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
A friend and I went to Sand Hollow over Easter and well, I added some character, my truck is not so clean anymore....

but it was a memorable trip and cant wait to get back down there for more!

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OrvisKrawler

Captain Obvious
Location
Eden UT
Little update to this, I had a great summer wheeling this rig, got out quite a bit on camping trips and stuff. last week I picked up a set of Michelin XMLs, they are about 38" tall and should hopefully work well on it, pix.........

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had to cut some of the back part of the front fenders to get them to not rub
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OrvisKrawler

Captain Obvious
Location
Eden UT
Thanks guys, it surprises people whenever I take it out, I've put it in places that a full bodied full size truck shouldn't be and it impressed me, I'm very happy with it's current configuration but it may be changing this winter, I want to go 4 link and get rid of the leaf springs, and with the bigger tires it's definitely going to need hydro assist. projects never seem to ever be done
 

bryson

RME Resident Ninja
Supporting Member
Location
West Jordan
Very cool cage design! Do the sliders tie into the frame, or just the rockers? Do the rearmost bars bolt to the bed, or do they go through to the frame?
 

OrvisKrawler

Captain Obvious
Location
Eden UT
the slider is tied into the frame with the same 2x4 tubing that I made it out of, turned vertical, its very solid, the cage is welded to the sliders near each "leg" in the front and back and the rear bars go through holes in the bed and are welded to the frame I didnt want to have any exo cage sticking out to get hung up on when fitting it into tight spots

Legs
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OrvisKrawler

Captain Obvious
Location
Eden UT
built some tube doors sunday, I think they turned out pretty sweet, I need to find a small mirror to mount to the drivers side one still though

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