anybody else confused?

[1FaastC10]

i've come to a point in my project K10/K30 that i think i am going to change directions. after seeing how comparably sized and equipped rigs did in this year's Real Truck Club Challenge last weekend, i have to say i'm less than impressed. i have wheeled with full size rigs before, and as for how they handle the trail, when compared to other fullsize rigs, they do great. when you compare them to Jeeps and other smaller more lightweight rigs, their capability is a joke. ideally, i'll be looking for something along the lines of a Jeep CJ8, or a newer extended cab shortbox S10/Sonoma.

as for my project, i'm still going to go through with it, but on a less hardcore level. rather than a custom front suspension setup i'm just going to use standard lift springs. my previously planned 38.5" x 16" wide tires shrunk to 35 x 12.50s, and my 1 ton axles will be nixed in favor of 3/4 ton units. i'm even contemplating putting the AC and Cruise control back together, and adding power locks and windows. of course the body work will get finished in a proper manner, and evreything will be done right.

has anyone else had a change of heart once they were this far into a project?

[Captkaos]

Wanna buy a Jeep TJ then? 1997, inline6, D44 rear, fr/rr ARB lockers, full rollcage, 33x14.00 Boggers $11K for EVERYTHING....

[Destructo]

Thats part of the reason I bought my 87 suzuki samurai, their almost too short though and a lot of people extend them some for running bigger tires.

But you put some 33's on stock axles and you can go almost anywhere.

I have 10" of clearance under my zuke axles with worn out 31" radial tires, thats the same amount of clearance the front 10 bolt in my chevy has with new 33" tires.

[plumbcut]

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s....php3?t=116070

[Destructo]

thats why my little samurai with 31" tires is just as capable as a full-size rig on 35-37" tires. Short wheelbase basically means you don't need as big a tire.

But the only problem with the samurai is you need lots of gearing for the stock 1.3L 64HP motor. With stocking gearing and 31's the motor don't hardly have enough power to take a tire up a straight rock face.

Jeep TJs are very nice though with an inline 6 that has plenty of torque, but they are expensive and can't be bought very cheap for a trail rig.

But yeah, i'm ALWAYS changing my mind, ask any of my friends or family, my mind moves a million miles an hour about stuff like that.

[1FaastC10]

Originally Posted by plumbcut

as for the suzuki/jeep thing- i dont understand whats the point of going "anywhere"-- slowly?

There is no fun it in unless you have enough manliness under your right foot to break u-joints, burn tires, pull out fords (UPHILL), etc...

"capability" is a vague, relative term. Whats so capable about a S10? Its smaller and lighter and has a decent power to weight ratio. Too many people put huge tires on their fullsize thinking that it will help them perform better. Most of the time they're wrong. Ive said it and stressed it SO many times- the whole package has to work. Have you ever seen what a stock 4WD toyota pickup will do offroad? With out even airing down the tires, they will put a whoopin on SO many custom rigs, its almost embarassing. You think that there is something toyota knows that most rednecks dont? you better freaking beleive they know something. they got their entire combination right. springs, shocks, tires, gearing, power to weight, wheelbase, etc. Dont ever underestimate the capability of ANY smaller (built) truck. These days it seems that testosterone gets the best of a lot of guys that want an offroad truck.. YEAH big tires big engine lets do this! nahh theyve got it all wrong. HUGE tires are great for mudbogs, and a waste of time for somebody trying to truely build a "capable" offroad truck.

i'm going to pretend i didnt just read that. if you're going to insult my "manliness" because i'm not a throttle jockey, and trash my rig every weekend, you might want to come up with some better points than that. regardless of what you think, big tires actually do increase the capability of an offroad truck. ever try to roll over and obstacle with a 31" tire, and then try the same obstacle with a 40" tire? the 40" tire will make quick work of most things the 31" will struggle with, regardless of what else is done to the truck. i'm not talking about mud bashing here either, as any throttle jockey can do that. i'm talking about trail riding and crawling. such offroad activities put the vehicle in situations where they are severly off camber, or on a steep incline. the purpose for the smaller rig is to shed weight, and shed it where its important, up high. the higher the CG, the more likely the rig is to roll. if i top my rig with an S10 body, its significantly lighter than a K10 body, so the CG moves downward, creating a more stable rig. also with the smaller body, it is narrower, so it negotiates tight trails better. i didnt ask for a rig building seminar, as i already know quite a bit. hell, i helped design and build a Real Truck Challenge competitive rig. what i asked for was if someone had been in a similar situation than mine.

[Destructo]

I know of a guy pretty close to me who put a S10 body on a K5 frame and drivetrain.

