TrailChaser

As long as you don't change the springs you won't change the "feel" of the springs. They'll be the same springs holding the same amount of weight, just a little higher. Reindexing the T-bars is a cake walk on our trucks. Our t-bars have lots of splines for one thing.(great for reindexing) Besides the fact that you can do the whole lift in under 30mins.

Actually, I made this seat of my pants style. Quick as possible. I just took some steel rods that are easy to bend.(clothes hanger would work if you straiten it out first) Then I just bend the rod to follow the curves from rear to front. Then I did the same thing for the sides. Just measure from the rear to the front to see how long it will be. Then cut a piece that long and between3-4 inches wide depending on your preference. Bend that piece by itself to match the bends in the rod. You can bend 3/16" that's only 3-4" wide in a vise with a good size hammer. When you get that piece of steel bent to match the rod then you can start on the "wings" for the sides. Measure from the side of the bottom piece (that is now bent up) to the spot where you want to mount it. These two pieces should only have one bend where the diff housing meets the axle tubes. The best way to make this bend is to put both pieces in the vise together. The one getting hit by the hammer should be about 1/8" higher than the other piece if you want then to be identical. Tack those three pieces of steel together in the proper configuration. Now that you have the "Main" body of the skid you can simply fill in the gaps. For the rear section. I laid the tacked skid on a piece of flat 10guage and used a soap stone to out line from top part of the rear to the top of the wing on one side. Then about 3" down I made another strait line. Add about 1/4" to the lenth of the out line you have. Then cut the piece and make another one just like it. Put a slight bend in the middle of these two pieces the same way you did the wings. The pieces you bent should now fit nice and tight in the space. You may need to do a little grinding to get a nice tight fit. Tack those two pieces in place. Then make for small triangles to fill in the small holes left over at the bottom. Next just out line the triangle for the front part of the skid. Cut those two pieces out, and you can just leave those flat. Tack the last two pieces on. Then weld it all up front and back. I think my skid ended up being made of 19 pieces of steel. All cut from a piece of 3/16" plate that was 16"x26" and an even smaller piece of 10guage for the "fill in pieces." I suggest making slightly oversized welds on the inside part of the skid, and weld the inside first. On the outside of the skid the best way to weld is to position the part you're welding so that the bead will be run downhill as steep as possible. While welding the outside you should run a smooth steady bead right down the middle of the seam. Don't weave or you'll just make more mess to have to grind off to get a smooth outside. After you grind off the outside welds so it all looks like one piece of steel you can buy steel buffing pads for angle grinders at a hardware store. Those will give you a mirror finish to lay some paint on. MWS I know you already know most of this, I just wanted to write it so everyone can possible go out and get a little steel and make one up easy. I hope this helps. Sorry for the bad spelling and errors. I'm rushing. :type: David Foreman ForemanMetalWorks

If I were to make a few of these up. What do you guys and gals think would be a good price.

You might want to clean the MAF sensor also.

Thanks again everyone. I'll take a pic of the welds on the inside one day when I take it off to change the fluid. I'm not planning on selling any of these. Sorry, but like mws said. I would have to charge way more than people would want to pay. It actually only took about 6hrs to make it. I just worked on it for 45mins at a time on my lunch break for a couple of weeks. I used the press break to make it a little easier on me, but someone could easily make one using a big vise and a good size hammer.

Thanks guys. I'm not planning to sell these right now, but maybe in the future. I'd have to figure out an easier way make'em first. As for the reason I wanted one. I should take a pic of the bottom of my diff. That would explain. I've got the drain plug mangled and the bottom bolts to the 3rd member are just about wiped out. Not to mention the nice deep scraps. It's also just nice to know it's protected. I think most of my damage is due to running trails with 31" tires where the ruts are so deep you have to gun it thru some sections with the diff hitting rocks. Some is from the decaying granite at Katemcy Rocks. Thanks again for the kind words, David

I just finished it last week. It's made out of 3/16" and 10ga steel. I welded the mounting brackets to the axle, and welded the nuts to the brackets. I can put it on and take it off pretty quick. I drilled two holes in the bottom to let water drain out, but I didn't cut a hole for the plug. I'll just take it off when I change the fluid. Let me know what you guys think.

