The Baja350 - a Dentside Story

[FasterNU]

Despite the mismatching polish you can fix with some sand paper... and that tab being too small and possibly cracking that thin material in 10 yrs after everything else fell off the truck.... I think everyone is over thinking this and the silicone boot will provide plenty of movement. Which over time... will lead to that damn crack that everyone keeps talking about.

Hey, does anyone got some crack for sale? I think I need it. LOL

 

[DesertGoat]

welded up the front end.
Primed it.
painted it.
Reassembly up next.

 

[the_fablab_]

SHINEY

 

[FasterNU]

 

[DesertGoat]

it's not anti-seize, i promise.

 

[the_fablab_]

it's not anti-seize, i promise.

That’s exactly what someone who put anti seize all over their truck would say….

 

[85Yota]

You didn't weld on the front of the dentside frame on for bumper before painting it?

 

[Cameronswmp9]

it's not anti-seize, i promise.

It may be, it only takes 1 small touch to spread that crap everywhere....

 

[2012SVTSC]

Your build keeps looking awesome, and I really appreciate you sharing all the details. I've been using your setup as a research reference . I had a couple of questions I was hoping you could help with.

First, do you feel like the way you set up your TTB/frame gives you more uptravel compared to a standard +2 2WD beam setup? The DIY off road one specifically.

The reason I’m asking is that we’re hoping to run 37s with the same Autofab fenders you’re using. With the oem style innner fender mounts, We’ve seen that you’re able to make it work, but since you’re running TTB, we’re not sure how the uptravel situation would be for us. If your setup does give you extra uptravel, then we will know we can make it fit.

Thanks again for sharing your build,it’s been super helpful.

 

[DesertGoat]

@ Tommy - I went real light on the spray on those bumper horns. for a ground clamp place for one & so I can fab a bumper later.

@SVTSC - definitely doesn't give more up-travel compared to 2wd. The pumpkin runs into the frame rail as my limit of up-travel. a 2wd beam setup wouldn't have that. That said, I have 8" because I notched the frame a little bit and I also raised up the bronco frame rail section compared to the f100 frame when I did the splice.

 

[2012SVTSC]

@ Tommy - I went real light on the spray on those bumper horns. for a ground clamp place for one & so I can fab a bumper later.

@SVTSC - definitely doesn't give more up-travel compared to 2wd. The pumpkin runs into the frame rail as my limit of up-travel. a 2wd beam setup wouldn't have that. That said, I have 8" because I notched the frame a little bit and I also raised up the bronco frame rail section compared to the f100 frame when I did the splice.

That helps me visualize it a bit in my head. Im hoping we can fit 37s like you did.

Anyway! Keep up the good work!

 

[DesertGoat]

got the engine back in. It takes a very careful dance & some precision tilting to dodge all the brackets & things but I was able to do it in an ~hour with a buddy to help spot.

also: gold.

I reinstalled the intake manifold and got the injector installed as well. Gonna have to get some different fittings to clear things (not pictured today)

but for now the priority is to finish painting things and reassemble the front end to reclaim the garage. Shit is yardsaled everywhere right now and drives me nuts.

 

[DesertGoat]

Long time, no post. End of the year chaos.
Painting & reassembly still in progress.

Mocked up the ram assist cylinder for the first time & found out the tabs on my drag link were incorrectly located.
The good news is that this whole steering system was developed by Andrew Cho and he operates with integrity. He's been super easy to reach for help and has been very helpful with figuring out solutions. He provided me a replacement drag link (that also isn't quite right for my setup, doesn't bottom out when I want it to). But all in all I can't ask for more out of OhhCho and I'm super excited to see all this stuff in action eventually.
Also started trying to figure out things like the reservoir mounts. I got myself a new 3d printer so I came up with this idea that I want to try.
Here's the first mock-ups out of PETG to finger out the hose routing & adapters we'll need. The final product will be made out of PPA-CF so it doesn't melt under reservoir temps



Also learned that under full-welding of the engine cage that my stuff warped just enough for the 2-bolt flanges for the fender mounts to be too difficult to reinstall. I never really liked how they looked anyways so cut them apart & replaced with some interlocking tube clamps. Then put the hood back up & remounted the hood pins and the front is SOOO close to 100% complete on core structure.

