90's throw back....Manche build
- Thread starter mcutler
- Start date
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5BrothersFabrication
Zzzzz....
I dare you to peg that speedo the other way... :driving:
Zjman said:
Yah, and the 4.0 Litre emblem definitely gives it the Grocery Getter look. :rolf:
ADMINISTRATOR
paradisepwoffrd
Well-Known Member
Re: Re: 90's throw back....Manche build
That might work if he wasn't in the scrap business.The Luke said:
74_Chevota
Big ole' can uh peas!
Hell of an accomplishment. Congrats on beautiful build and an eye for detail. Have a lot of respect for you not throwing it together at the end.
Look forward to heckling you to trash it. laughing1 :dblthumb:
Look forward to heckling you to trash it. laughing1 :dblthumb:
whiskeymakin
Well-Known Member
That's a **** ton of work in a fairly small amount of time. Congrats. Hope you enjoy it!
d9marko
Well-Known Member
***** is bad brother! Have fun at RBD and have a safe trip man. Hope everybody takes a metric **** ton of pictures and videos!
sleepsontoilet
Well-Known Member
Pure sex! Did you see the Mars Fab Zuk skins? You two are killing me
mcutler
Well-Known Member
Still not home... gotta love holiday interstate traffic...
Gonna spend the evening with my boy Mattix, missing him.
I'll post a lengthy trip recap and few pics tomorrow.
Matt
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
Gonna spend the evening with my boy Mattix, missing him.
I'll post a lengthy trip recap and few pics tomorrow.
Matt
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
mcutler
Well-Known Member
Finally ????.
I'll try to break this up into a couple posts so that it may be easier to quote for questions or comments.
Enjoyed thanksgiving with the family in the afternoon and then back to the shop. My good friend @jeepn-jason (go to @336jlc on Instagram for first drive video, sorry I don't know how to link from IG) came over to give me a hand for the final touches; thanks again buddy! Finished the passenger tins and put the seats and harnesses in for the final time about 11pm. My stepson and first co-pilot Carter has a video on Instagram as well (@toddcarterjames) but his account is private, you will need to request to follow to view.
Loaded and ready to travel for RBD around 3am.
10 a.m. arrival to Stevenson Alabama @bustedknucleorp for RBD 2017.
Few wheeling pics courtesy of @jeconn. Sorry I don't have more, but my little co-pilot is to lazy to get out for pics or winch assistance.... Just ask @jeconn and Mike Houston...????... Carter caught a little hell for that. (But he sure does photo and video a bunch of silliness like most 11 year olds...)
Cont...
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
I'll try to break this up into a couple posts so that it may be easier to quote for questions or comments.
Enjoyed thanksgiving with the family in the afternoon and then back to the shop. My good friend @jeepn-jason (go to @336jlc on Instagram for first drive video, sorry I don't know how to link from IG) came over to give me a hand for the final touches; thanks again buddy! Finished the passenger tins and put the seats and harnesses in for the final time about 11pm. My stepson and first co-pilot Carter has a video on Instagram as well (@toddcarterjames) but his account is private, you will need to request to follow to view.
Loaded and ready to travel for RBD around 3am.
10 a.m. arrival to Stevenson Alabama @bustedknucleorp for RBD 2017.
Few wheeling pics courtesy of @jeconn. Sorry I don't have more, but my little co-pilot is to lazy to get out for pics or winch assistance.... Just ask @jeconn and Mike Houston...????... Carter caught a little hell for that. (But he sure does photo and video a bunch of silliness like most 11 year olds...)
Cont...
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
mcutler
Well-Known Member
Before and after...
@bustedknuckle and @madram11 media
I don't do Facebook, but if you like go check out their walk around and comments... there's some funny in there. (I looked through on my wife's account).
No more pics, but if anyone was present feel free to post here, it would be much appreciated.
Cont...
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
@bustedknuckle and @madram11 media
I don't do Facebook, but if you like go check out their walk around and comments... there's some funny in there. (I looked through on my wife's account).
No more pics, but if anyone was present feel free to post here, it would be much appreciated.
Cont...
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
mcutler
Well-Known Member
... and now the real nuts and bolts....
I'm going to call the first run a real success. I pulled 3 wrenches all weekend.
-First was before I even unloaded; driving 6 hours through the night and sunrise, checklist after checklist running through my head, and realized I never hooked the battery negative on the winch after the last trip on the lift, so that happened right away once parked. (15mm and 14mm, so much for milspec battery terminals... Lol )
- second was on day two, after removing the doors and installing the tube door bars (3/4")
No wrenches were turned all weekend for any repairs. I deem that a success, mechanically.
Trail wise, nothing but impressed. Especially considering that the tire size ratio of TSL 43" stickies to any other size or brand was about 9:1 out of over 500 rigs (1100 ppl registered for the weekend) - (aside from sxs's).
