89 SFA buildup for rocks

[Donahue]

ok, i've been working on this like every night. i got a rear mount to support the doubler behind the rear output of the second case. i got my shifters all buttoned up for the doubler, using two stock shifters. im working on redoing the front crossmember (the trans crossmember that is) to clear the driveshaft. i think it will be going under the driveshaft still, just farther back and a smaller tube. soon i will be making a belly skid for it going from the trans crossmember back to the 4 link crossmember, protecting all my aluminum cases from the rocks. i pressed in 4 new ball joints in my front knuckles and will be assembling the front axle to the point that i can put tires on it so i can roll it out of the garage. i went to check things with the front driveline. i had a stock driveline out of an IFS full size, that didnt have enough angle in it even with my longer than normal driveshaft. i also happened to have a chevy cv shaft with the same 241 flange, and that had even less angle than the single u-joint one. then we pulled out a toyota driveline, and i have to say i was blown away by how much angle it could support. between the two ends, it looked like it would do a 60*+ angle though that could just be my eyes exaggerating. anyways, we are going to be making a hybrid drivline using the toy end at the t-case side, and the stock s10 driveshaft at the pinion end because it basically has a straight shot to the t-case yoke. it will be a square tube driveshaft as well.

i've got a lot of small stuff ahead of me, but i need to get it done. this thing is scheduled to run the rubicon the week of the 4th of july. hopefully i can get the chassis out of the garage tomorrow, and the body on by next weekend. i've got three weeks from today before we leave to go to the rubicon.

and on a side note, if any cali boys want to meet up, we'll be on the trail the 29th through the 3rd. the guys from sky's off road design will be there too, along with a bunch of other people we know from our area.

[BigBenBlazer]

What years s-10/blazer will this kit work on? Cause i want one for my 2000 Blazer...

[ChrisInVT]

If you made a similar coil setup for the front, I'd rock that on my truck

[Donahue]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChrisInVT

If you made a similar coil setup for the front, I'd rock that on my truck

that was just a prototype setup, we will see how well it works. if it works well, we will probably be making them.

Quote: Originally Posted by BigBenBlazer

What years s-10/blazer will this kit work on? Cause i want one for my 2000 Blazer...

im not 100% sure yet. i can say that we will be making kits that fit most s10's if this doesnt.

[redteamgo2000]

any idea when this kit will go into public purchase mode? i got a buddy that is wanting to rock out with your kit. just give me the low down on a time line to look for this beast. also any idea on a ballpark price at this point? your fab skills are beyond amazing, keep up the awesome work subscribed

[Donahue]

Quote: Originally Posted by redteamgo2000

any idea when this kit will go into public purchase mode? i got a buddy that is wanting to rock out with your kit. just give me the low down on a time line to look for this beast. also any idea on a ballpark price at this point? your fab skills are beyond amazing, keep up the awesome work subscribed

it should be sometime after this trip we have coming up. unfortunately its still too early to nail down a price or date because i wouldnt want to disappoint and have to change either by the time it came out.

[Donahue]

it was time to kick ass and chew bubble gum, but i was all out of gum.

Where to start…

The countdown is on, and we need to get this truck done so we can get our company into the next phase of our business. I know all people really want to see is the pictures, so here they are.

The rear support for the second t-case




i got my front square driveline made, the diff side yoke is from the stock s10 shaft, the t-case side yoke is from a toyota driveshaft. i had to cut the flange off a chevy cv driveshaft and weld the toyota yoke to it so it would bolt to the 241. the pieces of tube were 2x2x.25 and 2.5x2.5x.25.





you can see in this pic why i needed the toy part of the driveline


the new removable trans crossmember. i ended up making one that still went under the driveshaft, because it would have been near impossible to bend a tube that would clear the shifting linkage.




then, finally, the s10 made it out of the garage. the chassis is 90% done, i am just tying up loose ends. and just for kicks, i did a little flex test. it did moderately well, but i suspect it will do much better with the weight of the body on it.






i noticed the drivers side shackle was past vertical, i may need to move it up a notch.

