"Big Darla" Build Thread

[Grunizzle]

Moab looks awesome. I will be moving to New Mexico next month, it would be awesome to wheel moab sometime with anyone on here.

Truck looks great. Did you just change out the whole shaft or just u joint and outer? What shaft setup are you running?

 

[XionicWaste]

Moab looks awesome. I will be moving to New Mexico next month, it would be awesome to wheel moab sometime with anyone on here.

Truck looks great. Did you just change out the whole shaft or just u joint and outer? What shaft setup are you running?

Were going to Easter Jeep Safari March 28th, if you can make it you can join us! I ended up just using the stock outer and the axle is a 1979 F150 high pinion front which I narrowed 6 inches so Im using early Bronco chromoly shafts. Ive got lifetime warranty on them from Bronco Graveyard. I could do super joints but they have no needle bearings so they say they are only for slow moving rock crawlers and I still DD this baby.

 

[Kage]

Hey, he's not dead! I do miss the bed though, but I still really dig this truck overall.

...So if I crunch the numbers on how much torque I have with the doubler (not including friction loss)....

I did the same math when I blew my first D60 joint apart (bound up, 1st gear, double low, all the traction in the world, with a winch on me). I was a little surprised at how much torque you can exert on something when there is gobs of traction

Keep it coming!

 

[Grunizzle]

I would love to go then but I move on April 1st unfortunately so that is a no go. Maybe another time we could try and get a TRS meet there.

 

[dieseldane]

I didn't like the bed at first, but it's growing on me and I think it looks pretty good now. Maybe the little bit of fenders you added helped.

 

[XionicWaste]

I didn't like the bed at first, but it's growing on me and I think it looks pretty good now. Maybe the little bit of fenders you added helped.

If the little bit of fender changed your mind then you should really like it when I am done. My plan is kind of hard to explain but directly over the rear tires I will have a tube from the main hoop to the frame rail (curved tube) and then the I will do full fenders with 16 gauge, the same way as before (tapped tabs and button heads). The open section will be filled and the bed, between the frame rails, will be wood. Can you envision it? If not then youll have to wait and see!

 

[XionicWaste]

More from Moab. The next day we ran the Trifecta which consists of Poison Spider, Golden Spike, and Gold Bar Rim. This is the 3rd time Ive run the full trail and this time was the most interesting by far.

My copilot:

I didnt make it up this line, but did just to the right:

Over half way through the trail I was having a hard time turning right and thought it was just the tires binding harder than they ever have because of the spool. I finally took a look and heres what I found.
At least my weld held...

The quick fix was strap it tight to the frame and hope it holds...

Further on the trail and the sun is setting, we come to golden crack. Heres a little comparison of one year to the next:

Later in the trail, we miss a turn so now we a on an unfamiliar trail and its dark... and my frame fully tears you'd think no big deal just limp it back but everytime you steer the body just floats back and forth over the frame without turning the wheels. The fix? Pull off the broken mount and wrap the winch around the frame rail and hook the winch to my heim:
(Notice the winch cable go through the coil and see the hook holding the heim to the frame)

The fix worked awesome and luckily I moved my steering box forward because the frame had a nice pocket for the heim to sit in.

The next day (sunday) all the shops were closed except a jeep rental place and they were nice enough for me to borrow a place in their shop and weld the bracket back on.

That was the end of the last Moab trip and we've got another coming in a week and a half. We leave March 11th then Ill be back there on March 28th.

More to come!

 

[doorgunner]

Great pics.......Great scenery.......Great Dog...........You made it out of there!

 

[dieseldane]

If the little bit of fender changed your mind then you should really like it when I am done. My plan is kind of hard to explain but directly over the rear tires I will have a tube from the main hoop to the frame rail (curved tube) and then the I will do full fenders with 16 gauge, the same way as before (tapped tabs and button heads). The open section will be filled and the bed, between the frame rails, will be wood. Can you envision it? If not then youll have to wait and see!