 

[DesertGoat]

Between xmas & new years a couple of buddies decided to try this route... we started in palm desert and went through Joshua tree then east all the way to flagstaff. Stops in Parker, Crown King, Sedona, and finally flagstaff. Spent new years eve in Flag.
Saw some cool stuff, rock crawled a little bit (to the gripes of my homie with the ~stock tacoma) and overall had a great time. Ended up with a visit to the south rim of the grand canyon for sunset & even got to sightsee at the Cinders for a little bit. so epic.
But even though my Jeep has been great to keep me in the dirt... I'm super eager to finish my truck now.


I learned that I need to tweak my route planning a little bit to better consider how much time we're spending butts-in-seats versus miles as I'm learning that baja miles /= america miles. so we had some long ones and didn't really get to experience these cool places very much, which is a bummer. but the next one will be better for it.
Only 1 issue - my coolant resi tank cracked in Joshua tree almost immediately... but the O'Reilly's in 29 palms had one (miracle) and the replacement only took ~10 minutes. (also a miracle)

 

[the bodj]

Beautiful trip! When you say USA miles =/= MX miles, is that implying you see more per mile in MX? I've never been...

 

[DesertGoat]

correct - it's easier to cover ground in Baja compared to Arizona due to the openness & terrain in mexico.
For example - driving down that creek bed full of rocks for ~10 miles took us hours. but 10 miles in baja can be over in ~1/2 hour ish most of the time.

the other huge difference is that the stops in Mexico typically aren't as big of landmarks in the middle of the trip. As an example, a stopover in bay of LA is pretty, but not a lot to do as you pass through. Compare that to Sedona - which is pretty but there's a ton of activity that can be had out of that town.

 

[LoganB]

Ya. I’m gonna need info on that route! I’ve yet to wheel Sedona, but I’ve taken the back way to crown king tons of times. Looks so freakin epic!

 

[DesertGoat]

Ya. I’m gonna need info on that route! I’ve yet to wheel Sedona, but I’ve taken the back way to crown king tons of times. Looks so freakin epic!

I basically just pieced together OnX trails since we threw this trip together in a bit of a rush.
Parker : Signal (we had intended to go via dirt all the way to wickenburg but all the stuff we ended up in trying to go east out of the Havasu area was all very slow going up/down a bunch of canyons & washes, dodging pokey bushes. So when we finally ended up on a powerline road we decided to pivot and get on a "green" trail in OnX, checked out Signal, then ran away to the highway to get to wickenburg around ~4 pm. Kid was starting to get hungry and whatnot.

Then from wickenburg we called up to Crown King and the ol' lady asked us to try and get there by ~7 pm for check-in so we decided to not mess around with more fun routes but go all the way around up the "front way" to Crown King via the 17. did that all in the dark and still had a good time with it.

Crown king : Prescott was the next morning and this was all super easy, winding mountain trails, very desolate. didn't see another person until we got close to Prescott.

Prescott:Jerome, highway for a little bit to get across the valley and then hit dirt, or should i say "rocks" to wind up coming into Jerome from the north. That was the rocky wash picture with the dormant trees. Smiley rock trail + its connectors.

Then it was dark and late and so we just did highway from Jerome to Sedona.


in other news, I set my truck on its own weight for the first time in years.
Just set the spring preload to "zero lash" on some 350 lb/in loaner springs and it was obviously way to soft, lol.
So right back on jackstands it went. but at least the milestone was achieved

 

[85Yota]

Awesome trip. I took my tacoma from Phoenix up I17 to bumblebee then dirt to crown king, ate lunch then ended at friends home in Prescott. Then took dirt north Prescott to the overland expo in Flagstaff. Then on way home did dirt down from I17 into Schenbley hill rd into Sedona. Then pavement back home. Beautiful area, go fast 2wd trucks so no rocks but that looks like an awesome trip.

 

[the bodj]

Congrats dude! Is that a single 350? or what is the spring combo? I may have a set of 400 or 450 springs.