red's 81 gmc multipurpose build

[red]

well, its not a yota but i plan to make this truck a good offroader/daily driver. lookin for any ideas as for what yall think i should do to it.
current plans:
1. put a diesel in, cummins 4bt if i can find one for cheap, otherwise a 6.2L.
2. either get an overdrive unit, or go to an nv4500 so i can still cruise at 70mph.
3. marlin crawler 4.7 t-case, maybe a doubler later down the road.
4. about 4" of lift, shackle flip in the rear.
5. currently 33's, might change later.
anybody have any other ideas? i'm on an extremely tight budget right now so this will be a long project, so any help and ideas are greatly appreciated. i plan on having this thing able to go on the harder trails without much trouble, and prefer gearing to straight out power.

[*** YELLER ***]

Good luck  I have 4.10's in my Jimmy and there great, 6" lift 35's stock axles and not so stock 350 w/ 700R4 did Cadalic at the Con with almost no problem...

[red]

how well are those axles holding up? are you locked?

[*** YELLER ***]

how well are those axles holding up? are you locked?

Axles are holding up great they're stock, the rear is locked up with a Detroit Tru Track the front is open, click on "my blazer" at the bottom of my page and you can see some action shots of at Hollister OHV, The Rubicon, Hull Creek and Sour Grass Medow trail, I had 33's and a 4" lift in most pictures and went to a 6" and 35's for the Con' , wheree i bent a spring and still drove 200 miles home.

[red]

hmmm, cant decide if i should go with 4" or 6" of lift.

[*** YELLER ***]

yea thats a tuff one, I had a 4" 'cause thats what the truck had on it when I bought it 5 years ago and wanted more, love the 6", Its a BDS lift w/Pro Comp shocks and Pro Comp brake lines, Pro Comp MT's - 35 X 12.50 X 16 - 16 X 8 Eagle alloys works great. This is a shot from the RTI ramp w/ 4" and 33's

[alwayzbroken]

You want to put a marlin case in a fullsize chevy? That would be interesting to see done.

[red]

shouldnt be too difficult, i've seen yota's with chevy 350's in them. i have an sm465 manual tranny and on the marlin site it says that the t-case will bolt up to an sm465. i'll need to fabricate a crossmember and hopefully the speedo can be taken care of easily. on one of the other forums i'm on theres a guy putting a cummins 4bt in his fj40 land cruiser and he has a marlin t-case, his power goals for the motor are the same i'm looking for at around 400ft/lbs of torque. its gonna take some work to get the t-case in, but i'm confident i can do it.

oldyellercj, did you still have your sway bar connected on that rti ramp?

[*** YELLER ***]

oldyellercj, did you still have your sway bar connected on that rti ramp?

Yes I do, the only time I did not have it connected was on the Rubicon, needed the extra flex, ya know. Its also connected in the other pictures in "my Blazer" thread at Hollister, mad flex there, would have been better if would have disconected it but I had a 200 mile drive home and didnt have the time to disco it so I ran it like that did just great.

[*** YELLER ***]

hows that for flex

[red]

flex, what flex? j/k, not bad at all. was that with the 4" or 6" lift? also, have you done a shackle flip in the rear?

[alwayzbroken]

Why not a 6BT? If your gonna do it, do it right. I would think it would be easier to find and there would be a lot more power potential.

What does a 4BT come in? Frito Lay trucks and others?

[red]

4bt comes in frito lay trucks, generators, oilfield equipment, many things. reasons i like the 4bt are:
1. able to put out the power i want with ease, though the 6bt does it easier.
2. fuel economy. 6bt will get around low-mid 20's mpg highway with the truck setup i'm going for, 4bt will get high 20's to low 30's.
3. cheaper to buy than a 6bt, but i might get really lucky and find a dodge truck that was rolled or something.
4. fit in my engine bay. 4bt has no problem with the length (though is close to the hood), i've heard the 6bt is a tight fit.

