IowaOffRoad
Imperator Donvaldus Ioannes
Thought I'd stir up some love and hate with my real (cheap) world repair/build of my rolled yesterday truck.
So here's my shot from the Fail! thread yesterday. Come off a rock on the side of a ditch with no spotter the wrong way, while in a hurry to get down so I could help a buddy (who turns out to not have needed help) while not wearing my seatbelt
, while not having the doors on (yes they still fit before this happened). Ran in this position, on its lid at a 45deg downward angle for about 20-30 seconds before reached in to shut it off (off-road modded Holley 390cfm, fuck your fuel injection
). This picture prompted a few questions that I hope to answer here.
Picture of it back on it's wheels and running with windshield in the back. Steering shaft came apart (lengthening it an inch or so is on my to-do list). Put it back together after 2 jeeps were tied to it with their winch lines before I got in it to drive it out.
Photos after I stretched the top back up with a forklift and a couple of well-place blocks and a 3 pound hammer, a couple of prybars, and a chain through the door latch loops to stretch the door frames back where they should be. Both door shut and latch now, if you can believe it.
Used windshield back in it, had to tweak it with the forklift some more.
Will post more pictures in the morning with the bed off. Will explain some of what I've already done and what I'm planning to do.
For some perspective, this thing has a 1981 Toyota Celica GT 20R with a Holley 390 and an unknown header. 5.29 gears, spool in the rear, Spartan in the front. Stock axleshafts, G-series trans and T-case from a 1985, stock rear driveshaft from an 80's something IFS truck, modded stock front '85 driveshaft, IFS steering box and swap-meet hi-steer. Bastard pack front springs (stock '83 rears combined with 70's Dodge Power Wagon). IFS rear, wheel spacers in the front. New 3" lift rears from IBB parts counter. Ancient, mismatched 35's (OG non-KM BFG Muds in the front, TSL radials in the rear). Bought the gears, spool, and locker brand new along with the rear springs, bought the u-bolt flip and shocks off Ebay years ago. Bought Viper winch years ago (featured in my Chinese Winch Repair thread), Slag Fab steering box plates. Has 95 Rodeo seats covered with shitty O'reillys 'waterproof' seat covers. 90's something Toyota 1" master cylinder. I fabbed everything else myself; flatbar cross member (which I caught shit for the lack of trimming in another thread), shackles, frame bob, winch mount, tow points, floorboard and frame repair, roll bar, box, everything. So feel free to give all the shit to me for the crudeness of everything, it's really all my fault.
One of the reasons I started this is yesterday evening when BSing with one of my wheeling buddies (who has a nice TJ) was complaining of one of our group (J) who wants to wheel anything but a Jeep but is always having trouble and breaking stuff. "J" is a combination of cheap and doesn't want to work on his rig. My buddy's justification for Jeep? "You can buy anything you want and upgrade it so it won't break" (not exactly true but the basic point is valid). I told him, "J" is too cheap to buy expensive off-road parts, but is a good enough welder and wrench that if he got serious about building a rig he should build it like I did. "Jeep thing" kind of blinds the Jeep guys, he understood my point but wouldn't relent on the 'Jeep thing'.
If I were to build this thing from scratch, I would start with an IFS truck as you can buy one around here with the rear frame rot death for under 2K where everything else works fine. If I paid what I did for every other part I've bought, here's what I could do it for (not counting things I've bought and subsequently taken off):
IFS truck with rust-$1500
Steel to repair and upgrade-$500
5.29 gears with install kits-$500
Full spool-$90
Spartan-$280
swap-meet high steer parts-$25
Solid front axle-$200
Dodge springs-$50
Rodeo seats-$90
Winch-$300
Tires-$505 (Set of 4 BFG's and 3 TSL's, one of the BFGs has a large tear in the sidewall, boot and tube, use for spare(
Wheels-$50
Wheel spacers-$10
Tubes for tire (yes I'm running tubes with screws into the tire bead)-$80
Total is $4230 including truck purchase. This is close to what I currently have in it, probably a little higher as I bought this truck for $300 but I tried to be honest about what the used/swap meet parts would cost around here as I bought some of them in lots, and some of the parts I had from parting out other trucks years ago (like the $100 solid front all you west-coaster say is unobtainable for less than $500). This is discounting some of the nickel and dime hardware, but is an honest assessment of where I'm at. One of the plusses with starting with a IFS truck it it already has several of the things I had to upgrade to.
