The Bigger Red Pig

Metcalf

Expedition Leader
Hacking.....what hacking? I used a ruler and everything!

Sorry to hear about the front fender. Finding metal for these trucks isn't that hard. Heck, most of that would come off if you bobbed the forward edge like I did.

If you do stretch the fenders, don't forget to add an inch in the front instead of an even sectioning job. I did 6" in the rear (3"front/3"rear from a center line), this worked really good for the 39s. In the front I ended up going 3" behind the tire and 5" in front ( an inch too far if you ask me ). I would do a 3"R/4"F sectioning job on the front. Good news is that my tires don't rub on sheet metal even when pushed pretty hard in Moab.

The hardest dang thing about it is getting the front inner fenders to match up. I did the front right side for the air cleaner, but it turned out rough.

Good luck...post pics!
 

lstzephyr

wanderer
Well I almost had some tires twice! 35s and then 37s. Oh well. More important things have cropped up though so tires will have to wait.

So my front springs are shot. They actually have a reverse arch and are sitting on the bumpstops. They also look like they are starting to wear through the main spring. There is about a 1/4-3/16 in gouge. Its not pretty.

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Apparently this is pretty common for these trucks and its actually fairly scary looking at some pictures of other guys trucks with the springs about cut in half.

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I really don't want my front axle to fall out of the truck, so I've been researching ways to fix this. I found a local shop that said they could fix it by re-arching them, but in the end they said that it needed new springs. I've found a place that sells new stock springs for $109.00 a piece.(http://www.generalspringkc.com/index.php?p=catalog&parent=123&pg=1) I also am considering the skyjacker lift springs at $176 each but summit is saying they are out of stock.(http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SJA-D200CS/)

Basically I'm wondering how much its worth to get those extra two inches up front. I know that will improve the travel which would be very nice. But if these trucks didn't ride too horrible back when they were new I might just use stock springs.

Now I went to wyotech for chassis fabrication and I do know how to build a whole new front suspension for this truck(it would actually be easier, although much more expensive, for me to build a 4 link) I don't have much expierence with leaf springs though. I know its possible to build spring packs using combinations of springs. I also know that its possible to re-arch springs with an anvil and a big hammer. But I don't really want to do any of that, and I don't have a welder. It is a last ditch possibility to just weld up some new hangers and slap springs off something else on, but off what? Either way it would probably be more than 300 bucks for new springs, and bushings.
 
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Metcalf

Expedition Leader
Tough one....bummer.

If you have the coin I would suggest calling up Alcan spring and see what a set of front springs would cost. That way you can get what you want, not what the market has to offer. From what I remember last time I checked the custom springs where not super expensive, but they where more than a set of skyjackers.

You could always go to the junkyard and try and find another set of springs without the odd main leaf wear.

My truck has re-arched front springs with an extra leaf. The truck sits slightly high in the front. It rides pretty decent, but that is mostly because the HUGE Michelin tires only need about 30psi in them with the 5000lb load rating.

At some point I will be installing a set of front and rear springs on my Dodge from Alcan. I can ditch the rear blocks and get the exact ride/height/travel I want. I think new springs with good quality shocks will make a HUGE difference in ride quality, not that the ride now really bothers me that much as is. I'm probably not going to find another set of the Michelin tires so I will have to go back to something more conventional at like 40psi+

If your looking for some cheap 37s you can get 90-100% old style radial MTR hummer tires for like $100 each. The downside is that they are 16.5s so you pretty much have to run H1 wheels with spacers or recenter them. The H1 wheels are REALLY nice for the double bead lock. No worries off road at any pressure....
 

lstzephyr

wanderer
unfortunately my budget hardly covers the skyjackers so I seriously doubt I can afford Alcans, but I'll call them anyway just to see.

In other news, I took my bike to mexico for a few days. A bunch of camping on the beach, and a whole bunch of nice roads, good people and a ton of fun!

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Then I took a few days and drove to Alabama.

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I thought this thing was pretty cool. I bet it would make a good expo vehicle with some help.

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Miami!

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Old Dodge 3 ton D600. Pretty cool to see one.

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Laptop and cell phone died so I found a lightpost and plugged it in. An inverter would be nice!
 
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lstzephyr

wanderer
Driving on the beach in LA was a ton of fun!

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The back window fell out at one point so the truck was open-air after that. Its a plexiglass window so I just picked it up and will glue it back in.

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I went to alabama so I could go to the Cayman Islands with my family to do some diving!:wings:

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So I'm not too bummed about not being able to afford nice springs.:elkgrin:
I did start ripping apart the truck today. I have the fender off and started pounding on the core support to try and straighten it out. Hopefully I can get it close but if not I'll just find a core support and fender at a junkyard. So far I've been really impressed with how strong the sheetmetal is!

I've been looking at H1 wheels and tires, but I can't afford recentered rims yet. If a spacer could be used I might do that. But I thought I would have to switch to dually axles to get the width.
 
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Metcalf

Expedition Leader
Stock H1 wheels are 7" backspacing. You need about 3.5" of backspacing for 35-37s if you don't want the tires to rub too badly on the pitman arm while turning right.

Dually width stuff would work well, but maybe a little wide almost.

3" spacers would work, but that is a pretty big spacer!

Pressed centers are getting pretty cheap if you can install them yourself. I think they are down to about $45-50 each now. Cutting the center out of the stock wheel and welding in the new one isn't too hard. A big lathe makes it nice, but some of the newer centers are designed to almost drop right in the wheel shell.
 

lstzephyr

wanderer
I've been doing a whole bunch of reading on pirate4x4 on dually axles, d60s and d70s. Basically it looks like I could change the front hubs but I would have to get a dually rear axle and slap on 14bff hubs with disc brakes to run stock H1 wheels. (3 inch spacer might work on the back but those are freaking expensive, and yes that is a big scary spacer!) Too bad as that is a lot of work, and I really liked the stock H1 look on trucks. Maybe eventually but not going to happen right now. Trailworthy fab recentered wheels would be awesome, I found out about those a bit ago and have wanted some since. But as with the dually stuff, not yet.

