Cynicalriders "J0hnny5 is ALIVE!" 01 build thread.

Nice shiny new frame! Every 1st gens dream.

 

J5 needs a wheeling appt with lil Kim!

 

Very true. You guys have any wheelin trips planned?

 

Sadly no. I want to get out in the pines just for a rip but I want to keep the frame pewp free till I get all my shit back on. No use in dealing with sand falling in my face if I don't need to.

 

Worked on J5 a little last night. Bent over the pinch weld that runs on the cab on both sides. It used to dig into my sliders and was one of the main reasons why most of my slider paint came off. Got some rust to try to eliminate in those areas too.

Also installed an LED in my glove box light location. It was supposed to be cool white but looks like warm white to me. Might replace it eventually.



And installed a dual USB plug and voltage meter. We have way too many 12v plugs up front and I never use them.




Garage is a fucking mess again.

 

Nice job on the usb and volt meter. It looks really clean. I think I'm going to have to do that with the usbs since the dual plug i have occasionally falls out.

 

Thank you! Yeah only thing that I had to do to make them fit was bore the hole out a little bit larger. Also plugging them in is kind of a bitch but Hopefully not something I will have to deal with often.

Has a solid day cutting/grinding/welding/fabbing with @PSU Taco85 at Ant's used Yota lot.



My biggest priority for the truck re-assembly was getting some weight up front again so my suspension didn't ride like shit. I was able to save most of the crossmember we originally built so it was a matter of adding the extensions again and welding it back on. We did some things differently this time to make it even stronger.

Extensions being burned in:





I believe we had the extensions at 2" last time and settled on 2 1/4" this time.

Skid nuts were tacked in this time, and another was re-tacked. Also slits were cut in the front to get the weld he would not be able to get because of the radiator being in the way. Ant really thinks of cool work arounds for shit:




All bolted on and looking awesome:




Next up was getting the skid to mount up to the new crossmember. The skid basically sits flush right behind it so the plan was to weld an extension to it so it can bolt up. It's a bitch to get on and off but that's mostly because it's been fucked up so much already.

Plasma action to cut the piece:



Welding it on:




Bolts up nicely now:



Next step was working on a transmission skid. Used the whiskey bend method to start shaping it. More to come from that project soon.

 

Did some more work. Taking my first stab at body work:



Got the light re-connected:



It's also now on a water proof switch so I can turn it off if I get hassled.

And here's where the trans skid is at right now.



Gonna put it in place, drill bolt holes, bolt it up, then work on cutting pieces to weld in for supports/bracing.

 

How'd you bend it? And how thick, I'm looking into making my own skids this summer

 

It's 3/16" and we used the whiskey bend method. Was a little nervous when @PSU Taco85 and I did it because we didn't want to cut all the way through. It's surprising how strong the steel is though when trying to bend it. We didn't have a solid table to work with so I was sitting on the sheet as he was trying to bend it and the table kept wanting to fall over. You can see us doing it in the last pic of my previous post. Once the angles are perfect we can tack the angles with it on the truck, and weld the supports in. I will probably go overboard with the bracing but that's just me.

 

Took the truck out for the first time offroad since the work was done. Got some decent pics and almost got stuck in a spot I didn't think would suck me in but did. Had to rock the bitch hard with the rear locked to get out. Tore up my license plate pretty bad.





The painted the front crossmember after all the new welds:



And threw on the blue shackles I painted.

 

I would not even waste your time welding supports for the skid. I had the full all pro skids that were 3/16s and they were bent and dented in evrey plane after 10yrs of hard use, but still never came in contact with anything of importance. Dented meaning it looks like you hit it with a sledge hammer a 100 times or so, and had a slight bow up to it. If you bend the skid bad enough to touch and damage the trans, that's the least of your worries LOL; especially if you are spanning the gap between the t-case crossmember and the IFS crossmember the rack is bolted to. All reinforcing it will do is make it heavy and a PITA to handle if you have to remove it.

 

So much work! Love it

 

Yeah really the main reason I want that skid is to protect the front drive shaft and rack. The manual trans really doesn't stick down too far to be a concern. I'll see what I can do to make the support minimal but strong in the places that count.

 

I never had a problem with either. The rack is 100% protected as that front crossmemeber hangs lower and with plate over and behind it you are golden. The drive shaft is tucked up there nice and high. I'm going to miss the flatish belly of the IFS!!

 

Now you will have a front diff/axle to watch out for but can run much larger tires more reliably. I'm sure your wheeling style will have to change when picking lines, but it will be so worth it when it's done.

 

Yea the front locker will be nice!!

 

Got some tools to prep for tubbing:



And added a sticker I got from @geekhouse23 legit a year ago. Love the way it looks, but had to wait till I re-painted my diff/axle post armor.

 

Forgot about that

 

Haha I didn't clearly. Been keeping track of that one for a long time now. Thanks again dude!