Gert's New Legs

[NotyourmomsWife]

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!

I was super sick at CM last year so I don't remember much.... thats my excuse and Im sticking to it! lol I do remember you there now, my bad lol

 

[J Kimmel]

Looks awesome!
If you’re running wilwoods I had to bleed mine several times. A power bleeder will help a ton for that
What’s your caster at? Old front had horrible caster and consequently lots of wander. New one has much more caster and I’m one hand on the wheel as fast as it’ll go.
Grease your u joints often and you may need to remove the top BJ eliminator bolt and shorten it. I had to take a couple threads off to clear zirc fittings.
Don’t forget the big Allan for your BJ eliminators. They’re going to loosen until the settle in.

Have fun !

 

[Gerty]

Dude your response is perfectly spot on. Funny you mention all you did because yes, I'm running Wilwoods and as I'm sure you know, they've got 4 total bleed screws each caliper but you only bleed the two "highest" screws, which I did 3 times so far. And while I'll do another 1-2 bleed efforts, I preemptively set an appointment on Wednesday afternoon with a shop in Moab to vacuum bleed the system if I still can't get it.

And then separately, you're spot on regarding the caster - I called PSC today and they told me the same thing. I'll check to be sure but I think I'm at 6-degrees caster right now. PSC recommended increasing it, which I will do.

And then yes, the upper ball joint hex head is literally the first thing on my tool packing list!

Thank you for the foresight on greasing the ujoints. I did so already but I'll keep an eye on it. I don't think I'll need to shorten the upper bolt; I've got about a quarter in clearance between it and the axle shaft yoke.

 

[J Kimmel]

I usually grease them every other trip.
We fought my brakes for 3 nights. It’s pretty good now but it was a big battle.
I had to clearance my bolts a little bit and we just replaced u joints in another and we had to take about two threads out.

Can’t wait to see pics

 

[Gerty]

Figured I'd post this as a "conclusion" to the build now that CM is over; but this certainly won't be the last post as I have a slew of things to do correct and upgrade. The. Truck. Performed. AWESOME. Absolutely awesome, blew my mind frankly. I have never ridden in (let alone owned or built) a rig as capable as this one. Not intending to be boastful here but goodness, so proud of what I accomplished; the time and money spent, to have next to no issues during the entire trip. Truck just blows me away now.

On Wednesday evening we took it out on a shakedown run and did most of Hell's Revenge in preparation for Cliffhanger the next day. I got really bound up in escalator and thought I lost steering entirely. The steering wheel would NOT turn. Even called Rory with TrailMater at like 9PM. He told me it had to wait until the next morning and out of frustration it was a "let's try it one more time" situation where I just muscled the steering wheel and got the steering to FINALLY work. Andy's brother winched me off of Escalator. Come to find out, the damn steering stem flange was rubbing on my coilover tower with the frame as twisty as it was in that situation.

So we unfortunately skipped cliffhanger on Thursday to do the necessary tower/column clearance and then went and successfully did Potato Salad (another obstacle I've never done). Would have still loved to attend Cliffhanger but that day turned into 13 hours on the trail for those guys so maybe not so bad I missed it. Then Pritchett Friday, my bucketlist trail which the truck did flawless on. Had to winch up Chuey Hill and (regretfully, funny story for another day) friggin' rock pile but I nailed Axle Hill and everything else. So proud of crossing that trail off my list. Beautiful weather, great group, great drivers, great rigs.

We departed Saturday but even if I wanted to wheel Saturday, I have a very, very odd bind and intermittent noise coming from my driver front stub shaft or hub or unit bearing that I haven't investigated whatsoever yet. JKimmell, you were spot on - one of my two upper ball joint eliminator bolts backed out, but only by two threads - noticed that after Pritchett and haven't tightened it up yet. Not a single bolt moved otherwise though. ORIs are bar none my favorite things since sliced bread. Full hydro is inexplicably wonderful. I could go on and on about how well the thing did but now I'm starting to rant.

So with that, I'll be doing the following over the next month or so:
1) Getting that steering column replaced with something a little smaller in diameter and looking like less of a hack job (along with a slip joint)
2) Upgrading the master cylinder with a Wilwood unit with integral proportioning valve. The FJ80 upgraded unit on it will not stop leaking out of the cap. Then I'll vacuum bleed the brakes (bought a vacuum bleeding kit).
3) Smaller stuff not really worth listing but including cutting back my front bumper to clear tires that rub at full flex and turn, rerouting one of the two brake lines on the rear that's bugged me since I installed it, and other smaller stuff.

I've also concluded that the rear is holding this truck's capability back and all of the sudden I'm contemplating moving up my timeline on linking the rear, cutting the bed off, doing a fuel cell, etc. We'll see if that happens after this wheeling season.

I didn't take many pics because I was driving the whole time but the Pritchett group is going to compile pics and videos and share them. I'll post pics or a link to pics and vids as soon as that happens. But for now, things will be a bit quiet on this thread until I start correcting some of these issues and doing smaller upgrades. Thank you all for the advice given and for rooting me on. I report back now with a successful build and a fantastic trip!

 

[ScaldedDog]

Well done, man!! Anxious to see pics and video.

Chewy owns me, too. It used to be nothing, then it was hard, now I may as well start with a hook in my hand.

Are you running Milestar black labels? Ditch 'em. They are unworthy of your rig. Get a set of real stickies and I'll be the only one winching Chewy.