I am completely convinced I want to cut the fenders and run bigger tires though. I also really want to do a shackle flip in the rear, along with some sort of traction bar. I'm tired of wheel hop/axle wrap. I am going to get some 2 inch skyjackers and probably longer shackles in the next couple days, and hopefully that will make the suspension decent. I wish I had a tubing bender, and a welder too after reading about some of the cool rigs.

This thing is ************, mostly fairly simple mods(shackle flip, new front perches, 53" chevy leafs, and 44s with cut sheetmetal)

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This one gives me a ton of ideas too.

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But anyway back in the real world of my truck I started hammering out my dent. Got the fender off last night.

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Strapped it to a tree and straightened the core support as best I could.

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Next up the fender crease.

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Little better but it just didn't seem possible to get the biggest crease out without cutting/replacing or patching it.

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So out came the sawzall and its now a bit shorter.

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Bit more hammering, bending, pulling, and lighting it on fire a couple times with the torch and its straight. Although the paint is a lost cause. Oh well, the truck needs paint anyway.

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Tomorrow I'll slap the grill back on it and see how it looks. If its close with the bottom of the grill I may just trim the pass side and call it good. Otherwise I may be searching for a patch panel when I look for the driver's side headlight bezel I broke. I'm actually quite happy with how it turned out, some paint and it won't look like total crap like it did with the giant crease. A bumper is in the cards sometime and I will just build it to cover that area anyway.
 
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DT75FLH

Adventurer

Rot Box

Explorer
Wow great trip report :Wow1: I'm jealous of the XR's! I just sold my ATK/XR 600 kit bike so I could get my ATK 560 back on the trial :bike_rider:

From everyone I've talked to the Skyjackers are a huge improvement over stock springs and they seem to last a long time. Alcan's are probably the best springs out there for this truck but the are BIG $$$$.

My friend just put some H1 12bolts and the Goodyear 37's on his 82 GM 1ton. He used the stock dually hubs up front and they worked great. The wheels/tires are really tough but very heavy.

Anyway looks great can't wait to see more :coffeedrink:
 

lstzephyr

wanderer
I think we all read the same threads! I love that guys photoshop of the paint scheme. Its a completely ************ paint scheme. Normally I don't like the look of cut wheelwells, I really like the way you cut your wheelwells as it leaves it looking stock, although it also drives me nuts that wheelwells aren't round...you know, like a wheel. When I cut my wells and fit bigger tires I will probably do it like his, because its round, looks decent, and I don't have a welder handy.

Rot Box: Atks are sweet. Gotta love an american dirt bike! I wish I had an atk/xr600! I loved my old 600 but I honestly think that the xr650r is the perfect bike for me and my style of riding. Lots of suspension, simple, watercooled so it can better handle the desert, easy to work on, no electric start( there are a few reasons for that, but put simply I really like kick start) plenty of power, light enough to play on the weekend but reliable enough to travel/ride daily. To sum up yeah I love it! Here is the build of it. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=468938. Here is my mexico ride report(still working on writing it all up) http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=579297

Honestly if somebody gave me a couple grand and told me to get lost I would NOT take the truck, I wouldn't even think about it. The truck is great for crossing the US, it gives me a easy place to sleep, is protective, keeps me out of the weather, I cover ground quickly in it(upwards of 700 miles a day normally), but it insulates me from people. I tend to not talk to anybody and just do what I need to do to get where I'm going. The bike is opposite of that, I never know where I will sleep, constantly meet people and concentrate more on the area I'm in than where I am going, the downside is it usually takes me forever to get anywhere(anywhere from 0 to about 300 miles a day). My favorite quote from Ted Simon is that on his second journey his bike was too good, it never broke or forced him to find help. My truck is like that, too good at going distances. Riding a race bike long distances creates its own little bit of fun, especially as I tend to be somewhat more likely to jump, race, pull wheelies, or some other sort of screwing around but that in itself forces me to meet people. I've been amazed at how nice people are when I get myself into trouble.

I put the grill back on and it lines up well enough. At least for something I will use offroad.

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Unfortunately I broke the plastic headlight bucket so I've spent the last couple days checking every junkyard within driving distance for a decent one. Here is the parts chaser:victory: People look at you funny when you show up at a junkyard in a mercedes(yes its my Mom's car, thanks Mom!)

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I couldn't find one unfortunately so I will have to order one. Or find someone online parting out a truck.

I did go ahead and primer the fender and adjusted the valves. 11 of them were loose and the 6th cyclinder exhaust valve was crazy tight. It sounds much better now.

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Metcalf

Expedition Leader
I know what you mean about the truck vs bike thing. I have to tell ya though, throw some 39s on your truck with no lift and custom fenders. I can't go anywhere without someone stopping me and asking me about the truck. I don't know if its because its not proportional or something,....but people always cock there head really funny trying to figure it out. I had some guy in a red samurai do a triple take on the truck on my way home. I thought the poor guy was gonna wreck in traffic.

You can get a headlight bezel from rockauto.com for less than $20 shipped. They have a fair number of parts for these older dodges.

I soooooo need to adjust the valves on my truck. Did you use a barring tool or just the alternator or crank bolt? Did it go pretty easy? Want to come do mine :)
 

FlexdXJ

Adventurer
Good Choice on the Cummins! They pay me every week so I love them! :D My cousins Neighbor has one around that year I've been eyeing for a good tow rig/hauling truck.
 

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