Snailblaze One for the Nation

[Snailblazin']

It's all done, per the pic...unless it doesn't show up for anybody but me . I like the look of the Spec-D grille you have and I'd have more room for the extra lights to shine through it.

I was planning on swapping the 02 truck's tow hooks to the 07's but YEEZUS they're buried deep in bumper...

I might have another crack at them when I remove everything for paint, all that open space is just begging for a snorkel for some cold air!

Rear bumper swap is in the works too.

 

[Snailblazin']

Update:

I removed the remaining spacers (just one 8mm per side) from the front drop struts and trimmed a loop off of the rear coils in a further attempt to snuggle this bitch to the ground...now it sits at 29.5" at all four corners with 275/45R20s that are getting pretty thin.

The ride quality difference is negligible but I've only flown solo thus far. The true test of ride quality will be in 2 weeks when the whole family piles into my whip to cross the gap (Saskatchewan) and head east to Manitoba to visit the in/outlaws which is ~1200 kms of the best weather-beaten highway that is the Transcanada.

The Air Lift 1000s are a definite plan for the future, for both trucks really.

 

[Snailblazin']

Update!!

Finally pulled the trigger on some long-awaited goodies and they should start trickling in soon.

So far:
Bilstein struts - #103336
GM springs - #15125888
Air Lift 1000 bags - #60779
Skyjacker shocks - #M9536
Massive control arms/panhard bar - #13604.2
PCMofNC tune
CBI full-size spare tire carrier
Purple Cranium diff rock guard
Weathertech moulded floor mats

Still to come:
MDB Fab front bumper and skids
Neilage sliders and running board delete
Yakima Megawarrior cargo basket
Auxiliary lighting
PCMofNC external trans cooler
Full stereo install w/ JL Stealthbox- sourcing input on factory integration...
Whatever regular maintenance items that may come out of the shake down

Up for debate is the Liftmeister 3" body lift. I'm having a hard time justifying this as I've yet to establish a need for the extra height and it'll necessitate ~$1500 in tires that I'd rather spend elsewhere if I can. Like a digital sound processor, does anyone have successful experience maintaining all factory functionality (steering wheel controls, rear seat entertainment, etc.) while upgrading speakers, adding amps and a sub?

Any Canadians want to buy my old sub/amp to help finance some of this shit? Actually, with the CAD being sofa king awful, Yankees stand to save 30%!!
JL 10W7AE
Spec-built enclosure
Alpine PDX M6

 

[Snailblazin']

Put some work in over the last couple of weekends and photo dump...

 

[Snailblazin']

As usual things never go as I plan and compressing the 88 springs turned out to be very fucking ignorant. Also discovered that 1 of the 4 poly bushings that came with the shocks was too small for the bolt sleeve and required some attention. And by attention of course I mean taking a 3/4" drill bit to my bare palm and then bleeding all over everything.

 

[Snailblazin']

I also cleaned up the super weathered driver's side headlight.

 

[Snailblazin']

Updated for CBI spare tire carrier install.

 

[Snailblazin']

Updated for air spring and muffler install.

 

[Snailblazin']

Apparently CBI fabricated my spare tire carrier on a Friday afternoon so...update to include the fixed carrier and preliminary bumper mock up.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Did you graft on some JK framehorns?

 

[Snailblazin']

Kinda, had some brackets fabbed to adapt it using the big outer bumper/tow hook bolts. I'm still digesting how it looks and what I want to do differently but for starters the wings will end up 6 or so inches closer to the body, a skid is being built, part of my old bull bar might end up in there somewhere too. Also looking for ideas to cover up the exposed innards between the bumper and the grill. I'll post up more pics as funds permit.

I looked so hard at getting an MDB bumper kit but with the exchange/shipping/not having a welder it was out of the realm of feasibility, clocking in around $2k all said and done. I picked up the stock front and back JK bumpers with all hardware and lights for $100 and they're minty, and the silver portion almost matches the stock silver on the truck.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

I know those JK bumpers are damn near given away and if you had some simple brackets fabbed to run the stock for now, you could easily swap to a metal one for a JK later. Without MDB, it likely would be what I had done.