I had the pleasure of following @jeconn and Mike all day Friday and again Saturday afternoon. Except for when I spotted a creekbed and waterfall and went rouge... forcing them to follow me to a dead end, lol.
The truck worked fantastic. It had its share of difficulties, as I expected it would, due to a couple factors;
-tire size as mentioned above- following 43's, once the black dirt gets turned to the top... it's an uphill battle.
- driver error/ unfamiliarity with the new truck; going from buggy to full body, simply learning curve to-
-approach and departure angle, which is great, but not a buggy
- visibility; which I'm sure any other xj/mj owner can testify is mediocre to say the least....i need a rear view mirror; strapped in its hard to turn to see with the B posts of the cab.
- side hill clearance for bed, running higher on a hill to have enough room for slip to stay off sheet metal on trees; but that 42° steering and being 7 inches narrower outside of tires (of my old Chevy 60 and 43's) and 115 wb sure helps with maneuverability!.. and the tires did great in these scenarios, I must say.
Things that were not an issue;
-approach/ departure angle; never touched the front bumper or winch surround, only the push bar, and the rear bumper did its job on the corners, never touched the body.
- belly height (16.5"), has some scars but never held me up. The pinion guard was the biggest hindrance all weekend.
- trailing arms did not slow me down nor did they turn and damage the shocks, but there are plenty of scars to know that there was plenty of opportunity to do so.
-ZERO mechanical, wiring, or plumbing problems- typical seepage of a few fittings due to extreme heat and cold cycles but not an issue to speak of.
- TIRES; rode the krtb's all weekend. Stuck like glue to rock and worked great in the loose. They don't have the ease that a tsl does in the black loose, but I wasn't disappointed. And I haven't ran a radial in 15 years, so I was at 15psi entire time versus the 6-7 I ran in bias.
- engine and trans temps stayed at operating temperature all weekend, never ran hot; always a good thing!
- Yukon hard-core hubs were flawless
-ZERO driveshaft vibrations throughout travel!
... cont...
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
I'm going to call the first run a real success. I pulled 3 wrenches all weekend.
-First was before I even unloaded; driving 6 hours through the night and sunrise, checklist after checklist running through my head, and realized I never hooked the battery negative on the winch after the last trip on the lift, so that happened right away once parked. (15mm and 14mm, so much for milspec battery terminals... Lol )
- second was on day two, after removing the doors and installing the tube door bars (3/4")
No wrenches were turned all weekend for any repairs. I deem that a success, mechanically.
Trail wise, nothing but impressed. Especially considering that the tire size ratio of TSL 43" stickies to any other size or brand was about 9:1 out of over 500 rigs (1100 ppl registered for the weekend) - (aside from sxs's).
I had the pleasure of following @jeconn and Mike all day Friday and again Saturday afternoon. Except for when I spotted a creekbed and waterfall and went rouge... forcing them to follow me to a dead end, lol.
The truck worked fantastic. It had its share of difficulties, as I expected it would, due to a couple factors;
-tire size as mentioned above- following 43's, once the black dirt gets turned to the top... it's an uphill battle.
- driver error/ unfamiliarity with the new truck; going from buggy to full body, simply learning curve to-
-approach and departure angle, which is great, but not a buggy
- visibility; which I'm sure any other xj/mj owner can testify is mediocre to say the least....i need a rear view mirror; strapped in its hard to turn to see with the B posts of the cab.
- side hill clearance for bed, running higher on a hill to have enough room for slip to stay off sheet metal on trees; but that 42° steering and being 7 inches narrower outside of tires (of my old Chevy 60 and 43's) and 115 wb sure helps with maneuverability!.. and the tires did great in these scenarios, I must say.
Things that were not an issue;
-approach/ departure angle; never touched the front bumper or winch surround, only the push bar, and the rear bumper did its job on the corners, never touched the body.
- belly height (16.5"), has some scars but never held me up. The pinion guard was the biggest hindrance all weekend.
- trailing arms did not slow me down nor did they turn and damage the shocks, but there are plenty of scars to know that there was plenty of opportunity to do so.
-ZERO mechanical, wiring, or plumbing problems- typical seepage of a few fittings due to extreme heat and cold cycles but not an issue to speak of.
- TIRES; rode the krtb's all weekend. Stuck like glue to rock and worked great in the loose. They don't have the ease that a tsl does in the black loose, but I wasn't disappointed. And I haven't ran a radial in 15 years, so I was at 15psi entire time versus the 6-7 I ran in bias.
- engine and trans temps stayed at operating temperature all weekend, never ran hot; always a good thing!
- Yukon hard-core hubs were flawless
-ZERO driveshaft vibrations throughout travel!
... cont...
