Slodgetto's Green Dragon 4x4 Conversion Build

Nice job on the bumper!! Nice, simple and clean.

 

Thanks, man! That is exactly what I was going for..

 

FWIW Silas, I made 14" Shocks work under my shit. I didn't lose any uptravel, (well maybe some since the overload is my bumpstop) But oh well

 

Looks great!

 

Nice! I've seen it done once before, w/o going through the bed... (I think it was the TLT tacoma...) Is that your current set-up, Eric? I need to head to your build to look at the pictures closer!

Thanks, bro!

 

I wish...

 

What do you have in mind to replace it with?

 

ive snapped two cv axels and snapped my spider gears in my front diff... and having a hard time keeping the clutch to hold on i think.... havent tested much more crawling since and the weather is a little shitty no one wants to come out with me

 

The truck? I already picked up a beater 89 Celica. Going to be my commuter for a good couple years! haha

 

You on 37s or 35s? Spider gears suck..... Don't *think* I'll have to worry about that though with the front end locked during the tough stuff... Just CVs.... maybe the half axle shaft.

 

Yeah...... I will most likely do it all again in the future. haha In fact I'm planning on it! I can't escape that bug. Maybe...

lol

 

I think you risk breaking spiders with 37s. That's a lot of tire for our stock diffs and CVs

 

Silas that's a crappy bumper!! Take it off and give it to me









Kidding I might just end up making one like that someday.

 

Yeah, it is a lot. You don't think the CVs would go first on a locked front end? I guess it's hard to tell... Gotta remember that the internals of my front diff are pretty new.... Which means that the backlash of the side/spider gears and the ring & pinion and preloads should still be at the tight end of where they're supposed to be...

I guess I tend to think that the slow, heavy, rotational mass of 35s or 37s on a locked front end or binding in any case would cause more CV axle or half shaft breakage, and sudden traction from an open front end and too much throttle (ie: bouncing) would tend to break the spiders or ring and pinion... (Large tires will of course cause the breakage to come sooner then later, but I think the open front end is more to blame for spiders failing...)

I also think that most ring or pinion gear failures are a result of out-of-spec backlash or preloads from either high-milage or incorrect installation more than anything else...

GOT COPE? (IFS Taco on TTORA) is unlocked up front on 37s and has broken many, many spiders but not one CV axle. He told me that the next time he breaks the spiders, he's going to install a locker to transfer breakage to the CV axles. Pretty sure that'll work, but I guess we don't know yet!

I have nothing concrete to base this off of, and I may be completely wrong, but this just seems to be the case in the breakages I've seen on our front ends.

 

I'll have to use a ginder to get it off!!! lol Thanks, man. I like the look.... just wish I went with 2.0" x .188" instead of 1.5" x .125. =\

 

Yeah I agree, .188 would've been perfect. I think 1/4" was overkill.

 

haha Live and learn...

 

Running winters right now (they're still 315s). But it slipped the day with the 37's, but usually once it starts it just gets progressively worse.... i dont have money for a SAS either... Is it worth it to swap to an automatic tranny?

 

Bummer..... as for switching to an auto, it can definately be done. Have you thought about going to a different clutch? I've been hearing very good things about the Centerforce Dual Friction clutch pretty recently and the abuse it can take from off-road... If you like the manual, than it might be worth it just to upgrade the clutch. If you like automatic better, then yeah, swapping trannies can be done without too much trouble.... Going to be more expensive and time consuming than a new clutch though.

 

hey i remember reading you did your own gears! wondering how they went and if you would recommend doing them myself or getting them done. i have never done gearing but i know my way around a dial guage and my buddy has done gears in his samurai and said it wont be hard?