The Great Smaug

[campfire]

I'm looking at machining down my 4.56-up 10.5" G80 carrier. According to East Coast Gear Supply, the offset between thick and thin carriers is 0.355". That section of casting is just over an inch thick, but I can't take 3/8" out without getting close to the holes for the cross pins. I do have quite a bit of adjustability built into the housing. You could probably get by with creative use of the adjusters (might hafta remove the pinion in order to get it assembled, using the guess-and-check method of setting backlash)

The thin section measures 0.485"



My proposal is to remove 0.155" or so from the mounting surface. The remaining 0.200" should be well within the range of the adjusters. And that'll leave 0.330" at the thinnest point of the flange. I also want to avoid bolt-length issues.

@noJeepshere, you said this is doable. Do you have any writeups or personal contacts to verify that this is feasible? I don't really care if the carrier gets ruined in the attempt, but I wanna have my ducks lined up before I tear the truck apart. The more I'm thinking about it, the more it seems like the adjusters should be able to cover the entire 3/8" without needing machining at all. That strip has gotta be 1/2" wide, and the carrier isn't overly close to rubbing the housing...






*note* - https://eastcoastgearsupply.com/files/PDF Files/measuring-carrier-deck-height.pdf

 

[noJeepshere]

Just my mechanic that has a small machine shop that they can make parts as needed. Says he's done some in a similar fashion to what you're proposing. The family that owns the shop races top fuel dragsters and does high end custom builds so I figure these guys know what they're talking about.

 

[acm]

@campfire
I should have a 4.10 carrier with a G80 out of an 97 or so K2500.
If I can find it, I'll throw it on the trailer for the circus run.

 

[campfire]

Just my mechanic that has a small machine shop that they can make parts as needed. Says he's done some in a similar fashion to what you're proposing. The family that owns the shop races top fuel dragsters and does high end custom builds so I figure these guys know what they're talking about.

Any idea how much material he removed? I could cut the whole amount off, I was just getting nervous about the carrier breaking under load.

 

[campfire]

@campfire
I should have a 4.10 carrier with a G80 out of an 97 or so K2500.
If I can find it, I'll throw it on the trailer for the circus run.

Well...that would make things easier.

 

[campfire]

Small thing tonight, I installed 2 of the new headlights. The difference is huge. High beams:



The color difference makes it clear what each side is contributing to the field of view.



Low beams. I wired both low sets of low beams, so this test is even more lopsided.



Hard to even see the dim light in the sea of white.




This is the brighter of the old lights. Turns out the dim light had almost no silvering left inside the glass. Makes sense, eh?

 

[campfire]

I'll test this on the road, but I think I'll need to aim them further down. This is a blinding amount of light if you stand by the tree.

 

[shady]

What lights are those?

 

[campfire]

What lights are those?

I bought these ones:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0748DPYD6

Based on @AgDieseler's recommendation, and the fact they're 60W LEDs. There are plenty of cheaper 40W LED bulbs, but I decided to give the bright ones a try. The plugs are the same as what's on the truck, but the pinout is different (each wire position is rotated 90 degrees). I took the easy way out and bought adapter pigtails. This made it easy to double up the lowbeam wires without hacking up any of the stock wiring.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N5HLF7U

 

[campfire]

Minor wiring tweaks aside, it's a bolt-on mod. I think I've been contaminated with Jeepiness.

 

[shady]

I looked at either them or similar for the Bee, but they look illegal as ****. There's no difference between that and one that has a case and mounts with a bolt. Which IS illegal... So I steered away.

I like how bright they are though... Wish it was a little more the color of the old lights. But oh well.

 

[campfire]

I looked at either them or similar for the Bee, but they look illegal as ****. There's no difference between that and one that has a case and mounts with a bolt. Which IS illegal... So I steered away.

I like how bright they are though... Wish it was a little more the color of the old lights. But oh well.

