Dirtco's Adventure Thread

[owyheerat]

I always check in to see if you've updated your thread, and all I can say is, this was SO WORTH THE WAIT! Great workmanship and attention to detail!

Looking forward to seeing this project completed!

Durwin

 

[crazydubman]

Love the update man. every bit of work that gets chipped off your to do list is always well thought out and executed very clean.

Keep up the great work and stay with it. All the effort will be worth it in the end to basically have a buggy with full interior amenities and comfort of a regular driver.

 

[Black798]

Man seeing those full float flanges welded on really gets me excited to start designing and building my axle housings for mine haha. I've already got a 9.5 rear diff, hp 8", and ruffstuff weld on full float flanges in the garage ready to go. Just need the time to draw it all out in solidworks and get it put together.

I was thinking to maybe help mitigate the issue you have had with the oil getting to the wheel bearings since I'll be using modified 80 series rear shafts that I could bore out the spindle slightly at the end to add a seal in the end of the spindle like the 80s have. I think having two seals on it may eliminate that issue or at least prolong it from happening.

The fitment on that high lift is tits! Really love you attention to detail on this

 

[Dirtco]

So far I’ve been pretty lucky and the check the insurance company gave me has covered all the new parts for the 4Runner, but I’m now to the point where there’s not much left. Luckily when I sold the old rear axle it boosted my balance back up enough to buy my rear coilover shocks.

Like I’ve said before this is not going to be strictly a rock crawler, I want to be able to go fast and have it be reliable/comfortable enough to take on multi-day camping trips. With these goals in mind I’ve decided I’m going to reinstall the old 150lb front upper coil springs that came with the front coilovers when I bought them. That upper spring gave me 5” of up travel (not including the built in 1” bumpstop). While I like the lower stance, having more up travel and a slightly stiffer spring rate will help the handling of the vehicle.

With the front coilover spring rates determined (14” total, 6” up-travel w/ bumper, 8” down-travel), I was able to call Accutune and figure out what to do with the rear coilovers. After going over the front suspension, estimated vehicle weights and what I plan to use the vehicle for we decided that a 16” Fox 2.0 DSC coilover would be the best option. With the spring rates they chose I should have 8” of up-travel w/ bumper and 8” of down-travel.

For those of you wondering how big a 16” coilover shock is, here is my daughter standing in front of my 37” tire holding the shock up!

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/156493849@N03/48937060338/in/dateposted-public/" title="iTWVwrTlRT6k1pj%eXVXnA"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48937060338_0c4828ef5a_b.jpg" width="768" height="1024" alt="iTWVwrTlRT6k1pj%eXVXnA"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset=“utf-8"></script>

 

[Dirtco]

After a bunch of time mocking up the rear shocks I was finally able to start making some mounts. Due to the back seat I wasn’t able to mount them with the top facing forward like normal, so I leaned the top backwards like the newer Jeeps are mounted. This gives me the clearance I need, and allows the shocks to travel through out their range of motion without anything binding (for both high speed and rock crawling).

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Upper mount (there will be another gusset or two)

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Lower mount

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[Dirtco]

For recovery duty I added some extra bracing to the rear tube work and bought a couple soft shackles. This gives me a super strong recovery point without adding any weight.

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[Dirtco]

I always check in to see if you've updated your thread, and all I can say is, this was SO WORTH THE WAIT! Great workmanship and attention to detail!

Looking forward to seeing this project completed!

Durwin

Thanks Durwin, me too!

 

[JBurt]

Nice work as always. I'm always really excited when I get a notification for this thread in my inbox. I've never seen soft shackles before. That's a sweet product.

 

[Dirtco]

Love the update man. every bit of work that gets chipped off your to do list is always well thought out and executed very clean.

Keep up the great work and stay with it. All the effort will be worth it in the end to basically have a buggy with full interior amenities and comfort of a regular driver.

Thanks Todd! I feel I'm finally getting to the point where things are falling into place. I still have a lot of work to do but there's also many parts of the truck that are half way done and I can't install them until other parts are installed first. I'm hoping that progress speeds up as I get closer to completion.

I'm super excited for the end result, having a super capable rig with the comforts of a modern SUV will be awesome! There are compromises on both sides of the build, but overall it should be pretty incredible!

 

[jkeith.w]

talk about the antirock! location, angle, etc. (working on the same thing, same location for stock-framed 3rd gens, would love the input)

 

[Dirtco]

talk about the antirock! location, angle, etc. (working on the same thing, same location for stock-framed 3rd gens, would love the input)

For those of you that don’t know, the Currie Antirock bar is an off-road sway bar. There is a torsion bar mounted inside the section of tube and there are splined ends that the arms mount onto. The idea is to have less resistance than a stock sway bar, but more than no sway bar at all.

So far my experience is what I’ve read in the directions and what I’ve seen online while researching placement. Like any other suspension component your limited by what’s around it, just like setting up a four link it might look good on paper but that doesn’t mean it’s going to work in real life. Everything appears to be good in the garage, but I’m going to hold off on any advice until I know it actually works out on the trail. I will say this though, there is a ton of adjustability in the kit so I feel pretty good about everything working together.

 

[STI_MECE]

I just replaced my valve cover gaskets? Do you even?

I will be right back....i gotta go pick my jaw off the floor.

But man you are one talented individual. I hope to get that to level one day. I gotta get a welding machine first lol

 

[JWaldz]

After a bunch of time mocking up the rear shocks I was finally able to start making some mounts. Due to the back seat I wasn’t able to mount them with the top facing forward like normal, so I leaned the top backwards like the newer Jeeps are mounted. This gives me the clearance I need, and allows the shocks to travel through out their range of motion without anything binding (for both high speed and rock crawling).

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/156493849@N03/48964396653/in/dateposted-public/" title="fullsizeoutput_54d"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48964396653_35d71ee8ce_b.jpg" width="1024" height="769" alt="fullsizeoutput_54d"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset=“utf-8”></script>

Great work as usual dude. I'm kind of curious on why you didn't stretch the wheelbase any? Looks like you have some room to do so.

 

[Cree]

Great work as usual dude. I'm kind of curious on why you didn't stretch the wheelbase any? Looks like you have some room to do so.

Breakover angles would be my guess.

 

[Dirtco]

Great work as usual dude. I'm kind of curious on why you didn't stretch the wheelbase any? Looks like you have some room to do so.

Thanks! I mentioned it earlier but yes, I did stretch the wheelbase. I moved the rear axle back 7", total wheelbase will be around 114".

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[Dirtco]

More suspension work, I had to cycle the suspension so I could figure out bumpstop placement and measure for limit straps. Here is what 8” of vertical up travel (from ride height) looks like.

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And yes, that’s a bucket of paint under the tire!

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[Dirtco]

Then it was time to flex it out and double check clearance of all the suspension components. Needless to say it has a ton of suspension travel!

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[Team_Jake]

What's the plan for running an e-brake?

 

[theesotericone]

More suspension work, I had to cycle the suspension so I could figure out bumpstop placement and measure for limit straps. Here is what 8” of vertical up travel (from ride height) looks like.

Since you have all this travel I expect you to stay unlocked when we finally get a chance to wheel together. I'm going to need every advantage I can get to keep up with you. lol

 

[SherpaEquipmentCo]

Can't wait to see it on the trail!