It Begins: Miss Blue

Most "universal" things seem to be that way,

 

I'm sure trying to do it. All depends on work and cash flow. I do have it on my calendar. With my new job and summer construction boom, planning things sucks. I just found out yesterday I could take off tomorrow and Friday for a long weekend trip to VT. I was up till 2am packing and had to be out the door at 5am today for work. It's ether feast or famine and Ill take feast every time

 

Takeoff shudder came back with a vengeance when the trac bar went on. Apparently, the extra height from the shackle flips and Dakars put the u-joint behind the carrier bearing at a little unhappy angle.

$7 in hardware at Lowes (Bolts x2, washers x2, spacers x2), 60 seconds with a ratchet under the truck, and the takeoff shudder is gone. Cheap, easy, and the best part is your mom absolutely loves it.

I have no idea how some of these vendors get away with selling $50+ carrier bearing drop kits. If anyone wants a parts list of the hardware I used, let me know.

 

or just get a one piece made

 

I have a one piece. Because of the exhaust crosspipe and the new higher ass of the truck it doesn't clear anymore. This is the solution while I decide whether to chop the exhaust again or have the one-piece chopped and turned into a two-piece.

I like the idea of having it turned into another two-piece. They're easier to carry as trail spares.

 

u mean cross over where i have it bold?

 

Yeah. My bad.

 

ok, i was like wtf is he talkin about? what exhaust crossmember, then saw the pic of ur fix. they ended up routing mine closer to the t case than urs. atleast what i can tell from the pic

 

Originally I had it done to leave room for a crawlbox. Now that the crawlbox is no longer in the plans, the thing is kinda in the way.

Probably gonna have it re-done at some point. Just kinda tired of exhaust re-routes right now.

 

yeah i know. it took 2 shops for me to get it done. the first one wouldnt touch it. said it was illegal before the 8 year 80,ooo mile emissions warranty since the cats were attached and i was like dood, i dont want to get rid of the cats. still wouldnt touch it.

the second shop was like yeah, we will do it and in 1.25 hours i was drivin off

 

Been there. First exhaust shop I checked with was rude and I was back out the door in two minutes. The next was great.

Found a good local place in my new town with some old farts. Seem to do good work at a fair price.

 

More shit.

Got home from work a little early today and found a couple packages waiting for me.

First, a big shout out again to the sPOD folks. They actually found my build on here, got in touch with me, noticed they had shipped my unit with the long battery cables, and offered to swap them back out for the shorties for free (no shipping even!). So those went in.

Then wired up a KC Lite flood in the rear bed tracks to serve triple duty as a backup light/dust beacon/bed light. Works well, although as a backup light it only really illuminates the left 2/3rds behind me because of the bed rack and tire blocking part of the pattern. Solutions include moving it back in the bed behind the rack, or adding a second light on the other side. I don't like the idea of moving it back, because a branch or something will probably rip it off. Most likely be ordering a second one.







Color matched D-Ring Isolators

You're jealous as hell. I can feel it. Not sure about these things yet (they're almost as gay as Ant's color-matched fake beadlocks ), but I'll give them some time and see if they grow on me. Honestly, if they don't, I'm not sure what color I'd replace 'em with...probably black and hide the shackles.

(Yes, I know the images are blurry. Rain was coming and I was in a hurry. Sue me.)

 

Just givin' ya a little shit. I like these isolators, just not sure if I'm getting too many "accents" (engine cover, isolators, coilsprings, I have color matched brake lines on the way for the rear) in blue. It doesn't work if the truck is overrun with them.

Amazon has 'em in all the colors Daystar offers, but hang back for a few weeks. If I end up swapping mine for blacks, I'll sell you this set on a dealy.

I was seriously considering having people vote on 'em using either that picture or Courage Wolf for bad or good, respectively. It would've been for giggles. Anyone who knows me knows by now I could give a shit what the internet thinks.

 

X2

 

The matching d-ring isolators are so cute!

 

Aren't they?

They looked different in my mind when I ordered them on the web from how they look in reality on the truck installed. I'm gonna give 'em a week. We'll see.

 

I'm just giving you shit, I actually do like them, but they could be pink and your truck would still be bad ass.

 

Heh, thanks man. I've often considered a save the ta-tas sticker because it would be so out of place with the rest of the truck.

We'll see what happens with these things.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8WD1I7i-KU