The old girl is wore out--time for a change.

[STANG KILLA SS]

wow
i just found this thread yesterday, ended up spending the entire afternoon going threw it, didnt get a damn thing done at work!

amazing build. ive documented my last two race car builds, i know the time and dedication it takes to do that, and mine were just simple bolt on stuff. great job. it sucked me in, i couldnt stop going threw every single picture and step.

you literally built an entire truck from a pile of raw metal. im blown away. the first few pages really amazed me how identical the build was to a RC tuber. when you were doing the skid, links, main cage, axle trusses etc. was just like a big RC.

i gotta ask about all the numbered tubes on top of the bench with all the different notch cuts in them. what are those? do you use them to test to find a close angle you need to notch for the tube your working on?

a few things that stood out to me:
do you have any concerns about the difference in height of the pedals? from the gas to the brake pedal(s)

any concerns about oil temps? with the exhaust running right under the pan, and now with the skid covering it too. especially with the low speeds of a crawler/lack of air flow

what about the fuel (line) temps running next to/on the trans housing, or does a trail rig trans not produce as much heat as a race car?

incredible fab work and planning. other than the pyle speakers this thing was a top notch build! did you happen to keep track of hours and costs?

well done sir :slowclap:

[crash]

Originally Posted by STANG KILLA SS

wow
i just found this thread yesterday, ended up spending the entire afternoon going threw it, didnt get a damn thing done at work!

amazing build. ive documented my last two race car builds, i know the time and dedication it takes to do that, and mine were just simple bolt on stuff. great job. it sucked me in, i couldnt stop going threw every single picture and step.

you literally built an entire truck from a pile of raw metal. im blown away. the first few pages really amazed me how identical the build was to a RC tuber. when you were doing the skid, links, main cage, axle trusses etc. was just like a big RC.

i gotta ask about all the numbered tubes on top of the bench with all the different notch cuts in them. what are those? do you use them to test to find a close angle you need to notch for the tube your working on?

a few things that stood out to me:
do you have any concerns about the difference in height of the pedals? from the gas to the brake pedal(s)

any concerns about oil temps? with the exhaust running right under the pan, and now with the skid covering it too. especially with the low speeds of a crawler/lack of air flow

what about the fuel (line) temps running next to/on the trans housing, or does a trail rig trans not produce as much heat as a race car?

incredible fab work and planning. other than the pyle speakers this thing was a top notch build! did you happen to keep track of hours and costs?

well done sir :slowclap:

Thanks for looking thru the build--I actually look at them as more of like a book or journey.

So the numbered tube ends. Well I kinda got an idea along the way of a tool. See I am a visual person and I suck at drawing pictures or trying to imagine something--why I typically just dig into something. Another thing I am--is extremely picky and always shoot for precision and what I cam up with helped on both fronts. So as I went along I made those notched ends(marked in degrees) and I have 1 1/4" material that we use to sleeve 1.5" .120 wall material. So I can basically build a tube, not only see how it looks but get the correct angles and rotation of angles.

As for the oil temps, it shouldn't be an issue as this is kind of a norm for rigs of this nature but I also only run mobile 1 synthetic oil.

As for the fuel line I can't see an issue really. Yes the temps usually stay pretty reasonable on the tranny and I have seen far worse setups with no issues--but heck anything can happen I suppose.

Glad ya liked it to this point and it has been allot of work in a short time seeing as how I started 2 days after xmass..

[crash]

Just because there was a hole to fill

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So when I originally did the hood mount where it meets the body panels I used some button head bolts with the intention of doing some DZUS fasteners. I had never used them before and found they were pretty easy to work with. So that was now all done.

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So been buzzing around my place and playing in the ditch to check clearances and just get a feel for it. I am really happy that I cannot see any issues and the damn thing just feels so well balanced...

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I also ran out of ramp lol...

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I figured I would try some floor mats (of course it took a bit of cutting to get them to fit,lol)

[crash]

So onto the issues that I have found---in the big picture pretty small really but would require a lil work. The first was I found the trans shifter hitting the t-case shifters. I really liked where t-case shifters are so I chose to pull the trans shifter and bend the shaft 15 degrees. After figuring out how I got it all together the first time it made removing the shifter assy much easier. Will see how that goes..

[crash]

The next was the brake pedals. I was really happy and felt very comfortable with how they were situated except when doing a front burn I had little contact on the pedal. So I just extended the pedal out a bit and now feels pretty good. It will probably be a lil tough to do a rear burn but I figure I will have to rarely do it and felt the outer pedal was ok.

[crash]

The last was my steering wheel. I was not happy with how it was situated and was in my way of seeing the hood edge. My only choice was to remove the orbital mount and luckily I had an extra stocked away. So once done--I was way more happy with it and still didn't interfere with my legs..

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Was time for some decals......

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So I have always been a firm believer in being self sufficient and prepared. My original idea was to mount the fire extinguisher inside the cab on one of the panels but there was no good place for it. So I got a drake mount and mounted it to the rear cross brace tube,,

[crash]

So was not impressed with the speakers I had used--they just sounded awful. So I got some regular car speakers (and added passive crossovers) and it sounds SOOOO much better now. I figure my speakers in my toy lasted 9 years and they were in a worse position these should be fine.

[crash]

And of course--a flashlight.....

[crash]

So I am waiting for my factor 55 thimbles to show up for both front/rear winches and the only thing I need to figure out--it a cup holder of some sort... Hoping to take it out sunday for a little testing....

[BigSki]

So surprised to see sunshine and dry ground for this time of the year in the pics. Fantastic machine that you've created, hope that it serves you well.

[crash]

Originally Posted by BigSki

So surprised to see sunshine and dry ground for this time of the year in the pics. Fantastic machine that you've created, hope that it serves you well.

We have actually had a very dry summer and its looking like a cold dry winter too..

[crash]

So sunday was the big day. Loaded it up and out we went.

[JatoTheRipper]

That terrain is amazing. You are lucky to have land like that to drive on. They almost look like RCs in some of the photos. Such an awesome job!

[makya]

That last picture is so crystal clear it almost looks like a scale crawler in an upclose shot.

btw, my almanac said it's going to be wet in Northern and Central California. not like last year, but we'll see quite a bit of snow in the mountains supposedly