Nate's build

favorite truck on the site. well done

 

damn

 

Truck looks awesome! It's exterior is a spitting but newer image of nOrth's build which is another truck I think is a build well done. Nice work man!

 

Holy shit!! Can't wait to see more!!

 

Thanks!! There are TONS of awesome trucks here that I've looked at for inspiration.

Speaking of which, NYCO, your truck is one of them. That thing is badass and I love your photo skills! I definitely went through your build for ideas as well as many others.

Thanks Rob! n0rth's truck is fucking INSANE! I love that thing! It was also him and BradyT88's information that led me to the ORI's. I have them to thank for that. Some of the builds that I really admire and looked at for inspiration are MrGrimm, n0rth, barlowrs, Ckeene9, Slimwood Shady, NYCO, DefconBrix, sytfu510 and the All Pro Brownie. It's because of these guys and many others who've documented their builds and modifications that I'm even able to take on a build. I lurked all their threads to gain information and ask questions when things were unclear. So thanks again to all of them!

Nate

 

Marathon Seat Covers:
Here you go. Being tan they show dirt more but not too bad. All that crap would have been on my seats so they have been doing their job. The fit is great and still snug. I got the atlas pouches as well as a deep pouch for the driver and small pouch for the passenger between the legs. If you need any specific photos let me know and I'll get them to you.

 

About time! I've been waiting for your build thread!

 

Looking good, I hope you like the MTRs more than me Did you cut the back or are you going to?

 

I know. I've been lagging it. I don't have a computer so I'm having to do it all through the phone. And for whatever reason I can only load one photo at a time.

What about the MTR's didn't you like? What are you going with next?
The back hasn't been cut yet. I'm still trying to figure out the rear flares. The back doesn't need to be cut with 35's. I've been able to stuff the rear with no issues other than removing mud flaps. I will be doing it soon though.

 

Rear suspension:
I'm going with ATO shackle flip, AllPro Expo springs, AllPro extended brake lines, AP U bolt flip kit with Timberen bump stops, BAMF shock towers and 12" King 2.0 smoothies with reservoir.

The rear was a pain in the ass. It took way longer than anticipated. Unfortunately I didn't take many photos of the process, mainly because I was disgruntled and had metal shavings all up in my ass crack the entire time.

The first thing I did was install the AllPro extended stainless lines. A flare nut wrench was used to not strip the hard lines. I found it far easier to maneuver under there and install the lines after removing the spare tire. Save yourself the trouble and remove that first.

ATO hangers. You can see there are three slots of adjustment for both frame mounting location and shackle mounting location.


One hanger removed. Metal shavings get EVERYWHERE!


One side removed


Grinding off rivet heads


Both sides removed. Factory vs ATO hangers.


Hangers, springs, U bolt flip, bump stops and extended brake lines installed.


Trying to figure out shackle angles


Here the hanger in on the center frame slot and the center shackle slot. I ran into an issue with the ATO hangers. Initially the only slot that would clear was with the hanger furthest forward (rear frame slot). I had to trim part of the rear bumper bracket to be able to slide the hanger back one slot into the center hole. It still doesn't clear with hanger all the way to the rear.


Looks better now. Using center frame slot and rear shackle slot. I'd like to move hanger back one to see how it sits but I don't clear and would have to cut more of the bumper bracket.


Next I had to cut off the factory shock towers and axle mounts. These also proved to be a pain in the ass. I used a cut off wheel as much I could for the towers. Cutting right at the weld removed most of the mounts. Then I used a chisel to lift up and separate metal that was snug to the frame. Eventually leaving only the weld beads attached. Once that was done, a grinding wheel and flap disc were used to smooth it all out as well as remove paint for BAMF shock tower mounting surface. This also sucked and was very time intensive with the tools I had. I also cut the exhaust at some point. It's just past the axle. You don't want it to dump that water/moisture/condensation on the ABS line and possibly cause a problem.




Next was the axle mounts. These are in a tight spot near a lot of crap that can easily be damaged. I moved ABS wires out the way and covered other area I didn't want to damage. I tried a cut off wheel on one side which took forever. Then tried a sawzall on the other side and worked great. I just cut as flat against the axle as I could to remove most of the mount then finished with grinding/cutting wheels and flap disc.


