Started this build beginning of April! Why rabbit hole? Because quite predictably I bought this off a good friend with the intention of not tearing it apart immediately and after 2 weeks of ownership I tore it down to the tub. Right away it needed attention with new cv axles, hubs, ball joints and brake pads.

Came with eBay bumpers and a Ironman 2.5” lift

 

At this point it was safe to drive again so I did for a few weeks. Next I got the windows tinted, can’t roll around in a fish bowl. Got ceramic tint all around. 25% back glass, 35% front doors, 50% windshield. Also trimmed up the fenders a bit.

 

Tint made the ride more comfortable, then I noticed creaking and popping as I steered back and forth. This got me looking at long arm kits. Long arm kits got me looking at frame stiffeners. Frame stiffeners made me want adjustable front and rear leaf spring brackets and extended shackles. Oh and better upgrade steering components while we’re there.

 

You’ll notice interior came out. Carpet needed a deep clean and the heater core was plugged up so I chose to take care of that as well. Good idea to remove carpet when welding in frame stiffeners in my opinion anyways.

 

Lower control arm brackets were a bit of a pain to remove.

 

Washed all the mess away and with the axle out of the way decided to take care of the rear main seal, new oil pump and crank and rod bearings while I had the pan dropped. Crank looked good. Oil pressure would drop at hot idle. Main bearings were in good shape but the rod bearings were worn out. All the top shells. Now that it was all buttoned up I could go back to making a mess.

 

Cleaned the carpet with a drill brush attachment, laundry detergent, pressure washer and then extracted all the water out.

 

Removed all the paint off the frame for the stiffeners from ruffstuff. Honestly wasn’t too much work at all to remove the paint with my m12 right angle die grinder.

 

Used weld thru primer where necessary. Started at the front and worked my way back.

 

Ran out of gas so that ended my day short. I was ready to take a break anyways. Fully welded top sides and stitch welded the bottoms leaving the gaps in strategic places to let moisture drain properly and not trap water.

 

More subframe work.

 

Bottom front stiffeners. Orders Barnes heim steering kit.

 

I have the heater core and majority of the dash reinstalled at this point. I have the front leaf mounts removed. Most of the rear frame cleaned of all paint. Still need to remove rear shackle mounts and gas tank. Front stiffeners are complete. Main stiffeners still need stitch welding on the top side. Once I complete the main stiffeners I will install the Core 4x4 4 link and a few other front end goodies. Once the front is complete I will move back to the rear end.

 

Drilled the holes to mount the the 4 link brackets. Got the passenger bracket mounted. Need to relocate my brake and fuel line before I can mount the driver side bracket. Stinkyfab trans mount

 

Relocated brake and fuel line with p clamps just slightly higher than factory position to clear the link bracket. Got the brackets fully bolted in and the trans crossmember. Still need to get the trans centered in chassis before I torque the trans mounts. The frame still needs some clearance work for the upper links. Very close to getting the front axle back in.