2nd to 3rd gen conversion long travel and more!

Gotta be my favorite bulild. It’s clean..

 

Thank you everybody for the compliments! The truck has been an absolute blast thus far. This winter I am caging the truck front to rear along with PRP seats and harnesses.

 

Just some I’m correct, you got a McNeil wide fenders for the 3rd Gen and a 3rd Gen hood then retrofitted it on a 2nd Gen?

This looks better, the McNiel kit does not have a scooped hood. they told me I’d have to use hood in the kit and not a regular 3rd Gen hood.

what was so hard about it?

 

This is all Fiberwerx glass. 4 of 6 fender mounts need to be made, headlight and grill support all need to be made, new hood hinges, 3rd gen hood latch which needs modifications to bolt to the core support. There’s a ton of work involved with it. The McNeil kit really isn’t a true 3rd gen conversion as the body profile isn’t the same as a true 3rd gen. Hood height, fender height etc.

There’s likely 400ish hours just in making this conversion happen. The rear wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t a walk in the park either.

 

Ok… that makes sense… yeah, that’s a lot work.. thanks

 

Waiting on some tube connectors to arrive before I go much further on tube work. So I decided to confirm fit on the dash bar and get the dash fitted since the tube locations are established. Something incredibly gratifying about seeing the dash in.

 

It's a shame we can't do more than just give you compliments. You've created a truck that is a perfect compromise between beautiful and bad ass all in one. There are some truly talented fabricators on this site and your are up there with the best of them. The work you've done appears to be top notch at every step. I'm thinking you are doing your own welding and your work and welds look outstanding. Good to hear you are having an "absolute blast" with it. If it were me, the fact that it puts a smile on your face would make it all worth the cost, time, and effort. Enjoy

 

I really appreciate that! I put a lot of pride into what I do. I have full intent on eventually starting my own thing building stuff like this for others. I enjoy the work just as much as I enjoy the final product.

 

A little bit of cage work coming along so I thought I would actually update for once. Finally making some progress on things!

 

loving how tucked up you're getting everything

 

Any storage going in left/right of the back seat?

 

Wife approved I see. My wife would be out there with me too watching and trying to learn this stuff while I muddle my way through it.

 

I’m definitely happy with how tucked things are staying! But it sure does make life a whole lot harder!

I think eventually I might do something there

She loves it. It brings nothing but smiles to us. She’s not afraid to get her hands dirty and is actually getting pretty sharp on how things work. Makes me kind of proud!

 

Roof section is finally completed. Time to move on to B and C pillars, dash and intrusion bars.

 

Is there a way to weld all the way around the tube in this situation? I watch a lot of Terra Crew on YouTube if you’re familiar with them, they basically go interview people and check out their pre runners. But I remember one episode, someone mentioned they were able to completely weld the roll cage, which made me think that others don’t?

 

Sleeve it so you can drop it for 360 welding?

 

Cut the roof off...weld toobs....weld the roof back on

 

Yes. The entire cage will be lowered. No roof cutting required. I will be sure to post pictures when I drop it down to weld the upper portion.

 

I’m interested to see those photos lol

 

Since the last update, I have been working on the horizontal cross bars from A-C pillars. B and C pillars were easy tasks.

At the A-pillar I was determined to keep the dash bar under the dash while not losing a single bit of HVAC function. I reviewed this 3 times prior and could not come up with a solution, until I did.

Dash bar is under the dash and I have retained every single vent. I used heat to form the ducts around the tubing anywhere it needed it. It was a very tedious process but I have absolutely no regrets.

Getting really close to dropping the cage for welding the top portion. Just have a few loose ends to tie up first.