New member build

[Mehaffey]

Made a little progress on the build although it is getting frustracting that it is not going as quickly as planned but I don't want to half-a$$ anything. I have the drivetrain completely in and finished although I may add a secondary t-case mount later. Added a removable trans crossmember and T-case brace. I didn't get any pics of that but will post some up later if anyone is interested.

I decided to remove the bench seat that was in the truck and go with buckets. I will be using Corbeau Baja SS seats and have ordered J10 seat brackets with sliders so we will see when they come in how much modification they will take to fit. The seats are currently black vinyl with blue cloth inserts. I plan to recover the seats but have not decided what I want to run for inserts so I am open to ideas, I am leaning toward a black Kryptek material if I can find it like I want. Opinions??




Chopped down the tunnel some because of console plans and the fact that after the body lift there is a mile of room under the floor.



Just a pic to show what I plan for the console. I grabbed the ammo can and plan to flush mount the trans shifter and the tcase shifters.



Here is a very rough sketch of interior as the seat will obviously be higher, and the shifter will be lower because it will be flush mounted on the can. I am going to finish all the wiring on the truck under the dash before mounting everything but I had a friend available that's pretty good with sheet metal so I let him have at it for a couple hours while I mounted trans cooler.



Trans cooler is a derale with fan. Running all SS braided line on the truck so I am waiting on a couple shipments from Summit before I can finish plumbing. Mounted the cooler in front of the Al radiator using 1"x1/8" flat bar mounted vertically. It is as close as it can be to the grille because I wanted some space between the trans cooler and radiator so just bc I am paranoid about vehicles running hot.


What are everyone's thoughts / opinions so far?

[andrew]

Looking good!
What year/make/model did you use to order your body lift from Zone Off road?
Andy

[Mehaffey]

I just ordered 6 3"lift blocks. I took the stock bolts out and went to fastenal for replacements. I plan to replace steering shaft with collapsable u-joint style.

[Mehaffey]

Just ordered the coolest thing for the truck.

Maybe I am a huge nerd, but I love the historical military pieces. The wife just rolled her eyes when I was in surplus store looking for the large ammo can for the console and found a WW2 field phone and thought it was the coolest thing ever, just thinking about the conversations that could have taken place on that phone. Anyways... I plan to put a WW2 era first aid kit and in it I am going to shadow box a pistol (bc you never leave home alone) and beside it my newest purchase.....drumroll please....a 1942 bulletproof field bible. From what I have read the theory was for the soldiers in the field wore them in their breast pocket to deflect a bullet from their heart. It's just a small leather bound new testament with patina'd metal cover. But I love the idea of that and pistol in a first aid kit in the truck. passengers will get a surprise when curiosity tells them check it out. haha

[Mehaffey]

Been a crazy 6 weeks with a busy work schedule and a huge house remodel project so progress on the Kaiser has slowed, but the goal is to still have her running and driving with the 5.3 and one tons by christmas. I did get my new Detroit in and installed it with the 5.13s. Shes no rock Jock... but i think its pretty sweet set up for the Kaiser.


Before anyone asks, no all the junk in the pan lid didn't come from axle. The catch bin had been outside and had dirt all over it.

[Mehaffey]

got the rear in the truck and mounted and the 42" TSLs and really liking the height. I have some clearance issues with the brake caliper mount but that gives me an excuse to try to use some Wilwoods from an old build on the truck. If they don't work I will just try to rotate the caliper location.

Also swapped steering to a ujoint style with a slip shaft, and installed a steering cooler for the hydro assist. I will post up some pictures tomorrow hopefully.

The plan is to run to Carolina Driveline tomorrow and try to get the ball rolling on the rear since everything is in place.

[md1970]

i think you,re gonna have a sore elbow from hitting it on the box between the seats. hope i,am wrong though. i,ve hit my crazy bone seems like 100 times on my battery box cornner. sure hurts.

[Mehaffey]

i think you,re gonna have a sore elbow from hitting it on the box between the seats. hope i,am wrong though. i,ve hit my crazy bone seems like 100 times on my battery box cornner. sure hurts.

thanks for the heads up. I have the Corbeaus and J10 Sliding mounts I will test fit everything to make sure ergonomics are comfortable. Seats can always be raised if needed, lord knows there's plenty of head room

[Mehaffey]

Couple more pictures of progress. Got the front truss all welded up. Time to paint the knuckles again (Reid orange is bleeding through from loving on a couple rocks) and clean up the outers. Also a quick pic of the modified steering joint with collapsable shaft and its fitment with the 5.3

I have some wilwoods for the front and rear for a Chevy 1 ton. I will have to oviously get some adapter brackets for them to work, but that is the plan.

The front truss is from artec industries and the reason for it being so bulky is because I am running hydraulic assist steering and the double ended ram will mount behind that front plate. protected and out of the way. The Diff cover is from Ballistic fab. I can't decide to leave black, or pull back apart and paint OD green like the rear. Opinions?

[Blitz]

Because you said " OD Green Like the rear " I kinda think You already Know what you have to do : ")

They Gotta Match Man, or that will bug You for Years.

No One else will ever see it, and from the front it will look natural being black...

But the rear axle sure shows... so I think You kinda gotta match them...

Especially because You trussed them both.... the Paint will hold them all together : )

Massive work on those Trusses.

Keep the pictures flowing !

Prep to completion, less than 4 Hours... and that's doing it WELL and with a spray rig !

I'm a rattle can Ninja under a Truck... With Rapco Paint, so


I think Ya gotta Paint it... Just to keep the Universe in Balance.

Especially of its just the cover..