gertsch
Well-Known Member
- Location
- West Bountiful
It needs to be a 6x6! Lol! Just kidding.
Recovery rig thoughts
- Thread starter LT.
- Start date
LT.
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Los Alamos, New Mexico
Funny stuff right there.
The list of things to do is getting smaller and larger at the same time. Things are getting done but, along the way new things are coming up. Now it looks as though we are needing new clutch linkage bushings. But, it really is coming together very well. All things that come up will be felt with and new parts will be ordered in an effort to get this truck done correctly.
LT.
The list of things to do is getting smaller and larger at the same time. Things are getting done but, along the way new things are coming up. Now it looks as though we are needing new clutch linkage bushings. But, it really is coming together very well. All things that come up will be felt with and new parts will be ordered in an effort to get this truck done correctly.
LT.
LT.
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Los Alamos, New Mexico
Small update time. Today I ordered all new parts for the bed from Horkey's in Minnesota. I hope they show up at Cheston's before he leaves for Top Truck. The parts were expensive but, I figure with the added cost perhaps they will fit together better. Here's to hoping.
LT.
LT.
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
It sounds like this thing is going to be 100% new when you're done.
LT.
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Los Alamos, New Mexico
Thanks for the kind words gentlemen. At first this build was just a suspension lift, axles, fix a few things and wheel it a bit. The more Cheston has gotten into the rig the more small things keep cropping up. When I ask for his opinion he suggest going ahead and fixing or replacing everything along the way. Cheston is who truly deserves the credit here. All I do is order the parts he says he wants and he installs them. I keep sending money his way but, it seems like every penny I have sent he ends up having to buy some small part to keep the project going. I swear, one of these days the money I send him will actually go to him and not to more parts. I learned a few days ago that he has had his brother Mitch helping with the project. If it was not for Cheston and his brother Mitch this truck would not be advancing as well as it has been.
The decision to redo all the bed floor was made a few weeks ago. Cheston seemed a little bummed that we would be installing a brand new fuel cell on a bed floor that was going to look like crap. Some of the boards are rotten so bad they are broke. The skid strips were rusted and one for sure was broken as well. We were just going to install some aluminum diamond plate over the bed floor just to cover it up but, Cheston being a trim/finish carpenter wanted something better than just a band aid over the busted up floor. In his subtle way he had suggested it would be a shame to go this far with out going all the way on the truck. I agreed and as of now I don't think there is one problem area that has not been addressed with brand new parts.
Cheston and Mitch, thanks for all your hard work on my pile of junk. I know that it is a monster chore to muscle through a project that is not something y'all would build. I appreciate all your tireless work on my junk.
LT.
ChestonScout
opinions are like Jeeps..
- Location
- Clinton, Ut
Your Welcome buddy!
I got a pic of the motor installed. I need to get it on the computer
I got a pic of the motor installed. I need to get it on the computer
broncomitch
dont be a sheep in a jeep
- Location
- west jordan,UT
Welcome!
Its going to be one fun truck!
We pulled it from the drive way to the side of the house and it was a blast shifting through the gears going about... 0.5 mph and it was still fun. Lol
Its going to be one fun truck!
We pulled it from the drive way to the side of the house and it was a blast shifting through the gears going about... 0.5 mph and it was still fun. Lol
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LT.
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Los Alamos, New Mexico
Thank you so much fellas. Your hard work is what is going to make this more than just a great truck.
LT.
LT.
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Los Alamos, New Mexico
I asked Cheston if he thought Christine could be done around the first of September. He said he thought it could be so this is the new finish line. Below is the original list. Some of it has been finished and along the way there has been some additions.
1. Dana 60 front axle with 5.13 gears and a Detroit. (This is done except I went with 4.88 gears.)
2. 14 Bolt FF with 5.13 gears and a spool. (The rear axle is under the truck but, I am still missing the gears and instead of the spool I want a locker.)
3. NP-203/205 doubler again from Off Road Design. (Still waiting on this one. It may not happen right away anyways.)
4. New clutch. (Done, Thanks to Cheston.)
5. Rebuilt motor. If anyone knows of a big block Dodge please let me know. (Done, even better than expected again thanks to Cheston.)
6. 17" bead locks. (Skipped the bead locks and went with some old school wagon wheel designed 17's.)
7. Radial tires in the neighborhood of 37" to 40". (Done. Went with 40" Goodyear Wrangler MT/R's.)
8. Big winch on the front and maybe even one off of the rear. 12,000+ (Done. 16.5 Warn winch for the front.)
9. Pre runner styled bumpers front and rear with a full sized spare tire in the bed. (Being worked on after Cheston gets back from Top Truck.)
10. New exhaust. I don't have a reason for liking to work on exhaust so much but, it is important to me to have a great sounding/working exhaust system. (Also waiting for Cheston to get back from Top Truck.)
11. Replace the wood on the bed floor. (Parts are ordered and should be at Cheston's house in a couple of weeks.)
12. If time allows I would like to address some smaller issues. Electrical, interior, and the bed. (A lot of the smaller issues have been addressed along the way. Again, all thanks to Cheston.)
