85 pickup 42's and links

[joey0712]

WOW... This makes me want to link my rig even more! U do really sweet work keep it up.

[Symon623]

Sick truggy kimmel, i drive on the street too much to be able to mimic that as much as I'd like to......thanks for the link from the eye patch board.....

[jkimmel]

Thanks, I got more done today, sure doesn't seem like much. I welded most of the day. Friends got links painted, got the new air cleaner built so there is room for a support bar across the engine. Can't see much since I painted stuff, but I got everything boxed and braced. Planning on re-assembly tomorrow and check final clearances on Tuesday, should be plenty of time before leaving for Moab Friday morning

[jkimmel]

last ones

[gotrocks]

should be plenty of time before leaving for Moab Friday morning

How long are you going to be there.  I'm going to be in Moab from the 14-19.  It'd be fun to meet and wheel a trail or 2 with you.

[KYOTA]

J- dig the skins been thinking of what to do on my back half, guess I shouldnt have cut my old bed up for scrap 

[kiyul4130]

J- dig the skins been thinking of what to do on my back half, guess I shouldnt have cut my old bed up for scrap 

you dont have anything going on. if you cant find it on the internet within 20 minutes, it doesnt exist!

[kiyul4130]

how much up travel do you have? i see your keeping the original frame and i was just wondering because of the panhard being there.

[jkimmel]

J- dig the skins been thinking of what to do on my back half, guess I shouldnt have cut my old bed up for scrap 

I scrapped the original bed, it was just too rusty and junky. This one was off of a 90's version I found for 100 bucks in perfect shape.

How long are you going to be there.  I'm going to be in Moab from the 14-19.  It'd be fun to meet and wheel a trail or 2 with you.

think I will just miss you, we are getting in Friday the 10th and will be leaving Tuesday the 14th

[jkimmel]

Got some more done tonight. We got it on wheels, here it is sitting at full stuff. I will be running around 4" uptravel, that seems to be pretty good for the rear, so I built the front to match. I am going to load it up tonight to forklift test it at a friends shop, and charge the shocks. I'll have to adjust the panhard slightly for ride height, and also the tire lugs touch the lowers barely at full lock

[jkimmel]

last one, I think I will love 112

[gotrocks]

Looks really good.  It came out pretty clean.  To bad we're going to miss each other down there.  I'd love to see your truck wheel.  Make sure and post some action shots when you get back.

[jkimmel]

made it to Moab, and had a blast. I would say it was about 90% what I wanted. Gone were the leaf spring issues, and the rougher ride. I need to add a little bit more oil to the fronts, and then it should be good. I need a center limit strap, and a sway bar I think, but otherwise all was worth it 

aside from a dead fuel pump on the first day, all worked great:)

[gotrocks]

I hope you have more pictures than that.  Looks good btw.  Unfortunately my Moab trip got cancelled.  But I'm glad to see that you had a good time.

[jkimmel]

not really...I lead most of the time and I have a habit of driving and not waiting for a photog


I'm greedy that way, just want to drive over stuff 

[bigarms23]

looks like it came out great

[notajeep]

Run your winch cable to your front axle. That way you can compress the front for the really steep climbs (make a huge difference) and you can leave some slack in it for the better ride.

[twistedtoy92]

rigs lookin badass!!!!

[gotrocks]

Run your winch cable to your front axle. That way you can compress the front for the really steep climbs (make a huge difference) and you can leave some slack in it for the better ride.

x2

I forgot to type that but its a killer way to setup a limiting strap.  I'd even put a atv winch on the rear and use it back there.  My buggy has that setup and I wouldn't want it any other way.  It makes steep climbs and descents much safer and stable.

[jkimmel]

small update...haven't gotten a front limit strap yet, but I took it out a couple more times. So far so good but it doesn't climb like I want and there is too much body roll. So I spent a few hours yesterday at a friends shop playing with oil and nitrogen levels.
I started with:

front           260psi          +30cc oil
rear            180psi          +40cc oil

Keep in mind the "+" is over the stock level

now I am at

front          160psi           +100cc oil
rear           130psi           +70cc oil

the "+" here is over what I have already added.

So what did it accomplish? Well, the ride height is about 1-2 inches lower. I have about 3-3 1/2 inches of shaft showing front and rear. But the biggest improvement is that now it has almost no body roll  Before I brought it into the shop I ran it around in the field behind the shop. It got a decent amount of roll in the dirt, and a TON of body roll on pavement. Now when I run around the field, it stays perfectly level. rears won't bottom out, and the front will bottom softly(as opposed to periodic hard bang I got in Moab).
Getting off my trailer, I have to make a right turn on the street going into my garage, normally I have to back up and adjust unless I want it to sit a foot high on the passenger side, and this time I pulled in there was no noticeable roll:)

I am also installing an anti-rock in the rear...should be really sweet, hoping to hit either Billings or Indy next weekend, depending on the weather over the passes


Oh ya, I also added 45cc of oil to my front air bumps, and aired them up to 60 psi, so it should prevent the "soft bottom" I was getting in the front




I lost a lot of motivation this summer, and wasn't too interested in wheeling, and after doing the front links I got some motivation back, but it really didn't seem to be what I wanted.

After a bunch of tweaking, and I am sure there will be more, it keeps getting better, everytime. Motivation is back

[TheCookieMonster]

good to hear you got your mojo back  ....your truck has some serious potential so keep at it 

[gotrocks]

Cool.  I'm glad you go the suspension dialed in a bit more.  Let us know how it works when you get it out of the trail again.  I forgot are you running 2.5's air shocks in the front.  My buggy has 2.0 and I'm running much higher pressures than you are.

[boggerunner]

let me know when u want to run billings, we ran it last friday and it was a blast, i flopped like usual

[jkimmel]

Cool.  I'm glad you go the suspension dialed in a bit more.  Let us know how it works when you get it out of the trail again.  I forgot are you running 2.5's air shocks in the front.  My buggy has 2.0 and I'm running much higher pressures than you are.

well as you can see, I started out with MUCH higher pressure, but after adding a bunch of oil I was able to lower the pressure significantly. I was really mostly shocked at how much more stable it feels, how much less body roll there is.

I remember reading Shambs posts about how much he hated the airs, I wonder if he ever added a ton of oil? I really think this will be very nice on the trail

[gotrocks]

I don't think he messed around with them as much s you have.  I'm glad you got them dialed in though.  I really like my air shocks and the only thing I want is a set of air bumps now so I can jump mine and do some desert running.

[jkimmel]

truck seems to work much better now, it makes me want to tune some more. The new oil levels are great, I wonder if I add more oil if I will be able to lower the nitrogen pressure even further...I'll play more later now that I have an idea of what I am doing

[jkimmel]

one more...how does one add more than one pic per post?

[jkimmel]

last one for now


figured out the pics

[gotrocks]

Very nice flex!  I imagine the trial manners and ride are WAY better.

Have you gotten to try it out in the snow yet?  BTW you know your tires up front are on backwards right?

[twistedtoy92]

thats some very nice flex!!! keep the pics coming!!!!!!