The Glorified Tonka Truck

[YellowDodgeBrian]

your hoonigan sticker doesnt look centered which makes it extra hoonigan

Its centered! Its just the tags that make it look off.
That's what I'm telling myself anyways...

[YellowDodgeBrian]

You're going to get stuck on a turd at Big Dogs and get frustrated then you'll come over and "lock" your diff. Or at least that is my prediction

If I had gotten shitty military tires I would have welded my diff a long time ago, but since I actually have expensive tares I don't want to ruin them. Also, if i welded my spider gears I wouldn't ever be able to use my carrier again because there is no way of taking the spider gears out if I weld them. After this summer when I have some money I'll invest in a lunchbox for the rear.

Executive Thread Name Change and Illustrative Explanation:

[YellowDodgeBrian]

I've been looking into getting a leveling kit for my Tonka truck for a while but I haven't been too sure on what to get. There is always the option of getting a shitty hockey puck coil spacer. That would be the cheapest route. I would prefer to do the suspension components properly and not half ass'd just to save a dollar. There is the slightly more expensive option of getting a coil tower spacer made with metal that would bolt on to the existing location. This would be a safe and effective option and is only about $75. The only problem with this is that it only limits my suspension travel. The third option and the most expensive would be to get longer springs. They would retain the stock mounting points and give me more suspension travel while giving me the lift I want. Thuren makes a good soft rate 3" coil but is quite pricey at around $300. I was looking on summit and skyjacker makes a soft rate spring that would lift the front up about 2." The price for the skyjacker is only $200.

I just started doing resmerch on the spring/coil spacers but I've heard a lot of good things about Thuren. This weekend at Big Dogs will give me a better idea on things I need to change/ upgrade. From what I have read, my steering will not have to be adjusted at all if i only add a small 2-2.5" leveling kit. Let me know what you all think I should do! This isn't something I need to rush into so if the more expensive route will be better in the future that would be ok.

Link to Skyjacker springs
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sja-d20/reviews
Link to thuren Springs
https://www.straptperformance.com/THURE ... n-3inc.htm
Link to Metal leveling kit
http://www.hellbentsteel.com/shop/dodge ... 1994-2001/
Link to hockey puck
https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/ar ... ka?&color=

[YellowDodgeBrian]

Ok, so after doing some perusing around on the interweb I think Im going to go with the 3" Thurens. They will actually give my truck about 3.5" of lift in the front. I would still like to keep my truck as low as possible but in the future I would like to upgrade to a true long arm kit and from the ones I've looked at the minimum lift requirement is 3" so it will not have clearace issues with the frame. I figure with all the added un-sprung weight I have added, the 3.5" of lift will not change my center of mass all that much. Also, with the long arm kit it would push my front axle forward slightly and also has the top arms bent to accommodate larger tires if I ever decide that 37"s are still too small. The long arm kit would also give me much better articulation and would be much smoother handling on-road and off because of the better geometry. The link to the long arms I'm looking at is right here.
http://store.dodgeoffroad.com/Dodge-Off ... _p_16.html
The kit is about $1400 so obviously this is a long term idea for an upgrade. I would also need better shocks (probably Alec's Foxes for $600) and so I don't accidental get featured on Florida leaning's instafag page ill need to do some sort of small lift in the rear. I've seen a lot of Dodge wheeling rigs that have gone with a shackle flip kit from ruffstuff. It would improve flex and give me better pinion angle and the lift in the rear without having to buy new rear leafs and is relatively cheap, about $190. All said and done the suspension set up would cost a little more than $2000. Here is the link to the shackle flip kit. Let me know what you all think! Obviously I have to pay back other debts first before I can start going crazy but its fun to dream sometimes.
http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/cat ... swodrzgF2g
If I was going to go down this path I would buy the springs first, shackle flip kit, Alec's foxes, and then if I have the funds the long arm kit.
Here is a build I found on pirate that I got these ideas from, build seems pretty legit
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/dodge/25 ... build.html

[redneckrapunzel]

Alec, will and some other people would have some input on this

Honestly if you are willing to do the work and have time id look into making your own longarms... I didn't but kinda wish I had. The biggest advantage in 3 years you wont be like why the hell did I pay so much for a kit when I could have done it myself. Also you wont be like FUCK why did I weld these huge link mounts to the bottom of my frame killing my ground clearance. Also you can generally create a better setup for the same pricepoint, or equal setup for less and you get to get learnt about shit. Especially with all the companies that make universal brackets and the competition on rebuildable hiems prices on components are pretty reasonable. didn't really look at the details of this just the overall concept... but her is an example
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/dodge/91 ... 500-a.html

That all being said you will have to do a lot of work to make sure you don't have the most ducked up suspension geometry on the planet like me

I could be wrong if so flame away but just my $.02

[BadAssEddie]

Alec's foxes

Don't count on it, I still have hopes of using them!