 

[Snailblazin']

Update for rant...

CBI Offroad tire carrier is a piece of shit and I hate it. It rattles and flops around like a wind sock in the breeze and their means of "securing" it don't work on my truck. The license plate mount is way too high effectively concealing the plate behind the spare and the light mount is wrong. Their customer service, both email and phone calls, is horrendous. I've given them plenty of opportunity to make it right and I was told the last time we spoke that I was probably installing it wrong, although they have no instructions and the website stock photo is wrong. They take returns but charge a 15% restocking fee and shipping it there is another $60 so that pretty much takes that option out of the running. Super disappointing. It's gonna get sold, or if someone here wants to buy it and doesn't mind the rattles...

 

[Snailblazin']

Updated to include a Yakima Megawarrior and some off-the-road shots.

It didn't get very crazy; there was a little one napping in the back seat and, although funny, the image of him being rag dolled awake while I sink the truck up to the frame in river muck and then getting a ticket for fucking around down there just didn't seem worth it.
This little sally did highlight how shitty these tires are though, loads of wheels spin and then they were caked in mud and didn't clean themselves out well. Time for some bigger/better meats? Probably. I'm going to see if I can get my hands on some 305/65r18s for a test fit.

 

[Snailblazin']

Went for a little cruise before work this evening and decided to follow this CP Rail access road for a spell. It was fairly steep up stream of this shot and in 4Hi I ran out of steam and had to back down, this was afterwards. Getting a little flexy.


And this is why I ran out of steam...it's been raining non-stop here for the last 36 hours and it turns out the road was a touch more mucky than previously anticipated. Also, these tires lick balls.

 

[Snailblazin']

Updated to include some Kijiji-quality 305/60R18 Mickey Thompson Baja ATZ P3s. The size is a better fit in my opinion and they offer a little more protection than the Goodyear's they replaced. It's kinda close to the upper ball joint but no issues thus far other than some ferocious tramlining on smooth roads, but I was expecting that.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

The ATZ are good tires

 

[Snailblazin']

Noticed a pool of blood beneath the truck this morning. Upon closer inspection it turns out that the transmission cooler lines are leaking, it seems to be in the retaining clip area near the frame although there's so much wetness it's kinda tough to see for sure. Anywho...no better time for the auxiliary trans cooler to be installed!

 

[Snailblazin']

Moar exploring...I always feel like I'm crawling along like Ronnie Dahl in some inhospitable landscape until I look at the pics afterwards, then it seems bitch-made. Oh well, let's chalk it up to progression. I did find snakes and some gnarly bike trails.

 

[stickypoop]

CBI Offroad tire carrier is a piece of shit and I hate it. It rattles and flops around like a wind sock in the breeze

Is it sloppy where it's inserted in the receiver? It looks as if you're using a locking hitch pin... if one side of the through hole on the carrier is threaded try using a bolt and snug it with a wrench (like below). It should pull the insert over tight and keep it from flopping around. Just a thought since I made the same error with my first hitch mount bike rack.

 

[Snailblazin']

Thanks for the info but I got it licked. There's still some play on the vertical portion, front to back, but it's 100% better.

 

[Snailblazin']

Took everybody out to the mountains last weekend and after breaking camp I noticed the back end of the truck sacked right out....HMM. Can kinda see it here unloaded. Got it home and inspected my air bags and both of them have popped. Outstanding! Trying to find out if I can send them back on warranty otherwise it's Z71 spring time - prolly what I should have done from the start, oh well.
Is the Moog part number, 81069, the equivalent of much-vaunted Tahoe/Avalanche Z71 spring?

 

[Snailblazin']

Update for Z71 rear coil spring install. Gained around half an inch overall, doesn't seem like much. Shake down ride tomorrow to see if it settles and I might throw the spacers back in...
Bags were utterly defeated and fucking junk. Live and learn I guess. Here's a shot before I got in there. Fender gap is right close to 6".