[GeorgesBlazah]

Sweet!

Any reason for the square shaft? What benefits does that have over a regular one? Excuse my n00bness.

[Donahue]

Quote: Originally Posted by GeorgesBlazah

Sweet!

Any reason for the square shaft? What benifits does that have over a regular one? Excuse my n00bness.

unbreakable, and it has about 30" of slip

[Donahue]

today i will be finishing up the shocks mounts. i've got the rears done, but i need to mock up the fronts. i will also be finishing up my new exhaust system. the old one was in the way of the front driveline on compression and i didnt like how low the crossover pipe was. so i went ultra cheap and easy. it now has true duals with glasspacks, and they dump out before the 4 link crossmember. if i am lucky i might even get paint on by tonight, though more likely tomorrow or the next day.

[Donahue]

i also got my steering linkage all done up. all i am waiting on now for that is the correct steering box. the behind the axle steering really looks good now that it is on the axle.

[greencactus3]

looks damn good!

[mbord79]

Looks great man. You are talented!

[Donahue]

well, the chassis is done as far as i can tell for the fabrication end of things. i lucked out and was able to use the stock upper shock mounts both front and rear.

i pulled the axles and suspension out, and we put together the front axle.

[Merritt]

Quote: Originally Posted by mbord79

Looks great man. You are talented!

x2, great work man

[Baggey22]

What's the best way to make a square drive shaft? I've been thinking about going in that direction with my truck.
Also advantages/disadvantages?

[ChrisInVT]

Just like Donahue did

Biggest disadvantage to a square driveshaft is that it won't balance for shit. If you're driving on the road at all, It would be a very shaky ride.

[Donahue]

the biggest advantage to a square driveshaft is the amount of slip it can give you. i've probably got in the neighborhood of 30" of slip. the next biggest advantage is strength. where the pieces slip inside of each other, its 1/2" thick. the other benefit is cost. i've got maybe $50 if that in my driveline.

the disadvantages are just like chris said, they wont balance for crap. if you want to drive it on the street, you must have an axle with lockout hubs. i was going to run drive flanges to get rid of my hubs, but i choose not to so i could run this driveshaft.

[Tim99Zr2]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChrisInVT

Just like Donahue did

Biggest disadvantage to a square driveshaft is that it won't balance for shit. If you're driving on the road at all, It would be a very shaky ride.

which doesnt matter in our case. we can disconnect our front axle, so on the road it wont turn

[ChrisInVT]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tim99Zr2

which doesnt matter in our case. we can disconnect our front axle, so on the road it wont turn

That's why building a front driveshaft out of square tubing is a no-brainer! The rear driveshaft, well that would be different. No disconnecting that on the highway

[Donahue]

huge progress

long story short, we got the body on today and fired it up. it still runs great, but its hella loud now because of the exhaust. anyways, i will let the pictures do most of the talking, but i will say that compared to the stock 87 blazer we have, its sitting at about 10-12" of lift right now. it's taller than what i wanted, but its about the best (lowest) i can get without making a home brew spring pack for the front. as for wheel base, its at 107, about 2" back on the rear and 4.5" forward on the front over stock. it has 30.5" of ground clearance under the frame.


new "low clearance" engine crossmember. it clears the pan, and the steering linkage




how i mounted the front shocks. notice they are the stock upper mounts




the rear shocks



a crossmember i added to brace the coil buckets, plus it gives me a place to use a limit chain and inboard my shocks at a later date.


the new exhaust system. true duals, and some low dollar glasspacks


added the O2 sensor back in (for now...)


how much i cut out of the floor pan to avoid a body lift. the second t-case didnt clear the floor.


now the good stuff







reference shot, i'm on the far right, and i'm 5'10"



this is how much my tires stick out, and no i'm not going to use a fender flair.


just playing around. had to teach the GF what articulation was, and we needed an example.