Hes running 38.5" tires on 10 bolt or D44 front and a 12 bolt rear.

He twisted the pumpkin on the 12 bolt one time, now he has a new one welded all the way around, managed to break every spring in the passenger side leaf pack except the top leaf which was bent. Lets just say it was fun getting it off the trail. We actually got the pumpkin back down rigging a winch up and using another vehicle (my chevy) as an anchor to twist it back down and then rigged the springs up on the passenger side to limp it off the trail. This guy actually drove the rig home about 1 hour away too, hes crazy.

[1969 GMC]

Dude, I remembered back when my truck ran that I actually wanted to attempt to do bodywork to it, and I was actually considering using BFG A/T's :p

Then along came the $150 dana 60 front at the jy...

Now my plans have changed significantly, and since my truck is dead and I have another DD car, I have more free time to plan, save up for, and work on it. I would say just slap an S10 body on it but I just donlt like how they look.

Just get ready to bash the living hell out of it!

[Destructo]

http://www.nc4x4.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?t=8442

Here ya go, this guys truck is pretty cool and he doesn't seem to care what happens to it at all. But the S10 body on the K5 chassis seems to be pretty cool.

[bagged81]

Originally Posted by 1FaastC10

has anyone else had a change of heart once they were this far into a project?

Of course. I was in the middle of, actually almost done, with a car project and I just could not seem to get on the down hill side of the problems. I had to replace the clutch 2 times in 5k miles. Then it broke another clutch disc and instead of replacing it again, I took it all apart. The motor was freshly rebuilt but use a little more oil than I would have liked for it to. It all sucked, so I parted it all out and I dont regret it at all. I think that I just bit off more than i could chew at one time. The future will hold bigger and better projects.

Originally Posted by Destructo

http://www.nc4x4.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?t=8442

That looks like a lot of fun.

[8t5Silverado]

Uh, I just removed my new Western Chassis drop spindles and springs and replaced them with stock spindles and HD lift coils. I am planning on restoring my truck to stock and adding some 31s or 32s. So, yeah, i have changed my plans considerably.

I may not have as much invested as you do, but...don't go all out on this project just because you wanted to at one time.

[Jonboy]

how about a Suzuki with a Buick V6? Decent power, small package, and should be pretty cheap. A stock carbed V6 would do wonders in the power department, and I think there are tons of adapters out there. I don't care for the looks of the S10 body swap either, but that's just me.

Around here, CJ8's are just too expensive, especially to make a trail rig out of. 4 wheel and off road mag built up a sweet one years ago, and bobbed it front and rear. Prices on jeeps have gone out of sight lately, though. Good thing I am too fat to get in one, or I might want one

[cliffsta]

well since im a mere high school student with no time for a job, i don't get to buy things too often. this just gives me more time to change my mind. i went from wanting a 2/4 drop, to just a 1/3 drop, then not wanting a drop, and now im thinking 2/4 again. And lets not talk interior.....
changing your mind is not wrong at all. just don't lose site of your goal, that is, unless your goal changes.

[Destructo]

Originally Posted by cliffsta

well since im a mere high school student with no time for a job, i don't get to buy things too often. this just gives me more time to change my mind. i went from wanting a 2/4 drop, to just a 1/3 drop, then not wanting a drop, and now im thinking 2/4 again. And lets not talk interior.....
changing your mind is not wrong at all. just don't lose site of your goal, that is, unless your goal changes.

I'm in college and don't have tons of money either, so my mind changes about stuff a lot, I don't think I ever make plans for anything because they would just change by the next day.

[patgizz]

i sunk $12,000 into building my camaro the way i wanted it, only at the end of the 4+ years of building it to realize that it was what i wanted 4 years ago, not now. i parted it out after nobody would buy it whole for even $2500.

[cliffsta]

my bud has a 90 toyota tercel, but his dad just bought a 87 bronco 2 fully loaded he is giving to my bud (i hate rich people ). but my friend can't make up his mind what he wants to do. right now he is saving up to get it painted orange with green flake (uggggghhh ) But it doesn't matter what you or me think of what someone does with their vehicle; if it makes them happy then it should make us happy.

[Destructo]

I worked my arse off for my first truck (a old beat up 83 GMC C1500), nobody ever gave me anything, my parents did help pay for a new set of tires for it though because the old ones were 3 different kinds and dry rotted. But nobody ever gave me a vehicle. I did have a vehicle to drive though, but it was not MINE, I had a fully loaded 89 Jeep Cherokee to drive, now my little brother will be driving it, damn things last forever! 245k miles and still going strong!