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So tax return Santa showed up (also picked up a welding table from weldtables.com which is en route as I type this). This is to replace my portable viair setup and to work with the lockers that will be ordered within the next month or so.
CKMA12 ARB Compressor
With the compressor here if was finally time to start working through figuring out a mounting setup for this (and hopefully the catch can).
V1 Still V1 V2 checking for top of catch can clearance V2 V2 V2 cut out of the remnants of the bottom of a dumpster I picked up for free to practice welding on and finally V3 which is based off V2 but with some corrections for mounting hole offset. I'm using all existing mounting holes for this
Some photos of the compressor in place with the V3 mount
Adding in the catch can mount (practicing my booger welding)
this angle ended up being slightly off but i was able to twist it once it was installed on the truck to make it work With the catch can mount on it
Now for some wiring..the engine bay portion is self explanatory, run from the battery (now on the drivers side) over to compressor. I ran the switch harness down into the fender and through the hole that used to be for the power antenna stuff. perfect spot for the fuse along the firewall
I ran the wiring for the interior along the bottom of the dashboard and then up to where the clutch safety disable switch is. I will have to cut out two new block spots to fit the lockers over here but it made the most sense for now. tapped into the clock ignition 12v and illumination 12v switch mounted to an existing blank Compressor on, lights off compressor off, lights on compressor and lights both on
Short update today, order two fully assembled third members with arb lockers from marlin. Current ETA is the 9th, I’m sure that will get pushed at least once.
Just got back from ordering new tires. Sadly, Falken does not make a 33x10.5x15 so I ordered a set of 5 BFG AT KO2 in that size, should be in Monday to get mounted to my factory wheels. Speaking of, ran to a junkyard down in Denver yesterday and picked up a matching 5th oem allow wheel (15x7 offset 8) to match the other four so I can do true 5 tire rotations.
Also arriving Monday afternoon sometime is the welding table from weldtables.com, super excited for this so I can start working on more welding practice so I can build new rear UCAs and weld on new O2 mounting brackets to fix my final CEL from the 5vz swap.
Tires were put on yesterday. 33x10.5x15 BFG AT KO2 -- I really wish Falken made the wildpeak AT3W in this size or there were at least more options out there. Not mad the KO2 is an amazing tire but just miss having options. Only rubbing so far is at full lock and full compression in the front so no issues during normal driving. I have a steep entrance to my driveway and purposefully pulled it at full lock and it rubbed. Will be cycling the suspension in the garage with the wheels turned to see how much I need to trim or if it would be easier to just crank the tbars a bit. They're set at maybe 1/2in of lift in the front over factory right now. I'm a big fan of having the least amount of lift to run the tires needed so if it's only minor rubbage, I'll just trim the black lower valence corners in the front.
welding table showed up from tab and slot (weldtables.com) it's beefy and beautiful. All 3/16th steel
leg kit came with heavy duty casters as well certiflat 24x48 top
Some minor updates
welding table put together and in place excited to use this
A small truck update -- the 33in tire ended up shifting in the spare tire well and sitting on the exhaust (super minor damage to a single tread block so no big deal) but I had to remove all the "guides" back there except one to get it to fit. I took one of the guides that I removed and welded it right in front of where the tire rubbed the exhaust, so far it's working rather well.
Well, I finally took the time to move my rear O2 sensor to after my cat and I'm still firing a p0420 cat efficiency code. My 3.4 is from 2001 so it came with two cats and my current cat appears to be OEM with almost 300k on it. I haven't had an issue with emissions but I did run a bunch of unburnt fuel through it when I lost a cylinder coming home from Moab, UT last summer so I'm thinking it's time to replace it.
My plan is to go with a magnaflow CARB certified universal cat and weld it in place of my current cat to hopefully get that annoying CEL to go away. O2 simulators used to be an option (especially if a new cat doesn't resolve my issues) but the EPA went after anyone selling them so they are no longer available.
On the plus side, i was able to booger weld the O2 bung on to the OE steel exhaust without punching a hole in it and without any leaks after I finished so I call that a win.
So, purchased the cat and some extra exhaust adapters and tubing. Waiting on stainless mig wire to start welding that up this weekend hopefully.
It's getting hot here in CO so I went about getting my AC working again. It holds R134 charge just fine, I only added adapters to my R12 fittings on the H/L ports to accept R134 and an oil that is compatible with both. When it still didn't work I found the AC Amplifier board was fried so ordered a new board, expansion valve, and pressure switch that go in the condensor area since I was pulling it out I figured mine as well. Spent time cleaning out all the crap etc and I have AC again! First time in about 6 years including previous vehicles.
