Run to the Hills! - Jason's Completely Stalled Colorado GTFO Build

I can't wait!

In fact, broseph, I'll probably hit you up for some input on installing the front. Scotty ran through it pretty quickly, and I'm sure it's somewhat intuitive, but it couldn't hurt to have some backup. It looks to me like the crossmember gets all of the welding, so the bumper itself can get powder coated along with the rear bumper. Since I'll be getting a winch, maybe a couple stitch welds after bolting on and lining it up would be a good thing.

 

Regear - New 3rd Member and Clamshell w/ARB

Hit my 500 miles on the new rear gears today. (Well, according to the trip meter it was 560, but that's on a mismatched speedo gear...)

Anyway, I drained the oil and replaced it. Nothing unusual. As expected the oil wasn't black, but it was more of a metallic gray. Here's a shitty picture with my shop light.



The drain plug definitely had some shavings, but it was all the expected small particles; no big chunks





After cleaning up the drain plug, I threw it back in and filled it up with three quarts of Lucas 85W-140, per ECGS recommendation. Torqued both plugs to 36 lb-ft, per the FSM, and that was that.

As for the front, I'll go ahead and change it tomorrow, despite the fact that it's nowhere near 500 miles. I'm thinking seriously about changing both diffs again at 1000 miles (for the rear), and then proceeding at the usual intervals.

 

I would.

 

I changed mine at 500 and again around 1000, The 2nd change had some shavings in it too.

 

Well if Ray and Brett recommend doing it, then I'll do it! I really want to take care of these gears.

I'm going to try hard to get some dirt/gravel road time in as much as possible to keep the front diff break in going. I figure if I'm lucky, I'll have maybe 200-300 miles on it by the time I get to 1000 in the rear. Regardless, it'll get changed with the rear, which can't hurt.

 

Mine was harder as I did not have the front crossmember and had to make my own. I bought the bumper second hand from another member so the crossmember was mounted on his truck still. Hardest part is figuring if you need to cut down or extend the frame rails or not and by how much. As far as stitch welding the bumper to the mount, not needed IMO. You've got 6 heavy duty bolts holding it on, it's not going anywhere haha.

 

Cool, man. I'm sure I can figure it out. Apparently on my 2002, I need to extend the rails, so Scotty sent along some extensions as well as the crossmember. The big takeaway was to just tack everything first, mount the bumper, and once everything looks like it will line up, burn the crossmember in permanently.

I'm just glad that I can send off both bumpers to PC while I'm working on other stuff and then just bolt them on.

 

Roof Top Tent

Finally.

 

Looks good bro! Bet it feels great to be done......well we are never done modding, but you know what I mean.

 

Lol "done." Looks awsome dude! Buuut Where them big metal bumper things at!?!

 

Looks great! Love how the trucks progressing man. Your wheels are 3.5" BS with 1.25" spacers right? I'm considering going 4" BS with 1.25" spacers just so overall BS won't be 2.25" but instead 2.75".

 

Great looking truck man. When I saw your thread title, I immediately started singing the song. I was happy to see you had the youtube link in your OP. Hadn't heard that in a loooong time

 

*EDIT: Is this weekend the weekend of said camping trip?

 

Read everything. Good job on the build, Jason. Truck looks great, loved the details on tubbing, and lol at driving with the holes in there. Subbed for your future plans!

 

What tires do you have? Of course after I pretty much decide on SCS SR8's I see your F5s

 

Thanks, Robert!

I know what you mean! There's always something to do, which in some way is one of the really cool aspects of what we all do with these trucks.

But today was a huge milestone for me in getting the truck to the point where I could put the tent up there and go camping. Because that's literally the whole reason I'm doing this. In fact, I'm typing this from the toasty comfort of my sleeping bag and the tent as I look out at the aspens up toward Guanella Pass

Rob! Thanks for the props, buddy! It always has a little more behind it when it comes from the guy with my truck's twin!

The bumpers have just a little bit of slag that I need to clean up, but nothing at all that's an issue. I've already set things up with the powder coat guy for next week... Then it'll be time to bug Mike about how to weld up the front bumper...

Thanks, Mike!

You're close! I have SCS F5s on 16x8x3.5BS, with 1" BORA spacers, for 2.5 total backspace. So far, that has worked out perfectly along with the (still not quite finished) tubbing. I'm amazed at how well this sexy beast turns with those big ole tires I think you'll probably be just fine with 2.75, honestly!

 

Thanks for the kind words, man!

It's never a bad time to rock some Maiden! It's funny as hell, actually. I grew up listening to those dudes, and that was definitely part of the motivation for the title. But I never thought about linking up the song! Thankfully, @Wolftaco0503 brought the situation to my attention, and the lack of Maiden was addressed promptly, if not belatedly.

Thanks, Austin!

My baby isn't on the nearly the same level as Putt-Putt, but I'm getting there!

And yes, it is indeed the weekend of the camping trip. It's kinda bizarre to be responding to my build thread from up in the mountains, but I guess we're still close enough to I-70 to have cell coverage.

Have you been up Leavenworth Creek Road off of the road to Guanella Pass? It's absolutely gorgeous up here right now. The aspens are still turning, and the weather is perfect!

Haha! Decisions, decisions...

After a massive amount of OCD driven nerding out, I decided on the Cooper ST Maxx. The clincher was seeing @Gramps rocking them on that sexy, sexy ride of his, and reporting back that they performed great.

I'm running the 315/75R16, and I couldn't be happier. As for the F5s, I just love how simple but beautiful they are, and I think that they work really well on our 1st Gens. Now with that said, had the RAY10 been available in 16x8x3.5 in Matte Bronze, I woulda been all over that...

 

Holy shit, Nick is up in here! Thanks for stopping by, man! Your build thread is one of the highlights of TW for me, and I respect the hell out of how you approach your build and your documentation.

As ashamed as I am to admit it, the tub job is still not done. I'm not going to tell you how I rigged up the hole on the passenger side to make it drivable, but I'll admit that it involved duct tape... But this opportunity presented itself, and I was jonesing so bad to get out, that I had to do it.

Again, thanks for stopping by! Please feel free to chime in anytime. I'd love to get your input!

 

That right there is awesome! Makes everything worth it. Post a pic later if you're able. Would love to see...

Thanks.

I've been there myself countless times. Mods half finished, going off half cocked, duck tape, etc... All worth it, making the trip is what counts in my book.

 

That's what I am hoping for. Trying to run as little BS as I can get away with just because after changing the one rear wheel bearings, I really don't wanna do more. They all are probably due though.