FNG with a mail truck from NY

[Dtc81]

Man it’s good to see a forum again! My name’s Dan. Found this group from our first trip this year out to watch KOH. Was a long time IFS Toyota guy, now with a small side hustle fab business (@dcbuiltllc on IG). Currently in the beginning phase of building my dream truck…..a Grumman LLV mail truck on 40s. (Yes I legally own it with a title!)

Still squirreling away parts and chipping away at the project as time permits. The goal is a “rolling business card that works”- a functional showcase of skills and capabilities and a fun way to get my family out on the trails.

As it sits- building D60 and Sterling 10.5. Have an LQ4 and 4L80. Planning on a magnum underdrive to a Ford NP205 I have. The LLV body is sitting on the chassis table waiting for me to get time to build the frame and cage! Keep it as low and stable as possible linked on coilovers and flat bottomed.

 

[BlackJacket705]

This is awesome!

 

[the bodj]

How is the wheeling up there? My sister and brother in law live an hour outside of Syracuse but don’t offroad

 

[Dtc81]

How is the wheeling up there? My sister and brother in law live an hour outside of Syracuse but don’t offroad

I’m in the Hudson Valley, 1.5hr north of NYC and 3hrs southeast of Syracuse. NY is not very friendly to offroad anything, and we’ve just about lost all “legal” places to wheel. Some private landowners allow with permission, then there’s a couple grey area spots…we just be respectful and tread lightly. Usually being friendly and conscientious goes a long way.

Other than that we go to Vermont and hit some class 4 or 5 roads/trails. There’s always Rausch Creek and some of the offroad parks in the tri state area that have a lot to offer.

 

[the bodj]

That's wild that there seems to be so few places to wheel back east. For everything CA is, we've got seemingly unlimited places to offroad.

 

[Dtc81]

That's wild that there seems to be so few places to wheel back east. For everything CA is, we've got seemingly unlimited places to offroad.

Yeah it’s a bummer out here in that regard for sure. My best friend lives in AZ, and the amount of free range land blows my mind everytime I go out west

 

[85Yota]

So this is built for more rocks/mud/tree trails i'm assuming. Will be a cool build and I like those wheels/tries you got. Super clean and unique wheels

 

[Dtc81]

Thanks! Yeah our trails are usually pretty tight- which will be a challenge on full width axles and full body, but we do have rocks….they’re just usually slippery and round! Definitely plan to haul it out west to explore trails with some friends.

The wheels are Sidetracked Offroad forged beadlocks. They’re incredible quality for the price- and the owner Morgan has been beyond awesome to deal with. Highly recommend checking them out! I’m trying to keep the “feel” of this project OG USPS. Small tweaks to the livery to put my logo on it, but that’s it! Something along these lines. Just a belly draggin’ aluminum box!

 

[85Yota]

Yeah full width especially full body is tight on back east trails from videos and photos I've seen.

 

[Dtc81]

It definitely will be tight! 3rd gen 4runner was my previous vehicle(s) of choice for years. Did a great job as a daily driven, mtb haulin’ wheelin’ adventure vehicle and slipping through tight trails.

 

[badlinesgoodtimes]

dude this thing is going to rad! I always love the completely random one off builds... look forward to following along the build!

 

[SaltyMethods]

Dope.

 

[Dtc81]

dude this thing is going to rad! I always love the completely random one off builds... look forward to following along the build!

Thanks! I sure get a lot of weird looks when I tell most people I’m building my dream car….and it’s a mail truck haha

 

[Dtc81]

Making some (slow) progress as I get free time. Some milestones:
T-Case:
-Rebuilt and cleaned up the NP205 and added the Off Road Designs underdrive. Can’t say enough good things about the quality and support of those guys at ORD. Going to be awesome to have all the extra deep gears.

Axles:
-Finished the axle trusses and got them back together for mock up. Primed the Dana60 because it was flash rusting overnight and driving me crazy. Also had high steer arms machined by Morgan at MoFab. Talk about some seriously beefy arms! Coolest part is he machines the knuckles so they key into the arms, as well as have a fully bolt-on install. Morgan went above and beyond, tweaking the bolt pattern and hole options considering the truck is RHD. Such an awesome guy to work with, and a badass product!

Fixturing:
-Cut some brackets out and bolted them to the fixture table. Just some simple cradles to locate the front axle. Same idea going for the rear.
-donor motor is next. Have to get that set.

This is my first chassis build. Plan is to get it all laid out at full bump, and keep tweaking from there. Stock wheel base on the LLV is 100”, but at this point I want to stretch it to 114+. That would help with driveline packaging and get the tires out of the doors when they’re slid in the “open” position. One of my main goals is to keep the doors functional, and as close to stock as possible.

There’s going to be lots of body cutting to keep it low (thinking 22”ish belly). Considering it’s kind of a mini “step van”, there’s a good amount of transmission tunnel real estate. Would be cool if I could somehow flat skid the whole thing, but we’ll see. Another main goal is to keep as much of the flat floor as possible. It’s gotta stay quirky!

Totally just making this up as I go along, all while researching the heck out of geometry and layout etc. If anybody has ever does this whole “build a chassis” ordeal, I’m totally open to advice!

 

[2012SVTSC]

Sweet.

 

[turbomonty]

would

 

[ShinyTravisto]

The Mailcat!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmK24VAaZrg