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

Thanks for your input.

 

URD sells the Aeromotive 340, and that's what I'd use. Also it's cheaper everywhere else.

 

I missed her birthday, but she still loves me.

 

Mine on Igor is a whip. Works good but not great as it's off the tailgate

 

It’s such a baby lol

 

For real. She’s just being broken in!

 

Trying to do some strategizing for all of the work that I want to get done before the end of the spring. In the meantime, I’m trying to get some good experience MIG welding so that I can do all this myself.

Hopefully my sequencing makes sense. Looking to get started on front suspension strip down this weekend.


WINTER 2018

Front Suspension & Steering:

1. Pull coilovers, UCAs, spindles, LCAs
2. Cam tab gussets
3. Coil bucket gussets
4. Steering rack bushings, TREs, PS cooler
5. Spindle gussets
6. Install LCA bushings, LCAs, UCAs, spindles
7. Front limit straps
8. Front bumps
9. Tack weld mod

Rear Suspension & Reinforcement:

1. Pull bed
2. Reinforce frame
3. Re-arch springs
4. Cycle rear suspension
5. Rebuild springs
6. Relocate rear shocks, u-bolt flip
7. Rear limit straps
8. Rear bumps
9. Reinforce bed and reinstall

Maintenance:

1. Spark plugs & wires, PCV valve
2. Coolant
3. Oil change

 

SPRING 2019

Interior & Body:

1. Foam fill rocker panels near tub
2. Finish bedsides, wheel wells, mud flaps
3. Clean and repaint floor pan
4. Install sound deadener
5. Install vinyl floor
6. Install seat covers
7. Install snorkel

Crawl Box & Clutch:

1. Pull & modify driveshafts
2. Pull transmission and transfer case
3. Pull clutch, release bearing, pilot bearing, flywheel
4. Inspect rear main seal
5. Surface flywheel
6. Install beefier clutch
7. Install crawl box and mount
8. Install triples
9. Gusset skid plates

 

That'll keep you busy!

First time in years I don't have anything planned for a winter project.

 

Curious what bed reinforcement ideas you have?

Jealous

 

For sure. It’s a ton of work.

I’ve made some fairly significant changes to my life in the last couple months that have freed up a ton of time, so there really isn’t any excuse, including the weather, for me not to get the winter work done by the new year. That would get the reinforcement and suspension work out of the way, which would be a huge upgrade for the truck.

After the new year, I’ll be busier, but still not nearly like I used to be. I should be able to take my time with the crawl box and interior stuff and have it done before wheeling and camping season.

I remember when you were contemplating selling your truck. So glad you stuck with it.

Nothing too concrete as of yet, but I definitely need to address it.

I know you ran into the same thing with yours bending and/or perforating the mounting channel under the bed. I’m fairly certain that the body lift spacers caused or at least contributed to that issue with the smaller footprint area. I should have caught that and corrected it when I installed mine, but oh well.

My best idea so far is to find some 1” x 2” x 1/8” wall rectangular tube that would run the width of the bed in the front and in the back. These would take the place of the four Daystar spacers that likely exacerbated the issue in the first place. I’d still need to rebuild the integral channel on the bed that got punctured, though.

I also noticed that my bed is cracking and tearing at the corners by the cab. It might be caused by my bed rack being slightly too wide or a bed that is slightly narrower than typical. I’ll most likely need to fab up some simple right angle brackets to keep everything from falling apart. We’ll see.

 

I should have said nothing on the list yet. Considering beefing up the motor mount perches, and replacing the mounts, putting in a better clutch, and just diving into the core support before it completely falls apart.

Not sure I want to bother with any of that yet, though.

Nice Jason! Can't wait to see the updates.

Mod weekend at Jason's to knock a bunch out? Regardless, holler if you have any questions, having done most of those things on your list.

It still crosses my mind from time to time. There's a few reasons I would like a newer truck to build, and the ability to start over on a few things. That being said, I'm too invested in my current setup to change now.

 

very common for bed racks to cause this. Which is why on mine I made i had a piece go all the way around the front as well instead of just mounting feet. My bed in Igor when I first got the bed bars in where hard to fit. Not they pull the bed together when reinstalling.

It's thin metal sadly..

 

Thanks, Brett! I’ll definitely be throwing out plenty of questions.

I know, and I hate body work.

I might borrow your idea and do a connecting piece up there on the rack to help strengthen the bed when the rack and rent are on there.

 

Sounds like we have the same idea.

 

Holy shit, you'll be busy dude. for progress as always.

 

Yeah, it’s definitely going to be a lot of work. And it'll be cold AF for almost all of it.

The good news is that I have some good cold weather gear, and I already have 95% of the parts, so I’m not waiting on anything major.

I think I’ll start with the maintenance stuff first and keep cranking on my welding practice before I dive into the front end. We’ll see how things go.

 

Getting things done this week and it feels good. Got my plugs and wires changed, as well as the oil and filter. Diving in to the coolant flush today after I check fluids and grease the driveshafts.

It also looks like Brody left me a message on the side of my truck




For shits and giggles, I did some research into some 285/75R17s for my next tire down the road. It would be nice to lose an inch or so of width without losing too much height relative to my current 315/75R16 setup. The little bit of height that I lose would just translate into more body clearance and slightly lower overall gearing.

For reference, my F5s are 16x8 -25 (3.5BS), and I'd likely be going to a 17x9 -38 (3.5BS) wheel when I replace the tires.

 

285/75r17 is the perfect size for our trucks. I'm not opposed to 35s, but 315s are just too wide.

 

There is a reason I run them on all my Toyota 4x4's. It's a great size tire and it seems like there is a new manufacturer making an AT in that size every year.

Ditch the aged 16's gents soon it might be hard to get tires. 15" wheels are that way now.