My point? This thing is pretty damn capable (though I'm biased) and I know of none of my Jeep friends who have a rig that is as capable for twice that investment. Now, I've spent a ton of hours on this thing (I probably have 60hrs in the bed and rollbar (the things I could do before 4 kids), but the overall point is you can play with the big dogs as long as you don't mind what your toys look like. One of my biggest accomplishments was following Ron George (he of TTC 'fame', 460 propane powered Bronco buggy painted orange, 54" tractor tires, won TTC in '05? I think) all around MIOBI in Iowa a couple of years ago and only couldn't go 2? places he went. Nobody else in our group would try to keep up, though I think one might have been able to.
So, what are IBB's thoughts? Want more details of my "upgrades"? Think it's a POS and I should suck-start a shotgun? Wonder what insane person would wheel this junk? Think I'm hittin' the crackpipe with my pricing? Think Jeeps rule and Toyota's drool (if so, why are you lurking in the Toyota sub)? Yes, I know you can build an XJ for a similar amount, but I don't think you could build it as reliable as this for the same money. I have seen plenty of XJ's running around on 33's with spacers and a sawzall that probably only cost 2k total, but they usually end up a trail tampon or drug forcibly onto a trailer before the day is out.
I suppose the point of this post is to show everyone that you can have a ton of fun in a decently reliable rig without breaking the bank. It may not be pretty, but I've taken it down US77 south of Randolph KS at 70mph with my then 5yo in the passenger seat and felt like I wasn't going to kill him, so I feel it 'could' even be a road driver if you are so inclined.
Anyway, as stated previously, more pics tomorrow!
So here's my shot from the Fail! thread yesterday. Come off a rock on the side of a ditch with no spotter the wrong way, while in a hurry to get down so I could help a buddy (who turns out to not have needed help) while not wearing my seatbelt
, while not having the doors on (yes they still fit before this happened). Ran in this position, on its lid at a 45deg downward angle for about 20-30 seconds before reached in to shut it off (off-road modded Holley 390cfm, fuck your fuel injection). This picture prompted a few questions that I hope to answer here.Picture of it back on it's wheels and running with windshield in the back. Steering shaft came apart (lengthening it an inch or so is on my to-do list). Put it back together after 2 jeeps were tied to it with their winch lines before I got in it to drive it out.
Photos after I stretched the top back up with a forklift and a couple of well-place blocks and a 3 pound hammer, a couple of prybars, and a chain through the door latch loops to stretch the door frames back where they should be. Both door shut and latch now, if you can believe it.
Used windshield back in it, had to tweak it with the forklift some more.
Will post more pictures in the morning with the bed off. Will explain some of what I've already done and what I'm planning to do.
For some perspective, this thing has a 1981 Toyota Celica GT 20R with a Holley 390 and an unknown header. 5.29 gears, spool in the rear, Spartan in the front. Stock axleshafts, G-series trans and T-case from a 1985, stock rear driveshaft from an 80's something IFS truck, modded stock front '85 driveshaft, IFS steering box and swap-meet hi-steer. Bastard pack front springs (stock '83 rears combined with 70's Dodge Power Wagon). IFS rear, wheel spacers in the front. New 3" lift rears from IBB parts counter. Ancient, mismatched 35's (OG non-KM BFG Muds in the front, TSL radials in the rear). Bought the gears, spool, and locker brand new along with the rear springs, bought the u-bolt flip and shocks off Ebay years ago. Bought Viper winch years ago (featured in my Chinese Winch Repair thread), Slag Fab steering box plates. Has 95 Rodeo seats covered with shitty O'reillys 'waterproof' seat covers. 90's something Toyota 1" master cylinder. I fabbed everything else myself; flatbar cross member (which I caught shit for the lack of trimming in another thread
), shackles, frame bob, winch mount, tow points, floorboard and frame repair, roll bar, box, everything. So feel free to give all the shit to me for the crudeness of everything, it's really all my fault.One of the reasons I started this is yesterday evening when BSing with one of my wheeling buddies (who has a nice TJ) was complaining of one of our group (J) who wants to wheel anything but a Jeep but is always having trouble and breaking stuff. "J" is a combination of cheap and doesn't want to work on his rig. My buddy's justification for Jeep? "You can buy anything you want and upgrade it so it won't break" (not exactly true but the basic point is valid). I told him, "J" is too cheap to buy expensive off-road parts, but is a good enough welder and wrench that if he got serious about building a rig he should build it like I did. "Jeep thing" kind of blinds the Jeep guys, he understood my point but wouldn't relent on the 'Jeep thing'.