Mark

 

[Gerty]

Haha seriously, Mark. It became a wheelbase game the while time. Super interesting to see, no matter the build, what impact wheelbase has on that trail in particular. Had rigs as short as 106 and as long as 124, with everything in between.

 

[J Kimmel]

Well done, man!! Anxious to see pics and video.

Chewy owns me, too. It used to be nothing, then it was hard, now I may as well start with a hook in my hand.

Are you running Milestar black labels? Ditch 'em. They are unworthy of your rig. Get a set of real stickies and I'll be the only one winching Chewy.

Mark

You just need a little more bump and better tires

Great to hear it all worked. I’d go automatic atlas before anything else but I’m biased. Then you really learn how to use and preserve your equipment

 

[Gerty]

And sorry yes I'm running PANTYgonia black label. Total trash. When I do the rear, I'll be going 40" sticky BFGs or Trepadors. And agreed JKimmel, Atlas will come with the very-far-down-the-road V8 swap but getting that rear linked is more palatable (and more aligned with my current motivation to continue to build) for now

 

[J Kimmel]

And sorry yes I'm running PANTYgonia black label. Total trash. When I do the rear, I'll be going 40" sticky BFGs or Trepadors. And agreed JKimmel, Atlas will come with the very-far-down-the-road V8 swap but getting that rear linked is more palatable (and more aligned with my current motivation to continue to build) for now

I was talking about mark
Those tires ought to work pretty well for you.
Glad it worked so well for you, it’s a long time coming

 

[Gerty]

No sweat I forgot to reply to Mark's last portion, but I get ya now. I'm smellin' what you're steppin' in

 

[Gerty]

Yo. Obviously haven't posted in a while and figured I'd provide a small update for those interested. The truck is performing amazingly still. Zero issues to report after Moab except for a few corrections that I did, notably the rear axle seals, correcting the rear driveshaft angle, steering shaft/column correction, and a few other things. I still need to install the Wilwood master cylinder - that'll come this fall/winter. I've also taken the leap and purchased some 40" sticky Mickey Thompson Baja Boss X tires so I'm looking forward to getting those installed before the season is over! I'm either going to sell my 38" Patagonias or I'm going to buy some cheap steel wheels and mount them on those for drivability, simpler trails, and save wear on the stickies. I would also consider trading them for a set of decent 37" tires - let me know if you're interested in a sale or trade. But the 40's are in my possession and I'll be installing them in the next 1-2 weeks.

Also went with a few members of the club (Andy, Justin, Daniel) to Penrose in early June and stretched my comfort level a bit. Went down Liberty trail, up and down Independence, and up Patriot after reaching out to a guy named Loren Krey (check out Kreyzfab on YouTube or IG; amazing driver, great fabricator located in Pueblo). Great trip. Loren is going to be re-caging and boat-siding my truck this fall/winter but I want to get these 40's on and run Carnage Canyon before that and before the season ends (along with Wheeler Lake and another undecided trail or two). If anyone is interested in the existing cage, bed, and sliders on my truck currently, let me know since I plan to salvage it to be used on another vehicle (I hate to scrap it). I'm also probably going to do a cheap paint job on the truck as well as get a stock Toyota bed where I cut off the bedsides and bolt them/nut-sert them to the new cage for a cleaner look on the rear half of the truck (let me know if any of you know of a truck bed (preferably 1995 or older) that is for sale).

Here's a few links to pics and vids from Moab and Penrose, as well as some pics attached to this post of the 40's.:

Penrose

61 new items added to shared album

photos.app.goo.gl

New video by Derek

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New video by Derek

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[J Kimmel]

Looks great

 

[Zukrider]

Killer build sir! Any chance you know the overall width of the bearing pocket to rotor mounting face of the TG parts? I’m wanting to run that same setup, but on a junkyard housing. Curious what width I need to find, to hit my desired WMS.

Thanks.

 

[Gerty]

Much appreciated! I'd be happy to go take some measurements, but my truck is getting a bunch of work done to it and thus, I don't have it right now. So I can take some measurements when I get it back, but I definitely recomment you call TrailGear and not only get the measurements you're after directly from the source, you also might think about whether or not you need to get their inner Cs, their knuckles, and their unit hubs (in other words, how much of their product will work with your junkyard/stock setup?).

If you or anyone else wants to see the build my truck is undergoing (started as just a cage and boatsides but evolved into a complete backhalf and rear 4 link), here's a link to the first of three videos he's posted so far (he's probably got 3-4 more he'll post). He's had the truck for 2 weeks as of yesterday. His name is Loren Krey of Kreyzfab in Pueblo.
View: https://youtu.be/uP8zupJbOXQ?si=ln-CNhMz5q5DzCwy

 

[NotyourmomsWife]

Much appreciated! I'd be happy to go take some measurements, but my truck is getting a bunch of work done to it and thus, I don't have it right now. So I can take some measurements when I get it back, but I definitely recomment you call TrailGear and not only get the measurements you're after directly from the source, you also might think about whether or not you need to get their inner Cs, their knuckles, and their unit hubs (in other words, how much of their product will work with your junkyard/stock setup?).

If you or anyone else wants to see the build my truck is undergoing (started as just a cage and boatsides but evolved into a complete backhalf and rear 4 link), here's a link to the first of three videos he's posted so far (he's probably got 3-4 more he'll post). He's had the truck for 2 weeks as of yesterday. His name is Loren Krey of Kreyzfab in Pueblo.
View: https://youtu.be/uP8zupJbOXQ?si=ln-CNhMz5q5DzCwy

super cool he does a video of the work so you can see it progressing like that!