Squirrelly Dan: Coheed's 86 Custom

[coheed]

Small update. Starting the axle swap/new lift. Swapping from 3.55s to 4.10s. The axle set is out of my grandfather's Comanche, so it'll be a straight swap. The Dana 30 will get new oem seals and ball joints, control arm bushings, and ZJ cv axles. Both axles will get new brakes. Lift will consist of the following:

 

Zone off-road AAL

Zone off-road shackles 

Rubicon express 3.5" fronts

JKS quick disconnects

Rock krawler track bar with a stienjager poly end

Stinkyfab racing track bar mount

Bilstein's front and rear, but can't remember p/n's right now

 

My rear springs are super sagged. Like they sit at factory height with Chevy drop shackles with 350#'s in the bed. Hoping the full length AAL will help and the 3.5" fronts won't be too tall. If they are I'll deal with that 

 

 

[Pete M]

ahhh, the smell of new parts  

[coheed]

Slow progress with my schedule, but I got the knuckles sand blasted and painted with VHT.

 

Also got the ball joints removed, new axle seals installed, and 3 coats of Por15 on the 4.10 axle. Ring and pinion gears look good. Did the coats of Por15 on separate days so it could cure well in between coats. Also soda blasted the spots I couldn't get to with a brush or wire wheel.

 

Also got the control arms adjusted to where I think I will need them. Well obviously do final adjustments after everything's back together.

[scguy]

That's gonna look sweet. Can't wait to see the finished product

[coheed]

On 4/25/2023 at 8:47 PM, scguy said:

That's gonna look sweet. Can't wait to see the finished product

Thanks man. I can already tell it's gonna ride better with the RE springs even with it still on jack stands. 

 

Slow and steady.

 

[coheed]

Replaced the crappy external torx bolts for the caliper mounts with some old Toyota bolts.

 

New front ride height. Axles stretched a bit forward, but I like the look. 

[Pete M]

sexy  

[coheed]

Floating Manche

 

[coheed]

 

Ended up going with a heim instead of the poly bushing because of the angle of the track bar mount. Worked out well because that means there's an inch more of thread engagement and I was a little worried about how little was engaged on the poly one.

 

 

Rebuilt packs with the full length AAL in the middle. Also a quick coat of paint on the 4.10 D35.

 

 

Worked out to 3.25" front and rear. I'm wondering how much the rear will sag with the camper top and sleeping setup in the back as when both the old axles were in the back it sagged about an inch. But I am planning on a hidden winch at some point up front so maybe it'll all even out 

 

At any rate the eventual plan is to get some metric ton springs to compensate for the camping setup weight and the weight of a trailer, and this is a medium term solution. But the switch from 3.55 to 4.10 is astounding. Just crawling around the yard in 4 low I can feel a huge difference. 

[TheDirtyJeep401]

Have any pics of your camping set up? I’ve been trying to gather ideas on sleeping platforms, but haven’t found very many for long bed MJs.

[coheed]

12 hours ago, TheDirtyJeep401 said:

Have any pics of your camping set up? I’ve been trying to gather ideas on sleeping platforms, but haven’t found very many for long bed MJs.

It's incredibly basic. I just built a frame with 2x4s and then slapped section of 3/4 OSB on top of it. I think it measures 30 by 80. You can also see in the pictures where I cut out the back bottom of the frame to put the drawer in. The drawer is just made out of the leftover cut of the OSB. I also put 2 eye hooks on either end of the frame and ran 2 turnbuckles to the tie down loops in the bed to lock the frame in place.

 

Eventually I want to redo it so that the platform goes all the way across, and I think next time I do it I'll take the plastic bed liner out to get a little bit more headroom. I'd also like to have two drawers instead of one. I know I've posted in the FB groups when people ask for pics of sleeping setups and there's been a few others that've replied as well, so you might be able to find more there. Truck bed living on Instagram shares a bunch of people's builds and their website has a huge index of info for truck bed living/camping as well. 

 

[Pete M]

 

[coheed]

Well, some sour news. I was gone most of July for a trip to Japan, so I had to delay working on Squirrelly Dan. When I got back, I buttoned up the little loose ends, and bled just the rear brakes. Then I took the truck for a test drive up and down the neighborhood.

 

Immediately I knew something was wrong. Even in 4 low it took a good bit of effort to get the truck moving. Once in motion there was a horrible oscillating screech. I originally thought it was the rear brakes, maybe I had over adjusted the brand-new drums and shoes. I pull back in the driveway and notice that the front wheels have a massive amount of positive camber, and it's different on both sides.

 

_

 

Obviously, something's wrong with the hubs since the ball joints are brand new, and my alignment math can't be that wrong. I am then reminded of Eagle_SX4's thread about swapping in different axles and how they interface with the hubs. The CV axles I installed are billed to fit ZJs, XJs, and MJs, as such they come with an ABS tone ring on them. I didn't think about taking the tone ring off as the back of the hubs/bearing out of my axle was completely flat. Well, they didn't play well with each other.

