Squeaky Penguin's (Trip Reports) Build Thread

I tried that. Easier said than done...

Would need an extra set of hands, and readjusting my setup with hoist to get the engine as level as possible.

 

Why isn’t @Night Eagle helping you? Or is he there with his hands in his pockets

 

Yes. move the perches up. Remember the drive train has to remain level or it will throw off your pinion angle. If your motor is to low. Your transfer case flange will be pointed up. You want to have your transfer case flange straight up and down or slightly down. Also it's a tight clearance with the front drive shaft. If the motor mounts to low it will contact your front drive shaft.

 

OK now I see everything your working with.

Do this. Attach your TG mounts and perches to the motor. Drop your motor in and put your tranny on the motor (You'll only need a couple of bolts just to seat it together). Bolt on your transfer case to the crossmember the way it needs to be.

Once you have that done rase and lower your motor to the hight that it needs to be so that your transfer case flange is where it needs to be.

Now make sure that height of the motor will give enough space for your front driveshaft.

Once everything is lined up correctly tac your perches to the frame, dicconect everything and pull everything out. now burn in your perches in.

Remember don't tac the perches on the frame until everything lines up correctly. It's a mother f'er but this is the best way to do it.

I actually went off measurement from another truck. I took a shit load of measurements from bolts to firewall, transmission to bottom of cab in different locations. I wanted to make sure everything lined up because if you don't your other parts won't line up right, like exhaust, AC, any hoses or wires.

 

I understand how you feel. I've been in your shoes. But don't feel defeated. You got this bud. Wish I could be there to help.

 

I am in denver this weekend.

 

He was at @TMFF s hoping the third time was the charm for shock and resi setup.

Thanks for all the help, Ray. I'll give that a go tomorrow and see if I can make it happen.

 

Third time was the charm. They aren't in the original planned spot but still works great.

 

Not too bad. They look a tiny bit cold. You may want to turn up your heat a little bit for better penetration.

Did that sound like I have any idea what I'm talking about?

 

Nailed it

 

Transmission bolted in. Need to do some fine tuning and then tack the perches in, but super happy I'm going to be able to make this happen.

 

Got everything in place and tacked, and pulled the trans and engine again.



Fully welded with little frame plates on either side.




Going to run that 2awg wiring on the engine, and drop it back in sometime this week.

 

Nice. Glad it all worked out!

 

So where did they end up relative to where you were initially going to put them?

 

good job

 

Didn't measure exactly, but I think they ended up a 1/2" higher, and very slightly further forward than the original perches. The higher I expected, not sure why they ended up moving forward though. I had the trans mounted and bolted tight, so it was solid front to back. Regardless, there's several factors going on between the mounts and perches, and as long as everything works I'll be happy.

Thanks for the help and motivation, Ray! I was rereading your build, and have even more respect for all the work to make the engine and 4x4 swap happen. I spent all weekend just getting those perches in.

 

I managed to read through the first 9 pages of this EAF build thread... then resorted to searching... and now I'm here. What is the Penguin up to now? (I don't have the time to search backwards and figure it out.) Is he swapping in a Tesla drivetrain? 302 small block Ford from a wrecked Mustang? Major kudos if he's doing a diesel swap with a Toy 1KZ-TE...

 

Hey Penguin... can you briefly summarize your opinion / experiences with the following suspension setups:

1. 5100's with stock coils / leafs & front 5100's set to mid or high lift position?
2. 5100's with 881's
3. 5100's with 882's
4. Nitrochargers with 882's <--- especially interested in how you compare the 5100s vs the Nitrochargers with the 882s

Back on post #586 (Mar 30, 2015), you said

Can you expand on that a bit? Conversely, it reads like the 5100's were a bit softer than the OMEs? Were you in general "happy" with the 5100s (while they worked, before they bent/leaked etc)?

When you switched to Nitrochargers in the front, did you also switch out the 5125's in the back to Nitrochargers, or were you running Nitrochargers in the front / Billies in the back? If so, how was that?

I'm pretty sure my stock suspension on my '04 DC TRD is shot, and needs replaced/upgraded. But I also need new tires, timing belt is due, and funds are limited / getting stretched in different directions. Am trying to figure if 5100's all around, 882's in front, and an AAL in the back is a viable first step for me. Thx.

Wonderful build thread.

 

Nothing exciting. Just putting the 286k mile 3.4 back in on new perches.

Didn't we go through this already in the BS thread?

 

Shit, I dunno. I don't specifically recall a Sqeaky Penguin. I'll go look.

Re: your 3.4 re-install. What happened? Did you break the motor mounts? Or you were just looking for an excuse to weld?