Quarter Million Mile Build - The Mule

I built mine about ten years or so ago. I love the truck its so easy to drive on and off the road.

I have two kids now though and the cab get a little tight. I'm glad I kept the bench seat.

Anyhow I see you have nevada plates. Have you been to moonrocks?

 

Yeah its about 20 minutes from my house. I haven't taken this truck out there yet though.

 

It's fun. If you have time Memorial Day weekend is a huge with some really cool crawlers and rigs. I used to go every year but haven't in the last five or so. With it so close it might be worth checking out for a few hours.

I know that a local club from here will be there (SoPo).

 

Yeah I've heard it is a blast. Maybe I'll try and roll out this year, if I can break away from all the BBQs

 

My hangers


Rear one came with my all pro lift. Doesn't work as well and I'm too lazy to cut it off.


I remounted my shocks to the top but left them forward and backward with the thought it might slow axle wrap. I also moved the upper mounts slightly.


Also see diff armour. That light is my back up light... haven't hit yet!

That is a v6 rear rear end too which is 3" wider and much more stout. Your diff will also bolt right in. I'd recommend it. Got mine cheap. Bigger drum brakes too.

 

With the bigger tires an fj80 brake booster will help with stopping. Bolts right in
https://www.marlincrawler.com/brake/master-cylinder/big-bore-fj80-brake-master-cylinder

I also got rid of the funcky tow return brake line which helped tremendously.

 

Yeah I'm going to switch to a straight shackle for sure. And on the list is a new rear axle, but probably won't get around to that until late summer/fall.

to that

 

Finished up some stuff last night. First, my 6" shackles showed up on Wednesday. I bought the ones that dip in a 1/4" so I didn't have to space them with washers. I also 'fixed' my parking brake. The line had gotten some extra stretch in it so I cut a nut, slide it over the line, crimped it down to close the gap, and then welded it shut. We'll see if it helps. Then I put my extended ss brake line in the rear. Found out I cross threaded one of my ubolts so I need to track one down today and then we'll be rolling again. Bora said my new 1.5 spacers should be done this coming week (why did I buy 1.25s ) so planning on putting the Pitbulls on next Saturday

 

Picked up some new springs from summit. It's nice they carry trail gear parts, no wait and no shipping costs. 3" fronts.

 

Let me know what you think.

I’ve always run Allpro springs but I need to replace my rears and trail gears are cheaper...

 

Will do. I got these because the pin is offset and I need to move me axle forward some (I'm pretty sure you know all this though ).

 

Oh yeah. I still had to clear the bottom of the inner fender with a sledge...

Now that I’m running 35’s again it doesn’t rub hardly.

I need to give my truck some love. It’s been sitting for a couple of weeks.

 

Yeah I'm right there with you. I've cut and cleared the wheel wells back ~2.5". Losing legroom in the cab lol. Mines been sitting for two months

 

Sweet little oldie dude.
Makes me wish I still had my first truck.. Tan 86 Yot 4x4 regcab.

 

Nice! My first truck was an 88 IFS toy. I worked my ass off to save $5500 to buy it in 92. High school and 60 hour work weeks paid off though.

 

Thats about how much mine was, it may have been 5500.

Mine was in pretty good condition, seems like it had around 75k miles. It had been painted tho, it was actually pretty close to the new Quicksand color, with a upside down Nike looking check down the side (looked good).. It had brown interior, with the all weather floor. It had one crack in the dash, so I re did the interior myself.. I sprayed the dash and door panels with Flake Stone (The grey color), almost looked like granite, and then took some model paint and painted the crack black, to make it look like stone was cracking.. Then put black carpet in, and seat cover.

It had 31'' "Mud Kings" on it, with chrome bullet hole wheels.

The flake stone was real close to this. Actually turned out good, had a lot of compliments.

 

Badass! Nice ingenuity! I need to dig up a picture of mine. I drive through a water hole when I got 100k. Took pictures and all.

 

Got out for some camping, trail riding, and poser shots this weekend. Had a great time even though it was chilly. 12* in the AM.

 

Installed the new springs. A few things. 1) Too tall, I'm going to remove one if not two leafs to get it lower. If it sags later on, I'll put them back in. 2) Driveline needs to be lengthened, I knew this coming in so no big deal. 3) My drag link is now crossed over my tie rod in a not so good way. To fix this here are the options I've come up with:

Remount my steering box. Pain in the ass.

Drill new holes in my spring perches and push the axle back towards the cab. Lame since I want to push them forward not back.

Get a shorter pitman arm. I realize this shrinks my turning radius but I think it's my best option. Problem is, the aftermarket pitmans are only shortened by 3/4" and I need it by like 1.5". So maybe go the custom route? Not sure. Probably be a lot of money.

So I'm in a quandary. What to do.

 

How bad are the drag link and tie rod on top of each other? You sure it won’t clear as the axle moves back during compression?