 

 

Luckily, it seems the only things that suffered permanent damage are the hubs and the tone rings. These were torqued to 175lbs/ft while rotating the hub. Although I did notice that during installation I couldn't use the provided washers or nuts as they were too thick. Once they were installed there was not enough thread exposed to install the locking cap and cotter pin. Also, when looking at Eagle_SX4's thread they talk about swapping the sealing flange from the old axles onto the new ones. Well, the I.D. of the flange is about 2mm too big to install on the CV axles.

 

 

Looking at SKF, Timken, and other bearings spec'd for the pre 89 knuckles they have a pressed in seal on the back that seems like it would fit over the end of the CVs. Debating on if I should just order some Mevotechs from Rockauto, as they have the best current warranty policy and I've used some of their components on some the harder to find parts for Toyota's I've owned, or if I should try to get my hands on something local.

[NHMJXJ]

How's your back?  

 

[coheed]

6 minutes ago, NHMJXJ said:

How's your back?  

 

No more jacked up than anyone else who has a hardtail 

[coheed]

Well, new wheel bearing solved the issues. I shouldn't have tried to cheap out and do them later. I went with the Mevotech's from rockauto because they had the best warranty at the time, and they were fairly cheap. Also, replaced the mounting bolts with some Dorman ones. Took it for its first official spin in the neighborhood being "fixed" and..

 

HOLY CRAP!!  The switch from 3.55 to 4.10 is astounding. It feels like a whole different truck acceleration wise. Granted, I only got to third since I live on a small dead-end street, but the difference in get up and go is worth all the effort. I can only imagine how much difference it would make with a 4.0 or a more powerful engine. My rpm at highway speeds is something to keep track of, but Squirrelly Dan doesn't really see much highway anyway.

 

Also installed the Oracle tail lights from the pre-order. Significantly brighter than stock, and my rear harness was already hacked up, so I didn't feel bad changing the connectors.

 

[coheed]

 

Got the factory sway bar put back on with rebuilt JKS disconnects. Bedded the new brakes on the neighborhood street and took it for its first spin back out in the real world. Getting up to speed isn't the awful experience it was with the 3.55s. It loses a lot of steam about 50mph, but that's where most of driving maxes out anyway. The difference of all new brakes front and rear is astounding as well. Before it struggled to lock the rears up in heavy braking. Now it'll lock all four up if I want it to.

 

Next will be getting new hardware for the front bumper and getting the camper top switched back over.

[Drahcir495]

One of the coolest setups I’ve seen on here . You have some woodworking skills - love it.

[coheed]

1 hour ago, Drahcir495 said:

One of the coolest setups I’ve seen on here . You have some woodworking skills - love it.

Thanks. Your truck was one of a few that made me fall in love with the long bed and camper top look. I like the swb, but something about the lwb and a topper just gets me.

 

Personally, I think @howeitsdone has the best camping setup though.

 

[Drahcir495]

That is nice to hear - I will look for his build and check it out

[howeitsdone]

8 hours ago, coheed said:

 

Personally, I think @howeitsdone has the best camping setup though.

 

Thanks! I lived in it for about 6-months so it evolved a slight amount. I could never get the topper carpet right but oh well.

 

Love the bike in the back though!

 

 

[coheed]

On 7/23/2023 at 11:31 PM, howeitsdone said:

 

Thanks! I lived in it for about 6-months so it evolved a slight amount. I could never get the topper carpet right but oh well.

 

Love the bike in the back though!

I feel like the only tops I've seen where the carpet sits flat and looks good are the newer tops that are completely smooth on the inside, or people who do it to their aluminum tops.

 

How warm does that Mr heater keep the truck? The coldest camping I've done in mine got down to maybe 15, and my insulated pad and sleeping bag were enough to keep me warm. But I've thought about getting one of their little buddies to heat the back. 

[coheed]

 

It's just something about a long bed with a camper top that really gets me.

 

 

Also screwed around in the yard on the trees that power company cleared before I put the top back on. Even with the sway bar still connected, the 4.10 gears and the flex from the leaves makes it so much easier to get up stuff.

[howeitsdone]

10 hours ago, coheed said:

How warm does that Mr heater keep the truck?

 

It get's it piping hot in that small space. Definitely need a CO monitor, but helps in those high desert winters when the 0 degree and liner aren't cutting it.

[TheDirtyJeep401]

You’re really making me want to drag my topper out and put it on…. 
 

I’m just wanting to wait till i finish the lift to put it on so I can sit back and have that look. Glad I’m not the only one who likes lifted long beds with toppers. It’s like it just screams take me camping or on a road trip.