Gert's New Legs

[J Kimmel]

Looks great bring the right size Allen key for this one. You’re going to be tightening them occasionally and they seem to settle in after a bit. I had to take a couple out and clean and regrease and reinstall. I still keep the right size with me and check once in a while but the first couple trips a couple of them kept loosening up a bunch

loosened a lot.

 

[Gerty]

Thanks man. Yeah good call - I didn't think about carrying one on the trail.
I appreciate the foresight!

 

[NotyourmomsWife]

Lookin good man! Sending you all the good vibes to get this done in time!

 

[Gerty]

Another hugely productive weekend. Got the rear axle completed aside from hooking up brake lines and upper shock mounts, and sitting on tires now. Got the gas tank and skid plate/trans mount done (finally). Front links are in and tacked, and axle cycled. Crazy how much shock these 14" ORIs are. Shit ton of down travel. The full droop pic attached still has another 2" to go (axle basically laying on the floor).

Also got my front inner shafts from Currie.

Will get front and rear drive shafts ordered tomorrow and steering lines plumbed this week. Then next weekend is a whole bunch of welding and hopefully paint as well. Other than that, just need to bleed brakes and steering, get the orbital mounted, and about a dozen smaller things remaining. Knock on wood I'm on track for Moab.

Feel much better after the push this weekend. The first pic is near ride height. Gonna be sitting a little raked up front; more than I want but doable and I can adjust ride height with nitrogen.

 

[J Kimmel]

Hope you make it!

 

[Gerty]

Thanks man me too. Trying not to get overly confident. Need this week and this coming weekend as one last hard push before I make the call. I'll be in Austin first weekend in April, and then after that is the weekend before CM.

 

[Notyourmomslx450]

Another hugely productive weekend. Got the rear axle completed aside from hooking up brake lines and upper shock mounts, and sitting on tires now. Got the gas tank and skid plate/trans mount done (finally). Front links are in and tacked, and axle cycled. Crazy how much shock these 14" ORIs are. Shit ton of down travel. The full droop pic attached still has another 2" to go (axle basically laying on the floor).

Also got my front inner shafts from Currie.

Will get front and rear drive shafts ordered tomorrow and steering lines plumbed this week. Then next weekend is a whole bunch of welding and hopefully paint as well. Other than that, just need to bleed brakes and steering, get the orbital mounted, and about a dozen smaller things remaining. Knock on wood I'm on track for Moab.

Feel much better after the push this weekend. The first pic is near ride height. Gonna be sitting a little raked up front; more than I want but doable and I can adjust ride height with nitrogen.

you got this!

 

[Gerty]

Quick update - another good weekend (though I didn't take any pics). Hopefully the next pics you see will be the truck outside bathing in the sun! Got the front axle back under the truck, fully welded, fully painted. Steering fully plumbed, started the engine up and let it all run for a half hour after bleeding the steering and had zero leaks. Steering column shaft rubs on my shock tower that I did a half-sleeve for but it'll clearance over time (just sounds like hell with metal rubbing metal). Links are in, axle shafts are in, panhard mount and towers fully welded, third member is in, knuckles are on, ram is in, struts are in, and I'm half done torquing and torque marking. Here's the remaining primary to-dos:

1) Rear upper shock mounts
2) Install front locking hubs
3) Re-plumb passenger rear brake line
4) Install stainless brake lines (ordered from Crown Performance, should be here this week ideally) and bleed brakes
5) Set correct length for the steering ram links (thank you Andy for the alignment plates)
6) Install both driveshafts (received them on Friday)
7) Finish torquing everything
8) Charge struts with nitrogen/set ride height
9) Brace shock towers over engine
10) Probably do some minor trimming for tire clearance
11) Put some miles on it to break in the new gears.

If all goes according to plan, things are looking good for me making it to Moab. I signed up for Cliff Hanger (gonna be one hell of a shake down trail) on Thursday and Pritchett Friday. We arrive Wednesday in Moab and are staying in a VRBO right next to Moab Diner. So whoever is following this thread and will be in Moab and want to meet up, message me! I'm in Austin this coming weekend so I'm going to try and get most of the above knocked out each night after work and then use next week and the weekend of the 13th to tie anything else out, pack for the trip, get the truck on the trailer, etc.

