AJ's '72 Cruiser Crawler Build

[AJs72K5]

Originally Posted by Yukon Jack

A before and after pic will be fun when you are done.

Was already planning on doing that. To most, the changes will be subtle. But for those in the know, like everyone here, they should be pretty significant.

[jaros44sr]

JMHO for what it's worth, your mods. look and function way better than the PO's...beefy, beefy. Gotta say, tho, that front bumper did look kinda cool from a function stand point. Also your paint is growing on me, not to outlandish anymore. I guess I'm getting used to it One of the nicer trucks on the board

[AJs72K5]

Shocks came in today. Bilstein 5125s. 14" travel. Pretty dang close to 34" uncompressed according to my measuring person.

[72Levi]

I like it at the 6" lift better than 10". Great job! Looking good.

[Critter]

I'm ready to take a ride and see how those springs feel. I have a feeling you will be VERY happy with them. What brand of 35-inch tire are you running? The tread looks like a ProComp but I could be wrong. By the way, you have an adorable little "ruler" helping you with those shocks.

[AJs72K5]

I'm gonna be running the new Procomp Extreme ATs.

[BLUE THUNDER]

Awsome progress, can't wait to take a ride in it as well. February has come and gone and i've made little progress on mine. The latest speed bump is the oil pan doesnt clear the xmember. P.I.T.A. Oh well, soon ol' yeller will have a new parking space. Not to worry, I'm not selling it, just bought a house with an oversized garage. Plenty of space and lighting. Later, Mario.

[AJs72K5]

It was a crazy week getting the truck ready for the 4WP March Madness par-tay and shown-n-shine today. Lots of late nights this week. But we made it. The Blazer took 1st place in 4x4 Street Class and 1st place in People's Choice

Here's how the truck sits today:


Still need to get the body lift pulled, and put in the front shock towers and shocks. I also think I'm gonna put a cross member in the rear and inboard my rear shocks.

[Big J]

It looked good before but now it totally kicks A##.... Great job! Congrats on the wins.....

[Jtrux]

Originally Posted by AJs72K5

It was a crazy week getting the truck ready for the 4WP March Madness par-tay and shown-n-shine today. Lots of late nights this week. But we made it. The Blazer took 1st place in 4x4 Street Class and 1st place in People's Choice

It's a damn good thing mine wasn't there or those trophies would be on my shelf!

[Critter]

Originally Posted by Jtrux

It's a damn good thing mine wasn't there or those trophies would be on my shelf!

The only way those trophys would be on your shelf is if you stole them from AJ!

AJ, I like the new look. By the grin on your face and the trophys on you hood, I would say you are pretty happy with the results.

[AJs72K5]

Wow. Been a long time since I've updated the build thread on this site. It was getting to be too much to maintain the build on 3 forums. So, I let 2 of the build threads lapse.

I've done a few things to the truck since my last update:
Pulled the 2" square tubing body lift out. Realigned all of the body panels...now the paint graphics are misaligned...but it'll get repainted eventually...the hood still needs a little tweaking. Fabbed up some new seat anchors...every single one was stripped. The seats were held to the body with fender washers. Ran new tailpipes from the mufflers back. Put on some F*rd shock towers and the Bilstein front shocks. Put in a 4 wheel disc prop valve. Killed the drivetrain. Put in a 1 ton booster and master cylinder and all new (rebuilt) calipers.

Here's how the truck most recently looked:


I'm bringing this back up to the top, cuz some really cool stuff is about to start. Here's a teaser pic:


More to come soon!

[BLUE THUNDER]

dude, when are we going for a test ride? I anxious to see how the alcans feel on the road. Later Mario.

[AJs72K5]

I still have to finish getting the shocks set up. I haven't even put the Bilsteins on the front yet, and I'm going to change how I mounted the rear shocks. Besides...you still need to get your stuff running.

[Jtrux]

Originally Posted by AJs72K5

Besides...you still need to get your stuff running.

[BLUE THUNDER]

Dude, where did you get your tranny? I got the motor in and running but the tranny doesn't work. Critter is gonna help me out w/ the rebuild. I'm almost ready to get it out on the street. Lookin great dude. Later, Mario

[AJs72K5]

Tranny is a Monster Transmission's SS Mega Monster 700r4...built for 650HP I also order a fully rebuilt NP241 from them. They replace just about everything except the case and use Morse chains.

I managed to get a lot of good "shop time" in this weekend. All of the major pieces are on hand and I started prepping for the install. First order of business was to unwrap all the hardware:

700r4


NP241


JB conversions SYE...found it on ebay NIB for $200!! Corrects the major weakness of the NP241.


Next step was to finish all the plumbing on the brake system upgrades I'd been working on. I got the master cylinder lines bent and installed. Now I just need to bleed the system.


This next pic may seem a little out of order. But, there's a method to the madness. Installed some diff armor from Ruffstuff...D44 front cover, 14FF rear cover and a diff cover bracket for the rear brake line splitter.


Installed the rear cover and bracket and rebent my lines since they're centered on the diff cover now


It was time to tackle the the 241 and the SYE. Now, I've always been the guy who liked to take things apart to see how they worked. But, it was a little scary to think about splitting open my brand new 241 and tear it apart. No fear!! Must make progress. Propped it up on some of the packing foam and started.


HOLY @#$%!!!! Completely torn down. Looks like the tcase vomited all over the floor.


Almost finished assembly. Dinner called so it was time call it a day and go home. All that's left is to do on the 241 is button up the case and put the speedo housing back on.


More to come in the next few days.

[Big J]

Lookin' good. Keep it up.

[BLUE THUNDER]

Dude that looks awesome. one question, why the 241. I think these were on the Dodge ram chargers back in the 70's. I don't know what other rigs they were on. If i'm not mistaken, those are pretty stout for chain driven t-cases. The 700r4 is def something I want to do way up the road. Right now the th350 is gonna get rebuilt. I'm also ready to buy my shocks. You have the 5100's right? How do they ride? Where did you get yours? Online or 4wp? Let me know. Later, Mario

[vtblazer]

241's also came in a lot of chevy trucks, lighter than the 205 with a better 1st gear ratio.

I'm going to run the same drive train as AJ is, still looking for my SYE.

Good timing AJ, I can watch/learn from this thread before I tackle my own, thanks.

[Yukon Jack]

I'm diggin' the diff covers - stout!

[jaros44sr]

Impressive!!, are the 241's drivers side drop?

[Jtrux]

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

Impressive!!, are the 241's drivers side drop?

They came in early 90's suburbans and blazers with a passengers drop.

[AJs72K5]

Originally Posted by Yukon Jack

I'm diggin' the diff covers - stout!

They're super stout. The 14FF cover weighs a ton.

Originally Posted by Jtrux

They came in early 90's suburbans and blazers with a passengers drop.

241's came in both a driver's drop and a passenger drop. For a GM solid front axle, you need a passenger drop. GM went to a driver's drop when they switched to IFS.

[jaros44sr]

Originally Posted by Jtrux

They came in early 90's suburbans and blazers with a passengers drop.

Originally Posted by AJs72K5

They're super stout. The 14FF cover weighs a ton.



241's came in both a driver's drop and a passenger drop. For a GM solid front axle, you need a passenger drop. GM went to a driver's drop when they switched to IFS.

For some reason I had it in my head that you need a drivers side drop to go with the 700R, but it looks like you can go either way. Nice build and thanks for the info