Yeah, all the manufacturers run their weights right at the axle limits, I know it's all about costs but jeez, beef up the suspensions and we will be happy to pay a couple of hundred more for the extra safety margin.

My rig is still 3.73 front and 4.88 rear. My buddy and I were just talking about swapping in the other front axle soon, just need the time off work.

 

So you have a whole front axle to swap in??

 

Yep, bought a set of axles off an '01 EX with 4.88's and a rear locker for $1200, half of what the local shops wanted for a gear change. The front axle has recent ball joints and Warn hubs and all of the steering linkage is fairly new and tight. I just had to buy new lug nuts for the older coarse theads.

 

It's a bit more than a couple hundred though. When I ordered my car hauler it was an additional $700 for the tandem 7K axles. Easily worth it for what I do, but if I were hovering right around the max capacity for 5,200 lb axles all the time I don't think it would be worth the cost.

 

That's a easy swap than. Take a couple hrs tops!

 

Tom, I would gladly pay the extra $700 for the upgrade, it's cheaper than what it will cost me to do it. We pull our camper about 5k miles a year and our current '05 rig's springs are shot, it's getting traded that way. It was originally equiped with load range D tires that all failed, I had 3 of the 4 replacement load range E tires fail at the same time. They were two years old, always covered when parked and always run at 80PSI. This trailer has never been loaded to it's GVW. I hate China bomb ST tires! When I do upgrade to 6k axles and springs it will also get 16" LT tires.
Having to buy 4 new tires, a new fridge (shaken to death by the failed tires) and rewiring the power converter due to a small electrical fire (also caused by the shaking) on the first day of a three week vacation convinced me that this upgrade is worth the cost for the piece of mind while on the road. You may feel the same way if you had been in my shoes that day.

 

Easy for you to say, I break things!

 

You are correct sir. That was the pic from the TireRack website and like AlaskanEx said, it's a "sample" not the actual wheel. They're on backorder so it'll be a couple weeks before they arrive. I need to get black lug nuts so they match the wheels too. Then I'll black out the bumpers, grill and trim. With the limo tint it's going to be black on black on black on black!

These are actually about .25" taller than my 33's so I'll get closer to getting my speedometer where it should be and my 33's can go into storage for dedicated off-road use.

 

What did I do to the Ex today?

Bought it a playmate

Pics when I get home

 

the reason i hate my open rear end showed itself again today on the way home..slightly wet road turning right into traffic and the right rear tire just let loose. as traffic was coming at a decent clip i just stomped it and spun well into second gear rather then let off and get on it again. i really need a detroit tru-trac!!!

 

NOW!!!!

 

I now have in my possession a grille, set of head lights, head light wiring adapters and a header panel. My mechanic is going to see about getting me a bumper tomorrow. Woohoo

 

not exactly new, nor what i did but the look of my truck has given me some interesting results.
being that im a young guy, with a big, loud, murdered out, diesel the cops treat me like a drug dealer or something. ive been illegally pulled over without any cause on a few occasions.
but then everyone else thinks my truck looks like a cop vehicle. i was messing with a speeding audi before and he started driving very paranoid, then last week i witnessed a hilarious event.
i was at my buddies house in a sketchy part of town, the city is aptly nicknamed chillicrack (thanks vancouver...) and i watched guy dancing down the middle of the street as a car pulled up. the guy continued being overly joyful and i saw the driver pointing to my truck and signalling him to quiet down. the driver started getting very frantic with the guy, all while i watched from my large 08+ mirrors.

tor, congrats on the new "playmate" i look forward to pics, or else it didnt happen

acf6, are you doing the full 05 frontend conversion? which headlights, chrome or HD?

Alaskan, i dont think i could ever handle an open front end. i would probably break something in fury. but i do a lot of off-road and bad weather driving.

all this talk of your fancy campers, if i owned one i would legitimately live in it full time. i have actually contemplated doing this a few times and still think it would be an awesome idea.
i dont care much for loads of empty free space, dont mind cozy living spaces and i could fit everything i need, and store the rest at my family farm.

 

Say it ain't so!

Cleaned mine up tonight in preparation for an early departure tomorrow morning. Hasn't been washed since June and all it took was a simple feather dusting, spray wax, and cleaning of the windows.

 

rear end you mean?

yes, it pisses me off to no end in the winter because i'll be spinning one front and one rear trying to get going. i've had to really learn to roll into the throttle in the winter as much as i hate it. plus i have to use the trucks weight to get the *** end to slide out..verses just giving it some gas so it will step out.

all my other trucks have good limited slips and are much more fun to drive in the winter

my black 2000 Ex did have a LS but i never got to even try it in the 2 months i owned it before it was totaled