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
Spent quite a bit of time drooling on that thing during RBD...
I live like 1h away from you, I need to drop by and say hello one of these days.
Billy is my next doors neighbor at work (Volvo in Dublin VA), small world.
I live like 1h away from you, I need to drop by and say hello one of these days.
Billy is my next doors neighbor at work (Volvo in Dublin VA), small world.
mcutler
Well-Known Member
The big 3...
Suspension, body damage, interior heat... in that order lol.
SUSPENSION;
Can't say enough good things about it so far. The tune is so close for trail riding, I didn't even fiddle with the DSC adjusters all weekend. It just worked. It really soaked up the rough and was comfortable- firm but comfortable through the trails. I like firm. Not jarring, but planted and stable. Only thing I think needs to change directly is free rebound in the rear, needs faster drop on downhill shelves. Almost sounded like piston plunge when dropping a big shelf but it was a shorter, more abrupt 'swish', almost like shaking a maracas.
Side stability is superb. The best I've ever had. Never felt like it was in danger of tipping, or that I couldn't apply the throttle when in that position.
Uphill absolutely no push off that I could feel. Never had the opportunity to open it up in the rough at high speed, but we did do some accelerated trail riding Saturday night; needs some valving there- more high speed dampening, less low speed dampening (but trail riding might suffer with those changes internally) ; never used all the rear bumps. But I'll play with the DSC there first before I go back in the shocks. Sway bar is good so far.
Can't describe how excited I am about the suspension so far!
BODY DAMAGE;
We did a little. The factory passenger cab B post, rear door post and drip rail got a massage while winching and slipped into it. Not terrible, I can easily repair. I had planned to do some plate work along the drip rail; (somewhat of a rub rail but out of time beforehand) which would have prevented all damage there this trip. I will be making this modification very soon.
You can see it in this pic
Passengers bed in front of wheel got a little tree limb divot, nothing worse than the original condition of the truck panels, it will be dollied back quickly enough.
No tire rub on any sheet metal or front inner fender/ footwell. Rear tires tuck nicely behind fenders.
Truck still looks great.
INTERIOR HEAT
As we all suspected, their is some significant heat in the cab. All my shielding didn't arrive in time (and still isn't here...) so very little was installed for this trip. Drivers footwell panels are the only ones that were shielded.
Friday we rode with the doors on. (60°ambient temp) it was warm inside. Moving through the trails was tolerable, but in a severe stand still beating we were dripping.
Saturday we took the doors off (same temp) and it was fine, (and we did use the heater Saturday night with no doors). Warm on the legs but fine otherwise. Summertime it would be an issue but ok this time of year.
Ill be doing more shielding and report back with results.
Otherwise cab comfort is what you might expect from watching the build thread; cozy. I was extremely comfortable, even with an hour or two of seat time. Your cozy enough that you don't rattle around... There isn't room, lol. But seriously the gas leg is supported from the knee to ankle and the brake leg rest against the A pillar and you don't get banged up. Can't say enough good things about the PRP harnesses either, love them.
Two interesting heating issues, one of which I had anticipated;
Unanticipated:
With the tube door bars installed (quick pins moved fine) but once the truck got warm, you couldn't get them out, had to get out buggy style over the door bar, lmao. After it sat for 10 minutes not running, they slid right out!
Remedy; I'll be slotting the pin hole north to south to alleviate this, that should keep them free without rattles.
Anticipated;
Winch. Heat on the winch from the radiator. Hot enough, you need gloves on to pull the rope on free spool. And I didn't have time to clock the free spool handle, so it was easy to skin a knuckle on the fan for that reason.
Remedy; clock winch motor, and build a heat shield over the drum.
(We did snap the rope dragging through some rocks; but in defense this smittybuilt 10k lived on my ton yj for a couple years and then sat on my shelf for 7 years collecting lots of metal dust.)
Ill be purchasing a new rope and thimble here soon.
Overall, I'm 100% happy with the trip. Ready to get it cleaned up, make the necessary modifications, and plan the next ride.
Big thanks to @jeconn and Mike for being my test ride trail guides and winch guys. We winched 3-4 times due to driver error and stupid pinion guards. But gladly, rest of the weekend was winch free after having some trail knowledge and seat time in the new truck.
Matt
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
Suspension, body damage, interior heat... in that order lol.
SUSPENSION;
Can't say enough good things about it so far. The tune is so close for trail riding, I didn't even fiddle with the DSC adjusters all weekend. It just worked. It really soaked up the rough and was comfortable- firm but comfortable through the trails. I like firm. Not jarring, but planted and stable. Only thing I think needs to change directly is free rebound in the rear, needs faster drop on downhill shelves. Almost sounded like piston plunge when dropping a big shelf but it was a shorter, more abrupt 'swish', almost like shaking a maracas.