pretty much all upgrades for the 6bt apply for the 4bt, just for 2 fewer cylinders. both simple, reliable, and powerfull motors. and will go for hundreds of thousands of miles. but, cost is a big factor for me. with the 4bt i could either purchase one from the metal scrap yard here for 18 cents a pound, or buy a complete and running step van (frito lay truck, UPS, FedEx, etc...) for usually about 2k dollars (very high for me). scrap the aluminum body for almost 1k dollars, sell the axles for a few hundred a piece, and either rebuild the nv4500 tranny so that its 4x4, or if it came with the ford tranny sell it. with the 6bt (preferably the 12 valve since its mechanical injection) i would have to get very lucky at an auction, junk yard, or metal scrap yard because that motor is much better known. plus, there is the problem of length with the 6bt in my engine bay. i havent taken the measurements but from what i've heard (but cant confirm) i would have to go with an electric fan setup, and might not have enough room for an intercooler behind the grill, would have to place an intercooler in front of the grill but since i'm going to build a brushguard into my front bumper thats not a big worry. i'd love to have the extra power of the 6bt and if i found one for cheap enough i would go that route.

i can safely say this much, no matter which diesel i drop in my truck is gonna be one heavy sob lol.

[*** YELLER ***]

flex, what flex? j/k, not bad at all. was that with the 4" or 6" lift? also, have you done a shackle flip in the rear?

4" w/33's and if I could have stuffed the tire into the wheel well any farther I would have 

[Ramrod]

Good luck  I have 4.10's in my Jimmy and there great, 6" lift 35's stock axles and not so stock 350 w/ 700R4 did Cadalic at the Con with almost no problem...

no problem with the assitance of a strap hooked to a toyota the whole way up!!!

[red]

no problem with the assitance of a strap hooked to a toyota the whole way up!!!

i'm guessing he was pulling the toyota up.

[*** YELLER ***]

i'm guessing he was pulling the toyota up.

oh no it was the other way around 

no problem with the assitance of a strap hooked to a toyota the whole way up!!!

OK jackass he only pulled me about 100 yards after I bent the front left main spring and couldnt steer very well    after that we unhooked the strap and I drove out on my own power !! get the story straight if ya gonna tell it 

[red]

oh no it was the other way around 

that sucks, a broken spring can be a pain.

[Ramrod]

calm down man I no its a sensative subject but I was the truck behind you and know that he pulled you up pretty much the whole thing but its alright

[DTB]

cant we all be friends?? 

[red]

cant we all be friends?? 

haha, the look on that smilies face, his eyes are so wierd to me!

stuff breaks on the trail, just a part of wheeling no biggy.
so what brand of leaf springs would yall recommend for either 4" or 6" of lift? what amount of lift? looking for the smoothest ride from leafs, great articulation, and the ability to still carry a decent load in my bed.

[notajeep]

Check out this full size GMC that ran pritchett with us. It was SWEET!
http://www.edtechsupport.net/gis/don/pritchett/
Caution: These are LARGE files.

[*** YELLER ***]

calm down man I no its a sensative subject but I was the truck behind you and know that he pulled you up pretty much the whole thing but its alright

You have no idea how sensitive it is having your nephew tow you up a hill with his little Toyota  when you drive such a big truck  and it wasnt that far if you remember we disconected it and I drove out myself 

[MiniSimp]

no problem with the assitance of a strap hooked to a toyota the whole way up!!!

Yep, the whole way up!!!!

[MiniSimp]

Until the hairpin left turn, then he powered out! He did good!

[*** YELLER ***]

Until the hairpin left turn, then he powered out! He did good!

directly from the man who pulled me up part of CADALIC HILL so there  yes I'm 12 years old and I'm right and your wrong 
and I like smileys

[DTB]

Yep, the whole way up!!!!

i dragged a full size blazer up the side of a mountain in colorado one time it was pretty funny...talk about a pride killer..lol

sorry if i triggered any bad memories for u guys just had to throw my 2 cents in

[*** YELLER ***]

cant we all be friends?? 

Uhmmm maybe 

[DTB]

Uhmmm maybe 

hey man u seem cool, i'd strap u up a hill anyday! 

  oh i just realized this is red's buildup! i thought this was chit-chat camp sorry red! haha carry on with build please

[*** YELLER ***]

haha, the look on that smilies face, his eyes are so wierd to me!

stuff breaks on the trail, just a part of wheeling no biggy.
so what brand of leaf springs would yall recommend for either 4" or 6" of lift? what amount of lift? looking for the smoothest ride from leafs, great articulation, and the ability to still carry a decent load in my bed.

oh I dont mind stuff beraking or bending real bad its just someone trying to make me look worse than I am on the trail, I am a big enough dumbass without the help of others trust me  and ask anyone that knows me  as far as springs I like the BDS 6 or 4 inch depends on what your gonna do  I dont carry alot of weight in the Jimmy so I aint much help there.