Here's afterward, with the new springs and the old spacers reinstalled.

Had to disconnect the rear sway bar to get as much droop as possible.

Just feast your eyes on those blown out, sad excuses!

 

[Snailblazin']

Not much new with the old girl, did some plasti-dipping (not so sure about it - it's the Camo Grey), an oil change for the winter and ordered a wheel bearing because she's getting a tad growly again at around 40 kph.
The acquisition phase is almost complete for my stereo build with the recent purchase of a Pioneer DEH-80PRS. Still outstanding is a 4 channel amp to push my Mille Legend's properly.
And now I have something else to take up my spare time...Any VW fans out there?

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Nice van!

 

[Snailblazin']

That's Maryanne and her gracious donor Subaru. She's a bit of a handful

 

[Snailblazin']

After it dumped ~40 cm (~15" for the Americans) of snow in the Cypress Hills on Wednesday I had to go check it out. And by "check it out" of course I mean fuck about in the deep stuff. The result? Finding out that the tires I have are fairly useless in hard packed snow and ice and there's some weird noise, like a ticking, that exists only when in 4Hi. Could it be related to my fugged wheel bearing? I'll know more after I change it out. I guess I'm in the market for some BFG A/T KO2s. Probably in the 275/70r18 flavor as I'm sure the 305/65r18s will rub something.

 

[Snailblazin']

Trying out some new footwear of the 275/70r18 variety.

 

[Snailblazin']

Out for some testing and practice. Had the truck so vertical that the DIC told me to shut off the engine due to low oil pressure! Never seen that before...good to know. What's the fix for this? Just go faster? I'm sure that the hardcore guys have seen this before. I also had the truck balanced on the opposite front/back wheels at one point which was kinda neat/terrifying.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Build a new oil pan with a rear sump or hit it with enough speed and let it roll over without being heavy on the throttle while it oil starves...

 

[Snailblazin']

Cool, next time I'll launch right over! Or kill the motor...accidentally of course

 

[Snailblazin']

Out for a wee fuckabout this morning and I noticed a pant load of squeaks and clunks. I can't tell if it's driveline slop or loose steering or suspension bits at this point, diagnosis sometime next week. I'm also noticing how ineffective the front half of the 4WD is, I was in a few scenarios where one of the front wheels left the ground while the other should've been digging in and wasn't...I know next to nothing about our drivetrain parts and their specific functionality and I think that I've read that the front diff isn't limited slip like the rear which leads me to believe that I need to buy parts to make the front wheels work like the back ones. Can an old trail hand shed some light on the logic of the front axle and what a gangster can do about it?

 

[Mooseman]

@HARDTRAILZ would be able to answer that better but AFAIK, there is no locker available for the front diff.

 

[FearlessAZ]

I do have to say that I just read this from the begginning and it was pretty cool to see how far it has come. Makes me want to sell my TB to find a 4x4 (didn't think about it when I bought a few years ago).

Also, you mentioned something about JK bumpers (the one with the 2 lights in the front). Where did you find these? Also, any fab to get them on?

 

[smt 59]

@HARDTRAILZ would be able to answer that better but AFAIK, there is no locker available for the front diff.

The disconnect maybe starting to fail as well. Nice ride by the way, very impressive.

 

[djthumper]

The open rear end really kills up in poor traction. Having a rear locker does make a big difference in traction. Finding a front locker for the rigs is a tough find since it is a 7.2 front differential. They can add a lot to the front end but depending on what you do it can cause more damage to the front end .

I know HT has a rear lunchbox locker, I do not believe he has a front locker.

 

[Snailblazin']

Thanks chaps! The truck is going in on the 3rd to have a thorough shake down. Winter is too cold and I just don't want to be underneath my truck in the snow monkeying about anymore. My money is on the disconnect too. More research shows that it's exhibiting some of the same symptoms.