Does anyone know what years will work for the conversion? I'm finding a few 87-89 manuals. I know that if I have to find a replacement auto tranny I'll need either a 94-95.

I'm planning to convert to a manual tranny since my tranny is going out. I need help from board members who may know of a good deal on a rusted frame pathy. I live in Houston, TX and all the pathies in this area are in good shape. I've heard alot of people talking about the cheap pathies up north because the frame is gone, but auto trader doesn't have but a couple listed. I'm mainly looking for one with a manual tranny, but I may have to settle on a auto if I can't find one. I'm planning to pick the pathy up and bring it back. Thanks for any help, David

If you have spark you should check to see if it's a strong spark (blue) or a weak spark (orange) I had my coil go out and it was still getting a weak spark to the plugs, when I changed the coil it fired right up. I had no reason for my coil to go out like it did. I guess it's just one of those things that stop working at the wrong time.

Welcome to the board. Are you saying the clunking noise is coming from the rear diff? The PO may have installed a locker. Do you mainly hear the noise while turning sharp?

I think he got the bearings from JC Whitney. Then he had to pay a machine shop to press'em in. Welding them on was free.

Looks like it's sittin on 33's

Best thing to do if those are original cv's is buy some new/rebuilt ones from AZ or Oreilly with the lifetime warranty. It's pricey, but you CAN get a free replacement from torn/ripped boots in the future. Since you have to go thru all the work in taking it out to replace the boot you might as well replace the whole CV.

I suggest running the RS5112 if you have a lift and disconnect the rear swaybar while offroading. Brand: Rancho Product Line: Rancho RS5000 Shocks Internal Design: Twin-tube Adjustable: No Gas Charged: Yes Bushing Material: Rubber Bushing Color: Black Boot Included: Yes Boot Color: Red Extended Length (in): 26.250 in. Collapsed Length (in): 16.000 in. Upper Mount: Eyelet Lower Mount: Eyelet

Sounds like he didn't want to sell it for $100 and the seller bought his own item.

If I were you... I'd definatly not weld the rear diff. Like it's been said, you'll run into problems while pulling that trailer with 500+lbs of tounge weight pressing the rear tires to the ground that much harder. I'd suggest having a GOOD welder weld the front diff and then I'd install manual locking hubs. With the front locked(welded) and the LSD in the rear you'll be unstopable. If you're wanting more traction to pull junk cars out of the dirt in the woods and already have the LSD rearend locking the rear will do absolutly nuthin to help your cause. If your truck is sitting on mostly level ground with about the same traction under both rear tires the LSD WILL act JUST like a locker. If both rear tires spin when you're pulling that max traction. However if you look up at the front I'd bet that one of the front tires is just sitting still while the other spins it's little a$$ off. If you decide to have the front diff welded the you really need to find a shop that can heat treat it after welding and weld it up while it's preheated to about 500-600degs fahrenheit. If not the weld will make the metal so brittle that it will break the spider gears and the side gears instead of the weld. The reason I suggested installing the manual locking hubs is so you can still steer your truck while the frontend is locked. You simply leave one side locked and one unlocked while driving, then when you get to a spot in the trail where you need the extra traction you can just lock the other hub and drive thru. If you do choose to have the front diff welded you should also look into upgrading the centerlink and slapping on an idler arm brace. Having the front welded will put lots of undue stress on the steering so if you don't do the upgrades you'll be bending tierods and wearing out your ball joints in the centerlink way too fast. Just to give you an idea of how well the front being welded works... I saw a buddy destroy two different locking hubs at different times while wheelin some hardcore stuff. The first was a Mile Marker premium and the second was the replacement stock autolocking hub he put back on. The point is: He destroyed the aftermarket hubs and stock hub without damaging the CV's or the welded diff. He was also running 35's when all this went down. Tig is absolutly NO better than arc or mig welding. It's just more precise. You can control the HAZ much better with tig, but if you're pumping out around 200-250amps with mig while it's preheated and then have it heat treated when you're done it'll last forever. One thing to remember, tellem to weld it with Flux not hardwire. Flux is designed to flex and give a little instead of cracking and breaking. Hardwire will flex, but it's more like a clotheshanger compared to a spring. You bend the hanger several times and it'll break, you can bend a spring all day long and just be wasting your time trying to get it to break. Good luck with your diffs, I hope this helped a little. David

