My BII Project

[410Fortune]

if you have icy snowy roads I would consider waiting for an auto locker, the BII will not turn and it will have you in the ditch when things get slippry out with a locked front or rear, open diffs with a rear limited slip are the way to go if you drive your truck daily in a place like CO, thats why I waited ans waited and went with selectable lockers

But to answer your questions the Lincoln locker has worked awesome for many years, you just have to do it right. I believe Rockranger welded up his dana 28 and wheeled it like that for years, same with his old 7.5?
He might have some advice for doing it right

[SBJ420]

Got the other fender on today, on my lunch agian.. hahaha almost dident make it back to work, this one was a little more fun, had the wheel well still on and I had to take the head light out to get to one bolt. But here it is done. Just need to sand it down a little and than apply the black paint!
Any ideas on what grade of sand paper is good on fiberglass?

[410Fortune]

looks good!! you need some rims with some backspacing!
Heres a comparison shot, this is 4.5" lift, 4" glass with 15x7.5" rims 3.75" backspacing, 33x12.50 my beams are also about 1.5" wider then stock per side.
That will give you a 7.5" wider stance with jsut the rims alone, more stable as well as filling up the glass

33's:


33's


recently with 35":

[SBJ420]

whats your thoughts on wheel spacers? I hear they are bad on the bearings...
Keep in mind that my fender's are a 6" flair
Trying to figure out what to do with the air box now that there is no liner under the fender...
that first pic is CRAZY! ,

When I take my body lift out I am going to replace the body mounts. Daystar Body Mount Bushings any good? What should I be looking at when I buy new ones?

[410Fortune]

URETHANE
I replaced my body mounts this summer, after 290K miles I finally got around to removing the worn out stock rubber pucks and bolts and replacing them with a James Duff body mount kit. I chose the Duff bushing kit because it is cheap and the bushings are bright blue.

This is a BIG job
You will need a sawzall, the 4 main cab bushings are a metal sleeve from the factory and you will have to cut it, there is no way around this. It was a HUGE PITA to do, you better have some nice new sharp sawzall blades in hand.
I tackled one mount a day and it took me a week in my driveway with the neighbors rolling their eyes "whats he doing now" hahaha

the truck felt a billion times more solid once they were done, I should have replaced those suckers years ago, night and day improvement.

I also had to buy alot of bolts and washers from the local ACE hardware, I used grade 5
I think the body lost about 1/4" of height with the urethane bushings over the stretched/worn factory ones

that first pick is "bagby's rock" in Los Coyotes indian reservation, CA
Awesome place to go wheeling
Rick has a pretty good pick of his orange pumkin there
it would be a really great spot to change your oil!
Also if you continue up past this rock it the trail elevates into one hell of an obstacle, they told me it was called "bronco hill" but without a winch and a roll cage there was no way my bronco was attempting the climb!!

[SBJ420]

Just got a new pack of sawzall blades too! haha funny. Think it may be a little easer because some one has put in a body lift? I plan on changing them when I take my body lift out. I was looking at them and they are all cracked and what not. Most of the sets I have been looking at have all new hardware also. So you are down in CA by LA? Its only a 15h drive away! But its never worth driving into the states (USA) The border police going in to the US is CRAZY, but no problem comming in to Canada Driving somthing jacked up and on big wheels would be fun, I am sure they would want to look in side the tires to make sure there were no drugs!

oh yeah whats your thoughts on wheel spacers? Good or bad idea?

[410Fortune]

I am back in CO but was living in Laguna CA for a while, I also visit often, my family has split our time between So Cal and Denver since I was a kid.

Yes sorry you wont have to cut those POS metal sleeves since a body lift has already been installed, in fact removing it and replacing with aftermarket urethane mounts will be a cake walk

Get your carpet out now

wheel spacers are a bad idea IMO up front because the dana 28 and 35 TTB already lack strength in the wheel bearing department when used with big tires

[SBJ420]

here is a little bit of paint before and after

[FROADER]

Looks really good...hint, hint Jamie.

[410Fortune]

geesh he did this like 2 days after install, mine have been on for over 2 years

What did you paint those suckers with, it looks good!
Why the odd wheel?

I have refused to rattle can them because I was planning to repaint the whole truck soon after I do some rust repair, well the rust repair has been on the back burner for a couple years now....body work schmody work, we know whats really important!!

[SBJ420]

I am going to go over it a few more times, but it looks good, I knew some one was going to say somthing about 410's hahaha, but yeah I bombed them, it seems like I will never actually get a real paint job agian on this truck, every time I go out wheelin I end up going though some old ATV path or just going up the mountians though the woods, needless to say lots of crap runs down the side, not even sure how long I will be able to keep these fenders from being smashed off.

OHHH ODD wheel, well I was driving home and went over the train tracks and a chunk of metal ended up in my tire.... It was actually kinda funny, some what, I was on my way home with new tires in the back of the BII for the Explorer, and I was thinking , "Dont really need to bring my spare if I am driving though the city" But the tire held air for the drive home. Just need to get a new spare and change it back

[410Fortune]

bombed = rattle can?

did you prep the gel coat at all?

[SBJ420]

rattle can yes hahaha, we say spray bombed... Donno why. hahaha, now not too sure what a gel coat is, unless its from somthing new. But I got these fenders used. Before I painted them I used two different types of sand paper, washed them, than used a black primer than used gloss

[410Fortune]

gel coat is the white factory smooth finish, like a boat

you done good!!

[SBJ420]

what would be the best gears to use on my truck? with 35's
324, 355, 373

from what I have been reading higher the gears the better right? As for tire size.

[FROADER]

4.56, 4.88 or 5.13.

4.56 - with 35s will put you close to stock ratio if you already have 3.73.

4.88 - will give you decent low end and not lose too much high end.

5.13 - will be sweet for off-roading and around town, but not so sweet for highway driving.

I've had 4.56s with my 35s in my last two trucks and I want 5.13s or 5.38s

[SBJ420]

I will be going to 4.56 when I have the $$, this is my DD also. I have a choice with these three, I am going to go with 355, I am getting a 8.8 swaped in, was going to do it today but ended up having a problem with the gears matching the D35 that I got. so now its put off untill Dec 27 - 28
The D35 has 3.55 gears and the 8.8 had 324, so we are going to just swap the rear to 3.55

[410Fortune]

4.88 are not available for the front dana 35 TTB are they Colin?
If you are going through the trouble of putting new gears in the 8.8 SKIP the 3.55
3.55 with 35" tires SUCKS
go with at least 4.56

[FROADER]

I think you're right. No 4,88s for the d35...

['97 V8]

I can honeslty say that would be a mistake, running 3.55's with 35's. I have a V8 with 3.73's and with 33's i hate it. With 35's my truck would be a dog. Go with a lower gear, you'll thank yourself in the end.