OrvisKrawlers 96 chevy standard cab shortbed build

A month or so ago I picked this truck up on ksl after selling my grand cherokee, the goal was the same as the grand, build a vehicle to go wheeling, take to moab and do some hard trails, be a daily driver, and be reliable, plans were for a dana 60 and a 14 bolt, so here is what I started out with
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it was a pretty clean fairly low mileage truck with some horrible spray tint on the lights, the first thing I wanted to do was sand and buff the lenses and rip all the moldings off, here was the result
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a few weeks after I picked it up I started looking for a 14 bolt and a dana 60, found my rear 14 bolt at a local junk yard, it was out of a 96, after making some measurements I realized it would bolt right in and the stock drive shaft would even work( with a conversion ujoint)
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at the time I couldnt find a 78-79 d60 so I picked up a really clean '90 version off ksl after doing a little research and seeing that it would work for my needs
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now that I had the axles I needed to get the parts to build them, decided to go with 5.13's and detroits front and rear, high steer kit from balistic and cross over kit from ruff stuff, and some SOLID covers from polyperformance, got all that ordered and got the axles put together
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I was surprised at how easy they were to set up, only took a few hours, my dana 30 in the grand cherokee was a pita compared to these, anyway next I needed front springs, I went with 52" blazer rears, found them from a forum member on here, after I got those I was able to score a good deal on some 37" BFG dot Krawlers, then went and pulled a pitman arm from a dodge pickup, the taper for the tre is on the wrong side, in the past Ive used this arm and just fill the hole up a little with weld and taper the other side and its worked well, so thats what Im doing this time, just waiting for my tapered bit to show up
the time came this weekend that I would have some shop time so I got everything ready, went and got my steel for the front cross member and shackles, and shackle hangers, decided to do the rear first since it was just a bolt in deal and a shackle flip, here is how it started
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I ended up taking out the chicken killer bottom leaf and needed a set of shims to get the right angle for the drive shaft after the shackle flip
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forgot to take a pic of the shackle flip, Ill have to get one later, anyway rear was almost done, I modified the brake line mounts to be able to use the stock brake line, and tomorrow I need to go pick up a conversion ujoint and bolt up the drive shaft
so saturday I started on the front
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diff and torsion bars out, next was everything else
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OrvisKrawler

Captain Obvious
Location
Eden UT
I went out to the snakes yesterday,
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we were going to do rattlesnake and constrictor, but ended up just running rattlesnake due to this..
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snapped it clean off, wasnt even pushing it hard, not sure if I should just have it fixed or what, it never did seem like a strong designed shaft, guess I need to take it back in to tom woods and see what they say before I decide to make my own shaft, thinking of doing a square tube front shaft
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Sucks about the driveline, I would let Tom know what happened. I've be very surprised if he didn't make it right, he's not in the business to make a buck and run.

The truck looks great all flexed out on the trail! After having it out on a rocky trail, do you think you'll need a rear traction bar?
 

OrvisKrawler

Captain Obvious
Location
Eden UT
Sucks about the driveline, I would let Tom know what happened. I've be very surprised if he didn't make it right, he's not in the business to make a buck and run.

The truck looks great all flexed out on the trail! After having it out on a rocky trail, do you think you'll need a rear traction bar?

right now its hard to tell, I think I would benefit from having one, but Im not sure I HAVE to have it, I want to build one but I might be linking it with my tax return this winter, so the whole traction bar thing is up in the air right now.
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
right now its hard to tell, I think I would benefit from having one, but Im not sure I HAVE to have it, I want to build one but I might be linking it with my tax return this winter, so the whole traction bar thing is up in the air right now.

Nice!

Any word on the driveshaft?
 

OrvisKrawler

Captain Obvious
Location
Eden UT
finally got my front drive shaft back, gotta thank the guys at Tom Woods, they took care of everything and didnt charge me for the fix, I highly recommend going to Tom for all your drive line needs!, turns out my rear drive shaft is bent, it got hung up on a rock right before the front one broke, I thought it was just out of ballance, but its toast, I took it in with the front one to get checked out, so I went to the junk yard and picked up another stock one untill I can afford to get a stronger one made, but truck is up and going again, which is good :)
 

OrvisKrawler

Captain Obvious
Location
Eden UT
Had a chance to get some done on this yesterday, did my rear disk swap, picked up some ruffstuff caliper brackets, 85 3/4 ton rotors, and a master cyl from a 99 c3500 with 4 wheel disks, I had the calipers and brake lines laying around from one of my old trucks, got it all installed, went really smooth, and they work great! anyway here are a few pics I didn't take many

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OrvisKrawler

Captain Obvious
Location
Eden UT
Love the bed mount for the high lift jack. Way clean and up out of the way. We need to go wheel again.

thanks man, I agree we do, wish I could have made it to moab with you guys, too many conflicting schedules and lack of funds, anyway I was thinking about going somewhere saturday, either snakes or the B if you're interested..
 

Kirby N.

New Member
Location
Ogden, Utah
Hey man! I saw your truck sitting at your house the other day. I live just around the corner from you. I drive a tan Jeep unlimited. Hit me up if you ever need an extra set of hands.
 

Kirby N.

New Member
Location
Ogden, Utah
Will do. Mines an LJ with a tan hardtop and a winch. I cruise to the south of your house most days, though I hvae been avoiding the canyon as of lately.
 
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