe this one will:
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That's Alex Santiago's '95 (I think, it's so many years now I can't remember) that basically has a '99 drivetrain in it, 496TBI, NV4500, GM-Ford Doubler, 14 bolt and '79 ford D60 waiting in the garage. The little details are the killer on it, like the door handles and the 9 blade fan and the late model washer reservior and power steering cooler, etc, etc, etc.

Anyway...
After all my work yesterday on the PSC reservoir mount, I looked at it and smacked forehead since there is no way for the engine and fender to move independently without messing something up. So one of the guys built this new bracket this afternoon and chopped all my crap off the ARB compressor mount plate that's luckily still in the ABS location.
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The 14 bolt also got plug welds and a grind job in preparation of being loaded up tomorrow.
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ARB and 5.13's torquing together:
http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x439/ORD2/Offroad Design UAK2500/2011-06-13_18-08-21_160.jpg

We thought about an extended cab which would be much more useful in everday life but those trucks seem more rare in a worktruck configuration and we like the smaller cab for harder wheeling. Also, the deal on this one was OK, it was local which helps and the guy actually found us to sell us the truck. So here we are.
 
The 14 bolt also got plug welds and a grind job in preparation of being loaded up tomorrow.
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What is the story behind this?? It looks like these are pinned instead of welded from the factory?? Why the plug welding?? Just curious as I have a late model van width 14ff in my Sub and it looks pinned and was wondering what the reasons for the mods were.
 
Looks like they drilled another hole for more plug welds.

To me it looks like theres another one anout 45 degrees to the rear of that hole.
 
We're adding more and will probably add some weld to the crappy factory plug welds too.
Production cast center housings are pressed together and plug welded which is typically fine for factory use. We all take old housings that have maybe been worked hard and work them harder. The press fits loosen up from flexing around and then there's nothing to keep the tube from spinning. Adding extra "pins" or "pegs" in the form of more plug welds does a pretty good job of keeping it all together since we've seen the factory plug welds fracture and eject themselves from the casting.
 
Holy cow! That Tahoe is pretty much identical to how I want mine, right down to the ARB bumper!

My SF is finished up with 5.13s, ARB locker and disc brakes, dropping the D60 off for 5.13s and an ARB this coming weeking. I'll be hitting you guys up for some crossover steering and a shackle flip shortly ;)

Oh, I guess I did get my york OBA installed too, that counts for something, right? :D
 
why not full weld the tubes to center ?

i had a good oldtimmer friend do mine for me.

heated the axle center and tubes with 200,000 btu shop heater for pre heat. then good stick weld on quality rod. simlpe fast easy.

otherwise looks good.

and fyi those door handles your rig pictured has on the tahoo/blazer unit are from a 3500hd and up med duty truck. direct fit if i recall. but darn pricey $$$$ heavy duty tho.
 
why not full weld the tubes to center ?

i had a good oldtimmer friend do mine for me.

heated the axle center and tubes with 200,000 btu shop heater for pre heat. then good stick weld on quality rod. simlpe fast easy.

otherwise looks good.

and fyi those door handles your rig pictured has on the tahoo/blazer unit are from a 3500hd and up med duty truck. direct fit if i recall. but darn pricey $$$$ heavy duty tho.

crap crap, now his secret's out!

We may weld the tubes in too, we do that sometimes in addition to the plug welds. Technically you're building a HAZ all the way around the tube at a high stress bending point but in reality breaking a 14 bolt tube really isn't a problem. We typically use pre-heat, gmaw with missle, peen with needle scaler and post heat/slow cool. It's kind of a pain but junk holds onto the casting as good as can be.

Just laid out the transfer case crossmember on the UAK2500, it'll be very similar to our orange truck which helps minimize the thinking time.
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now it's time to go home. 8 to 11 is plenty of day for me.
 
that heat/weld/needle scale/slow cool is exactly how he did mine. and all i told him was i want this welded. he took around 30 seconds and said this is how we are going to do it. so i know i made the right choice in having him weld it for me . :thumb:

and those secret door handles are much better i think. hand on over handle finger tips squeaze and it pushes the big button bar on the backside so no leverage from lifting to rip the handle apart over time.
 
The press fits loosen up from flexing around and then there's nothing to keep the tube from spinning.

Yep, ask me how I know. :doah:
 
Yeah, I imagine 3 hours is probably pretty rough on you. :thumb:

Is 0800 to 2300 more or less confusing? wow, thinking about being here 3 hours morning or evening is pretty much inconceivable at this point. But I guess getting ready to be gone for a solid week on the trail is OK so eat your heart out big guy!

14 bolt housing is all re-clearanced now since we thought it was done and the casting around the pinion nose bearing was getting into the ring gear. So now it's been messed with and washed at least twice, maybe 3 times. It's very clean.

We have a few new pieces on the bed so it's taking shape nicely too. And I just got word that the springs could be done as early as tomorrow which will be great since we're basically ready to bolt them in tonight or tomorrow. They're ORD customs front and back, 48.5" and 65". It should be pretty cool.
 
Awesome! Good luck with the build Stevo
 
You're welcome for helping to fund your build! Can't wait till the goodies show up so I can follow suit!
 
SICK build!!! I have been contemplating a similar one for years!!! (since WAY before I even bought my K5) NICE work, I am looking forward to seeing how this rig turns out!!! :thumb:

I am VERY jealous but, I still wanna see the awesomeness!!! :bow:
 
Enough of the bed is framed up that we can take it off and finish on the bench.

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Other fun stuff going on like motor mounts and exhaust manifolds going back on and holes being cut in the cab to run the cage through to the "B" pillar along with final axle assembly and probably some more stuff too. More pics to follow...
 
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