Building the "BEAST"

So, bolting the crawler to the stock transmission, do you have to do anything to make it fit in the stock location (floorboard mods, etc...)? Will it work with the stock drive shaft? Although, I'm sure a one-piece is better...

 

driveshafts will require mods. the front shaft has to be lengthned and the rear shortened. as far as the floorboard, mine required slight massaging to make everything clear although i am running a inchworm lefty which is clocked up slightly. if you just ran a marling box everything very well may clear, just not sure. one difference is that i am currently working on a new crossmember for mine, which when done will give me a totally flat underside. with the exception on the front suspension, nothing will hang below the frame rails once i'm done.

 

this is my ultimate goal, keep me posted please

 

here you can see what it looks like now. the crossmember and exhaust will be redone thus leaving everything tucked up inside the frame.

 

wyatt-
anychance you talked to jason? anychance you guysneed a tech still got that resume ready if ya'll want me to fax.

 

There are a few folks on the FJ Cruiser board that have done this very same modification. Actually, BudBuilt is now in the process of making a replacement cross member that holds the tcase up and gives you a completely flat belly. He's also working on the exhaust routing for the FJC's and replacement skid plates. The cross member might work on the Taco's as your frame is almost identical to the FJC frame. Here is the thread in case your want a look at what Bud is doing.

 

You will have to lengthen the front shaft and shorten the rear as stated above. As far as the floor board is concerned, the only thin you will need to do is put a hole in it for the stick to come through. Not sure if will need to do anything with your crossmember.

 

I've been out of time so I haven't talked to Jason yet. I'll try to talk to him on thursday.

 

crossmember "should" be fine as the mount goes to the transmission. as of right now i'm still running stock crossmember and mount with no issues.

 

Yes, but do you have a lefty and a crawl box from inchworm or just a lefty?

 

lefty and crawl box..

 

no worries.

 

I'm going to take a video of it in ultra low tomorrow to show what 237:1 is like.

 

OK. so I didn't get time this weekend to get a video going in slow motion. I'll try to get one this weekend.

But, I have decided to change my lower link rod ends at the axle. I have heim joints and although they are very strong and have served me well, they can be loud at times and are not servicable at all.

So I've been looking for a joint that will be as strong as the heim joint yet is servicable.

I have Johny Joints at the frame end but they are not big enough for my axle's so I needed to find something else. I needed a joint that had a 1.25" shank and a 5/8" hole for the through bolt.

I briefly looked at these only to find out that they are not built very well. The quality is really lacking and the excution of the design is even worse. I won't name the company who builds them on an open forum but if your looking for a rod end I'd stay away from these.


In this photo you can see that the ball that rotates inside the housing is not even centered in the housing. Poor build exection.


I then ran across Ballistic Fabs new joints. They are forged chromolly units that are rebuildable and sem to be of high quality. They cost about the same as the other joints and are the size I need.



If you are looking for a joint that is bigger than a johny joint then you can't go wrong with these. I'll put them to the test and will let you know how they do in the real world. But after seeing some of the projects that have come out of Ballistic Fabs house, I think they will do just fine.
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OK! Here it is. The modification you have all been waiting for. The one modification that beats them all. The most radically expensive modification ever done to a 4x4.

















The suspense is killing me.....

WAIT FOR IT

























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WAIT FOR IT















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BAM!​

There it is..... the one modification that makes all the rest worth while. ​

 

Congrats on the new tags.

 

hahaha.... i never put together what it meant until i saw it as an actual license plate! ohh and i believe it when you say one of the most expensive!

 

Thank you.