Shran's '86 Build

[Shran]

So I'm officially staring my build. As some of you know, I got a set of tires, and I have wheels and my lift ordered. I decided to go with 15x8 white spokes and the Skyjacker 236RHKS-A 6" lift. That has been the major expense so far but I want this truck to last me a while. Some of the trails out here are pretty rough on trucks.

My future plans are pretty much just to get the lift and tires installed and wheel it as-is until I feel I need to upgrade or break something. I'm really not expecting a whole lot from the D28 and 7.5, especially since they've got 3.45 gears. Currently I've got a decent running 2.9 and an FM145/BW13-50. The tranny is getting a little weak and hard to shift so I'll just see how that goes...planning on doing an M5OD swap someday. I would like to do onboard air with an AC compressor, too.

This rig is going to be pretty much strictly a trail truck. I'd consider myself fairly good at fabricating stuff (built the flatbed in my yard with a square, angle grinder, level, and 110v wire feed) so I think I'll be alright. It's my first build though so I'm sure I will learn a ton. I'm trying to keep it on a pretty tight budget which is good for me because my mistakes will hopefully be less expensive than if I just started dumping money.

So, as it sits now. I am planning on getting a new inner fender/rad support from the junkyard along with two new fenders, because as you can see these are pretty f-ed up.





My interior setup is pretty much done for the moment. I stripped out all the carpet because it was rotting and used rubberized undercoating on the floor. I may try to use something else over the top of that because it rubs off. I'm also thinking about getting some bucket seats for it too.




More to follow. My lift and wheels should arrive next Monday, the 7th.

So I got almost all of my lift today - (7-7-08) - all but my front shocks which are backordered. I started with the rear, working in my driveway.

I went from this:



Got these springs put in: (old vs new)



And, ended up with this.



It rained for a few days so work got put on hold, but on Friday night (7-11-08) I started on the front.

D28 dropped out:




It seemed easier to drop the whole axle and then grind all those damn rivets out. I was right, and work progressed nicely.

I took off all this, plus the front drop brackets...



New drop brackets in:



And new crossmember in.



I then focused my attention on mounting the new radius arms.

Old vs new again:



The bolts on one side were easy, but the drivers side was hell. I had to use a lot of heat to get these suckers out.

One on:



Both on:



Had to make some emergency repairs to my pants about halfway through.



Axle in place, ready to be bolted up:



My buddy doing something after we got the axle bolted in place, and springs and tires put on.



Almost done, steering needed to be hooked up, shocks needed put in, and brakes needed bled.



Got all of the above done, except shocks. This is after the suspension settled. I have a drop pitman arm but my steering is not exactly what I want.



And another:



Got the shocks in tonight (7-15-08)



So as of right now, I'm waiting to get an alignment on Thursday and go wheel it on Sunday. We will see how everything holds up...I need to get a new bleeder for my DS rear brake and maybe iron out or ignore a transmission issue (jumps out of 1st, only in 2H though?? WTF?)

I am just gonna wheel it till it breaks and swap in a M5OD I think. My plan as of right now is to stick with the V6.

[Shran]

Got some new stuff put in since the last update. I picked up a nice B2 for $200 that came with good body panels, 4.10s front and rear and some nice bucket seats. Ended up with this:

[Shran]

Also traded one of my junkers (89 Probe with blown tranny and other problems) for some new meat. Got a brand new set of 33x12.50x15 Wildcat EXTs to replace the junk BFG ATs that I had on it. The two ATs that I had on the back were cracked so bad that I had to tube them so that they'd hold air. The new Wildcats rub like crazy but I was planning on cutting my fenders anyway.

The original plan was to get the set of 33" swampers that I was going to have recapped but this was a damn good deal....the swampers can be spares for a while.

[Shran]

So the plan now is to start building the doubler once I get ahold of a manual 1354 and grab a D35/8.8, and convert to 4 wheel disc brakes. I will be painting it too once I decide what color to go with. More pics to come.

[Big Red Ranger]

i like the gun rack

[compleckz]

haha place holder, what a good idea!

[Shran]

Haha, yup. Got that one from you actually.

[Shran]

Bump! For more pics!

[stegomon]

tell me please that you are going to swap out the 28 for a 35 one of thease days???

[Shran]

Originally Posted by stegomon

tell me please that you are going to swap out the 28 for a 35 one of thease days???

Yes, it is coming out eventually. Like after I get the transmission thing worked out, and find axles for it. Can't afford everything at once ya know.

[Shran]

See above for new pics.

[Sunk]

Sweet! Looks tons better with those new body panels..