If I were to build this thing from scratch, I would start with an IFS truck as you can buy one around here with the rear frame rot death for under 2K where everything else works fine. If I paid what I did for every other part I've bought, here's what I could do it for (not counting things I've bought and subsequently taken off):
IFS truck with rust-$1500
Steel to repair and upgrade-$500
5.29 gears with install kits-$500
Full spool-$90
Spartan-$280
swap-meet high steer parts-$25
Solid front axle-$200
Dodge springs-$50
Rodeo seats-$90
Winch-$300
Tires-$505 (Set of 4 BFG's and 3 TSL's, one of the BFGs has a large tear in the sidewall, boot and tube, use for spare(
Wheels-$50
Wheel spacers-$10
Tubes for tire (yes I'm running tubes with screws into the tire bead)-$80
Total is $4230 including truck purchase. This is close to what I currently have in it, probably a little higher as I bought this truck for $300 but I tried to be honest about what the used/swap meet parts would cost around here as I bought some of them in lots, and some of the parts I had from parting out other trucks years ago (like the $100 solid front all you west-coaster say is unobtainable for less than $500). This is discounting some of the nickel and dime hardware, but is an honest assessment of where I'm at. One of the plusses with starting with a IFS truck it it already has several of the things I had to upgrade to.
My point? This thing is pretty damn capable (though I'm biased) and I know of none of my Jeep friends who have a rig that is as capable for twice that investment. Now, I've spent a ton of hours on this thing (I probably have 60hrs in the bed and rollbar (the things I could do before 4 kids), but the overall point is you can play with the big dogs as long as you don't mind what your toys look like. One of my biggest accomplishments was following Ron George (he of TTC 'fame', 460 propane powered Bronco buggy painted orange, 54" tractor tires, won TTC in '05? I think) all around MIOBI in Iowa a couple of years ago and only couldn't go 2? places he went. Nobody else in our group would try to keep up, though I think one might have been able to.
So, what are IBB's thoughts? Want more details of my "upgrades"? Think it's a POS and I should suck-start a shotgun? Wonder what insane person would wheel this junk? Think I'm hittin' the crackpipe with my pricing? Think Jeeps rule and Toyota's drool (if so, why are you lurking in the Toyota sub
)? Yes, I know you can build an XJ for a similar amount, but I don't think you could build it as reliable as this for the same money. I have seen plenty of XJ's running around on 33's with spacers and a sawzall that probably only cost 2k total, but they usually end up a trail tampon or drug forcibly onto a trailer before the day is out.I suppose the point of this post is to show everyone that you can have a ton of fun in a decently reliable rig without breaking the bank. It may not be pretty, but I've taken it down US77 south of Randolph KS at 70mph with my then 5yo in the passenger seat and felt like I wasn't going to kill him, so I feel it 'could' even be a road driver if you are so inclined.
Anyway, as stated previously, more pics tomorrow!
Fuck you rust demon!
Going to have to buy some fuel tank patch for this after work today and fix it. FML
I routinely get asked "when you gonna fuel inject it" after having it on it's side in a v-ditch and driving out of it. 
to you. I never get pissed at anyone who won't do an obstacle or a trail because of the risk to the vehicle. If this was a DD I wouldn't do what I do, thought if it was a DD I wouldn't wheel it at all anyway. My entire world hinges on me being able to bring home the bacon and it takes something reliable and not broken to do that.
What's funny about this last part is I'm usually helping others off the trail. Yes, I'm super-happy that everyone helped me put it back on it's tires, but I've been involved in way more extrications of 'nicer, more technically capable rigs', several times due to their over-cautious approach trying to keep from getting a scratch on something only to roll back into something worse or slide sideways into something they were trying to avoid. 
but I prefer to have sexual relations with a biological woman
(except the RR tire that needs fixed)
