Run to the Hills! - Jason's Completely Stalled Colorado GTFO Build

Yeah! I've been fortunate that way. I know a lot of guys have to chip away at it.

The good news is that once the regear is done, my cores are shipped off, and the tubbing is done, I can drive it! Everything else comes after that.

 

Regear - New 3rd Member and Clamshell w/ARB

UPDATE:

I got the ADD tube assembly off of the old diff, and was able to pop the stub shaft. So now the old IFS diff is ready to go back to ECGS as a core.


GOALS:

I need to pick up some Permatex Ultra Gray for all of this diff swap stuff, and eventually for my crawl box install. Once I have that, I can get the old ADD assembly put on the new diff and get her installed tonight! If I can also get the rear 3rd member pulled and drained, I can box up the cores and get my money back! Annnnnnnnd... if I can somehow get the new 3rd installed as well, I'll be stoked out of my mind.

Thursday night will be prepping the driver side tub area and cutting templates and eventually sheet metal. I also need to get the outer fenders back on and trimmed up as required. I'll put off the bedsides unless I can get those cut as well.

Friday night I need to get the truck put back together: Replace my body mount bolts since I busted one and overtorqued the others, put the coilovers back on, and recheck all the torques on my suspension front and rear.

The goal is to get the truck to my buddies on Saturday morning to weld in the new tubs, leaving me Saturday night to clean up welds, and seam seal.

If that comes together, I should be putting down Herculiner Sunday, trimming kick panels, and buttoning everything back up. Can't forget to get the truck in for an alignment next week, either.

A quick side note: My dad got my Jeep fired up and run around the block a few times!

 

Regear - New 3rd Member and Clamshell w/ARB

Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans...

At this point, I'm still slogging through the gear change work, but it's coming along! The new front diff is in, but I need to pull the CVs out of the spindles to get them back in the new diff. Getting the dust covers off last night was as far as I made it.

This morning, after finally getting my house cleaned up after a month of neglect due to crazy work schedules, I got the 3rd member pulled. Bye bye, 4.10s!



I have a friend coming through town today, so I'm gonna try to at least get the new 3rd installed before she shows up. Be nice to be that far today, so that I can get the front buttoned up tomorrow. But there I go making plans again!

 

Today's (tonight's?) build festivities brought to you by Xyience!

 

Regear - New 3rd Member and Clamshell w/ARB

Got the new rear diff in and buttoned up! Gonna let the Ultra Gray set up tonight, then fill up both of them.

Still have remove the CVs from the spindles so that I can get the damned things into the new diff. I'm half tempted to get a new set from CVJ with their off-road boots and start fresh all around. I'd have to cough up extra funds, I imagine, if I wanted to keep these as trail spares. Anyway... it's getting there.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZlDZPYzfm4

I believe this goes here. I just read 7 pages and no Iron Maiden

 

Holy fuck. That was a serious oversight, and I'll be addressing it shortly.

 

Thank you for Eddie and the boys

 

The issue has now been addressed, and those responsible have been sacked.

 

Very good sir

 

But have those responsible for the sacking now been sacked?

Have you seen the lovelei moose?

 

Regear - New 3rd Member and Clamshell w/ARB

Well, aside from shipping the cores back to ECGS, the diff swap is DONE!!!

Turns out Chase at ECGS is a pretty cool dude and he said that they're somewhat lenient about when they get the cores back. It all worked out though, because it forced me to bang it out and get it done. Now, that part of the build is behind me and I'll be getting back a bunch of money for the cores!

If anyone reading this decides to go the same route, make sure that you keep the following:

- ADD tube
- stub shaft
- drain and fill plugs
- the smaller electrical connector for the rear locker

Hard to see it, but you'll just have to imagine that you're seeing the front diff completely buttoned up.



Tomorrow I'll be back to finishing up the tubbing and getting this bitch back on the road

 

Firewall Tubbing for 35s

Back to the tubbing job!

Got some templates made and some sheet metal cut out. Now I just need to trim and form them and I'll be ready to do some welding!

 

Hey, @Robmonster117!

Do you have any good pictures of the cutting you did on your outer front fenders? I'm trying to get an idea of how much to cut. I'm also curious how you ended up attaching the bottom of the fender down by the firewall since both of the studs that were there are now long gone on mine. Thanks, man!

 

Evening, Jason! Just read through this thread start to finish. It's probably one of my favorite build threads on here because it's extremely organized and well written, which I love. Keep on keepin on

Had a piece of metal stuck on my eye when I was in grade school. Doctor ended up taking a drill to my eye and scraping it off. It sucked but at least I had an eye patch!

 

Sub'd

 

Thanks, brother! It's been a generally fun process.

The only thing that's really kicked my ass is this tubbing job. But the 35s and mid travel are what I wanted all along, so I did it with my eyes wide open. Once it's done, it's gonna be sweet!

And yes, if you're doing any grinder work at all, a face mask, eye pro and ear plugs should be mandatory!

 

@cynicalrider! I forgot to add you to this! Thanks in advance for your help! Hope your truck is getting back on its feet.

 

Tubbing looks to be a PITA but damn it'll be worth it! Our trucks with dirty 5's on them look so damn good.

 

Ill get you some photos tomorrow in the daylight! Just got home from work haha