ORD Ultimate Adventure truck prep

[dremu]

Enough of the bed is framed up that we can take it off and finish on the bench.

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...

Is it wrong that I see pix like this and sport a full-on redneck chubby?

-- A

 

[Stephen]

Is it wrong that I see pix like this and sport a full-on redneck chubby?

-- A

Well, here's your lube:

Have fun!

We're making sure everything is sealed up good to keep the water out of this pile of golden hotness. I'm kind of anxious to play with the grease since the specs on it look like it's going to be great for our ujoints and bearings. It's specifically for offroad equipment with lots of pins so it looks like it's super tough in just the way we need it.

Couple more details then I'm going to finish up in the shop and head home. We cut the holes in the cab for the upper cage tubes to poke through:

Here's a shot of the super cool Mittler Bros notcher whittling tubes for the tiedown rails on the bed:

I'm getting a little excited for the next couple days, the springs are going to be here so we can put the axles and some tires under it and start working on lots of other details. We'll have to rob the MTRs off our crewcab since the set for this truck isn't here yet but we're not going to be doing anything with the 'crew till this is done anyway so it'll be fine.

 

[desertrat67]

So, what is that, a million dollars worth of Amsoil?

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Nah.



Half million.

 

[Stephen]

We're not really adding stuff up right now, I started to do a list of parts and prices so far earlier today and quit quickly. As long as we don't let it get contaminated the stuff will be in there forever so in the end it should be worth it. And things like the NV4500 and the steering system require really good stuff so it's a small stretch to just get some more. I've also smoked the 203 oil in Wally before on long hot road trips so it's good insurance. This truck should have the exhaust farther away than 1/8" and have a lot more air flow so it would probably be fine but the insurance is OK. The coolant is nice too in that it's the environmentally safer stuff if we spill it. Lots of people drink downstream from where we wheel. I think about that every time I whiz.

So in the last couple days we have the motor mounts in, they only took a few too many hours because we put the exhaust manifolds back on first and all that had to be cleaned up and a few things moved around to get them installed along with removing a broken stud from the head.

The axles are ready to go in now when T-dawg drops the springs off here tomorrow.

That's a pretty dreamy pile of equipment sitting there but when it's just as good after 5-10 years of use, it's worth every bit. We've beat Wally pretty good with similar running gear and haven't fixed anything since 2005.

The bed is coming along nicely, we're almost ready to put it back on the truck to fit the cage tubing to it and start messing around with shock mounts and all the other little stuff that has to be mounted to it. In the end it'll be welded directly to the frame with the interior cage and the nerf bars welded to the main hoop.

 

[sweetk30]

nothin says beef like reid knuckles and dana 60 also stuffed with arb.

my only question is why arb cover ? ( free pimp part ) why not one thats plate steel like 3/8 thick or somthin ?

 

[jms]

....Plus I've never wheeled a properly set up truck (low geared) with a manual

My wife sez you oughta try an FJ40...
Levitation over articulation... just sayin' ...

The axles are ready to go in now when T-dawg drops them off here tomorrow.

...

Three axles? Tell us more...

 

[lak2004]

Any hints on what area you guys will be heading to? When are you heading out, I may be up that way in the next 2 weeks and might have to stop by and see this thing.

 

[Stephen]

Not a 6x6 this time, the extra 14 bolt on the back cart is going in a customer's K5. It is set up almost identical to the one for the UA truck though. It would be super cool to just stack them in there.
My Sidekick is probably the closest I'll ever come to a '40 and I can see where it's fun, except for the whole short wheelbase narrow track stiff suspension thing.

The cover wasn't quite free or close to it even but they're really not priced bad and having a dipstick and drain plug is nice in addition to just being beefy. I do like the idea that they built it to actually strengthen the housing since we've had some gear problems in the racer related to the stock housing just not being stiff enough. Another bonus is that nothing says "hey there's an Air Locker in here" like a ARB cover!

