My new Gems

[DRAGOONRANCH]

Charlie!!!!!!!!!

[Eckert]

How tall are you again? How well do you fit inside these first gen toys? You say they are rust free, but have you dropped the gas tanks and looked at the frame right there by the spring hanger? That is a bad spot and often hidden from sight.


Here is what I would do. Swap the drivetrain into the blue toy and do dual cases. Keep the stock gears, weld the rear diff, Aussie lock the front. Build a new front crossmember and mix the rear leaf packs together to build a front spring pack. Grab some stock 90ish model F150 springs for the rear and run them short side to the back. Ditch the bed, and build a small flatbed. Do sliders, but don't bother with boatsides because they are not easy to do on a toy due to the location of the cab mounts. Square driveshafts front and rear. Ditch the bodylift, and cut the floorboard to do the flatbelly. If you plan on beating the thing, build a roll cage or exo.

The 303 tires are for a 16 rim right? Be careful when grabbing junkyard rims, because most of the time 16 rims came off of IFS rigs, and the offset is to much to run with toy straight axles.

thats my basic idea. i must have searched for 5 hours on pirate last night. to do a complete flat belly i have to basically reconstruct the floor and redo the horse collar. no a big deal. i would keep the body lift to make that part easy, but it must be 15+ years old and falling apart. im 6'1" so it makes it a little interesting, but im going to use the original seat bracket and through my buckets into it, so im hopin' ill fit. i guess ill go ahead and put the sliders i have for the '84 on it. should be around the same demisions. yeah 303 are 16's, i have 3 sets of 15, go figure. but you cant beat the price im getting them for.

and no, ive yet to pull the tank. when i was crawling in and around it, i didnt see any rust. the blue one has been in fort hood since early 90's and before that oklahoma. the tan was sold new in austin and never left. they're pretty solid so far.

[CRaSHnBuRN]

If you really want a body lift, I still have the 2 inch one from 4crawler. It uses alot bigger pucks than a normal bodylift. As far as cutting out the floorboard, thats not a huge deal. Get the rotated marlin adapter if you can, or if you want I may even be willing to sell my normal doubler and sky crossmember so I can get a rotated one and try to flatten out the belly some more. As for your rear horse shoe crossmember, most likely it will have to go no matter what unless they are located alot further back on those early toys.

As for headroom, I think its going to be tight. If I had a first gen, I would seriously consider cutting the roof off. Then build a cage and tie the windshield frame into that. Its been done on several first gens and looks pretty sweet

[Graystroke]

coop, whatever happen to charlie truck?

[Sharpe]

coop, whatever happen to charlie truck?

He joined Jimmy Hofa...

[Eckert]

If you really want a body lift, I still have the 2 inch one from 4crawler. It uses alot bigger pucks than a normal bodylift. As far as cutting out the floorboard, thats not a huge deal. Get the rotated marlin adapter if you can, or if you want I may even be willing to sell my normal doubler and sky crossmember so I can get a rotated one and try to flatten out the belly some more. As for your rear horse shoe crossmember, most likely it will have to go no matter what unless they are located alot further back on those early toys.

As for headroom, I think its going to be tight. If I had a first gen, I would seriously consider cutting the roof off. Then build a cage and tie the windshield frame into that. Its been done on several first gens and looks pretty sweet

we might have to work something out after i get this tan one sold. i want a doubler and a flat belly. the marlin roated adapter roates is higher close to 2in. which means alot less cutting. but its also $100 more than other adapters. thats $100+ i can spend on cross over.

even though its a second gen. the quasimodo truck was really clean. he had a 2in, flat belly, and barely had to cut the floor. didnt look too teriibly bad either. i still dont like body lifts.

and for the front, ive been thinking kind of an F-toy idea. narrowed with a FJ 40 grille. fenders are ****, and im pulling the whole front clip off to make it easier to put the engine in. might a well cut it up to make it look different.

i sat in the tan one. the stock seats bring the suck. but i still didnt hit my head. hopefully it will be lower with the summit seats.

[mudtoy67]

How banged up is the bed on that tan one? I might be interested in the outer bed sides....

[Eckert]

the bottom half is dented up. basically what you seen in the pics. otherwise ok.

[mudtoy67]

I'll take a look at it, just load that bed up in the truck and bring it to clayton.

Seriously though....is this in College Station? I might want to check it out sometime....maybe not this trip though.

[Eckert]

nope. its back at my folks place in Hutto. if i get the axles sold. all that will be left is the bed.

[redcagepatrol]

cool deals - sweet trailer too...

Landon needs a new rig to build... Can't wait to see your build thread!

[Eckert]

well. got the axles swapped on all the good parts on the blue truck. the tan one is sitting in the driveway with the front end up on blocks. going to pull the rear axle and cab. scrapping the rest. fun day to say the least.

[william_ace]

selling them now?

[Eckert]

si-plans change

[agjohn02]

in a matter of three days? DWI?