The "trophy husband" pro mod buggy build

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
FWIW, factory caster for GM stuff is 6-8* if I remember right. Flops the wheels over a little. Build is looking sexy. Continue.
Yeah I asked my go-to cutie pie guy and he said 4-6 is money. I expect it really mattereth not. I also found that the driver said C had a 4.5* “bushing” for the upper so I ordered a 0* to match the passenger side.
 

Tacoma

Et incurventur ante non
Location
far enough away
right on. Progress is superb
edit: I think you're right about it not mattering for this purpose. Scrub radius and kingpin inclination axis, blah blah. That'll be close enough for its use. I"m down with it. Keep on truckin'
 

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
I did some tube work today so what I’m really trying to say is I stood around and looked at it for a few hours and did like 30 min of work 🤣
Either way I got the front frame section and “bumper” tacked on. I’m following WERock pro mod rules so I need 15.5” of frame in front of the axle centerline. Also the frame rails have to be a minimum of 16” apart. I sloped it upwards a tiny bit and tacked it. We’ll see if I like it in the daylight.
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It looks super long, I know but that’s why I threw the hood on there just for kicks.
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Buuut that being said I don’t think I’m going to keep the hood full length. I think I’m going to cut about 6” out of the cowl side but we’ll see once I get the rear frame built out. I’d really like to keep some balance when it comes to the proportions so we’ll see what happens.
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A front shot just because I do what I want.

Really the front frame section had to happen because I want to get the panhard mounts made. That is going to be a real treat 🤣
 

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
Well the front panhard is pretty much mounted. I’m sure string and magnets will suffice 🤣
This really is pretty much where it’s going to go. Driver side mount will be on the axle to make clearing that upper link mount not a problem. I need to do some cardboard work and then Carlos will (hopefully) cut me some stuff.
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N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
Well I spent a whole evening measuring stuff, moving crap around and doing arts and crafts. It sucks how long this stuff takes but it’s importante! 815A4C44-58BC-4834-9732-5CB1B6C5A810.jpeg8884ADB4-195A-43B9-90BA-CC03F1A8C13E.jpeg9A706900-5F6F-462B-88CE-E695646CF0C4.jpegThen I sent the fun pictures to this guy I know named Carlos and he just said my stuff is done. Yay!
 

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
Limited time today because we’re going out of town tomorrow and surprising our kids with a trip to the happiest place on earth. Buuut I ran to the casa de Carlos on lunch and grabbed my brackets because I wanted to see them. I just sat half of each one on there and they look like they’ll work great.68E774CC-DFF8-4A49-A41F-0DE5756B0CDC.jpeg
And obviously they’re getting these because this thing doesn’t have a 14 bolt.
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They’ll both need some more bracing too. The axle side just needs a little kicker down to the diff. The frame side will get a tube run down to it from the d-side frame and one from behind it as well.
Oh and you may notice in that pic that the winch mount is sitting there too.
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I need to notch the plate and move it back about an inch and then it should be great. Main use will be as a front suck down so it’ll run straight down to the axle. I’ll probably have it go over a tube crossmember above the panhard bar and run in front of the panhard to the axle. That way the rope won’t rub on the winch body but also it might not be an issue at all. We’ll see.
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N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
I got a late start today because it was my first day to relax after Disneyland and whatnot. And then I decided I should probably get my Jeep in the garage since it has been sitting on the trailer, dead for 3 weeks… and it got snowed on.
It sucked balls since my driveway is an incline. I backed it up to the garage door and used ratchet straps to pull the back end off the trailer. Then kept doing that until the fronts were almost off. I chocked the rear tires and pulled the trailer out from under it. Then I used a floor jack to move it against the wall a couple feet at a time. Lame but it’s done.
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I got the axle side panhard mount welded up. Then I got it all lined up and was about to tack it on but I realized I haven’t welded the C’s up yet. Man that would’ve been terrible. So that will wait for next time.
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I decided I had enough time to get the winch mount notched out and welded up. It turned out pretty sweet.
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It fits really well in there with plenty of room to unlock it (if necessary) and to wire it.
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Also it has plenty of clearance on the panhard. I know angles can be tricky to see in pics.
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