Colinb17's kinda sorta build thread - now with 4-link and long travel

Ha! Awesome!

 

Lia approves.

 

Dude, print that one and frame it! That's an instant family classic

 

Got the mid and upper main tubes in. Next is to triangulate/brace everything.



This was not planned, but I measured from the cab, back to the recovery points, and I'm within. Couple I ches of being the exact same length as when the bed was on, just a foot and a half higher off the ground.

 

Friend of mine asked about approach angle, so i measured this morning with a break in the rain. i set up the level for the bottom of the hitch, which is very close to in-line with the shackle points, but is just a hair lower as seen in one of the photos. the tape measure sitting on top of the shackle points is just to give you a visual. sitting at 52 degrees. probably closer to 50 degrees once the truck is loaded back up.

 

Not sure what to call it. Rear bumper, nerf bar, winch guard.....
Whatever it is, it's done. I'll put aluminum filler panels in the openings down the road, after the truck is up and running.

 

Sorry if you’ve answered this already — are you putting any sort of bedsides on?

 

Tube fenders of sorts. They'll be mostly flat because my tool and gear storage is going to be on top of them.

 

Closer to drivable every day.

Got the limit straps set up. Not the sketchiest way I've lifted the truck up, but close to it.
Bumped and strapped at 20 inches of travel for the moment. Should be able to push it to about 22", but I need to see how the straps behave before fine tuning the last couple of inches out of it.

Full drop.


Straps installed.
Went with TMR straps because they ticked 3 of 3 boxes where most other companies only hit 2
-quad wrapped strap (4 layers vs two)
-heat treated chromolly ends. Many have chromolly ends, but very few have heat treated them
-tmr puts a stainless steel clip of sorts where the strap wraps around the chromolly tab. The clip is able to move and shift, essentially taking the friction and abrasion. Away from the strap when it goes from slack to loaded.

I also made longer swaybar links. The arms are still tilted down in the photo because there's no weight on the rear. Spare tires, fuel, winch, tools, etc will bring the back down a couple of inches.



First little bit of wiring done. Mounted the solenoid for the suck-down winch and routed the power cables. Instead of running two sets of winch power cables up to the battery, the small winch will connect to the power-in lugs on the 13,000 lb rear facing winch. Was able to tuck the cables under the fuel cell, but on top of the frame, keeping them well protected, and out of site.



Wireless module in the solenoid box, so I'll be able to use it on the fly when needed.


Out from under the fuel cell and into the rear winch tray.



How it sits right now. Hoping to mount the rear winch and tail light bar tomorrow. Then it's onto plumbing the brakes and fuel lines, some wiring, and sorting out the exhaust before it's drivable. Front suspension arrives Tuesday though, so I'll likely try to throw that on in the most basic sense before driving it.

 

Suck-down winch test. The half charged lawn mower battery wasn't thrilled, but proof of concept is complete.

https://youtu.be/yT8DWo1EWMM?si=JAkdG8hykFJ9qASv

 

Whats the point of that? Help change tires?

 

It certainly could be used for that. Jack up from the frame just a few inches and pull the tires off the ground. But that's not the intended purpose. You'll see them on the front and back of competition rock crawlers. Most times a lot of travel and articulation is exactly what you want, but there are scenarios where it can be a downfall. A rear suck-down winch will help on very steep declines and more extreme off camber situations.

On the steep declines, the rear axle has a lot of unloading it can do with this much travel. Pair that with softer front long travel, and on a 45 degree descent, the truck could be closer to 60 degrees. Steering and braking can become difficult because your front wheels become a pivot points and the rear of the truck likes to try to pass the front.

In an off camber situations, pulling the rear down will load the downhill side of the swaybar and eventually the bump stop, pulling the vehicle more upright and lowering its center of gravity.

 

Nice!

 

Last time I spent this much in one place, I got an entire running vehicle. Vehicle didn't come with this particular pink sticker though

 

Did some work on the first couple of filler panels. 1/8" aluminum. Will dimple die a number of them, but the purpose of these first few is to block the synthetic winch rope from the sunlight. Will also be mounting a master kill switch for the rear winches in the upper panel.

Cardboard template. Baja designs tail light also in place to verify clearance.



Love these little threaded weld-on tabs.

 

Nice!!!!! I’m halfway through my Dirt King LT install right now!!!

Metal Tech LT rear install should be completed this weekend!!!!

I’m ready to hit the mall grab some Starbucks in the GX


And yeah, I went a little overboard on the price

 

Nice! Any plans to beef up the front structure of the truck. The longer arms, and of course what we all intend to do with them can wreak havoc on the lesser points on the frame.

 

Eventually everything will be fully gusseted as-well as bypass shocks installed.

 

I don't know if you plan on going full engine and/or cab cage at some point, but I would put the following at the top of your list.
-coil bucket gussets to put the upper arm pivots in double shear.
-spindle gussets. You can opt to add a second tab for the tie rod ends and convert to double shear heim ends, or stay with the balljoint ends.
-cam tab gussets. Even if you've been fortunate to not flatten the stock ones, your new lower arms have a lot more leverage now. Bonus points for gusseting up the lower arm mounts as a whole.