Other things can be bought as money allows. I have decided on not cutting up the truck. I really don't want to hack up classic sheet metal. This is one of the reasons I bought this truck. Classic, good looking, solid, and a little stylish (at least in my opinion). Another problem for any Dodge or Chevy is the wheel well size on the front. I may try and shift the front axle forward an inch or inch and a half to try and keep the tires out of the fender at full compression especially while turning. As a rule I would also like to address smaller issues as I work on it. Say, the front shackles and maybe even the rear shackles. Perhaps grease-able bolts and bushings as I do the suspension. (All of this has been addressed already as well. I bought all new hangers front and rear. All new springs, and I even moved the axles around to make the tires fit.)
LT.
1. Dana 60 front axle with 5.13 gears and a Detroit. (This is done except I went with 4.88 gears.)
2. 14 Bolt FF with 5.13 gears and a spool. (The rear axle is under the truck but, I am still missing the gears and instead of the spool I want a locker.)
3. NP-203/205 doubler again from Off Road Design. (Still waiting on this one. It may not happen right away anyways.)
4. New clutch. (Done, Thanks to Cheston.)
5. Rebuilt motor. If anyone knows of a big block Dodge please let me know. (Done, even better than expected again thanks to Cheston.)
6. 17" bead locks. (Skipped the bead locks and went with some old school wagon wheel designed 17's.)
7. Radial tires in the neighborhood of 37" to 40". (Done. Went with 40" Goodyear Wrangler MT/R's.)
8. Big winch on the front and maybe even one off of the rear. 12,000+ (Done. 16.5 Warn winch for the front.)
9. Pre runner styled bumpers front and rear with a full sized spare tire in the bed. (Being worked on after Cheston gets back from Top Truck.)
10. New exhaust. I don't have a reason for liking to work on exhaust so much but, it is important to me to have a great sounding/working exhaust system. (Also waiting for Cheston to get back from Top Truck.)
11. Replace the wood on the bed floor. (Parts are ordered and should be at Cheston's house in a couple of weeks.)
12. If time allows I would like to address some smaller issues. Electrical, interior, and the bed. (A lot of the smaller issues have been addressed along the way. Again, all thanks to Cheston.)
Other things can be bought as money allows. I have decided on not cutting up the truck. I really don't want to hack up classic sheet metal. This is one of the reasons I bought this truck. Classic, good looking, solid, and a little stylish (at least in my opinion). Another problem for any Dodge or Chevy is the wheel well size on the front. I may try and shift the front axle forward an inch or inch and a half to try and keep the tires out of the fender at full compression especially while turning. As a rule I would also like to address smaller issues as I work on it. Say, the front shackles and maybe even the rear shackles. Perhaps grease-able bolts and bushings as I do the suspension. (All of this has been addressed already as well. I bought all new hangers front and rear. All new springs, and I even moved the axles around to make the tires fit.)
LT.
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LT.
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Los Alamos, New Mexico
Okay RME'ers, what am I missing on this build? I have tried to incorporate everything that has been said thus far on this build but, I keep thinking I am missing something?
LT.
LT.
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
You're missing a test drive. 
LT.
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Los Alamos, New Mexico
You're missing a test drive.
Lol. I think I need it done first. Just trying to make sure I have everything covered.
LT.
LT.
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Los Alamos, New Mexico
Small update time. Today I got word from Cheston that all the materials and hardware for the bed floor showed up at his house. He is going to be gone for the next week or two to Top Truck. So pictures will have to wait until he has a moment and the time.
LT.
LT.
LT.
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Los Alamos, New Mexico
Cheston has been working at a feverish pace. Yesterday he started with the dis assembly of the bed floor. Then he had to knock off for a couple of hours. Even though he had a couple hour interruption he still managed to get the bed floor removed and he started putting it back together. Hundreds of spot welds later and all new parts and the bed is starting to take shape. Cheston and I have made the decision to just clear the oak planks instead of staining them. I will let him post up some pictures when he gets the chance.
LT.
LT.
ChestonScout
opinions are like Jeeps..
- Location
- Clinton, Ut
Yup! Finally got a little time to work on the ol girl.
This is a fun part of the build for me. Im a finish carpenter and just tinker on vehicles for fun. This is the first time Ive really combined to two!
Here is what I started with. I spent a good half hour killing hornets. Lil bastids
Disassembly kinda sucked. The way Dodge has the cross members setup you can not get a impact on 95% of the bolts. Thank goodness for ratchet wrenches.
I was planning on just leaving the bed on the truck to do this but I realized that wasnt going to work. After a few minutes of trying to round up some help...with no luck....I came up with a plan on moving the bed by myself. I stood the bed up on the tailgate pushing it off the truck. I then grabbed my creeper and layed the bed down on to it on one end. I can pick one end up easy. So I just wheeled it over and reversed the process. It went really well and didnt leave a mark on the bed!
