Truck is back to me and working just fine.

It sat at the shop for 12 days, with a new excuse everyday as to why it wasn't done yet.

The shaft was bent, the driveshaft shop was busy, the shaft was unuseable, they didnt have bolts for the driveshaft, they ordered the wrong bolts for the driveshaft...etc,etc.

It was getting ridiculous and I was getting more and more pissed everytime I rode my bike anywhere.

So I called the shop up, and asked what was needed to get the truck done.

They said they just need bolts, but nobody could go and get them................REALLY?

So I drove to a hardware store, grabbed 8 bolts, drove to the shop, and handed them to the lone technician, who said he was busy.

I asked if I could install them myself cause I want my truck back, he said "sure thing"


so I went over to my truck, and started installing the new driveshaft that I supplied.

The guy must've thought I was joking about doing it myself, because once I started rustlin through the tool box for wrenches he came scurrying over, and said he had to do it for insurance reasons.



anyways, now my truck is running good, I made some good progress on it today too. (will post pics next)

 

as the beastie boys once said, ch-che-ch-che-che-check it out!

new(used) rust free tailgate.

Big ups to the previous owner who has been hooking me up with all of these bitchin parts for his old truck





being that it is a two-latch gate, and I have a center handle bed, it didnt fit as good as it should, and there had to be spacers made for it. (will post those pics tomorrow)


Did you guys know that you can buy new taillight lenses from autozone?



There was a pretty good timewaster that happened today though, my truck has 33" tires, and 5.29 gears.

That means that I am cruising at 55mph, and that's about it.

The previous owner gave me a 3rd member with 4.88's and a locker, so I went about trying to install them.

Here's the new 3rd member, looks alot different than the one that is already in my axle.


it was so different in fact, that the shiny thing the ring gear is mounted to^^^^^was rubbing on the axle housing right next to the cutouts in the housing. It wasn't able to be installed without some grinding work for clearance.


So I got the 3rd member in there, all excited about driving around without 5th gear feeling like 3rd, and....the driveshaft bolts dont line up.

I got somewhere I gotta be tomorrow, so I had no other choice but to re-install the 5.29's.

Now I gotta find a new u-joint half that will fit the 3rd member, because I am assuming that you cant change pinion flanges without screwing up some sort of preload/pressfit/clearance/tolerance/crush sleeve/rear axle spells/gear oil voodoo...whatever the heck would happen with those mysterious gears that you need a masters in axles to understand.

I can change u joints easy, now I just gotta find an end that will fit my axle.

Any ideas what style of 3rd member I have from that picture? I have no idea what truck it came out of.

 

Nice truck.
Im not 100% sure but i think that tailgate is from a second gen truck judging by the body lines and the fact that it needs to be modified. Still looks like it fits between the box sides properly though.

 

the more I look at it, the more I think you are right, the tailgate definitely wasnt made for this bed.

but eh, it works better than no tailgate


hinge with 3/4" spacer


and the latch system

 

tail gate is absolutly from 84-88 (2nd gen truck) import , with side latches .. but great work getting it on .. your right .. better then no gate !!
.


.

 

As it sits now.

 

I like the stinger bar

 

OOOOOHHH JEEEEZ I've neglected this build thread, startin school again really doesnt gimme time to work on my truck.

I have made some decent progress though,

First, I made a rear bumper for it.
Here's a picture of the frame section I attached the bumper to, it had holes in it from lights.


I can't run bolts through light holes, so I welded on some plate right over it.

sorry for the blurriness, but you get the point

Then it was time to get out the TIG and weld up some brackets

Drilled some holes, mounted up the main part of the bumper..


All mounted up


This is it with the bed lowered back down, I also added another 1.5x3 on top of the metal you see here to make the bumper more beefy.


Welded on a hitch as well, it came as this neat little self contained thing with the safety chain holes and everything.


Also cut the bumper down, folded some metal over the ends to make it look nicer. You can see the extra metal I added to the bumper here as well.


I still plan to add more to the bumper, some slanted pieces to "frame" the license plate, in between the main support bars and the main bottom piece of the bumper, as well as some D-rings.


I did some paint work as well,

Black primer for now while I am fixing the rust


31 was my racing number, and I feel it helps out alot when trying to race people at lights...


got the idea for the tailgate from another post I had seen somewhere (here or pirate).

