Previously 95_Bluwhale on IG (deleted Instagram)

95_Bluwhale

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Joined
Jul 24, 2022
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Hey guys new here and since I don’t have an IG anymore might as well meet some people and get going on some trip with this site. I bought this truck stock with only a solo moto sports bumper and method 15” wheels and 33” generals
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Truck was rough on the paint and the owner tried using it like his other built bronco and broke the shock mount on the beams but a quick little weld and it was road ready.
It came with the solo gas tank skid plate and fuel pump access cover but not installed so those were the first of jobs along with a new fuel pump since I was going to be cutting it open already.
After driving it for work came a cross a deal for the front solo stage 4 kit with some older radius arms from an old race team that I sold (for $300) and bought the solo ones instead and a desolate rear shock mount set up for $500 for everything. To finish I had to buy the deaver leaf spring which I went with the q80-2 to keep the truck at a nice lower stance which I preferred and put an order in for coilovers and bypasses. As I was waiting I decided to make the beams a little more sturdy by making my own truss since I needed some practice welding before the whole kit was ready to install.
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After getting everything I got the rear end started and did a half decent job getting it ready as quick as I can to make the first desert trip with stock front suspension and the rearend wasn’t cycling correctly (which I didn’t know at the time and found out later after I bent my rearend that I had to cut factory perches off. Which I found out after talking to the guys at solo because before that I went off of the other guys knowledge and no real experience working with that stuff
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After that trip I installed the front suspension and went out to more trips and in the photo you can see the truck did not cycle right because the down travel was non existent pretty much
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After I bent the axle I redid all shock mount and reinforced all four making sure it cycled correctly and called and bothered every bronco shop from solo, desolate and called Mike from FactoryBS I don’t know how many time on the weekend to help with getting the geometry right and understanding how to get it to cycle to get pinion angle and shock location.
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After driving with no bumps I got a set of rear bump mounts for Christmas and had to buy some so I bought two and by some miracle ORW sent an extra bumpstop and I had to buy another and finished all 4 corners suspension wise for the build I still have an option to add an extra bypass in front but I’m waiting for the next stage of the project
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After spending some time on offer up I also found a set of front fenders that are way to big but couldn’t pass up so I traded some parts and got the rear bedsides from my wife for my birthday and had installed everything in about two weekends and took the truck to paint since I hated the three colors of paint the truck now had and found a 50% off deal at Maaco which for a desert truck is perfect cheap and don’t have to worry about scratching it so I painted it Leadfoot grey for $1600 and used steel-it on the camper shell to give it a matte black look
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as the truck sits I need gearing a wider front beam setup and new tires I had put an order in for a custom 9” when I bent the old 8.8 and spent 5k and somehow my rearend along with 3 other rearends got lost in shipping from Arizona and had to try and get a refund from the shop that ordered it so replaced with an old rearend I traded a 24 pack of colors for.
 

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Is it just me or did your bump stops disappear in that video?
The video was before I had the bumpstops didn’t think I needed them but was wrong bent my front shock mounts after a few trips and installed the bumpstops and put new mounts
 
So I had a last minute idea to go to Johnson valley and while out there found a weak pint in the truck the lug nuts came loose and lost a wheel luckily at low speed and we were able to trail fix it and get to a shop to get it fixed right ruined a wheel but had a spare so all is good luckily Cameron Steee and the team Alsup Racing was there and let us use a jack and impact since we were trying a scissor jack off a rubicon that couldn’t lift the corner. I had a GoPro filming that corner and I have a clip of one of the hard hits that made me realize some issues on where my bump stop is and when the whee started to wobble due to the lugs getting loose but like an idiot I did not delete old footage and the video stopped like 1-2 minutes before the wheel fell off.
 

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Truck is starting its front end tear down and rebuild also got myself a little cam to throw in while the truck is apart plan is plating the radius arms and extending the beams along with new bushings, heims and bolts also going to install a new pivot that I’ve had and never installed aswell as new mounting for the fiberglass also looking for a set of heads to help
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Past couple of days getting the beams extended which has been quite the job almost done just need to add extra plating and get the radius arms straight and plated and the suspension goes back in and it’s onto steering
 

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I finally got the whole truck back together just need an alignment and also need to get the right spring rate but for now it’ll do. Put in the newer style headlights with drls and they look good with the paint had to rework the mounting for the fiberglass but it all worked out until I jacked up the rear and found my driver axle had about 1/2” of side to side movement so time to pop open the rear with some new bearings and c-clips
 

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