 

[Notyourmomslx450]

Quick update - another good weekend (though I didn't take any pics). Hopefully the next pics you see will be the truck outside bathing in the sun! Got the front axle back under the truck, fully welded, fully painted. Steering fully plumbed, started the engine up and let it all run for a half hour after bleeding the steering and had zero leaks. Steering column shaft rubs on my shock tower that I did a half-sleeve for but it'll clearance over time (just sounds like hell with metal rubbing metal). Links are in, axle shafts are in, panhard mount and towers fully welded, third member is in, knuckles are on, ram is in, struts are in, and I'm half done torquing and torque marking. Here's the remaining primary to-dos:

1) Rear upper shock mounts
2) Install front locking hubs
3) Re-plumb passenger rear brake line
4) Install stainless brake lines (ordered from Crown Performance, should be here this week ideally) and bleed brakes
5) Set correct length for the steering ram links (thank you Andy for the alignment plates)
6) Install both driveshafts (received them on Friday)
7) Finish torquing everything
8) Charge struts with nitrogen/set ride height
9) Brace shock towers over engine
10) Probably do some minor trimming for tire clearance
11) Put some miles on it to break in the new gears.

If all goes according to plan, things are looking good for me making it to Moab. I signed up for Cliff Hanger (gonna be one hell of a shake down trail) on Thursday and Pritchett Friday. We arrive Wednesday in Moab and are staying in a VRBO right next to Moab Diner. So whoever is following this thread and will be in Moab and want to meet up, message me! I'm in Austin this coming weekend so I'm going to try and get most of the above knocked out each night after work and then use next week and the weekend of the 13th to tie anything else out, pack for the trip, get the truck on the trailer, etc.

this update sucks with out pics.....
we are a simple visual people.

 

[Gerty]

Haha okay I'll post some tonight

 

[J Kimmel]

Awesome! I might come over for a trail or two I’d love to see it

 

[Gerty]

Alright here you go. I just charged the struts with nitrogen and while it's hard to see, the jackstands at the frame are not under load - the vehicle is sitting on its own weight on the struts now that they're charged. Gonna monitor over the next few days and make sure they're holding pressure. But this is how this pig looks now. Still need to mount the PSC reservoir catch can and a few hose clamps i was shoeted, so never mind that.

 

[Gerty]

And yeah JKimmel, that'd be awesome if you made it out!

 

[Gerty]

Not really a progress update but I had to show this because it blew my mind. I bought some 3/4" steel plate from a scrap yard to fabricate the lower knuckle mounts to make double shear steering. Had no idea how I was gonna cut the plate and just figured I'd try plasma cutting before I went the the grinder. I turned it all the way up, let it eat, and this Amazon special Chinese made POS plasma cutter actually made it through 3/4" steel. Just wow. It was slow, but I can't believe it did it.

Just thought I'd share.

I'm out of town from tomorrow to Tuesday eve, so things will be quiet. I'll post pics and provide an update a weekend from now and hopefully it's ready to be loaded onto the Moab-bound trailer at that point.

 

[Gerty]

Obviously nothing to do with my build but thought I'd share some pics from the eclipse yesterday from Mason, Texas. We were so very lucky to experience it in the path of totality and while it was mostly coudy during the day, we got so see the total eclipse and for about 5 minutes of the total eclipse, the clouds broke almost completely and it was just amazing. For about 2 mins you could take off your glasses and see the corona flaring off the sun with the naked eye. Such a great experience, crazy that the clouds broke just perfectly.

 

[Gerty]

Well, I did it (I think). Brakes still need another bleed or two (we already did three rounds of it. Steering is a little weird - was only comfortable getting it up to about 30 mph. The truck "wanders" quite a bit. You correct one way and it sticks there and doesn't move until you correct the other way so you're constantly trying to keep it in the center of the lane. It's either alignment related (I'm gonna set up an appointment at a shop in Moab for wednesday) or they sent me the wrong orbital valve (I remember specifically asking for a "return to center" orbital).

But she drives otherwise just fine. No weird noises or anything. One of my front axle shafts self-clearanced the inner C weld but it wasn't too bad.

Plenty of things that I've already identified that I want to change or correct (notably the front ride height since it's pretty raked right now as well as the tower brace over the engine that i clobbered together and looks like a bag of smashed assholes) but that's for after moab. I'm unfortunately tied up for two days straight for a work event, including evenings so I'll be packing very late in the evening. Also need to put more miles on the ring and pinion gears for brake in. Only have about 15 miles so far.

 

[justin4045]

Good work! So pumped you got it done, see you in a few days

 

[Gerty]

Yeah thanks a bunch, Justin! Made it by the skin of my teeth. Help me keep it shiny side up this week, eh? Yep, see you in a few days.

 

[NotyourmomsWife]

seriously impressed dude!!! I was worried for ya for a bit but so excited to FINALLY get you out to Cruise Moab!!!! Get ready I will put you to work next year! lol

 

[Gerty]

Hey I was there last year! 😉 I appreciate it, Lisa. I was quite nervous too! Thank you for allowing Andy some hall passes to help me 😁. And yeah, I'm down for next year as well!