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Wanna build it to roll across the southeast!

G

Gaffed

1/2 ton status
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Dec 26, 2006
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Location
Cantonment, FL
I'm looking for suggested mods/upgrades/gotta have's to off-road on a trip across the South in my 89' K5. Going to make the trip in the spring of 08' so I have plenty of time to do whatever mods deemed necessary.

Spec's so far include:

Drivetrain:
-GM crate tbi 350
-Rebuilt 700r4
-241 transfer case, inspected & getting new speedo gears
-stock axles (3.08's, G80 rear)
-fresh brakes
-New 32x11.5's AT's on steel black 15x10's
-new shocks & steering stabilizer
-stock height suspension

Interior
-stock with good metal floor & decent carpet
-A/C, yeah it works

Exterior
-stock, dented & wounded but looks decent from 15yrds.
-chrome bumpers



I'll be turning 25 in Feb. next year and think this will be a good present to myself. I'm sick of hearing about everyone elses trips so I'm going to start my lil journey.



Thanks,


Chris
 
Sounds like a pretty reliable combo as is, what type of stuff are you wanting/willing to do? Things like good maintenance or mods like a lift, etc?
 
I'm entertaining the thoughts of a lift, taller tires, & gears.

Wanna do some back woods fishing, camping, for say medium trails and such.
 
gears...even if its only 342or 373 308 SUCKS butt...period. ugh i never want to own a truck with those again.

our trucks have cabin filters!?

maybe thats why wehn i turn on the a/c it smells bad!
 
I'm thinking 3.73's, 1" ORD body lift, and zero rates all the way around. Its hard to upgrade the tires when they are brand new. If I could find a AT 35x10.5 and put it on a 8" rim life would be great. It would ride slightly better and get better MPG than 35x12.5's. Of course if I went to 35's, I would probably go with 4.56's.
 
broncoman6524 said:
our trucks have cabin filters!?

maybe thats why wehn i turn on the a/c it smells bad!
Click to expand...
What is this??? a/c??? cabin air filters??? ....Just take the top off. Beleive me, life is better topless :D.

Gears do go a long way as far as improvement over stock. With 35"s I'd go with 4.56 like you said, although maybe 4.10 if your doing a lot of highway. Dont regear if you dont have to, just find the axle with the gears you want and save a lot of $$$. Or regear it yourself if your up to it

Obviously, for a trip like that, tons of tools and spares etc are a must
 
A front locker or posi would be nice but not a necessity. Maybe a winch, there is a vendor on Pirate offering a low profile Warn 8k for $499 shipped. It's not the strongest winch made but plenty for light duty wheeling.
 
I thought spools/lockers didn't mix well with 10 bolts?

Mini spools from summit are $85

Oh and another mandatory item would be manual locking hubs instead of the auto-hubs right?
 
Yeah, I'd say manual hubs are a must - autos can be convenient but when you need them they will fail.

If you want a more hardcore set up then a locker or spool is best but I would think for a daily driver / occasional wheeler a posi will do. A posi will also allow a little <gasp> slippage which could mean the difference of breakage. I would not recommend a mini spool in anything. They reuse the original carrier which, in turn, becomes a weak link.
 
nvrenuf said:
A front locker or posi would be nice but not a necessity. Maybe a winch, there is a vendor on Pirate offering a low profile Warn 8k for $499 shipped. It's not the strongest winch made but plenty for light duty wheeling.
Click to expand...
For light duty Mile Marker sells a 8K for 388.00 .

4WheelParts has a 8K they claim is as good as Mile markers for 299.00 right now. its 332.00 shipped.
 
I'll spill the beans on why the truck needs new gears. The previous owner broke the rearend and had to get the truck back on the road. He replaced the broken 3.73 rear with a cheap 3.08 rear. Hey it got him back on the road. But traded it off before he could change the gears to match the 3.73ed frontend.

Overtime has been absolutely awesome this week and should allow me to order some parts.

-3.73 gear for the rear which already has a G80
-Powertrax lock-right for the front which already has a 3.73.
 
Oh and I should be able to get the gears installed too. The Powertrax I'll install myself. I'll ditch the G80 as needed but it'll do for now. Since it looks like I'll be going 3.73's I won't be going with the 35's. That'll free up some big time money and in about a month will allow for 1" ORD body lift & 1" zero rates all the way around. Everyone says the body lift along with new poly bushings give up to a 1.75" lift. So my lift will end up around 2-2.75"

Pictures on how it sits now to come on Wednesday when I get home from working offshore.
 
Check the Gov Lock (G80) good while it's apart for gears, they are notorious for failure.
 
Sounds like a fun trip. Tires are the toughest bullet to bite, but they make a huge difference. 32" ATs are not the hot ticket for all the clay and wet granite down here, we don't have dry rocks like they do out West.
Wanna do some back woods fishing, camping, for say medium trails and such
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They will be great for the first part, I know the BFG ATs on my ZJ are. For "med" trails you will be disappointed in them.

Here's what I would do, keep it mild and reliable and remember to keep things in scale. As for specifics, a 4" lift, some good 35x12.50 MTs, swaybar disconnects, quality manual hubs, a set of spare shafts for the front. In the rear resist the FF14B, its way too big for your proposed tire size. My 12B worked great with 4.56s and a Detroit, but a better choice would be a FF D60 rear out of a Dodge, they are as cheep as the 14B but have smaller housing. But with what you are planing I would probably just stick with the 10B you have and carry extra shafts.

Extra parts: I carry basic tools and fluids, a spare module if you are running an HEI distributor, fullsize spare, 3"x30' strap, a good come-a-long if you don't have a winch, spare u-joints for the drive shafts, and the spare axle shafts, a shovel, and a jack that will lift your truck high enough to change a tire. Don't forget the hub socket and snap-ring pliers.
 
Popularity probably. Could also be that they bought that size in bulk.
 
So does anyone have any pictures of what they consider mild off-roading and the build of their truck?
 
I would ditch the 9G80) 3.08 10 bolt in favor of a FF axle of some type. tHE 14ff is common as can be and cheap. Who cares about an extra inch of lost ground clearance, the 14FF in itself is a skid plate so don't worry about that. I would just be worried to have a 10 bolt come apart on a trail in the middle of the woods somewhere and have to drive out on the front axle (assuming something internal breaks and not an axle). This would require 8 lug wheels and also do the 8 lug conversion up front. You can find a 3.73 geared 14ff for about 100.00-125.00 all day long.
 
Gaffed said:
So does anyone have any pictures of what they consider mild off-roading and the build of their truck?
Click to expand...

When mine was like this it was a good all around driver & wheeler.

161bellmt68.jpg
 
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