Cptpackrat's 01 build "EMMA"

Cptpackrat

Bumpers Installed
Location
Gillette WY
I basically turned a turn signal on and traded the clicking. It is above where your foot would be if you were touching the gas pedal. just flip a signal on and reach up and feel one of the relays, it will be clicking.
 

Cptpackrat

Bumpers Installed
Location
Gillette WY
Well I had to replace my deive side door panel. My factory one cracked at the bottom and would hang up when I tried to open the door. Pretty frustrating when you rip half the panel off every time you try to get into your rig. Duncan Mills on the various Xterra groups on bookface found me one and got it sent to me in a VERY short timeframe.
 

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harryron

The Grumpiest of Mid-Westerners
Location
ohio
Well I had to replace my deive side door panel. My factory one cracked at the bottom and would hang up when I tried to open the door. Pretty frustrating when you rip half the panel off every time you try to get into your rig. Duncan Mills on the various Xterra groups on bookface found me one and got it sent to me in a VERY short timeframe.
That good just don't let him cut your fenders.
 

Cptpackrat

Bumpers Installed
Location
Gillette WY
Still doing Gone2017 prep amd noticed something strange... I was missing 3 of the 4 bolts on my passenger upper balljoint and the 4th was halfway backed out. Looked like I had been driving like that for a month or so. I replaced the balljoint and loctite on the new hardware to keep them from backing out. Also checked the driver side and noticed those wete a touch loose, pulled them and loctite and torqued them down. Hopefully thats the last of the excitement before Gone...
 

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Cptpackrat

Bumpers Installed
Location
Gillette WY
Holy shiat that's scary. That could have made for a bad day.

No kidding! I drive less than 8 miles a day and nothing over 30mph so it could have gone unnoticed for a long time. And to think Im driving 6hours to Denver on Friday with hardly anything around on the way there.
 

Cptpackrat

Bumpers Installed
Location
Gillette WY
Well the X got quite the workout today. Drove about 500miles through sun, rain, snow, and wind. Picked up my front diff from Darude, then hauled ass to Colorado Springs and got my third member. Once we arrived at my buddy and his wifes place the regear was on! She is sitting on 5.13 front and rear just 6 hours before we head out to Moab and 6 hour drive. Tomorrow will be the first trail run as well as another hard day Sunday.
 

Cptpackrat

Bumpers Installed
Location
Gillette WY
Right? Made it up and over the summit no problems, running with the front of the group for the first time. 75mph at 3k rpm. So far 175miles on 3/4 tank of gas no problem. Loving these 5.13s!!
 

Cptpackrat

Bumpers Installed
Location
Gillette WY
IMG_7078.JPG IMG_7075.JPG IMG_7073.JPG IMG_7069.JPG IMG_7065.JPG IMG_7061.JPG IMG_7080.JPG So today we started off the day with TOTW, and then hauled a$$ to the meet and greet, and then cut out early to go do a night run of Strike Ravine. Such an awesome rough long day on the trail. My rig hasnt seen this much time in 4L in a long while!
 

Cptpackrat

Bumpers Installed
Location
Gillette WY
Today we ran Metal Masher. I was acting as tail gunner until a culmination of a broken rear 5165 Bilstein, a blown CV?, and a cut CB cable made my rig not so capable in its position. I have sourced a couple shocks to try however the 2 fronty ones I was given wont work. The CV is getting adressed tomorrow as I will be skipping thursday trail, and the CB cable was replaced with my spare.

I FINALLY BROKE STUFF! I have been trying for 3 years to rip my rig apart!

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Cptpackrat

Bumpers Installed
Location
Gillette WY
IMG_7331.JPG IMG_7336.JPG IMG_7337.JPG IMG_7342.JPG IMG_7343.JPG IMG_7301.JPG So I took my Thursday off and did some running around and repairs to get my rig ready for Steel Bender on Friday. I ended up replacing my CV axle which seemed to fix some of my issues. But not for long....

Shortly after the start of the trail today I was alerted to my truck wanting to pidgeon toe. I knew my centerlink was bad, but I guess my ambitious trail scheduel this year was proving to be a challenge. I decided to push forward and attempt to get through the trail. We made it about 2/3rds the way through and completed the drop, a 6' tall ledge that was far more intimidating in person. I would be lying if I said I wasnt a little nervous about breaking my rig. I managed to drop off smile on my face and escaped without tearing too much up. As we twisted through ledges and rock gardens I heard a slight tire rub on the driver rear. I knew something wasnt right. The next bump told me imediately that I had sheared a leaf spring center pin off and the axle had shifted backwards. With Daniel Grooters from XP, Joey "Blueberry" Parent, and Derrick Metz "Metzican" on the trail we cobbled together and pulled the axle forward with a ratchet strap and cranked the U-bolts tight which allowed me to get off the trail after 2.5 more hours on very rough unforgiving terrain. Those 2.5hours were the most technical and challenging lines I had to chose to eliminate as much stress as I could on the axle and leafs. I had an absolute blast on Steel Bender and will say it is up there with one of the best trails I have ran here in Moab.
 