This was the worst part....so far. The side rails are attached the bed with spotwelds. The guy doing the spotwelds on this bed must have been paid by the hour. There were WAAY more than necessary. Some were 1/2" apart. So a lot of drilling and chiseling to get them off
The new STAINLESS STEEL rails from Horkeys are pretty nice! The instructions say you can either spot weld them on or bolt them. Not having the means to weld stainless I went for the bolting option. A few of the bolts will be visable from the outside of the truck but I think its fine. Rob?? I bought some allen head stainless steel bolts for this job.
And here is all the planks fitted in. I love it!
I will be working on finishing the oak all this week. They sent marine grade spar varnish with the kit. Minimum of 5 coats and they say let them dry for 8 hours between coats!!!!! Its pretty important that each coat dries before adding the next. Otherwise they will never dry right.
It does make me nervous working with show quality, expensive parts. I much prefer rock crawling junk thats just gonna get hammered anyway.
So HOPEFULLY I can get the oak finished and everything installed soon. I am going to build new mounts to bolt the bed down. The back 2 stock mounts actually go thru the wood bed and the front are broken. I dont like the idea of all that weight being supported by this wood so hopefully I can come up with something better.
After the bed is back on, I will start fabbing the tube bumpers. They are what I have been most excited about with this whole build. Hopefully they turn out half as good as they look in my head...lol
This is a fun part of the build for me. Im a finish carpenter and just tinker on vehicles for fun. This is the first time Ive really combined to two!
Here is what I started with. I spent a good half hour killing hornets. Lil bastids
Disassembly kinda sucked. The way Dodge has the cross members setup you can not get a impact on 95% of the bolts. Thank goodness for ratchet wrenches.
I was planning on just leaving the bed on the truck to do this but I realized that wasnt going to work. After a few minutes of trying to round up some help...with no luck....I came up with a plan on moving the bed by myself. I stood the bed up on the tailgate pushing it off the truck. I then grabbed my creeper and layed the bed down on to it on one end. I can pick one end up easy. So I just wheeled it over and reversed the process. It went really well and didnt leave a mark on the bed!
This was the worst part....so far. The side rails are attached the bed with spotwelds. The guy doing the spotwelds on this bed must have been paid by the hour. There were WAAY more than necessary. Some were 1/2" apart. So a lot of drilling and chiseling to get them off
The new STAINLESS STEEL rails from Horkeys are pretty nice! The instructions say you can either spot weld them on or bolt them. Not having the means to weld stainless I went for the bolting option. A few of the bolts will be visable from the outside of the truck but I think its fine. Rob?? I bought some allen head stainless steel bolts for this job.
And here is all the planks fitted in. I love it!
I will be working on finishing the oak all this week. They sent marine grade spar varnish with the kit. Minimum of 5 coats and they say let them dry for 8 hours between coats!!!!! Its pretty important that each coat dries before adding the next. Otherwise they will never dry right.
It does make me nervous working with show quality, expensive parts. I much prefer rock crawling junk thats just gonna get hammered anyway.
So HOPEFULLY I can get the oak finished and everything installed soon. I am going to build new mounts to bolt the bed down. The back 2 stock mounts actually go thru the wood bed and the front are broken. I dont like the idea of all that weight being supported by this wood so hopefully I can come up with something better.
After the bed is back on, I will start fabbing the tube bumpers. They are what I have been most excited about with this whole build. Hopefully they turn out half as good as they look in my head...lol
LT.
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Los Alamos, New Mexico
Yep, bolts are gonna be fine. I really am trying to just let you have the reins on this one as much as possible. If you like it than I am sure it will be more than good. I can't believe how much work you are able to get done once your busy schedule lets you. Really impressive!
I bought the best materials I could find hoping that the re-assembly would be easier. I really did not think about having a show quality truck bed.
I am still kicking myself not thinking about the spot weld cutter bit. When I bought the bed kit I thought of it then. After I hung up the phone I forgot all about it.
LT.
I bought the best materials I could find hoping that the re-assembly would be easier. I really did not think about having a show quality truck bed.
I am still kicking myself not thinking about the spot weld cutter bit. When I bought the bed kit I thought of it then. After I hung up the phone I forgot all about it.
LT.
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LT.
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Los Alamos, New Mexico
Y'all know the saying? "Praise in public......" Well, Cheston has been doing a FANTASTIC job on this truck! I am so pleased with his work and his abilities. Thank you Cheston for everything.
Now, I am a little stuck as to what kind of shocks to run on this truck. I thought FOA at first but, lately I have not been able to get a hold of them and I don't think I will use them again. At least not on this truck. So, it has come down to three choices. King, Radflo, and Fox. Which would y'all run and why would you choose them? The price difference between them is all so close I don't think it will make too much of a difference.
LT.
Now, I am a little stuck as to what kind of shocks to run on this truck. I thought FOA at first but, lately I have not been able to get a hold of them and I don't think I will use them again. At least not on this truck. So, it has come down to three choices. King, Radflo, and Fox. Which would y'all run and why would you choose them? The price difference between them is all so close I don't think it will make too much of a difference.
LT.
LT.
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Los Alamos, New Mexico
As of yesterday the truck is now back together and the bed floor came out unbelievably beautiful!!!
LT.
LT.
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT