The Black Hole

[vroomzoomboom]

this is a off roader right? not a show truck?

 

[gmanpaint]

this is a off roader right? not a show truck?

Knowing that you go to car shows, and are not into off road rigs, I'm not sure to take that as a compliment or an insult, or just being a smart azz :scratch:

It's a trail rig, not an off roader. It is still made to be on the road as well as off road. What? Can't it look half way decent getting to the trails, and back?

Like I mentioned, I hate rusty parts. I also hate Mud falling on my face when I am working on it. The fresh POR15 paint helps with all that. Hose it off easily as it is non porous. I wish I could do it all under there just for that reason alone.

That and I like how it looks compared to rusty cancer ridden, nasty lack of maintenance, no caring, no pride, no give 2 poops, how it looks attitude. (Thats like people who only care about what they look like from the neck up.) Thats just laziness to me. Plus I have No social Life, and this stuff keeps me occupied, with something to do at home.

The rear work was maintenance, that just happened get upgraded in the process. The front work is needed to correct the maxed out suspension to get a proper alignment for ON the road. If it was just an off roader, I wouldn't touch these parts, and leave it as is.

 

[gmanpaint]

Got the E-brake cable bracket made. Just have to bolt it up.

New next to stock. Mine gets bolted to the U-bolt skids, which I think puts it in a different location, and my leaf packs are taller then stock, so that's the reason for this. Cable rides above the top leaf to the E-brake hook thing a bobber, on top of the axle tubes behind the discs. Bolt hole is a bit smaller, but that's what I wanted.

 

[gmanpaint]

Ok.... Been at it after work the last few days, getting some small mods done with the little time allowed before I turn into a cranky Pumpkin and pass out. Works been killer on me lately. Was needing a place to store the spare rear drive shaft Got me to asking others where they placed theirs. best idea came from a picture shared By Phil aka Albino LTD. I have seen others on this forum who have done this as well, so I incorporated a few ideas from others, and mashed them into one, plus my own touches.

Been waiting on a delivery for some mounts I need for the Drive shaft, so this isn't installed in the rig just yet. I will update this post after it comes and I can finish up, and share the whole enchilada. For now, some pics to satisfy the pic junkies.

 

[Brian1]

Nice work, that storage box looks great!

 

[gmanpaint]

Nice work, that storage box looks great!

Thank you!

 

[Albino 94LTD]

Ah crap, someone else blaming me for one of my s***y ideas

"But it looks good on you though"

 

[gmanpaint]

Ah crap, someone else blaming me for one of my s***y ideas

"But it looks good on you though"

Not blaming, just thanking

This just made the most sense for what I needed.

 

[Turdle]

That is a sweet storage drawer box. Good job!

 

[gmanpaint]

That is a sweet storage drawer box. Good job!

Thank you sir!

 

[reapereviltwin]

You just gave me the idea how to do mine during the rebuild, will not be exact, but the basics are there that I was looking for. I know the craftsmanship will be no where near yours. Looks great!!

 

[gmanpaint]

You just gave me the idea how to do mine during the rebuild, will not be exact, but the basics are there that I was looking for. I know the craftsmanship will be no where near yours. Looks great!!

Thank you!

I'm sure yours will be terrific.

I just took my time with it, a few hours after work for a couple nights. Spent an entire evening just tracking down all the materials for it. Once you have all that, and start cutting, it just flows into place as you go. It's just a box inside a box. lol

 

[96EXXLTinCO]

Been trying to figure out what to do about my storage situation in the 94 sport. I have recovery gear, several tool bags and a tool box, plus some small plastic organizer boxes with various hardware, electrical connectors and wire, etc. I've been wanting some kind of a drawer storage solution such as this. I don't know why it didn't dawn on me till reading your build, but I have an extra set of drawer slides from my Matco tool box that will be perfect for this!! And those will hold plenty of weight.

Nice job as always, everything you do is well thought out, planned and executed. Keep it coming!!

 

[gmanpaint]

Been trying to figure out what to do about my storage situation in the 94 sport. I have recovery gear, several tool bags and a tool box, plus some small plastic organizer boxes with various hardware, electrical connectors and wire, etc. I've been wanting some kind of a drawer storage solution such as this. I don't know why it didn't dawn on me till reading your build, but I have an extra set of drawer slides from my Matco tool box that will be perfect for this!! And those will hold plenty of weight.

