Baka's 1998 Build

At LAST! She's back on the road, no rod knocks, no immediate clearance issues.

 

That, my friends, is a bad bitch waiting to be attached to the OGT. And it's a heavy sumbitch too.

A side note: I got the thing for X-mas and this is the first time I opened the box, and that was only because I picked up a winch tray from Harbor Freight yesterday and I waned to make sure it would fit.

 

New crossmember in! Let me tell you that was a lot more work than it sounded like. Huge thanks to @GuyHuey for all the help and letting me play with his welder, haha. She's pretty damn flat now for sure.





Unforunately, since things never go 100% right for me, while we were up under there, I noticed the axle seal on my brand new diff is leaking like a sieve. I'm debating calling ECGS to see if they'll send me another seal, or just suck it up and grab one from NAPA or Marlin.

At any rate, it's off to the muffler shop tomorrow for a new exhaust.

 

Glad to help, but I'm not sure if I can get off my couch now.

 

I hear that, brother. Had to stop and grab a 32oz gatorade about half way home and it was gone by the time I pulled in the driveway. Then I just sat there in the truck for like ten minutes before I could muster the energy to unload myself and the essentials before going in and taking a shower. That heat was brutal today.

 

I went up and bought 2 Gatorade's and had one downed before I made it home. And it's only 5 minutes to the store.

 

How did the OGT drive on the way home, loud exhaust excluded?

 

It drove pretty good. The exhaust was annoying and I kept waiting to be pulled over for violating a noise ordinance, but other than that, it might have even had a little less vibration. There was one thing that was troubling--the clutch wasn't engaging smoothly anymore. It felt like it did when I first got the truck. It went away when I resurfaced the flywheel and replaced the clutch. It's still gripping though, so I'll get used to it. On the plus side, I might have found the source of the vibration. My brake rotors are warped. I can feel it in the steering now when I brake. Something else I guess I'll learn to live with for a while.

Can't wait to get the new exhaust on though. I idled down my street in 2nd so I didn't deafen my neighbors, lol.

 

@GuyHuey , I ordered the new rear mount for my front skid. It was $15 bucks, but the shipping bumped it up to ~$28. I figure that's a cheap mistake on my part, and it was probably due to be replaced anyway as many times as it's been removed.

 

Exhaust is done. They did a great job doing exactly what I wanted, keeping it all tucked as far right as possible to make room for the traction bar.



I'm not really happy with it though. Natty sounds a lot better. I'm not sure if it's just the longer exhaust run, or the difference between a 50 series Flowmaster and a Super 50 series, but Natty purrs at idle and then growls when accelerating. The OGT just sounds like when I drove it home from @GuyHuey 's place with a straight pipe, only with the volume turned down to a tolerable level.

 

I guess there's always something to upgrade. Here's the latest...

Before...

 

After...

AirRaid induction tube. Much cleaner.

 

And then there was my clever but shoddy attempt to make new splash guards for my wheel wells. If they stay put, at least my alternator and A/C compressor will be relatively safe from mud and water splashed directly on them.

 

Up next is a 105 amp alternator install along with a pair of new battery terminal clamps with multiple terminal studs. That should be fun.

Here I am wasting time on this piddly shit when I should be getting the steel fitted for my winch and rear bumper...not to mention raising my front bumper (although granted, having the 105 amp alt and the new battery ternimals will facilitate the winch).

 

OGT V1.2 pics

 

I guess I should update my build thread for recent disasters and up grades, haha. Prepare for the photo dump...

A bad day at Hardrock. Not only did this happen, but I broke an inner stub axle and had to drop the whole front diff to get the broken piece out.

The flop occured to to the Idle Air Bypass Valve failing. When I took my foot off the throttle to go down that hill, the engine cut off and I lost all my steering and 90% of my brakes at which point I was just along for the ride. It hit a rut and went left up the embankment and pretty gently flopped over. It sucks that my first flop was due to mechanical failure rather than me having more balls than brains trying to be a hero, but what can you do?

 

The stub axle...

 

Now on to the more fun stuff...

 

Dipped my toe into the Mig Welding pool...



Had to raise my bumper 2" to match the body/drive train lift...