The Does Everything, but Sucks at Everything Build

Finally installed EBC Yellows like @jberry813 recommended to me back in December. I installed Napa rotors as well even though the OEM ones were still good. I haven't finished the break in period but I can definitely feel a small but noticeable boost in the braking power. Their reputation for putting off a lot of dust is definitely deserved, I pulled my wheels off a couple days later, a bunch of dust got knocked off and ended up on the garage floor, I ended up stepping in it and tracked the dust onto some carpet in my house. Photos aren't in order and jump back and forth from side to side.

I did this job at the same time as the tie rod swap so I could move the spindle around as I wanted, I pivoted them out to make getting to the brakes easier.


Mandatory pre-work photo to reference if I forget how something went together, or do 1 brake at a time and use the untouched one for reference.


After pulling out the old hardware and pads had to push the pistons all the way in to make room for the EBC pads, ended up just bleeding the brake fluid off to make room for the pistons in the calipers. I used Channellocks to compress the pistons, could also use a large screw driver prying off the old rotors.



Pistons pushed all the way in




Removed the ABS wire guide and suspended the caliper off to the side for inspection and cleaning.



I've seen a couple people post up their process for these and they got noise reducing sleeves to install in the pistons, for whatever reason, I didn't and just reused the old anti-squeal shims.



Everything reinstalled.

 

Bad ass rig man. I like the little cubby hole for quick tow strap access good idea.
Sub'd

 

might try the Yellow pads after my Green stuff pads die.

 

awesome build! subbed for future reference of bushwhacker cuts

 

How well does the rear suspension keep up with the front?

 

Short answer:
It wasn't the intention to leave the 2.0 Icons in the rear indefinitely. I put the kit on back in Feb/Mar (IIRC) and I haven't had the opportunity to find the limits, I spent most of the beginning of the year doing local rock crawling trails on the one weekend a month I have off. The little bit of desert driving I've done since installing it wasn't fast enough or long enough to really find the limits between the 2, but there's a drastic difference between King 2.5 8" travel LT shocks and Icon 2.0 extended travels, the rears would never be able to keep up. The first (and only) 2 long trips I've taken since the "Death Valley Spindle Incident" have been to Colorado mountains (not much opportunity to haul ass in those mountains)

Additional information (not necessarily pertaining to the question):

I haven't updated this in a while so some things changed and have other parts on order/waiting to be installed.

-relocated the battery to the rear and added an auxiliary battery housed in a tool box
-installed triple bypasses in the front
-removed timbren bump stops in the rear
-installed hydro bumps in the rear
-have a pair of triple bypasses for the rear waiting for time and it to-not-be-hot-as-fucking-balls to install them (fucking Socal weather, I got back from a second trip to Colorado in August and the weather was so nice there, and I come home to 105+F with stupid levels of humidity )

After I did a first trip to Colorado back in July I learned a couple things......
1. Prior to my summer trips to Colorado the Timbren rear bump stops were acting as a band-aid and was helping hold up the rear even though I was approaching the limits of the Dakars+AAL
2. After addition of the dual batteries in the rear + tool box housing for them I am over the weight limit of the Dakars+AAL now, and with the hydro bumps in I am basically riding them all the time, they are constantly engaging (Its a noticeable *clap* noise when you hit them, so when its happening ALL the time it gets pretty annoying)
3. I needed heavier duty leafs
4. I went from disliking the Cooper MTPs, to straight fucking hating them, I punctured 1 of them and another just started randomly leaking out of the sidewall, in addition to the excessive shoulder lug chunking on every single tire.
5. Hydro bumps are nice, but riding them all the time is far from what I would call "fun"

The day after the trip I ordered Deaver's heavier duty expo springs ( I don't know what their name for them is. I called them I told I wanted them to hold 700-1000lb and still maintain 3" of lift)
Also ordered new tires.

I tried making the Dakars last as long as possible, but have to face reality that they just aren't designed to hold super heavy loads and maintain the extra ride height. I am still waiting on the Deavers to be built, my Dakars, even with the AAL have a slight negative arch at rest

On the second trip to Colorado I finally came to the conclusion that my axle is bent and potentially the housing as well

I'm just shamelessly copying @jberry813 's suspension, so if you want to see the end game of the whole thing just go to his build thread.

I really want to get the rears installed, but not if it comes with a dose of heat stroke

 

Gonna try to give this thread some love with some updates.....

The 3/16" skids aren't cutting it for rock crawling, they are pretty badly dented and the IFS skid has been smashed uncomfortably close to the front differential on multiple occasions. Decided to upgrade to 1/4" BAMF skids, unfortunately I missed the group buy order a couple months too early, ah well, seems to happen every other thing I buy.

A couple of pros for each

3/16"
Easier to pull off and perform inspections on components hidden beyond the skid
Less weight, IIRC when I weighed my Pelfreybilt skids the front set came to around 120lbish
Hard use requires pulling them off and sledge hammering them back into shape
Hard use knocks them out of shape and can make them difficult to line up the bolt holes during reassembly

1/4"
Heavy, BAMF says they weigh around 200lb
Pain in the ass to remove and reinstall
The bolts I received for the mid/transfer skid were too long, when I take them off next I'm going to replace the bolts with shorter ones
The cross member on the mid skid gets in the way of installing the bolts, I'll grind some grooves to make it easier for reassembly
I would imagine if you really hit these REALLY hard it could transfer the energy to the frame/crossmembers and might damage them
May be the strongest on the market?
Completely impractical, but aesthetically the BAMF skids look "sleeker" under the truck

And the photos.......

 

So.. what's going to happen with those old smashed up skids?

 

Give them away when I get around to it

 

Let me know when man.. I'll even give some money to increase my chances.. My stock skids are not holding up to well

 

They are pretty smashed up, I don't know if they are worth the drive to you but if you want them they are yours

 

Where are you located in SoCal?

 

Fontana

 

Alright cool, I'll look at my to do list and try to plan something out

 

Put this junk in a couple months ago, made the compression adjusters even more useless.

Still have these other 2 pieces of junk to go in, hopefully next weekend.

 

Great thread. Keep up the good work.

 

What's your short bed sleeping platform look like? Loving the build so far, keep it up!

 

It keeps changing......every time I modify something in the bed area I have to adjust the sleeping set up, it's basically 2 pieces plywood with a mattress held up by aluminum stands. How I do it wouldn't work or be comfortable for most, there's not much room above the matress, about the same as sleeping in a rack on a ship when I was in the Navy.

 

Do you just sleep at an angle? My platform is a box with two drawers then two peices of wood that come together. Only problem is it gets pretty cramped if both me and my wife sleep in the back.

 

Yeah I sleep diagonally back there. I am around 5'11" and I can stretch out 99% of the way. I tried sleeping back there with my wife one night, never going to try it again. Most of the time I go out by myself, when my wife is with me she sleeps in a ground tent.