Haven't really done much to my BOM other than replace the transmission. Never had to really. Performs pretty darn good right out of the box. But of course, there's always room for improvement. Or at least some random wrenching in the hopes of improving.
Was looking into OD/UD options and the AR44 seemed to be the best choice gearing-wise. The BOM axles is a 3.0 gear ratio, and the AR44 stock is 3.75. Thats an effective OD of 25%. Little much.....but with the HR 8/27 gearset, I'm looking at a much more trail friendly 12.5% OD. Perfect!!
Pardon the crappy pics, was working on the dining room table as the basement was soaked for the 54th time this summer. 2-3 more inches of rain in an hour..pretty much sums up this entire summer. Anyway, found a rear AR44 for $44, the worst photogenic towel I could find, and got busy.
Surprised that the AR44 is 10mm narrower. Gmades are 190mm hex to hex. Never noticed that before...
Not quite a bolt in, the lower links needed 5mm spacers in the links to get the pinion angle correct. (ultimately I added 10mm overall to stretch the WB a bit.)
Moved the crossmember/shock mount back a notch...ok, well a hole.
and forgot about the antennae and ripped it right out the receiver. Whoops!
Bottom shot...the shock mounts fit, though they are a bit loose. I'm going to shave them a bit so they clamp a bit tighter. I used a longer spacer to spread them out on the axle a bit which effectively lowers the rear of the truck somewhat. The AR44 mounts are a bit closer then on the GS02 axle and it basically stood the shocks up.
Standing on its own! As much as I like the Pitbulls, change is good. Plus I need wheels where I can adjust the offset. Initially I tried some Gearheads and some 4.75 Hyrax. Looked great, but a total no-go. Tires rubbed the front fenders badly. Not quite ready to hack up the body just yet.