Compare the idler arm from the 87 to the 88 if everthing else these guys said looks good. With all the hopping you were talking about you may have bent that sucker. Anytime your front end starts hopping or skipping STOP. With our weak IFS something will give sooner than later, and even if it doesn't give right away you're putting LOTS of wear and tear on a lot of different parts. Think of it this way. If your frontend is hopping that is making the front drive system and steering system do way more work and take way more punishment than it was ever designed for. You are making the truck go from maximum traction to zero traction over and over real fast. Just about every nissan, toy, jeep, ect. I've seen break front end parts did it while hopping while sitting still because they just need a few more inches to get over the obstacle or up the hill. I really suggest you getting the TK1 modded Centerlink and idler arm brace from somewhere. I have the L&P centerlink for mine and I haven't had any problems so far. I'm pretty brutal on my pathy when I hit the trails.(Check out some of my recent pics.) These guys have great products for great prices. You may be a little shocked by the price, but remember that it'll save you money and headaches in the future. Those guys aren't making a killing selling those CL's either. I friend of mine bought the bearing and stuff to do the mod himself and it ended up costing him about the same $$$ as they charge shipped. Even if you don't go offroad alot. You really need that upgraded CL and IA brace since you're running those 33's. Plus it'll make you truck feel better thru the steering. Almost as good a R&P. PS: Did you end up pulling your buddy out?

That is a nice bumper, but it's the same that they sell for jeeps. Did they just change up the mounting brackets?

I bought a cheapo wheel off ebay and bought an $80 MOMO hub off ebay also.

That's wrong. It's designed to help the belt get properly broken in. It's suppose to be sprayed on ALL new belts, it's just one of those things that nobody does.

I tried the magnet trick. I found the *plans* for it online and bought the neodymium magnets cheap off ebay. Didn't work a bit. It did however make a handy place to hold sockets and screwdrivers and stuff while working on the truck. All the *plans* said to do was get those high powered and make them repulse each other thru the fuel line from the negitive sides. The only thing I've found that actually makes a difference is acetone... I know the mythbusters busted that one also, but they did something wrong. My pathy gets a consistant 12-13city 14-15hwy without it, and with it I get 15-16city 19-20hwy. I don't know if it has anything to do with the fact that they now add 10% ethanol to ALL the gas in and around Houston. Also on my drive to and from work I have to drive across a big overpass(bridge). Without acetone my pathy will downshift to maintain speed. With acetone the torque converter stays locked and it maintains speed just fine. That by itself is proof enough for me. I add 3oz to a full tank. A gallon of acetone is $13. I think it's worth it. Also I don't run it in every tank. I usually forget to add it, then notice how much gas I'm wasting and make sure to remember the next time.

I don't think these engines can produce too much torque... For anything.

Just buy a can of "belt dressing" from any auto parts store. If it's as tight as it needs to be this is your best bet to shut it up.

Most people who steal cars wouldn't know enough to pop the hood and do anything other than cut the siren horn wires. I've always heard that car thieves learn how to steal cars a one certian way and other than the way they were taught they are clueless. It would take a pretty clever crook to figure out the starter is what's disabled and actually pop the hood and run a positive wire down from the battery to the starters trigger wire. I guess it could happen tho.