Lord Humongous Gigahorse Tow-coma Build

Loved Glacie NP!! Definatley some of America's best scenery and hiking. Its basically a zoo, in two days of hiking saw 3 black bear, 2 grizzly bear, bull moose, bald eagle and countless bison, mtn goats and other critters.

Hard to see but there's a black bear behind the taco.
It's the black lump lol.


Made it to Canada eh?

Montana does not give a fuck about portion control!

 

Had sooooo much fun in Oregon . Truck went most places in the dunes with ease and also caught a whole mess of rock fish , crabs and clams.

 

Screwing around on the seawall dune



Some more trip pics

Also had to spend the night by groom lake aka area 51

Saw some interesting things and heard some even more interesting stuff on the radio scanner

 

That is awesome. Curious how much degree of rake you'd lose, if any? Do they make aluminum models??

 

I don't believe they make an aluminum model but it's been awhile since I've seen their website. It's made by southern style off-road if you wanna look them up. I did loose some ride height on the 650lb icon coils which honestly I was beyond recommended preload without any added weight. I moved to 700lb springs and it rides fantastically with the front bumper/winch.
I think a little more consideration should be payed to the 3rd gen OEM 712 lb/inch coils anyway.

 

Love your rear bumper too. I don't like the idea of cutting up the quarters, and this seems to do the trick!

 

That's AVIDs rear bumper gaurd. I like that it keeps the oem lines and add a little roughness.

 

So the god damn Maxa boards were were a pain in the ass on this trip. Between constantly coming loose and blocking the compressor door something had to be done about it.

Like JerryTaco sugested I mounted them under the last portion of the trifold tonneu. I Picked up carriage bolts plastic knobs and the other shown hardware for the task.

For simplicity I drilled 2 holes in the maxsa boards for mounting. I really don't feel this will affect their strength or durability.

They had to be mounted offset slightly to the drivers side to clear the co2 tank. They aren't going anywhere now and the air compressor door opens unimpeded


I thought the offset carriage bolts sticking out of the tonneu would make me insane but they actually aren't very noticeable once painted and it's well worth having them in a secure out of the way place!

Plenty of room underneath them to stow the exhaust jack and recovery bag which are held to a front bedrail with carabiner hangalls.

 

I finally took delivery of the Deadman earth anchor and Angry Beaver Murder Spork! This was from a kick starter I participated in at the overland expo.
Definitely a well built piece of gear

It's folds up and fits nicely in this little bag along with a snatch block, 20' tow strap, 2 soft shackles, tire plug kit and of course starter fluid and lighter

The murder spork is BAD ASS! Definatley zombie apocalypse meets landscaping. Speaking of landscaping I'll be sure to use it when I put in my winter lawn in a few weeks so it doesn't look so new lol. I don't wanna be confused with a jeep guy that has a brand new, never used hi-lift bolted to the hood

 

Congrats, brother! Thanks for your support!

 

The truck started making the "rumble strip" vibration between 30 to 45 mph after the last Sedona trip. It goes away in 4x4 so hopefully this ECGS stuff fixes it.


Also though I might of had a trans leak due to the puddle of red oil underneath my truck this morning. I degreased everything and revisited it later today to find my front drivers coilover to be leaking. Only about 18K miles of them and three months out of warranty.......NEAT. I did contact Icons customer service but I have a feeling they'll tell me to pound sand since warranty is up.

At least I'm planning on pulling th coilover anyway to replace the drivers side needle bearing.

 

Pulled the coilovers and dropped them off for rebuild this weekend and installed the EGGS bushing. I was a little upset at Icon for leaking but screw it I'm pretty damn hard on them and rebuild is a lot cheaper than replacing some disposables.


The ecgs bushing isn't too bad but unless you're Bruce Lee and can generate a ton of force in about 2 inches of space it takes about a half hour of crossfit style short stroke hammering to get the bushing fully seated. Probably would've been easier to just pull the CV axle out of the wheel bearing but I can't be beaten that easily

 

Should add I won't be able to see if the vibes are gone until I get the coilovers back and can test drive but the reduction of CV play at the drivers side diff is crazy noticeable after putting it back together!

 

Lol, Bruce Lee. I hear ya, it’s not much space to swing a hammer. No worries, your vibe will be gone. That bushing is gold

 

Awesome build. Enjoyed all the pic's!

 

Glad to hear! That pulsing in the steering wheel and floor board will make ya crazy on a long day of driving!

 

Been a few days and happy to report no more leaks and no more vibes.

Life is good!

 

Nice truck! You have done many things I plan to as well including run 265/75/16 with 4.88 but would like to know if that’s geared too low for long Hwy drives?
Any advice on that tire/gear combo and do you ever wish you went bigger on the tire to match the gearing?
I’m currently driving on stock tires with 4.88 and surprisingly it’s not too bad but I do want a little more tire.
Thanks for any response,
Mike

 

Thanks for the compliment, I love this truck!

I do not feel the truck is over geared at all with the 4.88s and 265 75r16s. 6th gear is so tall the truck cruises very comfortably on the highway.
Towing performance has also drastically improved but ive already gone on about that lol.

As far as tires I'll probably go to 255 85 r16s with in the next year. On average they're about 1.5"s taller than what I'm running now but the tread section is narrower so less rolling resistance. I'll still be "over geared " compared to the stock tires and 3.9 ratio but I'll think it'll be the sweet spot between drivabilty and efficiency. Im not sure if you're planning on lifting but I've seen a couple of threads with people running 255 85 r16s on 3rd gens with no lift. I'm not sure if trimming is needed w/o lift?

Speaking of tires I've been eyeballing the 255 75r16 trxus mt because Super Swamper AF!! Super aggressive and only 3lbs heavier the the 265 75r16 general x3s.