Will also have an update for the custom rear UCA's I'll be building. Received the johnny joints and bolts, they're a direct fit! I will provide a bunch of details around what I purchased, mounting width, etc in a future post once I source the correct DOM tubing and can do it all in one. Rather excited about this but first I need to get the new CAT installed so I can pass emissions next month.
So still waiting on the correct size DOM tubing for the UCA's, on the bright side I have some 1.5in ID tubing for a set of lowers when I'm ready to build those.
Updates on my P0420 Engine CEL that was preventing me from heading to emissions (even though this is still technically an OBDI truck I didn't want a CEL on when heading in). Been driving it for a week after adding in a second universal magnaflow CARB certified CAT and it's been good to go with no CEL. Last I checked I had 0 pending codes as well.
Some solid booger weld examples but I am definitely getting better. No Leaks and this was my first time ever attempting to weld and lightly fabricate some exhaust shenanigans. I Put the CAT right where the stock exhaust kicked over towards the pass side and down slightly so it took some messing around to get it in but it fits in almost the complete stock location. I do have to figure out a middle exhaust hanger since it moved towards the passenger side enough and mine was rusted through and broke taking off. Welding done with stainless .030 wire on a small Eastwood MIG 180 machine hooked up to 240.
On to the photos!
Welding the step down from 2.5OD-->ID on to the cat Test fitting to see what parts of the original bend(s) I would need to make it work (v-bands are a life safer) My solution, small piece of the stock bend cut out to make the angle work. Took a few tries to get it to the right size on the chop saw but did it little by little Welded up to the cat Here's the front going up to the downpipe off the crossover/collector that has the vband on the end where the A/F goes. The stepdown on the downpipe (right after the A/F bung) was welded on by a professional shop and was what inspired me to just weld this on myself...
So finally got all the pieces in to build my new adjustable UCA's
All the hardware was purchased from RockJock and the DOM was purchased from Ruffstuff.
Here's a photo of the hardware I purchased. The joints/bolts were a direct fit to the existing mounting points on both the body and axle.
On To the fun part, building them
Mocked up with the DOM cut to size Initial example of how I welded them, small welds at a time to not bugger threads Working my way around some finished welds, rather proud of how that came out In the paint "booth", taped the tops so I didn't get any in the threads paint finished, tape removed finished and put together! Joints greased Installed with the greaseable bolts.
When I received the DOM the ID was a bit tight for the bungs so I ordered a bulk amount of flap wheels for a drill (ended using my old sears corded drill because batteries are annoying)
Also was having some issues with the clutch pedal being super worn where the linkage attached, not too many pictures but if you've had to replace the pedal or the bushings (or both as I did) you know how much of a PITA this is. So I replaced all the bushings and regreased everything with some Red n Tacky while I had it apart. Nice smooth engagement and much better throw now.
old in the front can see how wallowed out the hole is
Ordered a new front bumper today from coastal offroad, it's their weld together kit and I'm excited to put it together. Finally pulled the trigger because I plan on putting a winch on the front both for use up at my mom's property (i'm tried of pushing dead yard tractors around haha) and so I can get out more by myself and explore more of the Colorado mountains.
On to the work though, for awhile now the rear nut on the torque arm of my UCA has been loose. I had forgotten to stake it years ago when I did the bushings but I have not wanted to mess with the T-Bars. Bit the bullet yesterday and went for it. Then was quickly reminded why I didn't want to do it, these bolts were brand new as of 3-4 years ago (whenever I did the front end bushings). The pass side threads were buggered and it was either cut it or snap the bolt, since the nut was all the way at the top I decided to put a break bar on it and snap it. Ordered two new bolts that will be at my "local" dealership tomorrow hopefully, coming from Kansas City. Will get my daily exercise taking the (pedal) bike up to Fort Collins to pick them up but not too bad of a wait for parts all things considered.
On to the photos
The snapped bolt, this took more effort than I expected but I tried everything to get that nut off and it wouldn't budge
Breaking the bolt allowed me to commit and pull the UCA off completely to do this right Back together, nut staked, tbar back in and indexed correctly just waiting for the new bolts.
Yes the rotor is...not ideal. They were brand new when I did the front end bushings but all the wheeling in Moab and through dust has definitely caused scratches/gouges. Performance is still fine and my pads are basically brand new still so not going to touch them right now. Both sides look like that
The driver's side was much better and came apart and was back together in about an hour all said and done (it's nice when all the bolts come off). One recommendation I do have if you're going to be pulling the tbars is when you put them in COAT the ends in anti-seize mine slide right out and back in when I needed them to.
