keelhaul

Thanks for the info guys. I'll just stick with one locker in the rear. I don't plan on doing any rockcrawling and if the rear locker isn't enough I always have a winch. Any advice on pulling the third members? The only thing I am not sure of concerns the rear axles. I know the bolts must be taken out from the bearing cage then some sort of slide hammer is used to pull out the axle, but on reassembly do you just tighten those bolts snug? Does sliding the axle out enough to remove third member result in having to screw around with the wheel bearings?

I never even considered that just turning the steering wheel while stopped would bind it up, but it makes sense. Does anyone have an arb in the front? I assume the same problems would occur with a front arb in locked position. how well do the arb lockers disengage if binded up?(do you have to stop and back up to disengage sometimes)? The air lockers on my peterbilt sometimes take a bit of rocking to get lockers disengaged.

I am planning on swapping in 3rd members with 4.6 gears with an arb locker for the rear but as for the front I am not sure whether I want to put another $1000 into it. I am considering having the spider gears welded. I have a 2002 chilkoot 5 speed with warn hubs, a 2" ac lift and 1" strut spacers. I usually only use 4 wheel drive at slow speeds offroad. any opinions about handling characteristics or additional stress on parts, or any opinion at all would be greatly appreciated Thanks

I have the same situation with mine. If I try and hold rpm's at 1700 while in neutral it starts cutting in and out. I just thought it was the throttle position sensor since the throttle has to be depressed such a small amount to hold 1700rpm. Let me know if you find anything out. mine is 3.5L

If you shift into 4x4 with hubs disengaged while moving then you get the bad crunching sounds. If you shift to 4x4 while stopped there is no noise. I have used 2lo to limit speed over bumpy sections that did not require 4wheel drive. But be careful using 2lo there is a lot of power going to the rear tires which could break things in a hurry (not for smokeshows)

a leak in turbo system could do it. check rubber connector hoses between turbo and intake manifold and intercooler if it has one. An air leak like this may be hard to find as you would have to have turbo spooled up to hear it.

Anyone know where Tyler disappeared to with my $50? Did everyone else who made a deposit on spacers receive them?

In extreme cold (-40c with north wind) antifreeze can sometimes... well freeze! I have had my coolant (tested to -50c) gel so much that the engine actually overheated due to lack of coolant circulation through the rad. A winter front is definitely a good idea or at least a piece of cardboard to stick in front of rad in an emergency. Your toes might be a little warmer too.

15mpg all the time. highway or city. 300km down to 1/4 tank. I have steel wheels and roofrack which doesn't help

I had factory wheels 16x7 w(i think 4.5 backspace) and 245/75r16 tires and only problem was 1/4" between tire and strut. I put same tires on 16x8 w 4.25 backspace and the extra width of the rim moved the tire more than the different offset did. Does that make sense?!? The extra inch is on the outside of the wheel and spreads the tire wider when mounted. Now the tire is well away from the strut and stick out 1-2 inches outside fender. Only now there is minor rubbing on front fender liner when backing up.

Thanks I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I only tacked a few parts for proper fit than took it to the professionals. It cost about $250 to weld and $125 for material. And the flow was largely fluke as I had no idea what it was going to look like. I was a little nervous while cutting the bumper in half.

I sure hope it takes a little abuse it has yet to be tested. I might go and try pull myself up some hills tonight. As for knocking down dead trees I am still contemplating on whether to add some sort of bull bar.

no I put the winch plate all the way back just so it was touching that hood latch brace.

more pictures

I just wanted to thank everybody for all the information. I have been feverishly using the search button and have found everything I needed to know when it came to tire size, rock rails, lift springs, skidplates and much more. I have recently installed a winch and at first I had planned on a front receiver hitch mount. Well I lifted that winch twice and figured it was going to be a big pain in the butt(not to mention the loss of approach angle). So at the last minute I decided to permanently mount it. here are some pics (I hope links work!!)