CK5
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The Green Machine - parked
- Thread starter noJeepshere
- Start date
At least you had it in the family, I get people all the time, "nice Bronco!" or "Good looking excursion!" and I want to beat them up.
I say keep this thing as a light trail/camping rig and get the 2 door hoe or something similar and build that to be a rock crawler. That is essentially what I'm doing now. I have my blazer that is built for crawling. I beat the crap out of it and care less and less about body damage. But I've realized my wife and kids love the milder trails too and I don't want to hassle with towing my crawler to do a mild trail like that. So I'm now going to build a 93 K2500 burban to be a mild trail wheeler/backup tow rig. In fact, I've been reading this thread a lot lately and an shooting for pretty much the same height with 35's on it. I am buying a ford d60 this weekend and will do a sas similar to yours. Having the options of different vehicles depending on what you want to go do on any given weekend is worth its weight in gold IMO
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Lot lizard.
Friends of the road as they say 
My .02 : if your not prepared to have a few dents or willing to every now and then change body panels, don’t wheel this rig. At all! Rocks, trees, limbs etc. are many times unavoidable on the trail. Use it as a daily driver, a weekend driver, or a tow rig for a purpose built buggy.
I'll stick to mountain roads and easier trails, and get a dedicated rig for rock crawling. I'll keep this in more of an overlander setup as was my original intent when I first built it.
Sounds like a good plan for sure.
So another GMT400 SAS build maybe?
So another GMT400 SAS build maybe?
Eventually. Maybe a 2-door Tahoe or a crew cab body on a Suburban frame. Not sure which yet.
I am probably not the one to say this owning so many trucks but, if you only wheel once or twice a year I would just go bigger tires and replace the plastic flares with steel tube kind of like exoskeleton to protect the body.
Brush scratches can be buffed out but the sheetmetal can be protected
Did some much needed maintenance to the ol' Green Machine. Greased all 27 zerk fittings on the undercarriage, which greasing this thing takes over a tube of grease, but it's good to go for a while now.
Figured out why the radio went quiet. So just before I left for Moab, I replaced the HVAC control panel trying to diagnose the intermittent air conditioning (which btw didn't fix it
) and in putting the radio back in, it was a little reluctant and I guess I pinched a wire. I pulled the radio out and sound came out of the speakers, so I pushed it back in making sure to get the wires back in the right spot.
One thing I do need to do before long is swap the springs side to side, I really don't like the lopsided ride this thing has right now...
Figured out why the radio went quiet. So just before I left for Moab, I replaced the HVAC control panel trying to diagnose the intermittent air conditioning (which btw didn't fix it
) and in putting the radio back in, it was a little reluctant and I guess I pinched a wire. I pulled the radio out and sound came out of the speakers, so I pushed it back in making sure to get the wires back in the right spot. One thing I do need to do before long is swap the springs side to side, I really don't like the lopsided ride this thing has right now...
Quick random question for you. Did you never put a steering stabilizer on this rig after the SAS? And did you always just keep the factory ford tie rod?
I have the exact same axle as you that I just swapped into my burban. I was going to replace the factory tie rod with a straight beef one, but I've read there is clearance problems with a straight tie rod and the pumpkin, and not only that the tie rod ends are different too. But as I look at yours I notice it looks like stock tie road and no stabilizer. You had any issues with that at all?
I have the exact same axle as you that I just swapped into my burban. I was going to replace the factory tie rod with a straight beef one, but I've read there is clearance problems with a straight tie rod and the pumpkin, and not only that the tie rod ends are different too. But as I look at yours I notice it looks like stock tie road and no stabilizer. You had any issues with that at all?
Yes he has, it has needed a stabilizer since he put it together.
That's what I was wondering. I'm thinking of just reaming out the knuckles to accept some offset tie rod ends and then have a beef tie rod (hopefully with the offset tie rod it will clear the diff cover during full range of motion) and then add a stabilizer
Tie rod still factory works fine. Not sure really why he has not put a stabilizer on it.
I've kept the factory Ford tie rod and it's never given me issue. I would like to upgrade to an ord tie rod at some point but there are the clearance issues to be dealt with.
As for the stabilizer, I have one but I've never installed it, because it won't do me any good. I didn't get the geometry right when I first installed the steering system and I get a lot of bump steer going down the road. A stabilizer dampens impacts and shock to the system, but can't make up for poor geometry. I'm going to have Eric help me with getting the geometry right, when I can afford it... got some bills to pay first though.
As for the stabilizer, I have one but I've never installed it, because it won't do me any good. I didn't get the geometry right when I first installed the steering system and I get a lot of bump steer going down the road. A stabilizer dampens impacts and shock to the system, but can't make up for poor geometry. I'm going to have Eric help me with getting the geometry right, when I can afford it... got some bills to pay first though.
I don’t have a stabilizer on mine. Hasn’t needed one yet.
I’m still running a factory tie rod. Dual stabilizer did help, and I have never had death wobble. I have bumpsteer, but it’s very minimal on my setup. Hydro assist now in place of stabilizers.