You can see the bumper pretty good here as well, I also plan on putting white led's in the two rectangular holes for backup lights.

 

Oh! also forgot to add that I got in a little accident with it.

I was sitting at a stopsign, and a texting idiot smashed into me at about 15mph.

He was driving a 2wd f150 which from what I could see needed
-new hood (his was taco'd)
-new grille/emblem
-new radiator
-new a/c radiator/condenser
-2 new headlights
-new bumper cover
-new bumper
-new radiator core support/crossmember
-new horns
-new hood latch mechanism

My truck has a slightly bent bumper, a little dent in the tailgate, and a small area where the paint was scraped off. (rattlecanned it, good as new)

The only pic I have from that ridiculous and stupid night...


He wasn't just pissed off at himself for texting, or at me because I called the cops, but also because of the HUGE damage his truck had and the insignificant damage that I had to mine.

He wound up with a $400 reckless driving ticket.

 

lol, maybe he should abstain from texting and driving? XD

 

Love the tailgate paint

 

Yeah, wow, I love that tailgate.. I may have to give it a try before I permanently paint my truck. What a NOOB!! It's always interesting to see folks screw their stuff up due to their own decisions. My dad was rearended in his '98 Ram 4x4 by some lady texting, driving a little Cavalier. It completely FUBAR'd her front end, but dad just had some scraping underneath the bumper!! Haha 4x4's ftw!

 

I guarantee he didnt learn anything from it, he is probably gonna keep on texting and driving once his truck gets fixed.

And thanks for the tailgate compliments. I'm just a little bit worried that certain chinese/korean people might take offense, but I live in honkey ass venice florida, so I havent gotten any negative comments yet.

 

i dont see why they'd get upset, it's nothing derogatory AND the truck IS japanese... but then again people tend to be awfully tender these days.

 

I've joined a couple of the local jeep groups and done quite a few wheeling days with my truck.

Even with only 2wd, it outperforms ALL the grand cherokees, some of the cherokees, and a few wrandanglers.

Barely made it through this one


And a video of the same hole

[YOUTUBE] [/YOUTUBE]

The cherokee that was filming me....


It may be a jeep, but these things look awesome lifted a little bit, and the old AMC I6 is a pretty peppy and somewhat indestructible motor.
Too bad they are unibody though...

Sweet little climbing spot


And some cool action shots of a hill being conquered








and an extra video of the truck in the background, its hard to tell from the video, but there are some pretty serious little hills I'm goin over.


[YOUTUBE] [/YOUTUBE]

And I am also at a dillema, should I fix the misfire and stop having to smell unburnt fuel all the time?

Or just ignore it because it makes my idle sound awesome?

It does have a cam in it, but it isn't supposed to idle this rough

[YOUTUBE] [/YOUTUBE]

 

It doesn't seem too bad. I like how throaty that exhaust is. What exhaust do you have on it?

 

It is some brand of headers going into a 2.5" collector, with an international harvester muffler from tractor supply, going into a slight turndown.

I bought some adapters to temporarily step down the exhaust from 2.5-2, to try and get some back pressure going on.

 

I did some tune-up work to the truck, and it is running better, more power, different exhaust note, etc.

1. The PCV valve grommet was trashed, and leaking like crazy.
2. The Cap+Rotor contacts were green and corroded.
3. I put new plugs in it, didnt gap them though.
4. Put in the exhaust step-down.

Here is the exhaust Step down, it goes from 2.5 to 2 to 2.5 again, I think I have a little bit more torque now, though it is hard to tell.



And here is where the collector and exhaust system connect. It is hard to tell by the picture, but there is a cut where I had to cut it to remove the pipe. And it is leaking pretty good, so I put 2 clamps on it, but it is still leaking enough where I can hear the ticking.


And the rest of the system



And a video of the new idle note.
[YOUTUBE] [/YOUTUBE]

Although, there is an occasional popping that comes from the exhaust at idle. It happens more so when it is hot, I am guessing it is because it is running rich and the excess is exploding in the exhaust pipe.

If I adjust the carb to the point of where the popping stops, then the engine runs rough and starts flying all over the engine bay.

 

That exhaust sound is killer. I want.

 

Remember back pressure is a myth, exhaust gas velocity is what makes power!