Sluggo: The 4 banger build

I lived in Kentucky for two years, unfortunately. Does that count? I'll take the West any day over the South, no matter how good the trails are.

 

You suck ass. Should have told me.

 

Only two years of banging your cousins eh?

There is no doubt in my mind that the west is nicer... I am looking forward to moving out there someday. I'll move when you move Jon, so... 10 more years?

 

It takes like 15 minutes to get to nampa. Nothing is too far.

 

So, you can keep that flange, I don't need a new one either, ECGS said just send it back as is, no problems

 

Im just glad I got to run one full trail in MOAB

no shit?! You sure? I owe you many beers sir

 

Well, that's what they said over the phone, we will see if I get the full refund. Let's just not blow shit up next year and do some wheeling together.

 

Looks like it's time for a stronger rear end

 

im calling fluke. Not enough power to break it. normally.


can I admire dat ass again?

 

Next year I definitely be in Moab You'd better not break Sluggo, I want to run some trails with your Ginger ass!

You going to CO with us in August??

 

Finally updating my build with some of the shit ive done. its been a while so I might have left some stuff off.


Front air locker!


Pulling the front diff out




On the bench, breaking open the clam




Swapping out the ring gear on the ARB




Drilling the hole for the air line





The button actually works now!





Found this while pulling out the front diff...apparently these weren't strong enough






Testing the front locker, it worked very well.





As you can see there is also a shiny aluminum garage fabbed skid plate we threw on while doing the front locker



This was the factory skid I took off. I think it had a good life.




Messing around at konstas...the rear bumper build is next

 

Time to garage fab a rear bumper!


Mocking up the center piece, with a bloody mary




Making the corner pieces and the frame plates tacked on






Figuring out the side pieces






Doing some late night cutting and welding





Figuring out the wrap arounds






All painted and done! The day before moab!!






I like this ass

 

NICE!! I'll be seeing your ginger ass in Moab this next year!

 

Had an unintentional regear and pinion upgrade in moab too.

After driving down for 12 hours, we get to camp and unpack. The next morning we drive into town and the rear makes a horrible clatter sound out the coast side of the gears. After consuting with the expert it was decided the only way to tell what was broken was to wheel it, so we hit a trail. Half a mile from the top of top of the world trail we bumped a ledge and blew up the rear end. After decimating enough teeth to drive back to BFE in front wheel drive at 50, we pulled the third with some help from an giant ground down tent stake pike, and a large hammer and found a nasty looking pinion



This is my rear end pulled apart on the trailer at BFE.




I over nighted a set of gears to MOAB and we broke a $400 bearing puller and a brass hammer trying to get the bearing off and on the pinion. At that point i gave up and had Moab 4x4 set up the gears so I could maybe wheel a day. Found out I had ordered a 29 spline pinion when I had a 4 cyl 27 spline drive shaft flange...so my options were to find a new flange or get new gears. It was Thursday night. Luckily I was the first but not the last set of gears to blow up in moab. Over the course of the week we had 5 trucks blow up rear ends and one upon return to colorado (dylan lol). So I give you "Diff row". Three trucks all jacked up with thirds removes and chunked rear gears (my truck is off to the left)




Most of them just ordered new geats, but james ordered a new third and got a locker...so my quickest solution to the pinion flange issue was to "borrow" (i kinda stole it) the 27 spline flange off of his blown up third, redrill it for my drive shaft bolt pattern, and give that to M40 to put together.

Luckily it went together fine and I was able to put the truck together nascar pit crew style at 100 mph with konsta and rockys help, while almost getting crushed by the truck as it fell off the hilift (that actually happened twice) and make it into the group picture...to a spot where my truck is virtually impossible to see...but oh well!




I got to run one trail on the last day with dylan, but it was a bad ass trail and I had a freakin blast...so it all turned out ok.

So my Frankenstein axle now consists of:

Housing from a 98
Third from an 03
Gears from Jberry's truck and New gears from G2
Axle shafts and hubs from an 01
Pinion flange from an 06 4Runner


What the fuck, when will I learn

 

Never?

Glad we got you back together.

 

Don't know why I'm not subbed here. That tub job makes me cringe!

 

Hey Mark,
Im lovin your truck. How did she ride with the bilstein lift with stock coils?

 

I realize alot of pics have dropped off the face of the earth and the links no longer work...what a pain in the ass. Ill fix them at some point.

But let it be known that this bastardized rock crawler of a Tacoma road tripped over 7000 miles accross the country, down the gulf coast to Key West Florida and back with ZERO issues. Not so much as a leak or battery issue. Sluggo now sits at about 192,000 miles. What a beautiful piece of machinery. Details of the trip in my sig below

In Texas 5/14/16ish



Southern Most point of the US 5/21/16


Back in Boise 9/6/2016

 

Freakn awesome man! Sluggo is a champ.

 

Pretty damn cool that these things can take the amount of abuse and extensive modification that you've done and still be reliable enough for such a trip. Glad I decided to keep mine

Always been a fan of this build thread, glad I'm not the only old 2.7 on here haha