Greased bushings, let everything down and tightened at ride height.




How it's sitting with rear springs and shackle flip. Rear is much higher now but will settle over time especially when I get a high clearance rear bumper on there. The rear shocks are not on there yet but will be soon.


After Action:
It took much longer that expected. If I were to tackle all of it again, I would have just removed the bed to allow for better access to all the rivets, brake lines and factory mounts. That would also make the BAMF shock tower install easier.

For the factory rivets, I ground off the heads with angle grinder then drilled them out until I could use a punch and hammer to knock them out. Some were less of a pain than others. I used a 1/2" drill but to go through them. Tyler at Pelfrey suggested next time just put your drill on a jack and jack it up as it drills through the rivets rather than waste energy applying pressure. Either way, allot more time for them.

If you have the factory tow package expect to trim mounting brackets if you want to use all frame slots on the ATO shackle hangers.

Lastly, you may have noticed in a few pictures the cordless Dewalt tools. I'm was never a fan of cordless tool until now. I borrowed my brothers kit which had impact driver, drill, light, sawzall and a few other items. These things held up great! I couldn't believe how well they did. I asked to buy the kit off him but he refused. Even with all the drilling, grinding and cutting they never skipped a beat. Even the flash light was a life saver being able to point into the tight spots. I also decided to get a corded Dewalt 4.5" angle grinder after my cheap Harbor Freight $9 angle grinder crapped out. The Dewalt is still going strong.

Nate

 

Great truck man, been waiting for this build for a long time! Subdd

 

Thanks I'm doing what I can to get it right the first time through.

 

Truck is so sick!

 

Digging that tan softtopper!!!

 

Dude your access cab is probably my favorite on this entire site. Great job with everything. Looks FREAKIN AWESOME!!!

 

Thanks guys! I appreciate it. I'll try and have some more updates on finishing out the rear soon. Been working long hours and have very minimal service out in the middle of nowhere.

Nate

 

B.A.M.F. Shock towers

I tried fitting and welding the rear towers on but had troubles with the small 110V welder I had. Luckily Demello Off-road was able to help me out and get them (welded) on along with the lower axle mounts. I needed someone familiar with off-road suspension and knew how to measure full drop and stuff then weld on mounts accordingly. I asked for about 1" of shaft left at full stuff. They got it done and it turned out great. Thanks again to the crew at Demello Off-road for the service and thanks to Jerry at BAMF for the shock towers. Both are great people to deal with.

Again, the shocks are 12" King 2.0 smoothies with reservoir from DownSouth Motorsport. Upon ordering they asked what kind of setup I'd be running to get valving close to what I need as far as weight being carried on rear of truck. I went with back to keep the bling to a minimum. I'm trying to keep everything subdued similar to how the front is. Front Icon stickers were removed from UCA's and requested that no King stickers be put on the rear shocks. I know it's not a big deal, but now that they are on, I may have the shock bodies powder coated a flat black some time in the future while shocks are apart for rebuild.

















Having 35"s and 4.5" backspace I knew it'd be a close fit to the shock bodies. After a few runs on some nearby trails I noticed some rub marks on the shocks. I think with some minor adjustment before welding they could have cleared but ohh well. I'll need to get a spacer for the rear to clear the tires from rubbing the shocks.

You can see a bit of rubbing here and that was just cruising down some bumpy dirt roads. It rubs more at stuff.


Rear shocks installed
I like to think I'll be all but really I'll be




After all that I chalked the tires to see what pressure they'd have even wear.


Still high


Close enough with even contact. I ended up with 21PSI in the front and 19PSI rear. I'll have to recheck once all armor gets on.


Looks funny with factory wheels/tires


Nate

 

that seems pretty low...i'm typically about even tread contact around 33-34...guess being a heavy pig makes a little difference..

 

sub'd. very nice rig!

 

Yeah, that's with no weight in the rear. I started at 35 PSI and went down from there. Adding a bunch of weight will definitely make the difference. I'll get new numbers up soon with all armor on.

Thanks. I appreciate it. It's been really fun building this thing.