Baka's 1998 Build

Redrock 10-16-2016

@allenfab : Nice job, Todd! It's hard to tell for sure from the angle but it sure looks like the tire might be completely below the slider in this picture. Haha, it also looks like from how the mud is sticking to the pumpkin someone slipped a Dana rear axle under the OGT when we weren't paying attention.



For comparison...

6-2014 with the factory shock mounts...

 

Photo dump from the 10/2016 Fall Camp & Ride...

 

So, my rear suspension was making a lot of noise lately so I finally got off my arse and lubed my rear shackles. Made a video of it while I was at it. My first attempt at a how-to and it's a pretty easy job, but I noticed a couple months ago a couple of mechanics, either with Ford or Pep Boys, were out there on that embankment behind the house that you might have seen where I flex the OGT's suspension when I need to test it. They had an F250 oout there trying to figure out where the creaking noises were coming from on the rear end. I could tell it was the spring shackles from inside the house but it appeared to have them puzzled, so I thought I'd put a video up demonstrating how to solve the issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcdn23E-RKM

 

@gainman

 

Just pointing out my build thread or is his suspension squeaky too?

 

Haha! Getting new gears for the bigger wheels and trying to decide between arb locker or Detroit truetrac

 

Depends on how much and how hard you wheel. If you just trail ride from time to time and put a lot of highway miles on your truck, the Truetrac is probably the way to go. It's definitely cheaper and effectively maintenance free, aside from normal maintenance you would do on an open diff. If you wheel hard and plan to do any rock crawling in the future, then you'll want a locker of some sort. An ARB can be a good compromise since it can be locked when needed but is an open diff the rest of the time, preserving your truck's road manners over an automatic locker like mah Detroit. It's a more complex system though, meaning more shit to fail when you need it, and thus higher maintenance.

Of course there's always the Detroit Locker option like what I'm running, if you don't put a lot of miles on your truck, don't drive in the ice and snow up north, and don't mind living with the quirks (occasional barking of the tires when turning from a stop sign, the clicking and occasional clang, and probably a little faster tire wear). On the upside, it's only slightly more expensive than the Truetrac, way cheaper than the ARB, requires no extra maintenance, and is pretty close to being 100% reliable.

 

So...I finally got around to replacing my Energy Suspension steering rack wrap-around bushing this morning. It's been fragged for about a year, I just didn't have the motivation to mess with it. I was highly disappointed in it's durability. It was tore up within a couple months of being installed.



Anyway, after replacing my sloppy inner tie-rods as well, the steering system should be pretty much 100% now. Hopefully the frontend will align properly now when I have it aligned. Not gonna hold my breath though.

Oh, and it's worth mentioning, while the wrap-around bushing was a POS, the other two ES bushings seem to be doing okay.

 

Very clean lee I always like seeing LED Bars flush in the front bumper like that.

 

Whats with all that wet stuff and mudWe sure don't see that here in SoCal That Citrus park looks fun too wheel, wish it was a little closer. Oh and Lee that OD green still has me thinking what mine would look like? And you need to put the Warhawk face on it

 

Thanks, Shane. The OGT isn't nearly as badass as your beast, but it has come a long way from the raggedy-looking black thing it was when I bought it. Haha, all your likes made me take a trip down memory lane. It's been one heck of a ride. I'm currently saving to regear. Gonna go with 4.88s. After that, I'll be saving for a winch and to have Todd build me some bumpers. After that, I don't think I'll be able to take her any further. I'd love to SAS and do a bell crank rear suspension like you got and I fantasize about it alot, lol, but laying down that kind of cash is a bit beyond my means. Besides, she can handle 99% of the wheeling she's likely to find here in the pancake state. I'd love to make a trip to the Rubicon at some point, but that would be a costly adventure. I might could swing a North Georgia or Carolina trip to wheel in some actual rocks. Not sure how well she'll handle that and ideally, I'd like to trailer her for the out of state stuff, just so I'll know I can get her home.

Someone at the last Annual Citrus meet suggested the same thing about the warhawk face. It would probably be pretty cool, but I think I'm going to leave it understated.

Haha, having seen all the mud and stuff I wheel in, you can understand a bit more about my reservations about your bump stop can gussets being places that will collect mud and crap. On the other hand, I understand there's plenty of mud and nastiness up in Oregon which isn't nearly as far from you.

 

Very cool, I enjoyed looking at all the pictures/adventures you shared with us. Just getting out and wheeling is the best feeling ever. Gears are going to make a huge difference man, its going to feel like a V8..haha Thank you for the support on my build its been a long humbling road to get this far And yes I definitely see your concern about the Mud and brackets now! One of my favorite things about T.W is seeing the huge difference between all the trucks from West to East coast.

 

Well...went to Hardrock ORV park today. Had a great time. The OGT was the smallest truck there but it was still doing some impressive stuff for being a little IFS truck on 33s...



until...

 

this crap happened...



I only unbolted the selector and the hub body, the rest of the stuff seen here fell out on the ground.

 

What the fuuuuuck!? What were you on when it broke?

 

It was a pretty steep hill climb back in the back (in the same area I was posing on the bitty little rock ). It was right next to a hill climb called Bounty hill or something. Anyway, it was a slightly rocky climb with a big washout on one side. Got all the way to the top when the axle/hub popped on the final ledge. Ended up having to go back down (since everyone ran off and left me behind, haha) which was sketchy as hell. Dragged the slider down the side pretty much the whole way and I was in dire fear for my mirror, but somehow it survived.

 

Was that a "Hold My Beer" moment? haha JK Man sounds like it could have been worse. Backing down hills is never fun with broken parts and no spotter.

 

Yeah, I definitely would have preferred to be winched or tugged up rather than having to go back down, but only two of us had radios and the other guy was out of range with all the hills and stuff blocking the signal. It definitely could have been worse. There could have been body damage because that washout was pretty much pulling me right up against the side of the cut. The slider kept the body off the wall though, thankfully. thank gawd I opted for sliders with kickouts.

 

Ahhh dammit man! Well at least it was in the afternoon and not earlier