Side stability is superb. The best I've ever had. Never felt like it was in danger of tipping, or that I couldn't apply the throttle when in that position.
Uphill absolutely no push off that I could feel. Never had the opportunity to open it up in the rough at high speed, but we did do some accelerated trail riding Saturday night; needs some valving there- more high speed dampening, less low speed dampening (but trail riding might suffer with those changes internally) ; never used all the rear bumps. But I'll play with the DSC there first before I go back in the shocks. Sway bar is good so far.
Can't describe how excited I am about the suspension so far!
BODY DAMAGE;
We did a little. The factory passenger cab B post, rear door post and drip rail got a massage while winching and slipped into it. Not terrible, I can easily repair. I had planned to do some plate work along the drip rail; (somewhat of a rub rail but out of time beforehand) which would have prevented all damage there this trip. I will be making this modification very soon.
You can see it in this pic
Passengers bed in front of wheel got a little tree limb divot, nothing worse than the original condition of the truck panels, it will be dollied back quickly enough.
No tire rub on any sheet metal or front inner fender/ footwell. Rear tires tuck nicely behind fenders.
Truck still looks great.
INTERIOR HEAT
As we all suspected, their is some significant heat in the cab. All my shielding didn't arrive in time (and still isn't here...) so very little was installed for this trip. Drivers footwell panels are the only ones that were shielded.
Friday we rode with the doors on. (60°ambient temp) it was warm inside. Moving through the trails was tolerable, but in a severe stand still beating we were dripping.
Saturday we took the doors off (same temp) and it was fine, (and we did use the heater Saturday night with no doors). Warm on the legs but fine otherwise. Summertime it would be an issue but ok this time of year.
Ill be doing more shielding and report back with results.
Otherwise cab comfort is what you might expect from watching the build thread; cozy. I was extremely comfortable, even with an hour or two of seat time. Your cozy enough that you don't rattle around... There isn't room, lol. But seriously the gas leg is supported from the knee to ankle and the brake leg rest against the A pillar and you don't get banged up. Can't say enough good things about the PRP harnesses either, love them.
Two interesting heating issues, one of which I had anticipated;
Unanticipated:
With the tube door bars installed (quick pins moved fine) but once the truck got warm, you couldn't get them out, had to get out buggy style over the door bar, lmao. After it sat for 10 minutes not running, they slid right out!
Remedy; I'll be slotting the pin hole north to south to alleviate this, that should keep them free without rattles.
Anticipated;
Winch. Heat on the winch from the radiator. Hot enough, you need gloves on to pull the rope on free spool. And I didn't have time to clock the free spool handle, so it was easy to skin a knuckle on the fan for that reason.
Remedy; clock winch motor, and build a heat shield over the drum.
(We did snap the rope dragging through some rocks; but in defense this smittybuilt 10k lived on my ton yj for a couple years and then sat on my shelf for 7 years collecting lots of metal dust.)
Ill be purchasing a new rope and thimble here soon.
Overall, I'm 100% happy with the trip. Ready to get it cleaned up, make the necessary modifications, and plan the next ride.
Big thanks to @jeconn and Mike for being my test ride trail guides and winch guys. We winched 3-4 times due to driver error and stupid pinion guards. But gladly, rest of the weekend was winch free after having some trail knowledge and seat time in the new truck.
Matt
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
paradisepwoffrd
Well-Known Member
Do the door bars get warm to the touch during riding? Seems odd that the heat would wick through the tube that far, enough to make a difference.
Hang on to your old rope to make tree savers, snatch ropes, and soft shackles with.
Hang on to your old rope to make tree savers, snatch ropes, and soft shackles with.
mcutler
Well-Known Member
Re: Re: 90's throw back....Manche build
Warmer than ambient but not substantial. But it repetitively did this without moving the truck from its position, so it rules out chassis flex. Original assembly, the pins were snug but would spin; once warmed up they won't even spin.
Already ordered a fast fid rope splicing kit to do just that!
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
paradisepwoffrd said:
Warmer than ambient but not substantial. But it repetitively did this without moving the truck from its position, so it rules out chassis flex. Original assembly, the pins were snug but would spin; once warmed up they won't even spin.
Already ordered a fast fid rope splicing kit to do just that!
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
mcutler
Well-Known Member
Nice for her to be clean again (interior not done yet) ....so purdy...
... and a couple for size reference next to my f450 crew.
It really looks and feels small to me versus my buggy, don't know if it's just the tire size or cockpit coziness.
Matt
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
... and a couple for size reference next to my f450 crew.
It really looks and feels small to me versus my buggy, don't know if it's just the tire size or cockpit coziness.
Matt
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
dwa2469
22RTE Buggy,LC Axles,39 reds
Man I still think that buggy is the best ever, I don't think I could have parted with it :****:
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