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Old 10-07-2006, 07:40 PM   #1
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Default Rebuilding Ralph

Ralph has been my 2.2 beater since the day I got him built. Was the truck I drove the most during the trip to Moab and back. Been abusing him regularly since, too. He finally got to the point that it was time for a rebuild. The body panels were cracking, most of the paint was bashed off the frame, 3 out of 4 wheel hexes were blown (thanks to the Novak crawler system), and I glued one hex adapter to the wheel that was already stripped. After gluing that hex to the wheel I snapped the inner axle shaft.

Poor Ralph.

Here's a before pic:


Stripped him down, took him to a buddy's place today and hit the frame with glass beads. While bead blasting the front mounting tab for the hood came off. Welded it back on a few minutes ago.

Here's the bare metal frame:



Figure I'll start the primer and paint tonight as well as go through the axles.

Anyway, just at the house by myself and bored here, thought I'd share.
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Old 10-07-2006, 07:43 PM   #2
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I snapped that first pic while you were beating the snot out of the poor thing at green river Are you gonna change anything on it this time around or just a resto?
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Old 10-07-2006, 07:50 PM   #3
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Yup, that's one of the shots you snapped.

I'm going to change the shock setup a hair. I think three of them leak. All four have bent shock shafts, I think.

Same tires, new wheels, will keep the Novak system in him, but on a new motor plate for the TXT tranny that only has one hole.
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Old 10-07-2006, 07:51 PM   #4
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looks good jason cant wait till your done i love that rig it is one of the netest rigs iv seen.
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Old 10-07-2006, 07:53 PM   #5
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You should have the frame powder coated. I like the look of powder coat on my sandrail, the color looks better than paint, is tougher, and it helps smooth out a couple of my bad welds. Of course yours dont look to bad. Nice chassis btw.
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Old 10-07-2006, 07:56 PM   #6
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Thats such a sweet looking rig. Make sure to keep snapping some pictures
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Old 10-07-2006, 07:57 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JasonInAugusta
just at the house by myself and bored here, thought I'd share.
Sounds kinda like my situation, only I can't do much.

That's good news for Ralph, he took a beating the past month. Have you decided on colors yet?
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Old 10-07-2006, 08:12 PM   #8
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One of my favorite rigs on here. Good to know your still beating on him.
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Old 10-07-2006, 08:19 PM   #9
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ya ralph has been dragged around and humped a bit as well
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Old 10-07-2006, 08:37 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thaclodking
One of my favorite rigs on here. Good to know your still beating on him.
i say the same thing too.

rich
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Old 10-07-2006, 08:47 PM   #11
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It is about time that rig got some TLC! You know a rig is well built when it can take a couple years abuse and be good for more
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Old 10-07-2006, 10:06 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DISTURBIN' tha PEACE
That's good news for Ralph, he took a beating the past month. Have you decided on colors yet?


He's taken a beatin' since the day I got him. On his first road trip he went to the Portland UROC comp and did a bit of tumbling at the X-Plex. Then he was beat on locally, took him to CT this past August and flogged him there. Brought him back, got him patched up and running for Moab. He's just been patched and repaired enough to keep him running until now.

As far as colors...something with orange, I think. Who knows.

I had thought about powdercoat, but figured it'd be better to send him off to be coated with other items that will need to be powdercoated.

So for now he gets paint.

Got the frame primed...


...and got the new wheels/tires/rings together. RPM Revolvers that are double-narrowed, stripped of chrome, dyed black, and wrapped in All-Ts. Cut the foams and installed a set of rock rings from MSD.



This rig is fun to drive and EVERYONE loves it.

Rockcrawler505 tried like mad to buy Ralph in Moab. I told him IF he could convince DTP to sell his BTF tuber to me, I'd sell Ralph to him.

Still don't think I could part with Ralph.

Time for paint now.
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Old 10-07-2006, 10:14 PM   #13
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Lol cant blame a man for tring. Maybe when you see my bruiser finished you might change your mind lol.
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Old 10-07-2006, 11:10 PM   #14
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Big Pimping!
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Old 10-07-2006, 11:19 PM   #15
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Just out of curiousity hows the rest of the frame holding up? I wondering the long term ability of the material.
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Old 10-07-2006, 11:24 PM   #16
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Rest of the frame is fine. Nothing bent.

Thought about cleaning some of the joints up but figured I'd wait until I planned on having it powdercoated before doing that.

The front mount that came off was 'cause the weld was over the joint, didn't fuse'm together.
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Old 10-07-2006, 11:27 PM   #17
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Looks good. What colors are you going with? The same or different? Just a tip. What ever color you paint the frame. Make sure they make the same color in a Paint pen. Thats what I did. That way after every crawl session I can touch the paint up real easy. I just can't believe I didn't think of that along time ago.
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Old 10-08-2006, 02:43 AM   #18
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Haven't been around enough to know about Ralph, but sure is a nice rig. Is that tube or solid rod? How well do those All-T's do in mud? I am having a devil of a time finding a set of tires that don't totally fill up with mud at the slightest amount...
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Old 10-08-2006, 08:00 AM   #19
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almsot my favorite tlt!!
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Old 10-08-2006, 10:52 AM   #20
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Cool, I was just curious. It's nice to hear that a rig you built has been beaten but still holding up.

BTW, Jason I have the shocks I used to build Ralph if you are interested I'd be willing to sell them to you. LMK

Last edited by rckjeep; 10-08-2006 at 11:31 AM.
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