my junk yard truck

[lapeer20m]

i still pretty much have open headers on her. Exhaust is still on the list of things to finish. The local auto repair place does custom The motor smokes more than it should, especially when it's cold. The truck itself was on the way to the scrap yard when i intercepted it. MIleage is over 200K, but the truck got a brand new trans just before the kid smashed into another car.

an optima can't charge up side down eh? I didn't know that.

We were originally going to use that hose that's hanging down to connect the radiator to the engine, but decided to upgrade to a larger ID instead. So long story short, that's an extra piece of hose that i forgot to remove at the time the photos were taken.

[lapeer20m]

here's a photo of the rear chain drive while we were working on the project. I've since taken out another half link in each chain.



Cutting round tube/pipe to fit together is not an easy task....especially if you don't have the proper tube cutter gizmo.

A hole saw that is the same diameter as the outside of the round tubing. Using a vice and a drill you can make cuts that look like this:






which allows you to join the two pieces nicely.



here's another photo from early in the construction project. It shows where the rear shocks should be, instead of the square tube that is living there temporarily.




Debating right now between air bags or air shocks. Bags would last longer i think, but air shocks would pretty much just bolt right in with only slight modification to the attachment points.

.

[lapeer20m]

the cheapest air bags i can find are just over $100 per bag...that's too rich for this project

i purchased a pair of monroe air shocks, installed them, and......nothing. Apparently the rear end of the truck has more weight than the air shocks have lift. GRRRR! They're rated for 150 psi, and i pumped them up to 250 psi and still nothing. I have some 3 or 4" bore hydraulic cylinders laying around. I can fill those with enough air pressure to lift the truck i'm sure....if i can get them to fit on the truck. There isn't much clearance between the shock mount on the lower control arm and the cv shaft.

I've been having coolant system problems too. I'm a slow learner. I blew a hole in 3 different lower radiator hoses right where they connect to the motor. I eventually decided my thermostat wouldn't open and the steam pressure inside the motor coupled with the coolant pump that doesn't allow liquids to flow backwards was enough to pop the hose. I removed the thermostat for now....IT was supposed to be a quick half hour project, mounting the radiator and filling with coolant.

somedays it's like i'm just beating my head against the wall.

right now the truck is at the local auto repair place getting a new exhaust...

[Steve]

Haha I figured a truck like that wouldn't have any exhaust, is there an issue with being under water or something I am not thinking of?

[lapeer20m]

nope, the local 4x4 park requires a muffler.

As far as submersion i think that not having a muffler would be preferred. One problem with my old muffler is that it would sometimes fill with water. The steam would continue to pour out of the muffler once i started driving her around again and would make it nearly impossible for anyone to see me. Kind of like a smoke screen. IT would last for severl minutes sometimes.

It's just too loud and obnoxious without a muffler.

here are some photo's of the making of the custom drive shaft. Had to machine a piece of 3" od 3/4" wall tubing to fit inside of the driveshaft. This allowed us to attach the tubing to the driveshaft on one side, and adapt down to a solid 1" shaft on the other end.








WE also have some hotties helping us with the project...too bad it's not summer. The girlies have to wear too many layers of clothing this time of year!

[ParadigmCrime]

That looks like so much fun!!!


You could turn the leftovers you cut off into a trailer too ;)


BTW it looks like some kind of Demonic Off-Road Tractor after you cut the exess frame off

Id name it Demon Tractor

[the_experience03]

I just hope you didn't bring any Canadians back with you. They look American enough.

Where are they routing the exhuast up? It might be to your benefit to have an upturn somewhere in there to get it up to the level of your butt in the seat. That way you will know pretty quick if the water is too deep. Anyone who has ever had to try starting a vehicle with a submerged exhaust pipe knows that it's best just to keep that thing up and out of the drink.

I'm not sure how much clearance you have around those shocks (I know you said it's tight), but you might want to try a set of those cheesy overload springs that they make. I had a set on my truck before I did my suspension to control uptravel in the rear to match it out a little with the front. I can't find a picture right now, but I will do the best I can to describe them. They came as a kit for like $25 with two springs and what kinda looked like some muffler clamps. What you did is you took the muffler clamp things (they were like the halfmoon steel part, not the u-bolt) and put them on the top of the shock and bolted them in place. Then you slid the spring on and used the other ones on the bottom half. I preloaded mine a little using two bar clamps....that was scary business. They claimed a 1500 lbs increase in load capacity. I don't know if there's any truth to that, but my ride height went up 1.5 inches in the back with them and they did noticably make the rear end stiffer.

[paul iossi]

You could fill the hydraulic cylinders with nitrogen if your compressor doesn't build enough pressure to lift the truck, some oil in the ccylinders would probably be a good idea to lubricate the seals and bearings, be sure to install a filter on the rod side of the cylinder to keep contaminants out. I'm thinking a stone type fuel filter.

