DirtyComanche

Haha. No. The rest of my uniframe was actually pretty clean. The only issues were the bumper brackets (not structerally bad), the pads for the bed mounts (just the little metal clips on them, not the mounts themselves), and the brake line bracket, and the spare tire winch which was almost completely gone. I guess it wasn't zinc plated? It looked okay, but when I started poking it I realized it was pretty much gone... Then it was just a couple whacks with the hammer and it WAS gone. The scary thing is it had been holding up a tire.

Tatras are pretty cool. I'd love to see somebody try that with a H1...

Actually, I really wouldnt trust that factory rear tire carrier if it was anything like the one on mine. Mine came off by hitting it with a hammer a couple times. It had a serious rust issue. But if your tire winch is in good shape and you don't mind running a pizza cutter for a spare, then go for it...

You should get out into the woods a bit more then, ya might get over that. :doh: Funny story though.

No, the electrac is no more. I thought about it. A friend of mine had one last year - his sponsor gave it to him simply because it was old stock and he wanted a selectable for the rear. It failed shortly after, as apparently was typical of the design. The only saving grace of them was that they'd fail to be like a truetrac, so it actually didn't work TOO bad... His sponser coughed up a detroit softlocker (ie, a detroit locker) as the replacement. Or, so I believe.

Electrac? Aren't those discontinued? Isn't it the eaton E-locker that is still around? OX don't have the best reputation. Not many people have them - at least as I see it.

Me too... I'd only ever seen them in single digit numbers before now, and normally it'd be 2 or 3. They seemed pretty nonchalant about crossing the highway.

Uhkay... Personally I wouldn't. I think a herse would make a great sleeper or DD (lots of cargo space, and seating for all the kids). Off-road, no. The wheelbase is way too long. WAY too long. And unless you trim the all hell out of it, it will be tall, too tall... But, if your idea of wheeling is the same as the vid it would work fine.

Image Not Found I've never seen as many of these guys in one place before... I didn't get the whole herd, there was a bunch more on the other side of the road too.

I toyed with the idea of putting a second stock tank on the other side. But, no dice, at least not with the rearend I had. The driveshaft was offset just a bit too far. I don't think the XJ tank would fit worth anything... I think that big ol' X-brace in the rear gets in the way. Maybe not though, I've never tried.

I would love to, but I doubt it would work out... I have this job, that doesn't allow me to have a normal life, and yeah... With my luck the course would start on the monday night and on the wednesday morning I'd be sent to some hole for 2 weeks. Maybe in the spring I'll have time. CNC is far beyond what I need to do. Or can do. I'll track down a machinist's handbook.

Side profile shot? Looks like it'll be an anchor... With the already long overhang of the truck bed that's not so good.

You would need the ones out of a hi-pinion D30. And you would need the carrier. And you'd be better off swapping the entire axle than swapping the gears. Unless you want to do a gear setup. Which I can assure you that you don't. And I'm not a fan of used gears anyways.

YJs had them too, but the brackets need slight modification. Unless you want to try to run leaf springs at YJ width (or not).

No.

I am what I would consider a self-taught welder. I picked up a machine, tried things, did some reading, tried more things, did more reading, then eventually got to the point that I felt confident in what I can do. Eventually I did take a course, but it was only one week of oxy-acentylene and it really did little for me (it was part of my formal training, it was more screwing around with fire than welding). So, can I become a self-taught machinist? At work, we have a bridgeport (vertical mill) and a lathe. I've used a lathe a little before, but really can't say I learned much then (cutting speed was already set, and I didn't do anything worth talking about). Besides, this lathe is a hell of a lot more complicated, and wasn't made in china. And I've used the mill to drill holes (no drill press in the shop), but never to actually mill anything. Anyways, so without taking a course at the college or w/e (I could, I suppose, but I can't guarantee when I'm in town), is there any recommended reading that I could do so I at least feel decently comfortable before I decided to try to do anything stupid?

I consider it a 'can of worms' topic. Actually, I'm starting to see worms regardless of where I look. My short answer is you won't need them.

Cutting a unibody to mount it on a frame is a huge wiggly can of worms. Cutting the unibody to mount something that doesn't fit in it is a mess. Getting something, that shouldn't fit, to fit without really cutting things is where the magic is. What's the physical dimensions of this engine like? From the pics I'm guessing really close to a 4.oh?

I was here last winter... We don't have cheap salt like the guys out east. They're more likely to sand here than salt the all-hell out of the road. Look at pictures of Pete's red (er, desert tan now?) MJ and you'll see what real salt induced rust is!

They are gone, but still in the cache of everyone who viewed them earlier... I tried reloading them, and got the 'moved/deleted' image.

I doubt it goes anywhere, but maybe to a show'n'shine. The huge rims make it hard to tell, but I really think that's a 5x4.5 bolt pattern. Oh, who am I kidding, it is. There's no lockouts on the front axle, so it is 99% likely that is is a D30 = 5x4.5. So, at best he's got a D44 or 8.8 rear. But it's probably a D35, as it looks small and isn't 8.8 shaped. Granted, I can't confirm that, but the skyjacker red, the stance of the truck, and the huge rims make me think it ain't nothing but show, and show doesn't require axles that will survive. Okay, so, maybe he drives it around in sand some. I've seen show trucks do that too. Bah. Might as well stick to the parking lot at the mall.

It shouldn't be THAT bad. They salt the roads here, but not like they do where you live. But I guess that is a consideration. As trying to extract the bolts after that happens it really not worthwhile.

The fugly rims don't help, but they still are too big. He could have huge soft 8s and I'd still think it looked stupid. Of course, I have other issues with the pictured truck. Which don't help.

What size tires? And what is your planned use of the truck? Make the SYE a HD one. Not a hack'n'tap (oh, here I go ragging on the H&Ts again). PORC (Performance off-road center) sells a HD one that is very affordable. AA (Advance Adapters) sells one for slightly more. I have an AA one personally. Bumpstops, as said, most kits don't include them. Hell, most kits are $#!& and don't include much. The stock rear ones can be lowered with some square tubing, which is probably the way to go anyways. The front ones can be built up with hockey pucks, but at 6.5" of lift, I don't know if that is entirely practical or not. You may well need brake lines if the kit 'dun have 'em. Then, you might need the brackets for said brake lines as some come without them (why, I don't know). Sway bar disconnects, often they don't come with a kit. You don't specifically need them, as you don't specifically need a sway bar. '1-ton' steering is a good idea, but is a whole can of worms in itself. The spring perches for the rear do not specifically need to be of an anti-wrapping type (which I believe means the really long ones) if you leave the overload leaf in the rear leaf pack. You'll probably need new shock mounts for the rear. And, as said, if the kit doesn't have shocks you'll need those. You might need limiting straps for the front. If you're going with a long arm style kit. You also might need shocks, if not included, and you might need to run shocks without the weird top (stud? I don't recall the name. Stupid setup). Which will require the upper brackets to do that. But, it all depends on how hard you plan to wheel it or drive it. And motion wrote so much that I didn't bother to read his post. :fs1:

Well, that's another one that ain't getting fixed. Tip on avoiding truck theft if you have to leave it... Unplug the CPS connector, it's easy to miss if you toss the wire back down behind the block...