Nice job as always, everything you do is well thought out, planned and executed. Keep it coming!!

Thank you!

I'm sure those slides will hold the weight, but are they long enough for the depth of a cargo box?

The 24" slides I used are full extension and rated at 100 lbs / ea. Lowes cabinet isle for less then $20. They were the longest and had the highest weight rating they sold off the shelf. I could have found some with higher capacity online, but I was in a hurry.

 

[gmanpaint]

We have Positive camber!! Woot!!

Tube arms are installed, along with new 650# coils. I set the cams at full out to see if they gave positive camber. Yepper's, they did. Now I can get a proper alignment.

I will let the shop take it from here with the alignment. Toe is the same, so I can take it 3 miles to them without any worry for the tires.

Shocks had 6 yrs of trail grime on them, but... cleaned up perfectly.

Full droop and arms clear the coils completely. Saweeeet!

 

[CDW6212R]

Excellent, that looks great.


I'm hoping to get those UCA's for my new truck later this year. I need to use the truck for mail temporarily, and the BJ's and TRE's look unoriginal. I'm hoping it will take an alignment for a while, at least to use up my 18" tires.

Do you think the UCA ball joints have the same clearance outboard? That has been one of my close points for my tires.

 

[gmanpaint]

Excellent, that looks great.


I'm hoping to get those UCA's for my new truck later this year. I need to use the truck for mail temporarily, and the BJ's and TRE's look unoriginal. I'm hoping it will take an alignment for a while, at least to use up my 18" tires.

Do you think the UCA ball joints have the same clearance outboard? That has been one of my close points for my tires.

They are made just a bit longer (1/2" IIRC) in length as stock. They use the Uniball joints so they have more degree of motion then a stock type BJ. They should clear anything no problem.

I had these custom made at 1" longer then stock, or 1/2" longer then they do normally. This allowed more positive camber and be able to use the 1" slot in the frame tabs as intended, by keeping the bolts as centered as possible. I now have a full side to side adjust ability with the cam bolts. Before the cams were fully cranked outward, and hitting the tabs, and still had negative camber. Alignment shop should be able to dial in the caster correctly now with all the room in the tab slots. I wasn't going to use a die grinder and open up the slots another 1/2". This works for me.

 

[CDW6212R]

Thanks. My 99 mail truck couldn't get a good enough camber when I lowered it as much as I wanted like my 98. So it's closer to stock height than it is to my lowered Mounty. Doing the camber bolts/washers in each of those I noticed the amount of range of motion, and the possibility to open up the frame mounts a little if needed. I haven't done any of that yet.

I want my mail truck as low as possible due to most mail boxes being much too low(most are 30" or so, and the proper height is about 40-45"(bottom of the box should be higher than the bottom of the window)). So I'll deal with that again when I get to it next.

My new 98 truck I'll put the camber washers/bolts in, and see how low the alignment shop can make it work for now. Later when I rebuild the suspension fully, then I'll get serious about the UCA's etc. I hope to get that coil over setup too if the springs still seem to last a long time and give a better ride.

Thanks for your examples and tips, pictures and ideas. It's a great resource for a lot of people. Regards,

 

[gmanpaint]

Thanks for your examples and tips, pictures and ideas. It's a great resource for a lot of people. Regards,

No problem. We're here to share and help others with these threads, besides personal reasons.

The lowering kits drop it like 2" or so. Would that help out for your deliveries?

 

[CDW6212R]

No problem. We're here to share and help others with these threads, besides personal reasons.

The lowering kits drop it like 2" or so. Would that help out for your deliveries?

Yes, I put the Explorer Express X-Spec kit on my Mounty right after I bought it. They recommended no more than 2" in front, and their rear blocks are just 1.375". I went close to 3" in front, and with 107k miles the CV axles are still doing fine. I plan to get my new keeper down that similar amount, and the mail truck too, even if I have to swap the spindles(Sport Trac) to get an alignment. Tires help too, stock is 29-30", so I've kept them short, 255/65/16's are just 29" tall.