[the_experience03]

Doetsch Tech (I think I spelled that right) is mighty popular amongst the Toyota crowd as well. I think a set of their coilovers designed for the rear of a Gen II 4Runner might be just about perfect both in size and valving and their price is very reasonable.

[paul iossi]

Did you look on ebay for airbags? some of the aftermarket stuff is reasonable,The double convoluted airbag used to raise tag axles ar right at $ 100. ea and available at just about any truck parts house as a stogk item. I used rolling sleeve bags on my jeep to get 14" of adjustable travel @ all four corners, but they run about $140 ea.and have to be ordered, so far they have been very durable and problem free, but I still worry about puncturing one so I keep a spare on hand.

[the_experience03]

Airbags seem like they would be a b!tch to install on that particular rig. You'd need a compressor too....not that onboard air is a BAD thing.

[lapeer20m]

Originally Posted by the_experience03

Airbags seem like they would be a b!tch to install on that particular rig. You'd need a compressor too....not that onboard air is a BAD thing.

I think i could get air bags to fit...especially a single convoluted bag. I only need about 4" of travel. I think I could fabricate a mount right where the bump stop is.....

as far as air. I'm sure one of those el cheapo 12 volt plug into cigarette lighter compressors would work just fine. The pressure and volume inside the airbag isn't that much. Another good option is converting my ac compressor to an air compressor. All that takes is a pressure switch and some air fittings...and a way to oil the compressor....and an air filter..ect.

But all of that is a moot point as i have now installed a pair of hydraulic cylinders




these will lift the truck with about 150 psi of air pressure. That cheap wal-mart plug in the cigarette lighter air compressor i have says it's rated to 250 psi.

Here's my fancy switchboard i've been working on.



did a little "reasearch and development", here's the evidence:



here is a shot of the air shocks before i removed them. I don't have any good shots of the new hydro (pnumo) cylinders in place

[lapeer20m]

did i mention this truck has no friggen articulation???? lol

I NEED LOCKERS

doesn't take much to get one front and one rear tire off the ground. Lincoln lockers will do....just need more time.

she sure is good at pullin brodies though!

i need to sit down and figure out how to convert video's from my camera into .mpg format so i can upload them to youtube or something. I did a video of my bus doin brodies a long time ago

[the_experience03]

Lack of articulation....the downfall of the independent suspension system. Did you just put a little bit of hydro oil in those cylinders before hooking the air up to keep the seals wet or what? I'm interested in seeing this setup. Better make sure your bumpstops are in good shape....those cylinders look plenty long enough to over-cycle the suspension and pop a cv-joint.

How did you end up actuating that rear disconnect? Are you just running a hot lead off the battery for it or what?

As for converting the files off your camera....what format do they come out in if it isn't an mpeg, quicktime video, avi, or 2gp format? There are a bunch of free converters out there. I'm also a huge fan of Nero.... I want to see some videos, darnit!

[lapeer20m]

the electric actuator for the rear doesn't work. It's different than the one in the front. The rear is a 98 while the front is a 90. The 90 appears to get hot which makes it longer over a period of about 20-30 seconds. The one that doesn't work for the 98 has a little electric rc car sized motor in it. I assume it lockes in immediately... or would if that actuator actually worked. I tore it apart, manually turned the shaft which enlongated the actuator, then screwed it back into the hole where it lives. IF i wanted to "unlock" the hubs i'd have to unscrew the device, turn the shaft by hand to shorten the actuator, then re-install it. When i finally get around to adding my lincoln lockers i'll spend the $120 and buy a new actuator, then it'll be connected to a switch on the dash.

yes, i put some oil into both ends of the cylinders and opened/closed them multiple times before i put them on the truck. The bump stops won't bend if the suspension is over-extended but the upper control arms might! They are about 5 times longer than necessary, but they're something i have on hand. I hate spending $$$ on the junk yard truck. I'm already over my $1,000 budget

[the_experience03]

Look into that Posi-Lok cable. It may or may not be cheaper than the actuator from GM. I certainly like the idea of a cable over something electric....call me old fashioned.

[MICHIGANMAN]

Those chicks are hot! Is the tall one single? A woman that will work on a truck is a woman after my own heart.

[lapeer20m]

both of those girlies are very nice to look at.....the tall one is my g/f, the otehr one belongs to the guy helping me with the truck.

the posi-lock cable does sound pretty attractive if i weld my spiders....

[lapeer20m]

here's a shot of the small old chain verses the new large chain



in this photo, the small sprocket on the right is the old one, you can see the new sprocket is much much bigger





The chain and sprocket are no longer the weak link in the system!



I drove her around for a half hour or so tonight. Mechanically she is pretty much ready to go wheelin'. I wish it wasn't so cold, i really want to get her painted.

[the_experience03]

I can't lie...that is a goofy looking set up between the chain, sprockets, hydraulic cylinder, etc. It certainly would get my attention one the trail. Did you break something with the chain setup or were you just upgrading for some piece of mind?