Cptpackrat

Bumpers Installed
Location
Gillette WY
IMG_7357.JPG IMG_7356.JPG Today I rolled the dice. Drove home with a virtually non-exsistent centerlink, and by myself. I managed to do an average of 70mph and had 200miles on a tank of gas. I bombed across the eastern side of WY and made it home at 1020pm. My gas tank is empty as I pulled into the driveway. I had a solid 12hours of driving but now I get to relax and love on my pup.
 

Cptpackrat

Bumpers Installed
Location
Gillette WY
As typical of me for the last couple years I make a list of things I would like to improve on and change by the next GoneMOAB event. I pretty much spend all year preparing for a weeks worth of wheeling and that is about it.

Repairs
Motor mounts--- I will be purchasing the solid motor mounts from Steven @ Rugged Rocks in the next week or so. This should help get the power through the driveline again.
Rear Shocks--- I am eyeballing the King 2.0x10 Smoothies with hose res for the rear. These should provide a little nice ride than my Bilstein 5165s and both will be new.
Brakes--- I need to get new drums in the rear and with the SAS I will be upgrading the fronts to spiral cut and ceramic pads, this should provide a MUCH nicer braking feel. I will also look into changing over to a 94 Ram MC to push a little more fluid and get a tighter brake feel.
Leaf Springs--- My stock packs are VERY worn out, the bushings on both sides are really worn out. I will likely be ordering Alcans +1" and + 200# to help with weight and height.
Radiator & Cooling--- I was seeing some pretty high temps (235*) at a couple points with the slow speeds, warm ambient temperatures, and lots of idling. I am currently looking into adding a single 10-16" electric fan on a single switch for trail use. This will continually pull air through the radiator and help keep temps below 200*. In conjunction to the E-fan I will add a JK hood louver to allow for hot air to rise from the hood better.
HP--- I am looking at having a header back catless exhaust setup made to open up the flow and allow for a little more power.
Electrical--- Simply put, the stock alternator is sh!t. Rugged Rocks carries the DC Power alts that shoudl allow for more power through the system. I am also currently searching for a nice round LED aux light to replace my KCs. I checked out the 7" LED pods from Oz 4wd at the vendor booth at Gone, I really was impressed with their output.
SAS--- still in process, Calmini as typical is playing games with their timeframes, I am still calling every week as I need to get the ball rolling. King Coilovers up front, and likely an ARB locker front and rear.

I think my list is pretty long, Im sure I wont hit everything, but at least I have a guideline. Any input will be greatly considered if it pushes my project forward.
 

Cptpackrat

Bumpers Installed
Location
Gillette WY
Poo... theyre backordered 4 weeks. Guess I will get my balljoints, brakes, spindles, and general bullsh!t for my SAS. Cant wait to get the shocks and coilovers and all that jazz
 

Cptpackrat

Bumpers Installed
Location
Gillette WY
Doing a little sandblasting today on my $30 set of cragars I picked up a few months ago. These will be getting weld in beadlocks and fresh silver and blue paint. Ran out of sand before I could finish the 4th wheel.

I also ordered the new ball joints for the solid axle. Those should be here mid next week and I can start putting my steering linkage together


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ThompsonXterra

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
California
That to do list looks expensive but exciting. Can't wait to see things come together.

Also, let us know your opinion on the King vs. Bilstein shocks when you get them installed. Curious how they compare.
 

Cptpackrat

Bumpers Installed
Location
Gillette WY
That to do list looks expensive but exciting. Can't wait to see things come together.

Also, let us know your opinion on the King vs. Bilstein shocks when you get them installed. Curious how they compare.

Its going to be quite the wallet burner for sure, but hopefully it all pays off in the end! Im trying to keep this build fairly unique while doing stuff that hasn't really been seen or at least not commonly seen.


On another note, my D44 Ball joints arrived today, going to be pressing them into the knuckles and getting the GM 1-ton Y-Link started sometime this week if work permits. Since I got home from Moab I have been going 300% and only had yesterday off. I don't mind it a single bit!
 

Cptpackrat

Bumpers Installed
Location
Gillette WY
Called Calmini AGAIN yesterday... answer this time was "I will check with Mike, but I think its ready to go out the door" gonna call them thursday or friday if I havent gotten a tracking number by then.
 

Cptpackrat

Bumpers Installed
Location
Gillette WY
Today I tackled getting the centerlink replaced. Not a hard job by any means, hopefully this will tighten up the steering and not kill tires over the next few months before the SAS and new set gets put on.

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Cptpackrat

Bumpers Installed
Location
Gillette WY
Took Calmini 2.5 months to deliver my idler arm brace and UCA.

Yeah, as a fabricator I never quite understood why it took companies so long for such simple products, I just read a FB post about a guy still waiting for a set of shackles from Calmini since Feb. I would have long requested my money back and just bit the bullet on shipping from 4x4parts for a set...
 
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