Jon And Sheri's Vitamin D Wagon

As she sits now,

But it didn't start out like this.




We returned from our trip to Colorado Sept 2009 to find this waiting in the yard.

It needs a few little sumthuns--but it is a great start I do think.
Here is where we begin to take over the work started by trukmajik and dejello

updated pics ^^^^^how it was when I got it

Now here is how it looks as of 4-1-2010

got the wheels all shiny!

and as of 8-5-2010

with swaybar^^^

without sway bar

revised shock towers and more flex-Big thanks to Dkchrist for coming over to weld em in. I owe him big time!!

With a top

LED rock lights

 

[90ranajo]

Wow
Chad at http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/ called to personally say my order has shipped.

Very few companies take the time for real time contact. I am impressed.

From Pirate:

Update New Store Hours 6 am-6 pm​

In our continued effort to improve our customer service to our customers located in the mid west and east coast states, we are now be open at 6am Arizona time allowing our customers to reach us earlier than ever essentially 8am Eastern standard time!

In addition to this good news, we'd like to welcome our new customer service salesman, Chad, to the Ballistic staff. We hope these additions and changes will help us in our continuing effort to improve customer service and communication. Chad's primary duties include outgoing calls to inform our customers of any news related to their order.

As always, thank you for your continued support and we look forward to hearing from you earlier than ever! All the best, Ballistic Fabrication


Thank You
Sales Ballistic Fabrication

 

[kert0307]

That's good they hired a guy, between stuff for my B2 and a project at work I've ordered over 3k of stuff from them in the last 4 months and I've always had to call them to check on orders that hadn't shipped, or were shipped missing parts.

 

[FROADER]

JT...

Is this thing wheelable as is? Is everything there/working or is anything broken?

 

[Turdle]

JT...

Is this thing wheelable as is? Is everything there/working or is anything broken?

Well,
I have to upload the pictures of what I am doing now.

The rear shocks are actually "front " shocks with the post mount. The rubber disc on the driver side went away and the post has been in ther all loose.

I am making angled shock mounts so I can use the sway bar bracket and go back up to the stock location.

I need to get a temp gauge working, other than that it would wheel I think--

 

[FROADER]

Homework for *this week to prepare for this weekend's test:

1. Get rear shocks mounted.
2. *Forget about the trac-bar and steering. The stuff on there works.








































































This weekend's test:

1. GO WHEEL THIS DAMN TRUCK BEFORE YOU GET BURNED OUT!!!


I can see it in your eyes, Jon. Go drive this thing and see how it acts. The trac-bar and drag link aren't parallel on Mark's truck either. It has been beat, hard, and works just fine. If it doesn't work as good as it should, then do something about it. Why worry about "severe angles" when you haven't even taken it out? It was wheeled when it was built.

I will grade you Monday (I'm going skiing this weekend) from the pictures you take and post.


And yes, I said I can see it in your eyes.

 

[IZwack]

Under pressure! Pressure, pushing down on me, pushing down on you.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[james t]

Best idea in the whole thread.

Jon, i been-there-done-that with my current rig. It was wheelable when i bought it, but needed some work and redesign. I wheeled it first despite the fact that it wasnt how i wanted it. Then, i fixed one thing and wheeled it some more. After that, i fixed some other stuff and wheeled some more.

You and i are probably alike in that we both have "its hopeless it will change 100 times before i get it off the jackstands" syndrome. This leads to discouragement, disgust, procrastination, loss of drive, followed by several days of manic wrench turning followed by lots more days of not getting anything done.

Just fix the shocks and go wheel the damn thing. Instead of rebuilding it all in one sitting, figure out how you can do it in small stages and not have it down for more than a couple of days. Do the shocks now and go wheel it, or hell just drive it to the beer store. Build your steering links WHILE its driveable. Then when you're ready and have everything, tear into it. Put it back together, and have it driveable while you plan, build, assemble parts for the next round of mods.

After years of going through the same ole rut i finally learned the above and have been much happier, and gotten alot more done- because of it.

 

[John_Rock]

 

[Turdle]

I love you guys-

Ok, The rear shock mount tabs needed to be angled. So, I remade them and they are baking in the oven now. I had an older set of rear shocks laying around, so they got powder coated also.

I just need to shove new shock bushings into the shocks, find some nuts and bolts and they will be in. woo hoo rear shocks in the rear---

The steering needs work though. It gets scary on the road over 45 mph. Just too much play for me.

The radius arms have to be extended so I can mount my sliders. I need some steps to get in this thing, and the slider mounts would be in the same place as the present radius arm bracket.

 

[Albino 94LTD]

Excuses, excuses, excuses.

Have the better half make up some stirrups and bolt them to the floorboards then hang em over the door sill.

Problem solved.

NOW GO WHEEL THAT THING!

 

[MrQ]

The steering needs work though. It gets scary on the road over 45 mph. Just too much play for me.

Last time I checked, you don't need to go that fast to wheel. Stop beatin' around the bush.

 

[sparksafly'n]

Yep!

 

[FROADER]

I will grade you Monday (I'm going skiing this weekend) from the pictures you take and post.

That says Monday.

Do the shocks now and go wheel it, or hell just drive it to the beer store.

Just not too many trips...

 

[Turdle]

OK, the previous owner of the truck used front shocks in the rear location.
See, here it is, I aint lyin'

OK, I don't know a lot but I do know this had to be fixed. I preferred to use the stock upper mounting points.

The problem is the lower shock brackets were facing straight up, so using the old ones as a pattern I made a pair with off set holes so it would mount at an angle aligning with the upper mount.
Now, keeping this in the RAT ROD fashion, I used what I had laying around

I had a pair of old stock explorer shocks Corkey left behind when we did the suspension swap. I pushed them all the way in, taped off the remainder of the post and sandblasted them. Now, I know you aren't supposed to powdercoat shocks--well, I did anyway. I seem to have gotten away with it.

I set them aside and started on the brackets.

I had this piece of 1.5" x 3" rectangle tube.

Using the old bracket as a guide I marked and drilled the holes. I held the bracket at an angle to get the off set and then flipped it straight over to make a mirror image of the first.

I already had the holes drilled when I decided to start taking pictures,

Then to the chop saw to cut the angles

After the angles were cut, I chopped the remaining piece in half leaving 2 brackets

Then the chop saw again to cut off the outer edge of the tube

Then I used the angle grinder to round off the corners a bit

one rounded one not

Rounded off

Then I took a file to them to make sure the holes and edges were nice and clean. Next came the blasting cabinet. I blasted them with coal slag mixed with aluminum oxide

Then in the booth for a coat of White silver vein.

While they baked I went about pressing the new bushings and Dog Bones into the shocks. Note the new off sett drilled brackets compared to the straight drilled ones

I put it all together and now I have rear shocks in the rear of my truck.

 

[dkchrist]

Sweet Jon!! Wheel it!!!

 

[cybergasm]

yeah that does look much better

 

[corkey]

that looks sweet,
them shocks were actually not that old either, salt sand and weather just made them look old,

 

[Albino 94LTD]

Hey!

knock it off with the white suspension parts!

Albino Abby don't live in Kansas: She never did.

 

[Turdle]

It's what I had in the gun. :

And since I have a whole bunch of white---

 

[Sbyrne97]

I put it all together and now I have rear shocks in the rear of my truck.

haha this made me chuckle