If you zoom in a little there's more beef evidence in the superiors and CTMs. If my foot slips off the clutch at least it'll have a chance to stay alive.
We considered swapping to GM knuckles since factory GMs would hold up pretty well but we had some decent ford outers and if we keep using GM outers up pretty soon we won't be able to build a GM axle. We robbed a floppy 50 of it's wheel hubs so we could get the 9/16" studs to match the 14 bolt. Probably the best thing that ever happened to that D50. I'd say at least 10% of the early ford knuckles we see are already cracked so the Reids were a no brainer.

We have enough of our itinerary to make travel plans but no more than that. They're pretty adamant about keeping it quiet but I'll say that it's not somewhere I would pick to wheel on my own. That's kind of good since it'll be new and different and kind of force us to do something out of the ordinary.

 

[y5mgisi]

What tires are you planning on running? The good years?

 

[Stephen]

What tires are you planning on running? The good years?

Yup, 40" MTR kevlar. Can't come up with anything else I'd rather have for this type of trip.

This should be a fun truck overall, really capable on the trail and it should drive nice and be pretty comfortable on the road and trail. That's the idea anyway.

 

[CUCV2]

The bed is coming along nicely, we're almost ready to put it back on the truck to fit the cage tubing to it and start messing around with shock mounts and all the other little stuff that has to be mounted to it. In the end it'll be welded directly to the frame with the interior cage and the nerf bars welded to the main hoop.

Thanks for the pic of the flatbed. You guys really seem to have it down to a science.

 

[sweetk30]

ya here is a ford knuckle stock to a reid just incase anyone wants to know the problems on how thin the ford ones are.

 

[79rustyk10]

Beefy

 

[Stephen]

Part of the problem too is that the 78-79 fords actually steered off the top of the driver's side knuckle like our GMs and the fatigue adds up. 80's and up knuckles never had steering stress so they have a little bit of a head start.
Small price to pay for a high pinion with the right spring perches to bolt into a GM. Especially when you can use a ford 205 on our Doubler to make the driveshaft work out and the ford 205 has all the right parts in it to start with.

 

[Avery4jc]

So in your effort to seal up the cab what's the plan for the holes where the cage passes through? I'd imagine a grommet of some sort but if you have any tips I'm all ears. I need to start thinking about how I'm going to pass my cage through the cab of my k10.

 

[jayman83706]

Well, here's your lube:

Have fun!

We're making sure everything is sealed up good to keep the water out of this pile of golden hotness. I'm kind of anxious to play with the grease since the specs on it look like it's going to be great for our ujoints and bearings. It's specifically for offroad equipment with lots of pins so it looks like it's super tough in just the way we need it.

Couple more details then I'm going to finish up in the shop and head home. We cut the holes in the cab for the upper cage tubes to poke through:

Here's a shot of the super cool Mittler Bros notcher whittling tubes for the tiedown rails on the bed:

I'm getting a little excited for the next couple days, the springs are going to be here so we can put the axles and some tires under it and start working on lots of other details. We'll have to rob the MTRs off our crewcab since the set for this truck isn't here yet but we're not going to be doing anything with the 'crew till this is done anyway so it'll be fine.

Let me know when you need a new shop Stephen
Seems how my specialty it to build shops, my wifes family lives in Rifle, and my 81 Crew needs some attention.

Just sayin

 

[smalltruckbigcid]

You know I ran into a guy today at the gas station in Rapid City SD who is from TX. Had a killer Jeep with PSC goodies all over it. Said he was there to do some wheeling for a week.

He was meeting Jason Pollak, at least I think thats what he said. Who is Jason?

 

[Stephen]

You know I ran into a guy today at the gas station in Rapid City SD who is from TX. Had a killer Jeep with PSC goodies all over it. Said he was there to do some wheeling for a week.

He was meeting Jason Pollak, at least I think thats what he said. Who is Jason?

Some of the industry gets together for a "trail tour" and I think that group is in the Black Hills. There's a good chance that was Tom Allen from PSC.

I'll get some new pics up in a little bit, I'm ordering more stuff right now. You ever want to get tired of ordering stuff, try doing for 2 weeks straight. AARRGGG.

 

[Smokinthehippies]

Don't think it's the ordering as much as the paying the bill that gets old