Auxillary spotlights/lamps are legal in my state. They may even be used on the road in some circumstances:

http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code/admin_code/trans/305/II/075

Or translated into easier english:
https://kensun.com/pages/wisconsin

The strictest requirement is probably this one: "Every auxiliary lamp shall be properly aimed so as to conform with manufacturers recommendations, and so that glaring light rays from the auxiliary lamp are not directed into the eyes of an approaching driver."

Seems pretty straight-forward to me.

In any case, these are primary lamps, not auxillary ones. I'm still going to follow the guidelines, and they won't be glaring at oncoming traffic. But as long as you stay within the guidelines listed I don't think Wisconsin has a problem with them. YMMV.

 

[campfire]

I like how bright they are though... Wish it was a little more the color of the old lights. But oh well.

Yeah. I'm surprised I haven't seen such lights available. There's no reason they hafta be white, and I'd prefer a warmer color.

 

[shady]

Warmer color light spreads father. Cooler light is more spot or beamy. They tend not to light up the periferals very well. I do most all of the light projects at our plant. And have started buying nothing above 4000k if I can help it.

I've looked for the warmer lights for the truck too... Just can't find em

 

[AJMBLAZER]

The problem is people think whiter = brighter and more light thanks to HIDs and luxury cars going higher temp light.

I have LED H11’s in my Silverado and the white took a bit of getting used to. However the increase in light output was awesome.

 

[AugustDiesel]

Nice work on the burb! It’s a good feeling of satisfaction to do so much work and be rewarded with a successful road trip. And I see what you mean about the similarities between our trucks. Lots of the same parts. I especially like the MBRP muffler. It made such a difference in interior noise as compared to the 3.5” straight pipe - my ears would hurt after driving my truck! And the leds are nice too. Mine are only 45w, but still plenty bright!

Andy

 

[campfire]

Nice work on the burb! It’s a good feeling of satisfaction to do so much work and be rewarded with a successful road trip. And I see what you mean about the similarities between our trucks. Lots of the same parts. I especially like the MBRP muffler. It made such a difference in interior noise as compared to the 3.5” straight pipe - my ears would hurt after driving my truck! And the leds are nice too. Mine are only 45w, but still plenty bright!

Andy

Yes, lots of similar parts. You just need a stick shift and a turbo kit.

Speaking of road trip, this trip report isn't even halfway done yet. I can't believe nobody asked for more pictures.

 

[AugustDiesel]

Yes, lots of similar parts. You just need a stick shift and a turbo kit.

Speaking of road trip, this trip report isn't even halfway done yet. I can't believe nobody asked for more pictures.

Well bring them on! I’m itching to get an off road trip under the belt with mine but still along way away from getting the 60 underneath it and having 4wd again. But it’ll happen.

 

[campfire]

Next up are some Gay pictures. From Gay Beach, at the edge of Gay, Michigan. It's an artificial beach consisting of stamp sands (crushed rock) from the Mohawk stamp mill. The mill and tramway are gone, but you can still see the smokestack at the North end of the beach.

It's a cool scramble area, with enough dunes and valleys to have fun. I don't think I got any air this time, but having 400 more miles left to drive had a large part in that.









The 4Runner continued to burn oil and drop things out the back.



The kids enjoyed the sand box.



I had the terrible carnage of having the lid pop off the washer fluid reservoir. Terrible indeed.



Luke digging a nice hole:



And then I was offered the chance to thrash the Gambler truck. Thanks again, Alex. This thing was a blast!





And yes, that is oil smoke pouring out the back. I donated some Lucas Oil Stabilizer, but oil addition continued to be a regular thing.




Poised at the edge, ready for another trip down the dune.

 

[campfire]

More Gayness. The sign is a little funny given the lack of any clear trail through here.














You can see here how the bend ahead of the muffler is too sharp. So the pieces don't align perfectly. It annoys me, but I don't hear any leaks. So it'll stay like that. Also, the back end of the muffler hangs a wee bit low. It did drag on at least one obstacle.