In article <007901c5bd7b$9ab04ec0$1d02a8c0@HENRY>, DML@HenryWeb.net ("David
Henry") writes:
>
>
> I missed the BBQ again this year, both live and most of the online versions,
> so I missed what actually happened and more on point today, what you're
> doing if you're pulling all the lift an other stuff off. You havn't decided
> the slammed look is better now, have you? :) I'm just bummed since your
> truck is one I really wanted to see. I gave up all hope of installing the
> TM dual stablilizer as the instructions were worthless. I actually figured
> it out from the pictures on your site.
>
> I've got nearly the same setup you do excpet mine is installed on the
> intended vehicle:)
>
> With all the pulling of gears, are you planning on selling a set of them
> without the whole axle assembly? 3.21 and 33's do not make for a happy
> combo. It would be unthinkable without the 5.2 & 5spd.
>
> David 94 CC Sport 4x4, 318, 5spd, Lifted with 33" BFG MT's
>
I've been wanting to see your truck as well. In regards to the BBQ coverage, I
have bunch of photos and some video up on my web-page from both last and this
year's BBQ. I still have some additional video to capture sometime if I can
ever get to it.
What happened was after climbing the lower falls at this year's BBQ, I drove
back up through the trails via mud lane (which has gotten pretty rutted over
the last two years) and back up to DML HQ. It was decided that we were all
going to a local cruise night Jon was talking about and I decided I would take
the muddy truck. I shifted out of 4lo into 2hi and all the way to the cruise,
I had a strange wobble in the front end. I just figured it was the 2 1/2 tons
of Steiger mud caked in the wheels and I knocked the front alignment out of
whack again. I was planning on checking it out later after we got back,
however, that was postponed by beer and camp fire shenanigans. In the morning,
after everyone was ready, I hopped in the truck, shifted it back into 4lo and
headed down to the mud pit without even thinking about what happened the night
before. As soon as I hit the pit, the truck just sank. Everyone else who
pulled up along side the pit kept yelling to me to shift the truck into 4wd,
but it was. The front wheels were not getting any power. Well after a failed
attempt to rock the truck back and forth to get it out, Tom carried a strap out
to me and they pulled me out with his Ram. I figured the CAD must have been
sticking (which could have explained some of the odd handling the night before)
so I pulled back up to the hanger and put it up on Jon's lift. But after
pulling the CAD, it appeared to be working normally and the front drive shaft
was spinning but no power was getting to the front wheels so I thought I may
have snapped an inner shaft at some point after climbing the falls. What was
odd was I wasn't getting any odd noise out of the front end. Well it turn out
that it was the CAD after all, I just misdiagnosed it like I said in my earlier
post.
Now, what I'm doing. After Mikes SAS last year and my talking about doing it
for the last ten, I've decided the time has come to swap in a set of 79 F350
Dana 60s I picked up earlier this year. It'll be a wristed radius 5-link in
the front (a little different design than Mike's set up but with some
similarities) and a triangulated 4-link in the rear with coil over Sway-a-Way
race runners on all four corners. A complete drivetrain swap is also in the
works but I'm not ready to discuss the details of that yet. In short, over the
last couple of years, I've really gained an interest in wheeling the truck. So
much so that for the last two years, the truck has clocked more off road
mileage than street use. However, I've been less than thrilled with the
durability of the TrailMaster suspension lift. It just isn't meant for the kind
of abuse I've put it through. So I returned the plates to DMV and decided it's
time to build a serious off-road truck out of it. After a trip to Paragon
earlier this year and a few local trail rides with a local club I joined, I
decided I like playing on the rocks more than in the mud, so I'm building for
that kind of use.
As far as the gears go, I pulled the 4.10s I had in the 88 (got the rear out
tonight). The front gears will eventually be going into my 96 Dakota which
also has a 7 1/4" front. That truck already has a Dana 60 under the rear so I
have to order a set of gears for that. The rear 4.10s from the 88 are already
spoken for by an acquaintance who is buying them for his 2wd 94 Dakota
5.2/auto. He has the 3.55s in his now and wants to run a lower gear. The 88's
axles are getting a set of 3.90s I have sitting in the basement. I already
installed the fronts, and will put the rears in tomorrow night (with the help
of my brother in law who I discovered is really good at gear swaps). Then both
the front and rear axles from the 88 will be sold including the rear Detroit
locker which I'm leaving in the rear. It works fine but makes the typical
locker noise under load. If I can get $400-$500 for the set, I'll be happy. The
trail master suspension will also get sold and that money also will be put
towards rebuilding the Danas with 5.38s and front and rear air lockers.
The 33" Baja Claws and 15x10 beadlock rims are going. They will be replaced by
similar set of 8 lug, 16x10s with hopefully 39"s mounted (bought a new die
grinder/cut off tool last weekend and already marked the fenders and bed with a
sharpie).
It'll be some time before everyone sees the truck again as I figure this should
take me a few years to complete.
Walt
http://www.Walt-n-Ingrid.Com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Oct 01 2005 - 12:50:23 EDT