Local Legend Don't Call It An S10

[84projectFORD]

Upper links are in tension under throttle anyhow, not compression. Add in any side loads and shit multiplies

 

[the bodj]

Upper links are in tension under throttle anyhow, not compression. Add in any side loads and shit multiplies

Time to add some beef then

 

[Motiracer38]

Mine did that too a couple times until I went full kill. There is a lot of forces that go into that spot, every time the rear end side loads it converts into a force pushing or pulling on that mount. Same load that buckles under-built upper link bars or wears out upper 3 link rod ends so quickly.

 

[the bodj]

CA bringing the fail as usual. I ordered some headers and just got an email that they won’t ship here, so that’s cool. Time to find another option

 

[96f-u250]

CA bringing the fail as usual. I ordered some headers and just got an email that they won’t ship here, so that’s cool. Time to find another option

Dislike!
Plan a weekend getaway for you and your lady to a local border town, and ship them to the hotel.

 

[the bodj]

Dislike!
Plan a weekend getaway for you and your lady to a local border town, and ship them to the hotel.

I’m just going to go with a hooker manifold set. A bit more expensive, but I don’t have the time to go for a road trip and I want to get this thing rolling.

Speaking of which… the new drivetrain went in 20x easier than the old one. I had it stabbed in in like 20 minutes by myself

 

[the bodj]

The reason I need different manifolds is due to the steering shaft



Looks like a good amount of room for the AC junk, but I might have to notch that tube a bit.



I will be cutting out the motor mounts I made and moving them forward, though the motor has another inch or two it can move back in this picture. The engine hoist needs to be repositioned to allow it to slide under the truck more.



You can see it hits the cross brace



Overall a great trial run! Once I get the manifolds in I'll be able to see if I need to notch the frame out a bit to make clearance for the downpipes, but I think I should actually be ok.

(motor is lower than it will be in this picture. I might need a different oil pan or to modify the stock replacement I got. I forgot to check before setting the motor on blocks for the night)

 

[the bodj]

haven’t touched the Sonoma since the last post. Been working on side jobs (I’m taking in work again, so let me know if you need anything done).

First was modifying Trail Gear rock sliders for a new Chevy Colorado with 2700 miles on it. It’s always weird for me to weld on brand new trucks for some reason. They turned out great, and I may add a 5th leg at the back end, but not too sure it’s needed. The truck will be coming back in for full skids.





Then I spent yesterday working on Brent’s Tundra. He gave me free reign to mount the jack and spare tire cradle to move the spare to the front of his bed, as his previous d rings bolted through the bed floor were pulling through the sheet metal. I’m really happy with how both turned out. Mikey did a great job on the bolt in bed cage, which made it easy to lift up a bit and weld the bottoms where needed.





Next up is @Exploder_M truck for door bars, some other minor cage work modifications, new shackles, thicker aluminum skid, and other bits n pieces. I should be back on my truck starting next week.

 

[GahnRacing]

That’s cute. That queer hit me up to do the same job. What’d you charge him? We need to unionize.

 

[the bodj]

That’s cute. That queer hit me up to do the same job. What’d you charge him? We need to unionize.

More than you can afford, pal.

 

[mounty71]

Let's see some pics of the Explorer cage!

 

[Exploder_M]

Let's see some pics of the Explorer cage!

Thanks, for the reminder for me to update my thread haha, here ya go.

1999 Exploder

Copying this over from that forbidden website. Sept 1, 2020 So I'm a Chevy guy and always have been. When I was in high school I saw this rad explorer always cruising around town with a major California lift and HID headlights. I loved the look of that explorer and thought that it would be...

forum.badlinesgoodtimes.com

 

[the bodj]

Shackles I'm making for @Exploder_M 's truck.

 

[Kellyex1450]

what dumpster did your old drive-train end up in? asking for a friend fond of dumpster diving.

 

[the bodj]

what dumpster did your old drive-train end up in? asking for a friend fond of dumpster diving.

Some Central American’s truck to be recycled for pesos on the dollar. I actually traded him a sweet sword from the scrap pile in the back of his truck. Win-win

 

[LoganB]

I love everything about this Kevin. Except for one thing…… making such an oily mess on your brand new driveway. Come on guy!

You’ve come a long way from the blue Toyota days! Keep at it.

 

[the bodj]

I love everything about this Kevin. Except for one thing…… making such an oily mess on your brand new driveway. Come on guy!

You’ve come a long way from the blue Toyota days! Keep at it.

Yeahhh I wasn’t too happy about that. Luckily it was mainly ATF, which cleans up nicely lol.

Thanks bud! I still think back to the meet where you gave me a Y strap for my spare after seeing how ghetto I was with ratchet straps. Super nice of you!

 

[LoganB]

Ya that was pretty cool of me. I think those go for like 75-100 bucks now a days. So if you could just Venmo me that whenever, that’d be great.

Maybe day we’ll get the trucks out together! It’s a long drive for aaa from arizona to California though.

 

[the bodj]

Had today off work so I was able to jump back into the motor swap.

Number of times I pulled and reinstalled motor/trans: 2 (will need a third at least)
Number of times I got a hot spark on the back of my neck mid-weld: 4
Number of liters of ATF on my driveway because apparently I didn’t get it all out the first time: all of them
Number of times I had to draw/cut the drivers side motor mount forward tab: 3
Amount of clearance I was able to get between my manifold and steering shaft: 3/16”
Amount of money I have to spend on a new AC compressor mount: none. Got it to clear after notching the engine cage tube.

Nothing too exciting in terms of pictures. Looks just like it did before, but now it is in its resting place-ish, and the inner frame rails are plated since I couldn’t get to them with the old motor in place.

 

[the bodj]

So last night I measured the output angle of the trans and compared it to the input angle of the pinion. Trans was like 6.1* down and pinion was 2.8* up. So I cut the motor mounts a half inch shorter and brought the output angle to 5.9*. I can't move the trans up anymore because of the floor of the cab, so that's the angle it has to live at. Going to have to adjust my pinion angle to match, but it's all good. Grabbed my old trans crossmember and mount I made, and it looks like it'll weld right back into the same exact place I cut it from. Also, quick measurement of driveshaft shows my current driveshaft might be perfect, too! Not sure how that all happened, but I don't really care lol. I'll call BP automotive tomorrow and order my wiring harness to get it in a week or so, and I now have all of my 3" exhaust components in hand, so I can get moving on that here shortly. Coming along!