Well, now that I have the truck running like it should, the build begins.


Will be installing the JBG 5" flex lift this weekend. The delivery guy also dropped off my new tires today. Also converting to 78-79 steering with an adjustable drag link.


Assuming all that goes well, I'll pull the rear driveline for lengthening next week and get an appointment to get the gears and locker installed. Going to 4.10/4.11 from the 3.50s....Should help turning those 35s.


Front and rear bumpers from Protofab have been ordered, and was able to get the holiday discount. So far, those guys have been a real pleasure to deal with. Will report back when the bumpers actually come in.


Will be putting in the NOS speedo and cable I found, time permitting this weekend as well.


Then sliders, dual batteries, and the rest of my toolboxes will be done.


I have a 90 day target to go from a stock truck to this becoming my new expedition trail rig. Pretty excited to get wrenching!


I'll do a full photo writeup on the lift install next week.


That's darn near $5k in parts....sure adds up quick.

 

Ok. were waiting.

 

It's only half a paycheck, right?

.

 

If you are like me $5K is just enough to get the ball rolling. The unforseen parts that you will need/add along the way will drive the cost up quickly. But the dentsides are worth every penny that you can throw at them. Can't wait to see the pictures.

 

always worth it

 

Following this build

 

Pics to follow (sorry for the delay - need time to pull off my camera and post up).


The front is installed. The JBG kit didn't really come with any instructions, not that anything was terribly complicated, but it may have helped with the sequence in which I did things. Beyond that, the parts went on well, and seem to fit well with the exception of the extended front brake line. The upper fitting was a mail fitting on the new piece, but the OEM one has a block on the end with a female fitting. Easy, right? Just get an inline coupler. Downside was that the fittings are two different sizes, so that stopped me on finishing the brakes. Local hydraulics store has the conversion parts I need, and will pick those up today.


Oddly, JBG doesn't include the track bar drop bracket with the kit, but it's definitely needed, as the track bar follows a steeper angle than the drag link. Called them today and they're sending it out. They thought they already sent it because I'd called them a few weeks ago. Kinda sucks because I'll have to re-center everything once I get it. I also still need to set the toe with the tierod....it's close but not perfect yet. Will do that after I get the drop bracket and can finalize where the track bar and drag link will be.


On to the rear. The rear comes with new eye bushings for the shackles, so I'm not sure how difficult it'll be getting the old ones out. I've done this before on imports and have done everything from having to sawzall them out to burning them out. Burning is not really an option here since I have a fuel tank right there. Hoping I can drive them out without a ton of trouble.


I do also need to relocate my mudflaps...that'll entail drilling a new hole in the frame rail on each side. Need to do that to clear larger tires.


Making progress. Pics to come in a few days.

 

Got the correct brake fittings for a whopping $4.79. It's all together now. Just need to bleed the system to have brakes again.


Will likely get the rear springs in this weekend, and pics will follow that. JBG didn't think the front DS needed lengthened, but it definitely does. Guessing the rear will need to be lengthened too...(ouch). Since they're getting retubed anyways, will have them fully rebuilt with new Ujoints and new Ubolt kits. Expecting that to run close to $600 given past experience to do both.


Still on the fence about upgrading axle shafts when I have the diffs apart for the regear and locker install. Anyone running a Detroit in back with stock 31 spline shafts?

 

If you are going to wheel it hard...remember as soon as you break a axle or strip some splines you will wish you had upgraded. I'd do it while it is apart.

And post some pics of this build you know the rules... if not see pics #1.

Pic #2 is how we want it to be, pic #3 how it really is. lol

 

Well that second pic sure is nice...LOL


Pics will come after I wrap up the lift so I only have to do it all once. Should be able to post up after this coming weekend.


I went ahead and ordered upgraded shafts front and rear. Also going with a Detroit true track in front rather than open since I only want to do this once, and I suspect I will get tired of not having any traction device up front after a while. Ordered master install kits for both so I have all new bearings and seals.


Also ordered up a 1 wire 100A alternator and a dual battery kit.

 

Dang you just took a big bite outa the wallet.

 

You got that right. Figuring on a $10k overall build here, not including the purch price of the truck.


Paid for by the sale of my other crawler.


I'll put up a parts and price list when I'm done.

 

Update: It drives and stops. Rear lift this weekend, then pics.

 

Pile of parts


Securely lifted


Removing pitman arm


Removing Tierods


Cotter pins pulled


Whack the knuckle! Removing the TREs.


I'm getting too old to get up and down off concrete all day long!


Pitman arm nut removal


Got it off


Trying to position my puller


Almost got it. Pitman arm actually ended up coming off cleanly without the puller. That was lucky!


Putting on the new drop arm


Taking something apart.


removing old shocks.


2 guys, 2 sides.


More disassembly


Old Y steering on the floor.



Random pic in the cab that the wifey took....


Freeing the coils from their buckets.


Disconnecting track bar


Radius arms unbolted.


Off it comes


Radius arms almost free


wrestling parts off. No directions for this, so winging it.




New bushings in the arms.


Crank it down!


Drop bracket installed



Driveline had to come loose...too short to reassemble with the lift.


New springs in their home


This is a lot like work.


Coming together


One side assembled.


All the junk from the front.


Moving out back.


assessing what I have to work with. Ebrake cables over exhaust. Had to pull the drum assembly apart on that side to reroute, and they're still too short.


Ebrake cable on the other side. Had to reroute under the exhaust. Ended up being a waste of time


I hate drum brakes.


New spring has so much arch to it....this is with shackle pulled all the way forward....what to do.


assessing with new spring in place


Used a ratchet strap to pull the spring out to get bolts in it.


And the center pins were too big to fit in the factory block, so had to drill that out.


Upper plate also had to be drilled out to go over the pin.


reassembling.


Shocks won't bolt up because the shock body is in the way. Gonna have to cut off the shock mounts and get new tabs welded on.


Rear assembled, sans the lower shock mount.


Here's how she sits....still on 31s.


Drop track bar bracket came in so we did that a week after the rest of the front.


two sets of hands helps.


How the track bar drop bracket mounts.


Adjusting drag link to get the steering wheel straight.


Front done!

 

So, the good....


It looks great and the springs seem like they'll be real flexy.


The bad:


Have to lengthen both driveshafts about 2". Can't even bolt up the front because it doesn't extend far enough.
Have to cut the rear shock mounts off the axle because the shocks won't bolt up. Need new tabs there
Had to drill out the upper Ubolt plate and the lift block to fit the larger Deaver center pin.
Need new Ebrake cables, and probably need to make a drop bracket.
Washers that came with the drop track bar mount didn't even fit on one of the bolts.
Front brake line with the kit didn't bolt up. Had a male end where a female end was supposed to be, so had to get some adapter fittings.
There were no bolts with the new steering linkage to attach the stabilizer. ended up drilling out the threaded part and using through bolts, and a mount I had laying around in the garage.


Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. Haven't driven much since driveshafts need lengthened. Will be a good time to replace the slip seals and Ujoints, and put in some new Ubolt kits.


Those will go into a shop on Monday. Need to order up some Ebrake cables.


Once those come in, and I get my new axle shafts and front True Track, I can get the appointment set up to get the Gears/locker/rear shafts installed, as well as the front gears and LSD. Got new shafts for the front as well, along with some Warn Premium hubs.