I found the JK bumpers on Kijiji and I had a local hobby fabricator make up two brackets that use the JK's tow hook bolts to hold the bumper to the brackets and then the factory inner bumper structure bolts through the brackets. New 10.9 bolts and it's solid AF. It's different but I've grown tired of looking at something half done. My local guy bailed on me and it seems that no one in my town wants to do it so I reached out to some actual off-road fabricators in Calgary to try and dream up a pre-runner style bumper for it.

Next crop of mods, after whatever I find out this week, will be as follows:

- Radflo coilovers
I can't stand how the front end rides with the GM 89 springs.
Can someone who's had both the Bilsteins/89s and Radflos compare the ride (both on and off road)? This setup seems to be awesome for compression but fucking brutal on rebound. The springs are way too stiff but I now need to maintain the same ride height (thanks to the tires). Gotta love mods because of mods.

- Yakima basket extension and towers/crossbars for the roof
- 50" curved light bar (grabbed a set of brackets from MikeJunior)
- body armor (apparently the 77" sliders for an FJ from Trailgear fit with minor mods)
- body lift
- 35" M/Ts for summer w/ a set of the adaptors/spacers
- front window tint
- 4 channel amp
- better system to organize and retrieve my shit inside from the back that can incorporate my storage needs and house some thump

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

OK....

Your front is working like it should. No disco issue. Just the standard operation of an open diff. It will send power to the path of least resistance which is obviously the tire off the ground.

There was a locker available for the front, but it seems to un-obtainium now. Sites list it and then cancel orders cause the part has not been made for years. Could search and maybe get lucky and find one but not real likely. They use the same one as the s-10. There is an available limited slip, but it is $$$ and no one offroad has ponied up to try it.

I ran Marks 3 inch and 88s before the Radflo. The radflo are better and sprung more appropriately. They are not cheap though and I to this day debate if I could justify the switch again. However if you cant stand it now, you will only benefit from Radflos since there is no other option. I heard the 89s were much harsher than 88s but no first hand experience. I will say I can carry some higher speeds on trails and paths now than with the old setup so it does work better. Not much difference crawling around though.

I am not a fan of the 50 inch windshield bars, but if you like it go for it. I did the 32 inch bar in place of the fairing on the Yakima basket and love it though. Fits nicely and the roof keeps the glare off the windshield and light hits about halfway down the hood.

 

[Snailblazin']

So it turns out the front axle disconnect is, in fact, borked. There are a few(?) bearings growling, the passenger CV shaft has excessive play, and the fork doesn't engage all the time. The actuator is working as it should but will be replaced anyway because the new one comes with it. So a new disconnect is in Snailblazer 2.0's immediate future. I plan on buying a complete unit and *just* swapping it in there when time and weather permits. Remember that time that it's -40 with the wind? I do and it sucks hard.

Also in the cards for Snails is a set of longer end links from SuspensionMaxx, front and back, due to the less-than-ideal angles produced by the lift on stock links. The rear sway bar will smack the diff when getting on the gas from a full stop.

Then, as I was pondering the complexities of the universe, an idea smacked me straight in the cerebral cortex: thanks to a comment left by HARDTRAILZ, I started searching for used Jeep bumpers and stumbled across this little gem that will find its way into the mix:

It's Canadian, it's either a kit that has to be welded or can be purchased whole with paint...and wait for it...it's 250 dollars (for the weld together kit)! The fact that it's something I can have put together on the truck is alluring because I can fit it on there as close as possible and control the angles and gaps and whatnot. I foresee this mod in the spring, possibly after tax time. Thanks Kyle!!!!

If anybody is interested I can ask the fabricator I used to build the adaptor brackets if he can make up a bunch, I hate the idea of stealing any business from MDBFab but for some of us up north that option isn't viable. For the brackets and bumper, unassembled, would be ~$450-500 CAD and the options for JKs are fucking ridiculous.

 

[05envoy]

would you care to tell us who makes this bumper?