Maybe this is just me being a Kansas boy, but I am envisioning something like old tractor fenders.

 

[kroussinoffroad]

yep had that same issue with my trac bar...
my solution plate the frame on the side and under. my trac-bar brackets is an outside style. I also added a "turn buckle" to the engine crossmember for more support


Not completed but you get the idea

 

[icalbert101]

Just wanted to say awesome build I stumbled accross it on a random google image search. my build is going to be very similiar in appearance. I'm building mine for ultra4 mod class though. 14" coilovers up front full width f250 dana 44 68" I was curious is yours at 66" still or did you narrow it? I'll be doing a 60 in the rear 3 link and foa coilovers up front. 1350/54 doubler and maybe go up to the 4.0 but I'm planning on a top speed of 60 so I might just stick with the 3.0 until I go ford mod v8. here's the link to the build still collecting parts at this point but it's bobbed

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/ford/1377658-low-slow-ranger-build-project-stubble.html

main reason for posting was the axle width question what's your WMS to WMS

 

[XionicWaste]

YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT! I'M ALIVE AND SO IS DARLA!

HMMM OVER 7 DAMN YEARS? yeesh.... sorry... any hoosier, who's wanting an update?

I don't even remember where I left off but it looks like my thread got kind of messed up (missing pictures and now you can only have a max of 20 images per post) Oh well, so is life. Not much has happened with Ol Darla in the last 7 years... I did however buy some 37x12.50 Pitbull Rocker MT's and I broke another ujoint which killed another chromoly axle shaft while wheeling in Gilbert MN. Loving that lifetime warranty baby! (oh btw I live in Wisconsin now!)

So why the updates? Well my main college wheeling buddy also moved back home (Minnesota) and wanted to get the gang back together and do some wheeling. Well Ol' Darla needed some lovin before she was ready to wheel.

First she got some new seats. I'm pretty happy with these seats but they definitely require a lot of custom work to install them.

She also got some new exhaust! Finally built my true duals:

I also got some cheap superjoints! Amazon!

Install wasn't too bad but I did need to shave some stud off of my ball joint:

Worked on finishing the freaking fenders:

She also got the fancy plate:

A bit of paint and she was ready for some wheeling! Here you can see the tow pig! I installed that crane which is a nice to have for sure.

And my buddies rig:

Next post will be the sexys! Attica Indiana!

 

[sgtsandman]

I'm not sure if it's a privacy thing or what but I can't see any of the photos you posted other than the I'm back gif.

 

[XionicWaste]

I'm not sure if it's a privacy thing or what but I can't see any of the photos you posted other than the I'm back gif.

Thanks for letting me know!!! Should be fixed now.

ON TO THE WHEELIN' PICS!

I of course had to jump into the first obstacle I found. Sand is weird!

After roaming the park for awhile we finally found "The Quarry"

And then got stuck... The 37's hang pretty good though!

This place has a lot of features to play on:

Darla just walks a lot of stuff:

Some stuff is definitely more challenging:

She stuffs the 37's perfectly:

The rock walls are fun. My buddies wheelbase is a bit short for some of this stuff.

My slave cylinder went out on day one so I had no clutch. Basically just pick a gear and crawl it. The starter wasnt loving life but she held in there! The doubler for the win!
I stall it and you can see it starts while in gear and rock crawling

My buddy found a new wheeling style...

The ol lady wasn't quite sure what I was going to do but she's a good sport. MAN I LOVE THE DOUBLER!

This was pretty much all weekend hhahaha

Same obstacle, ol lady driving for the first time. LOL to my over supportive buddy.

Rear locker will make Darla even more capable.

My buddy might need a new starter:

There is still so much ridiculous terrain at Attica, I'm excited to upgrade and come back again. I felt so bad for taking her in and out of gear under stress. "sorry Darla" haha

 

[XionicWaste]

Here's a little teaser of Darla's next project. Feel free to guess away!