The extra width will be nice. I'm basically done rebuilding IFS width rear, but I think I'm just going to throw the tacoma rear back there since it has new brakes and is already fitted for it anyway.

And I know what you mean with winter. I am pretty close to getting a lot of things mounted on my frame, but I don't really have a decent place to store it with all the parts on it that's out of the weather. I may just end up storing everything till after winter. That'd be a good time to stock up on parts haha.

 

It's not that I really wanted to width for stability as it feels pretty stable with this good suspension under it, but it'll help me clear bigger tires and well... it looks awesome!

Yeah I have a good shop, but I work for a moving companies and for some reason people just don't move in the winter. I haven't worked all week and only worked one job last week. It SUCKS in the winter, but in the summer it's hard to beat it.

 

A LOT has changed the last year.

- 5.29s & lockers.
- High steer on
- Major axle rebuild and overhaul.
- Bobbed the bed.
- Dovetailed the bed.
- Rear bumper

& I'm sure other stuff I'm forgetting.

Next is some ~37's, propane, and cage..

Its no longer my DD so now its turning into a pretty serious trail rig..

I'll update when I have time..

 

Started with the rear:
Got the old bearing pressed out..


Old vs. New:




New axle seal pressed in:


New bearing pressed in:


Cups all cleaned and painted with new seals and bearings:


Forgot to get a picture when I pressed the bearings cups onto the axle shafts..

TADA:










Okay then on to the front

But first I bought a Hobart Handler 210:



Pure beef. Diff armor and knuckle ball gussets/shock mounts..



Up close:





All back together with Marlin Full axle rebuild, IFS hubs, etc. Hadn't yet put the brakes on.

 

Started with the rear:

Got the bed pulled:


Got the Chevy 63s all in.. I still had to cut the stock brackets off and do a little more cleaning and painting. No pics of all that:



I finished cleaning everything & threw the bed back on.

I also installed a FZJ80 brake master cylinder somewhere in there.

Then I started on the front inside the shop this time:



Got my Sky's Low Profile front hanger welded up. I went 1/2" forward and the shackle is just perfect along with the lift height.

Probably overkill going all the way across the front, but I was having fun with the welder.



Up close of welds:



Just because Will said this spot was hard to weld



Got high steer on.. Pretty aggravating to get it all lined up perfectly, but I got it..



Booyah!

 

Then I bobbed the bed 8" :









Then I dovetailed 16" & build a rear bumper..





Craptastic picture of the dovetail huh? I got in a hurry

 

Got it back together FINALLY and went wheeling:

























Oops:



The 5.29s and locker did awesome! However, the Weber carb did not! That'll have to change soon..

 

Here's the pile of junk I cleaned out of the engine bay tonight. Still got a lot more to go, but its getting there. I'm trying to save a few lbs here and there and clean up the engine bay. It looks 100x better already.

 

Well, I bought a Got Propane kit for an AWESOME deal.

Finally got about 15 minutes to work in the shop before heading to the fiancé's house for Christmas.

A buddy sent me a whole carb and a little pile of other parts:



So I seperated them and was having problems with the larger side (2nd barrel to open) opening up:



So I took the two plates off of the carb base that Redneck customs sent me and put them on the old carb base that I already had. The reason I did this is because the plates on the old carb base I already had were so bent up they looked like potato chips and the ones from Hunter were nice and straight. :



And put them on the old carb base which is fully functional (sorry for the blurry pic):

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Now I have to move all these throttle linkage parts from the carb plate Hunter sent me:




To this carb:







I know those pics are hard to follow cause it all looks the same. So here's a throwback to Chimney Rock down in Pell City, AL to give y'all something pretty to look at:

 

Then this showed up:

 

Here's a shot of the engine bay after the propane install and I cleaned it up a bit:



Need to pull the motor some day and really do a good cleaning and paint the block.

 

I made a new driveshaft from the one I broke and a spare i had..




I just had to take a drive so I "mounted" a tank and went to driving around the yard and fields.



Propane runs AMAZING! Its just so cool to be able to idle sitting on a steep hill and turn the truck off and it fire up without even rolling over. I mean as soon as I barely bump the key it fires. I am very happy with it.

Once I got done driving around for the day.. I mounted the tank up a little more sturdy (still gotta finish up the dovetail and bedline this spring when its warm):



This thing is in desperate need of some tires! I'm saving as much as I can every week. Something just always comes up..

 

Pulled the dash:








I'm building a custom dash and an all new wiring harness to go along with it. Gonna wire in some new gauges and really clean up and strip down the harness. Make it simple and near impossible to mess up.

 

Something similar to this with my own twist:







Okay so now that's all caught up.

Right now the plans are:

- Custom wiring harness.
- Custom dash.
- Exo-Cage inside the bed and through the fenders so tube will only be showing over the cab.
- 38" TSLs as soon as I can afford them.

 

Awesome work, the dash really turned out nice. How is the propane conversion on power? I read there's suppose to be an average 10% power decrease with propane over gas. I may be interested in going propane myself, but the 22r has so little power to start with I'd hate to lose any of it. I have the same issues with the weber carb flooding on hills!

 

Thank you.

I haven't actually made the dash yet. I just posted that picture for my inspiration.. I've got a few things that have been stacking up on me that I've been avoiding that I've gotta take care of before I go back to spending money on the truck (trailer tires, tow rig maintenance, etc)


I have to say this, the propane is INCREDIBLE!! I should have done it a long long time ago. Runs so much better out of the box than my Weber ever even thought about running.

As far as power goes, I can't tell a difference. Most people reporting a power loss don't have the timing advanced like they should and aren't taking full advantage of the higher octane fuel.

Really, my truck runs so much better that it feels like it has more power especially in 4lo on the hills because its not cutting out any.






Let me say this also, if your going propane, order Cary's kit at GotPropane.com. It is the BEST! There is absolutely no way I would piece it together after seeing/using his kit. It the most complete kit/upgrade that I've ever bought for my truck no questions asked. It has absolutely everything you need besides a stock carb (which is what most are replacing so they have it).

His customer service is as good as his product. His instructions aren't the best, but he can answer any and every question and it really is an easy install. I could do it now in about 2 hours or less including removing the stock stuff.

I could type for hours on how good propane is and how much better it is with Cary and his kit from GotPropane.

 

How much did the complete conversion cost you if you don't mind?

 

Here's a link to the kit:

http://propaneconversionparts.com/inc/sdetail/588/591

$800 and free shipping, I think. I would add about 2-3 ft of extra line for safety's sake.

Forklift tanks can be had for about $75-$125 a piece.

So all in all, your looking at somewhere around $1000.


I got the deal of a lifetime though




I had a guy off a local forum buy the kit new and then trade his Toyota for a buggy before he ever even took it out of the box.

My buddy and I traded some tires he had and my cash for some Red Labels & the propane kit w/ 2 tanks.... I wound up with $550 in it w/ 2 tanks!! And one of them was full.

 

You got nice welds bro. And man the wheeling spots you guys have!!! I have dirt roads and mud puddles, lol that's it

 

Thanks I've been working on them awhile..


All those pics from just a few posts up were from Morris Mountain.. Its about an hour and a half from you. About 20 minutes from Weedowee. Its literally 3 minutes from Hollis Crossroads if you know where that is.

Choccolocco ORV is right down the road from my house which is about 2 hours from you.

I used to drive this thing 2 hours one way to wheel regularly. Even did 3-4 hours one way a couple times. It ran good on the highways..