neohic

All by her skillful hands.

My mom is one of those moms that's totally awesome. Kind of a back story and a few examples for her awesomeness: My mom is incredibly creative when it comes to all things craft related. Growing up, she put together window treatments out of her workshop in the house. She was always that mom that made sweaters and things for my brothers and I and now that she's got grandkids she's back to doing all that fun stuff again. She's incredibly giving that she crochets and donates prayer shawls for cancer patients. My parent's house is adorned with handmade decorations, she has countless hours invested in little projects, and she never has any down time that even on a road trip she'll bring along something to work on in the car or while watching tv she'll have have something she's knitting draped across her lap. Pretty much anything you could think of crocheted, knit, crafted, or created she's completely outstanding. Well, over the past couple years she's ventured into some new areas of crafting and found her way to stained glass. Up to this past weekend, I went back to my old stomping grounds and tomorrow happens to be my birthday. Always excited to see what else she's come up with, she's now found another way to combine her passions with mine... Thanks Mom! Yup... my mom is the coolest!

Nice!... except mine was the real deal:

Starting to collect some parts for this thing's transformation. I nabbed a set of used 4.5" coils for the front for cheap today. Change of plans too... like everyone does when planning a project. I'm starting to think it'd be better for now to use 2wd leafs as SOA in the rear instead of a 4 link and coils. I know... not nearly as cool, but I'm forcing myself to stick to a strict budget on this one. Since it'll be just a trail truck, why spend the cash? Hang it in a tree or bounce it off a rock... smile about it and keep going! I still want to shorten the frame though. I can always go back and change up the suspension later on. No pictures though... we all know what coils look like.

I'm stupid picky when it comes to what I'm sleeping on each night. The occasional futon is fine, but when it comes to daily duty, I need quality. For years, I rocked a water bed. When I was working in fabrication and repair, I had a couple mile commute and I stayed on my feet all day. It was nothing less than amazing to fall asleep each night on my water filled ecstasy. Then my daily drive turned into about a drab 150 mile round trip drive. So I sat in a car for 12 hours a week... then my back went to crap over the next two years. In comes my Tempurpedic... trumpets will sound, velvet ropes part, and confetti falls from the heavens. I will never go back to my water bed.

Yeah... the wheels and tires that came with the truck had one odd ball on the front left that was probably the snowball that started my t-case chain stretching. These had less tread, but at least they all matched! As for the camper, I'm away from it this weekend, but that doesn't mean I'm not searching for parts. Taking a road trip this afternoon for some more stuff.

Yes! Three left!!!

Okay, so I lied... rather than not having an update for a while, I decided to stay a little late at work and whip up a couple frame cross members and my water tank. Tired for the obligatory close up of a weld, but the camera wasn't focusing all too well... :shake:

There I was laying under my '88 Pioneer thinking to myself, "wow... this sure brightens up the place!". So, I thought this would be a fun one to start. Just like the title says, what is the cleanest whatever on your truck? The cleanest part on my truck is... ... the back half of my transfer case. What's the cleanest on your truck?

For the filter, I ended up really lucking out and found one at a local parts store. As for the chain, I just got done with it. Worlds of difference!

:fs2: :fs2:

Naw... that's over done.

Thought about that too. These things really don't need to be replaced all too often anyhow. A used part would probably be just as good... have to dig inside another transfer case, but just as good. :wrench:

Thanks... still looking for it locally so I can put this back together as soon as I can. The problem isn't that they aren't available. I know that they are, but I'd rather not leave the truck down longer than I need to. I might've found one at an Oreilly. Need to go see it to be sure.

Thanks dudes. Wish I had an update for today but I've been spending it fussing around with the '88 in the pictures. Can't say that I'll be working on it next weekend either. I should be able to get back to within the next couple weeks.

I found all the part numbers except for the screen filter at the end of the oil pickup tube. This thingy: I found it on Quadratec, but I need this thing by yesterday. They've got a "manufacturer's part number" but Napa can't cross reference it. Anyone know?

I thought about pulling the whole transfer case down then I thought, "Hey, if the chain is trash then I could probably just leave the front half of the case on the tranny and just pull off enough to get to the chain". Sure enough... I pulled off the back half of the case and chain has already worn off plenty of the case and even a large hole in the oil pickup tube filter. :shake:

No dice. I pulled both shafts and all my joints are still tight. :(

All the u-joints look tight without any play at the caps. Joints at the hubs look good too. That was the first thing I checked. The clunk sound also happens with a somewhat violent feel in the floor as well.