[Donahue]

and one more for comparison. new vs old

[project87sdime]

damn looking mighty good..havent checked in the thread in along time.. keep it up.. glad to add my shackles are still straight and issue free...

[Donahue]

Quote: Originally Posted by project87sdime

damn looking mighty good..havent checked in the thread in along time.. keep it up.. glad to add my shackles are still straight and issue free...

sweet!

[Baggey22]

Are you concerned at all with the length of your front leaf springs? It looks like the shackles may affect your break over angle and hit stuff if you go over something.

[DieselS10]

Looks good, that thing is gonna be a beast in the rocks! It did get taller than I was expecting also, I have to put aot of air in mt bags to get that much frame clearance.

[greencactus3]

musta been a lot harder to put the body on a monster truck than on a droppedtruck lol

[Donahue]

Quote: Originally Posted by Baggey22

Are you concerned at all with the length of your front leaf springs? It looks like the shackles may affect your break over angle and hit stuff if you go over something.

i am going to kick the shackles forward one more hole, but other than that, no im not concerned. sometimes thats just the nature of a leaf front truck. you have to remember, i would have to hit a rock just right to have an issue, especially with the short wheel base.

[ChrisInVT]

Pics of said girlfriend?

(hey, it had to be said)


That thing looks awesome! How does the boat anchor 2.8 sound with true duals and glasspacks? Must sound like a lawnmower

[Donahue]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChrisInVT

Pics of said girlfriend?

(hey, it had to be said)


That thing looks awesome! How does the boat anchor 2.8 sound with true duals and glasspacks? Must sound like a lawnmower

sounds like a raped ape, its almost too obnoxious.

[Merritt]

looks awesome, now finish it up so we can see some wheeling pics

[85S10Project]

looks like its coming right along. how much longer until you get to test it out?
If you want the glasspacks to be more tammed you'll have to run pipes to the back of the truck. I have them on my 2.8s and the one that dumps in front of the rears is alot loader than the one that dumps out behind the rear tires.

[ChrisInVT]

Quote: Originally Posted by Donahue

sounds like a raped ape, its almost too obnoxious.

A raped ape, eh? Hmmm...

I think we need a sound clip

[Tim99Zr2]

looks great donahue! nicely done

[Donahue]

well, this thing keeps getting closer and closer to being done. it is now "drivable", at least mechanically. it still needs a few things, but its coming along just fine. we finally got paint on it, i love the way it looks now. i also took it out for a flex test, and i was really surprised at what it would do. the good stuff is on video and is uploading as we speak.

[Donahue]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgwGTYAEfmU

[coloRADo_S10]

Quote: Originally Posted by Donahue

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgwGTYAEfmU

That was awesome! You sir are a genius!

[19914x4blazer]

looks good glad to see how far you have come

[wrekd]

Looks good. What size tires are you running?

[mbord79]

that's fricken sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DieselS10]

Seeing it all grown up like that almost makes me want to cry! Nice job! Now we had better be seeing some action shots and videos.

[ChrisInVT]

Sweet, another ODG 1st gen!

[Donahue]

Quote: Originally Posted by wrekd

Looks good. What size tires are you running?

[Donahue]

i made a swing down spare tire carrier that doubles as a high lift jack mount. also did up a little tube work in front last minute. she's pretty much ready to pack up and hit the trails. i just need to make some simple sliders today and we hit the road.

new rear tire mount




new front bumper with integrated fairlead


and the money shot

[greencactus3]

you need a bigger bumper

[Tim99Zr2]

awesome man, i love it

[Donahue]

Quote: Originally Posted by greencactus3

you need a bigger bumper

some times, less is more

[greencactus3]

Quote: Originally Posted by Donahue

some times, less is more

your gf doesnt buy it

[BlownDime]

Quote: Originally Posted by greencactus3

your gf doesnt buy it

[Tim99Zr2]

Quote: Originally Posted by greencactus3

your gf doesnt buy it

buuuuuurn