After the trip to the mounds and realizing I really had no good hook points, I ordered up some from one of my suppliers to weld to the front and back bumpers...

Got them nice and hot to weld up and re-enforce them...

Welded two on the back and two on the front....

 

why is your front bumper so low?

looks nice otherwise :thumb:

 

It's direct inline with the frame of the truck... Frame of the truck was re-enforced for when it get's the bigger lift and bigger tires down the road... Still 3-4 inches shorter then the stock bumper....

 

Installed one of the custom switch plates...

Had the part of my exo-skelton installed on the truck... Will be going back shortly to finish the rest...

Installed a second loop on the top to make a roof rack and to mount the other 4 light bars....

 

Got rid of the sway bar links and installed front axle limiter straps...

 

Labor Day weekend was kinda rough but it made it through...

Was going through the trail and the back of the truck slide out and tried to take out a tree... I lost...

You can also see the spare tire rack that was made and the hi-lift jack holder built into it, in the pictures...

 

Also on Labor Day weekend I broke the front axle (I think) and the rear I welded up myself but didn't weld it up good enough and that broke...

Luckily me the ring and pinion didn't get taken out... Just the spider gears...

 

So I got a Dana 60/80 combo getting ready to put in... 5:13 gears... Detroit Locker up front... And going to weld up the back really good this time...

 

Front axle turns out the Posi-Lok cable broke and disengaged the 4wd...
So I installed the permanent 4x4 lock housing and was done with it... All fixed...

Then I went to Bundy Hill for the first time this pass weekend with my buddy to check it out... Ended up breaking driver side axle...

Now just trying to find a stocker till the 60/80 swap


Thanks to Ruff Stuff Specialties for an awesome product...
Dana 60 cover...

 

fix that shit and come out saturday !

 

Gotta work Saturday... Best bet I have are Sundays but I can't go this weekend either...

 

Did you happen to take this truck to a shop to get the gears done? On 9 mile?

 

Gearz your dad? Yes he did... Taking apart the 60/80 now so he can do those before he leaves...

 

Yessir, I remember working on this truck. The front Rancho diff cover is what caught my
Eye lol. Yea it sucks to leave, but it'll be nice to explore alittle bit haha

 

She ain't pretty but she gets the job done till the Big Block goes in... :rock:

The 80 is almost apart and I'll start on the 60 soon... Then I will be taking it to sandblasters to clean up the housings... Once I get the new perches welded on and all the trusses welded on it will be on the way to you guys... :woot:

 

Time to bring this back up and get going on it... Recently picked up a Dynasty 350 welder and a Miller SX60 table to weld on...

Truck is getting axle swap next week or so... Going with Dana 60/80 like said before... It will also get lifted higher with 44s put on... Going to need to make custom long arms for this kit front and back... Rest of EXO cage should also get done along... CB wire up... Rest of the light bars mounted and wired up... And new taillights...

 

Sweet!

Its too bad we have not wheeled together, it looks like you know how to treat a wheelermobile. :rock:

And probably entertaining to watch.

 

Thanks... I'll be ready for Memorial day weekend I hope... My one employee who helps me out a lot on the truck is out for awhile with a busted knee...

He told me there is anything mechanically that I can break that he can't fix... Been trying to live up to that so far... No dice... :nana:

 

Maybe I missed it, but where are those custom dash switches from?

 

http://www.otrattw.com/


Love the switches... They have tons of them...

 

So whats the purpose of the exo if is doesnt actually protect anything? surely its not for looks....

 

It's not complete... Didn't have time to finish it due to work... It will be getting finished soon... Nothing a sledgehammer can't fix...

 

to each his own I guess.

 

Yup you're right... I would of rather taken it out with a unfinished exo then to leave it on jackstands till it's fully complete... Like I said... Nothing a sledge hammer can't fix... This truck isn't for looks... It's for offroading and not giving a fuck about if the body gets smashed up a little... :rock:

 

So ripped out the 44 and the 9.25 to install the 60 and 80 but ran into a snag while installing the 80...

Turns out the bushing for the springs are alittle worn out... So I took a ratchet strap and hooked it across to the otherwise to re-align the springs back onto the new perches...

Installed the 60 with new Yukon 35 spline axles and Detroit Locker...

So before I put the new lift on I wanted to see if I could clear 44's for the hell of it...

Decided to give the fenders a rough cut to get rid of rust and bent up fender...

Went to go put the new springs in...

So I had to unhook the 60 from the control arms....

Verdict was to remove the spacers from the spring pocket....
Now it might get front coilovers with the custom control arms that I'm going to install to see how this works out... Might need coilovers... Might not... Not 100% sure...

Started to cut the control arm mounts off the frame...

Now just waiting on the mounts to show up so they can get welded onto the frame... Also the control points on the D60 itself are going to get cut off with new ones welded on that are much stronger...

 

After much though and discussion it was decided to go coilover in the front of the truck instead of the stock location springs...

Ended up ordering Bilsteins 9100's for the front...

Now just waiting for all the parts to show up...

 

Cut it in half!

:sonicjay:

 

Never...

 

Sent from Samsung Galaxy S4

 

Love having a big rig with all the room...

 

Went to go get in the truck to do some tinkering around on the inside and my foot went through the driverside floor board... So I ended up cutting all the bad metal out... Thinking I'll just lay some sheet metal down and redo just that area... Not sure if I want to get into redoing the whole floor on that side... Or just patching it in...

 

My vote is to boat side it

 

While your there you should put some sliders on it.

2" x 6" x 3/16" works well.

 

Thanks for the idea... Didn't cross my mind...

 

P.S. your new shocks are awesome. Coil-overs rock!

 

Thanks... Now just trying to figure out which spring rate I should get for these shocks and how tall we are actually going to make this truck...

 

Went to go install new bearings/races into the floater hubs and ran into a snag...

You'll see inside the hub a race installed already... That's not a Dana 80 race... That belongs to a Dana 60... Which at first made no sense to me... After research turns out there were "Hybird 80s" put into 2nd Gen Rams... I happen to have one... Long story short I still have a Dana 80 all the way through up till the brakes/hubs...

So then I put up backing plates and brakes...

Installed the hubs....

And started cutting off the control arm mounts on the axle long with the spring perches...

Today/Tonight I'll finish cutting off the spring perches and tear the Dana 60 apart to redo a few things I don't like since my buddy convinced me to go coilovers to begin with...