Happened to me a couple weeks before Christmas a couple years ago. It sucks and the worst feeling is the thought of someone searching through your stuff without you knowing about it until after... mega frustrating. Hope everything works out for you.

Uh... thank you? :dunno: I like being that jerk, though. :yes:

Let me start by saying that this has been a couple months of collecting and waiting for the right parts to come along. Everyone likes a story, right? Have a seat... let me tell you something: I work at a tech school. One of my coworkers came up to me and asked if I know of anyone selling a camper that he could turn into a deer shack. Not knowing anyone, I introduced him to CraigsList. He was floored by how much stuff is on there. Anyhow, I typed in the keywords "Camper Trailer" and the ball got rolling from there. We found several dumpy trailers that he wanted to look into further and I found something too. The title on the add was "Ranger Camper Topper". Hu... probably just an over the cab slide in style of camper. No. This was something much better. What kind of image pops into your head when you hear this?: "When the topper is closed there is the same room as a regular topper." or "It can be used for camping or just as a regular topper too." or "Hard to find!". What do I think of? I think of one these: Yes! A WilderNest Adventure Topper!!! I found it all of a half hour from my house for a shockingly low price. All of the major parts are there. Couple parts missing are the pop out window supports and the fiberglass wands to keep the canvas tight... not a big deal. It was designed for a Ford Ranger so it doesn't fit quite right: our trucks have a tapper from front to rear that the Rangers don't and the MJ box is about two inches longer. Like this: Something this cool has no place being mounted on a crusty truck like that one. Then comes the issue of the space between the cab and the topper itself. How would I fix that? Hmm... I'd get rid of the cab and so I could mount something cool like a fold down table or something on the front. Again, the problem comes down to the crusty truck... need something with way less rust to make it worth it. Something like this: That's one happy gypsy!!! So the story continues... After a long road trip today to go and get my nearly rust free box, I couldn't wait to start figuring out the frame that I'm putting under it. Yeah, I could've gone with cutting an MJ in half for a frame and made it real easy... but that's lame! What's better than building a sturdy frame to go under an MJ pickup box trailer? How about a trailer frame that made completely on stainless steel?! I'm pretty much just doing that because I've got a bunch of stainless that just about dropped into my lap recently. So, I've got the topper now and the bed, and now I can start laying out how I'm going to build the frame. How about some more pictures?!: Plans are keep growing including a stainless tank mounted underneith for water, carpet wrapped panels inside, cool little cubbies for keeping camping gear, and so, so much more. I'm hoping for years of camping adventures with this thing and high hopes of taking it across the country behind my Eliminator. Of course, for every place we stop needs a sticker or a badge as proof that we've been there just like any other camper. To start the journey, it needs a badge of its own: Stay tuned, guys... been looking forward to this build for a while!

Just making sure I'm looking in the right direction... Under my '88 Pioneer, there is a distinctive clunk when the truck is in 4wd and going in reverse. The noise sounds like it's right under the cab and there is all kinds of slop in the front driveshaft. I would assume that the chain in my transfer case took a crap. I don't know how many miles are actually on the truck as the speedo didn't work when I got it. Right now it says just a shade under 200k. The only reason I'm doubting myself is because I only hear it when in reverse and the driveshaft slop is with it connected to the front axle. So, my question is how much play should I have in my front driveshaft with it connected and how much play should I have in the differential in my front axle? Thanks dudes!

The only time that I ever really... really... listen to music is when I'm out in the garage working on stuff. All production just about stops when the iPod decides to grace me with this gypsy group: MyTwqEOJBfo p0Dv8yBHPgo SkkIwO_X4i4&ob=av2n Hmm... I do like me some Gogol Bordello... and that's what happens when you're half Bohemian. Other such selections are crazy smashed together songs that somehow sound like they belong together. The rest of my iPod consists of everything... everything!!!

I don't recall the website off hand, but a while back I found a ton of information on an International forum that centered around using GM components to add fuel injection to their V8 Scouts. I went a similar route that I needed to build a stand alone fuel injection harness for my friends '90 YJ using GM 4.3 parts. As far as I know, the wiring is almost identical between and 4.3 and the 350s for TBI. Very easy to pick apart a harness down to what you need. I'll do some digging tonight to see if I still have the links. Edit: This Link hads a ton of information for adapting the wiring and parts to an IH motor. Again, I used much of it just for the wiring diagrams.