So upcoming things to look forward to:
- Diffs should be built this month and sent out to me. So 4.88 gears and ARB lockers, hopefully that install goes smoothly
- Bumper has been ordered along with a set of pod lights (8-10 week lead time from baja designs) but the bumper should be here this month as well and I'll start working on welding that together
- Still need to order a winch but that will wait until my funds replenish -- Will be going with the DV-9s from comeup. The winch + bumper will be around 145 additional lbs over the front end which is what kept me from going to a higher rated winch.
So, spent the last couple days fixing an issue leftover from when I did all of the bushing replacements on the front end. I didn't stake the rear torque arm nuts and they were super loose, I had been putting it off because messing with tbars isn't my favorite thing in the world.
So process was fairly straightforward.
Step 1 -- jack up your car (thanks MCM haha)
Step 2 -- Pull off the wheels
Step 3 - Using a paint pen put match-marks on the tbars where they go into the splines in the UCA (you shouldn't have to remove the adjustment arm at all but if you're going to remove that I recommend marking it as well), also measure the bolt protrusion on the adjustment bolt/nut if you are reusing your tbars and have your ride height set where you want it. Once all that prep work is done remove the adjustment bolts from the tbars, breaking the passenger side because the top of the threads were buggered. My driver's side came out super easy, impact not required. Pull the tbars out of the UCA
Step 4 - Remove the UCA's, which involves removing the upper ball joint and removing the 3 bolts that mount the UCA to the frame via the torque arm
Step 5 - I pulled the UCA and then removed the bracket that holds the splines for the tbar on the UCA, re-torqued the reward facing torque arm nut (big guy I think it was a 27mm iirc), and put the bracket for the tbar back on (torquing it all to factory spec)
Step 6 - Reinstall the use, cover the tbar ends in anti-seize along with the adjustment bolts before putting them back in. I also use a paint pen to mark with the large spline is on the bracket the tbar goes into to help lining it all up. (I honestly paint the top of my ball joints in anti-seize as well).
Step 7 - Get your adjustment bolts as close as possible then go drive it. Measuring from the floor and lip of the wheel to the fender and comparing both sides. I found longer drives (rather than just pulling it out of the driveway and driving around the block) did a MUCH better job at settling the suspension correctly. This will take some tinkering. ONLY adjust the tbars with the weight removed from the front end so jack up the front of the truck. I went with 2-4 turns for adjustment and found that 4 was usually a bit much so 2 should work as long as you get it close to start.
I was able to finally get my measurements within an 1/8th of an inch of each other in the end it took a lot of driving around and small adjustments but it drives well and isn't as raked as it was originally. The 33x10.5s haven't rubbed since I slightly cranked them too which has been nice. I'm still not sure if I should throw from BJ spacers on it or not since the tires clear with less than an inch of lift.
Things to consider before diving in -- order new adjustment bolts just in case, spray everything in your favorite penetrant beforehand, have anti-seize on hand, and wear eye protection (ear too if you're using an impact)
Part numbers worth having:
Adjustment bolt: 90101-12159
Specific nut for this application: 90179-12074
Fabricated a mount for my secondary fuse box that will handle the majority of my accessories including the ARB compressor, off-road lights, CB radio, and the like. Quick and simple using an existing hole along the firewall and welded in a support piece to an existing bolt that used to support the 3vz fuel return line on the passenger side. Really like how it came out along with how it will eventually clean up a bunch of my wiring at the battery.
Upcoming projects:
Coastal Off-road Front bumper build -- just about finished
Marlin Crawler third member installation -- Received both thirds they have 4.88 gears and both have ARB lockers
Starting building the coastal off-road bumper, first big welding and I'm already learning a lot haha. Was able to get the main center section completed and the only real "issue" I ran into was the welds at the end of the frame horns in the front. The passenger side was fine but the driver's side was ugly and I ended up having to grind them down a bunch to get the spacers to fit. I am incredibly happy with the quality of what they sent and for the most part the instructions were perfect for even a beginner like myself to build.