This is a whole big ole can of worms that could be talked about til the cows come home. I agree with Sam about linking your own rig, but there is value in the aftermarket kits for a rig that sees highway time.

I would concentrate on getting the truck dialed in as it is. Once you start talking about links, you are quickly approaching trail rig status. It's hard for the average fabricators like us to make something refined enough to cruise down I-81. Get front and rear lockers, new shocks, shackle flip, and some leveling springs (pucks aren't the devil). Once all that is done, you've wheeled it, and developed your driving skills to outwheel the truck as it is (if you get stuck in between trees, long arms aren't going to help ), then start thinking about the next step. Don't spend your 4 years building, spend them wheeling.

[alk1174]

Alec's foxes

Don't spend your 4 years building, spend them wheeling.

Quite possibly the most intelligent post I have seen. You may think you dont have free time now but just wait it will get worse. Unless you can find a sugar mama or win the lottery your 20s are the most free years you will likely ever have.

Plus what fun is it to just jump right into a built rig and start wheeling. Part of the fun is wheeling a rig to its limits and slowly building it up and seeing what each little change does to the rig. Some of the best drivers I have seen are the ones who wheeled stockish rigs for years before they jumped into a built rig.

[YellowDodgeBrian]

I thought about building my own links but because of the reasons you mentioned above, I would be willing to pay a pretty penny to be able to retain my truck's performance on the highway. Id hate to go the bolt on bitch route but this way I know that they would be geometrically sound. Especially compared to the shit I would end up fabrimicating up out of poopoo pipe.

That being said, I do understand what you guys are saying about not jumping into it all right away. I'm mostly setting goals to where I would eventually like to end up with my rig. If I upgrade the parts that would be compatible with what I plan on doing in the future, I would save a lot of money by not having to buy new parts because the ones I bought won't work with the new set up. Mostly I'm just making plans at this point so I have some direction I want to go. Thanks for the advice!

[YellowDodgeBrian]

Alec's foxes

Don't spend your 4 years building, spend them wheeling.

Some of the best drivers I have seen are the ones who wheeled stockish rigs for years before they jumped into a built rig.

This reminds me a lot about Wong wheeling the hell out of his stock forerunner the day he got the engine running right.

[FJCcrawler]

Wheel the shit out of what you got, it's the best thing you could ever do in college. Once I got the death runner wheelable after the roll, I went wheeling almost every weekend in the spring, at least 9 trips. Everywhere from Pennsylvania to South Carolina. It was the best semester of my college career.

Anyways, point I'm getting at is, what Alec and krantz's said. Wheel your shit, build as money and time become available.

[redneckrapunzel]

and if you do build convince everyone to come over and do everything in one weekend which turns into a week, that's how I built my entire rig pretty much not the best way you cut corners but it works. and its really satisfying to go back and uncut all the corners when you graduate.

[VerticalTRX]

To add to what has already been said, build your rig with a specific goal in mind, don't just go about it haphazardly. I built my '79 to be a fun rig for the trails around here. It's capable enough to hit the some of the harder stuff at places like Harlan, but still fun at Potts and Uwharrie. I planned it out from the start and built it just like that, which is probably why I've been wheeling it basically unchanged for the past 10yrs (which is almost unheard of in our sport) Also plan from the start if it is going to be a streetable trail rig or a DD that you also wheel, there is a big difference.

IMO, for the wheeling that we have around here a rig on 35-37" tires with a locker or two is as built as you need to go. Anymore than that and the number of 'fun' wheeling places greatly decreases.

[YellowDodgeBrian]

Ok, after taking everything in and doing research, I have decided to go about everthing haphazardly because its the sinking creek way. After riding in Sam's jeep it really showed me how much difference coil overs and a nice suspension makes compared to my stock springs and such so I think Im going to go in the direction of coil overs. I bought a 2.5" leveling kit for the mean time from hell bent steel so i wouldn't need new springs or anything and gave me a little more tire clearance. Im pretty happy with it actually, it will just be temporary though. Thinking about buying Alecs FOA's from him but we will cross that bridge when we get there. In the mean time I have decided to drop even more pussy (and stop grabbing rocks) by changing my exhaust into a hater pipe out the side. Technically, because it is above 2 feet off the ground its illegal but if I really need to I could always get it inspected with some 30" rollers. Anyways, enough reading. Here are some small pictures because photobucket has decided to shit on all of our forum posts.

[YellowDodgeBrian]

Here are some photogenic pictures of my truck.

[BadAssEddie]

don't just go about it haphazardly

I have decided to go about everthing haphazardly

I

You and Wong got the boogerfab side exhaust down-pat. I love it, haha!