Slodgetto's Green Dragon 4x4 Conversion Build

word, good explanation bud nice job on that setup

 

fo sho, man... and thanks.

Going to the Puerco this afternoon to break in the suspension.

 

I'm glad you took my advice and went with the ballistic joints. Very nice

 

X2

 

Yeah, man. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

So.... beat the living daylights outta my truck at the Puerco today and nothing broke. (I think) And since it was just me, I've got no actions shots, sorry. Just poser shots. haha






Discovered a few things though... good and bad:

1. I LOVE my 1/4" skid plate! It took some jarring hits. Gave it some nice scars...

2. My bumpstops compress WAAYYYY too much and just suck in general.. Time for some new, harder 5" bumstops and time to find a better location for them so they hit a flat spot... Any suggestions? I think I'll weld 4"x4"-or-so square plates where the bumps are now, and then mount the bumpstops, using the u-bolts, facing up.



3. As a result of the squishy bumps, and poorly thought out locations, I maaay have blown the passenger shock. Maybe not though.... because it's only leaking out here the nut on the end of the steel braided line from the resi goes into the shock body. When I discovered it, I noticed the nut that tightens the line into the body was a bit loose. I tightened it a bit, but not too much since I was worried about over torquing it. I'm not used to remote resi's guys, does it sound blown to you? Or just like a loose nut? Either way, I guess I'm gonna have to get some shock oil and do some surgery... Calling Fox or DSM tomorrow. I'm leaning towards (hoping) a loose line since I don't really see how I could have blown it anyway. Also, if the shocks were bottoming out, why didn't the driver side blow too? You can see the shiny and dull parts on the shock in the picture where the shock didn't compress further and it looks like it never got closer than a half inch or so. I dunno...


4. I discovered that right now, my creeper joints are very effective during compression, but not very effective during droop, which is greatly hurting flex.. I *think* it's because I need to either move my spring hangers more towards the center of the axle, or move my rear hangers more towards the outside of the frame, or a combination of both....


5. I couldn't be happier with the axle placement. Front hanger was moved 7 1/2" foward during swap and it looks like that pushed the axle back about 1/4" - 1/2"...


6. 2 leaves handle loads like crap! hahaha Was bro-leaning pretty bad with 2 100lb spares, 80lbs of water and gasoline, and my tools. I think I'm gonna put the third leaf back in.

Sooo got some things to tweak on this thing. Will hopefully get it right soon... lol

 

Nice, looks like a good learning experience! You'll have it working right in no time.

 

Awesome!!

Still work to do

As always haha

 

Look at that stuff! Awesome man! And lol at those squishy bumps! thats pretty funny

 

Y U no invite me?? i havent gone wheeling in probably a month

 

Also why don't you just put the new bumps on the same spot as stock?? Just fab up the ubolt plate to hold them..

 

lol yeah!! learning experience for sure.

yhupp...

Yeah... I thought it was quite pathetic! hahaha

Sorry, man... I got made fun of by some dude with buggies on 42s, 1 tons and 4-links for beings taller than my yota anyway. It wasn't much fun.

Buut I made it up everything they did except for one stooooopid steep climb that they each hit at full throttle... soooo whatevs! I was purdy to say that least...

Yeah, that's what I'm thinkin.. Shoulda done that in the first place I'll do that, and than bolt or weld on a bigger "strike plate" where they are now to make sure they have a good, flat, area to bump against. And maybe put it at a slight angle so the bump doesn't tiwst to the side so much. like mine are doing now.

 

Yea that sounds like a good plan to me. Angling it could help too

 

2 leafs?!
I thought you took out the others to test your droop, not that you were actually going to run them! haha

 

Nope. I was going to run 2 leafs. It's popular on Pirate... lol Supposed to be a LOT flexier than the 3 leaves. I dunno....

BTW. Noticed very little axle wrap with just the 2 leaves. So that was a nice surprise... I thought I was going to have to add a trac bar.

 

damn! no pics of the buggie?

 

2 buggies. haha and noo.. I regret not taking any now that I think about it. Also, saw a full on trophy truck tearing towards the Puerco on the dirt section of Southern!! Couldn't catch him for a pic. It was insane!

 

damn now im really that i wasnt out there