Tacking the first two plates together First two plates on the truck tacked together How those plates mount to the truck with 6/9 bolts in the place. The three empty holes are for the bolts that come through to the nuts welded on the place in the next few photos Fully welding in the brackets that sandwich the front crossmember with through bolts to support winching operations This is one of the two spacers on the big rectangle plate that fit into the end of the pass/drivers frame horns that I had to grind some weld down on the frame to fit. For my first big welding project and only having a welder for a few months I'm incredibly happy with how the welds are coming out
Last of the pictures up to where I am now getting the side plates welded on and everything together. Again, extremely happy with how it all fits together and so far is basically like adult legos. Loving the little Eastwood MIG 180 welder too. Having no issues getting nice penetration on the welds through 3/16th" thick steel with .030 wire.
beveling the edges for the two pieces on the side beveled edge to weld down. Winch plate sits on the lip provided by the upper edge. Simple clamp setup but it made life super easy when lining these two plates up to weld. The hole is one of of two front recovery points that is two pieces of 3/16 plate to reinforce the recovery point locations Sitting on the truck with the side pieces (previous photo with the recovery point in them) and the winch plate tacked in Back of it all tacked into place with the front winch plate in too where a fairlead will mount to front view, squares are for lights which I have some Baja designs squadron sport lights to go into even though they technically aren't the correct mounting type I'm hoping to make them fit.
Have two videos with more detailed process on my YouTube channel, super excited to see this thing finished, painted and on the truck.
Part 1
Made some more progress on the bumper. Have the bulk structure welded and together. Fits well on the truck and only ran into some minor issues getting both sides level. Again, super happy with the quality of this kit and any issues I've run into are definitely from my lack of experience rather than an issue with the kit. The only fitment "issue" that I have at this point is the driver's side being slightly lower at the end of the wing that wraps around the fender than the passenger but it's really not noticeable from the front of the truck, you have to look really hard to see it. All in all I'm more than pleased with how this is is coming out.
Pending Work:
Bar work
Primer and application of raptor coating
On to the photos
Using my big 10 ton jack to hold the top wing up while I get it tacked in place First front plate tacked in place, this has the hole for the LED turn signal Passenger side fully tacked in, did have some fitment issues here with the plates not lining up perfectly but that's definitely caused by my lack of experience putting something like this together how it looks from the front, super happy with this both sides tacked in and on the truck starting to get the backside fully welded just some photos of my beginner welds just some photos of my beginner welds
fully welded up and upside down on my welding table
I learned a bunch getting all this weld down and my skills improved greatly by the end. I know the welds are ugly in spots but I really enjoyed putting this together and it felt like a big adult lego project. I plan to add a rear bumper at some point but I have a few other projects to get done before I do that. Right now my 33x10.5 fits in the spare tire well in the rear with some modifications so the rear bumper would really just be for protection from both rocks and the shi^^y drivers here in CO haha.
Finally got the bumper basically all finished up, just needs paint. Extremely happy with how it came out and how much I learned throughout this process. I had some major issues figuring out the bar work and the only issue I might still have is how close the hood corners are to it if I hit something hard enough it might have issues clearing but I'm not overly concerned about it. In the end it came out awesome and Coastal off-road makes a killer weld together kit. I might think about picking up their rear bumper kit at some point as well.
On to the photos
Leveling the center bar after my initial cut...which had to get redone later how the bars sat with the center bar cut a little too low, it ended up interfering with the hood
Here you can see how the hood will hit with the bars this low, I had to go back through and weld the pieces I cut off back on eventually Welding said pieces back on, I put a bevel into the pieces I was reattaching to give myself somewhere to weld re-leveling after getting all the pieces back on I'll take it!
How it sits now with the length added back to the center marking my lines to make the cuts into the headlight tubes, this is where I really had no clue what I was doing much better clearance around the hood passenger side headlight bar cut down initial notch fitting a bit more snuggly in there, really like how it's fitting now and the bar routing
Both sides tacked in place This is the end plates, the last piece I put on and after the entire project my welds really improved. I'm incredibly proud of the progress just this one (rather large) project gave me in welding. welded all together and just waiting for paint
Last but not least -- video with much more details about how I went about the bar work and getting it all to fit correctly along with the errors I made and issues I ran into.
Here it is all finished up and painted with black raptor. Love how it came out. Overall the kit was super high quality and the only future issue I MIGHT have is how close I left the hood corner clearances with the bar work but if I hit the bumper hard enough for that to be an issue odds are I'll have bigger issues haha.
24 hours after finish the raptor, should have waited longer to mount it but couldn't help myself From the driver's side
Took it out to see some Colorado fall colors, Baja Designs lights installed and wired.
Same trip, my buddy's beautiful 100 series joined for the fun after we did a full suspension refresh on it We were out in part of the Cameron Peak fire burn scar from the fire that ripped through here in 2020
Feb 28, 2022 | 05:55 AM
