CUCV M-1009 Baja Chase/ pit support and Camping Project.

[etech]

Back on track...
it started to get warm here in Blythe ca, so I figured I'd try my hand at window tinting... Well I learned that its best left to the pro and Im not the pro, years of sand and dirt proved to be hard to get the tint on with out some of it creeping up into the tint. but its on and will need to be redone soon but will work for now, which a couple days after I did the tint, I helped my brother in law move and it got a couple deep scratches... oh well...

I also went to B&B auto salvage in 29 palms ca, by the Marine base, and scored a tail gate, window and crank all for 150 bucks.. and the really neat thing is my cucv key works the the lock on the tail gate. Score... so now I can lock it up.

Looking at the cracked dash got old ( see I try not to watch shows like Monk, as I'm afraid he will point out things that I'm missing.. and my ocd will kick in. )
so cleaned it up, and looked in to replacing the dash pad, then when saw the price, I ordered a nice dash mat. I painted the OD green dash flat black and the trim and door panels coyote tan.

next up tires and wheels, I have a friend that had some cadillac escalade 17" wheels but only had 3, which he gave me. Then I found 3 more at a used tire store for 200 bucks, now I have 6, but none fit, correct 6 lug, but too small to pass over my locking hubs up front...

So we chucked them up and bored them out.

Then I tried on 37" bfg krt's, then some 37" projects, and I really liked them, but we can not get great deals on them, so I know we can get great deals on 39" projects, so I got a set mounted, and thought there is no way they will fit, but they did, and the rest is history, tell I mount my 8 lug axles and have to buy new wheels.

[locrwln]

I like what you are doing and look forward to the progress, but man does it ever sound like you are stuffing 10lbs of crap in a 5lb bag.

Good luck.

Jack

[Metcalf]

I dont mind the 8 lug, and I want to keep it a full floater, I'm trying to build this so that almost any one on any budget can replicate it if they so desired, with that said, few car argue that its hard to beat a 14 bolt for cost to strength, they are porky and have a mean lip but the lip can be shaved

I do agree. I have been looking for a 2003 GM 14-bolt with the factory disc brakes ( with internal hat style parking brake ) for my Dodge.

thats great, I think most like them but most think in order to fit them you have to go high, I build race trucks, they are very low, very wide and run huge tires, so I really like that look,

the tire when vertical hits the tail gate and the top of the rear seat do to the rear seat back inclination, and the tail gate will not close, its also only about 2 inches away from the roof of the blazer, when laying down it touches the tailgate and the rear seat, but fits nicely. Im still very much debating on doing a swing out spare tire carrier. don't really want to do it, but the benefits are hard to deny.

your right about this too, but being a engineer its more not to have it but because I can so to speak.. its something I have been wanting to try for some time again simplicity may prevail on this. though I wanted to play with my spring base as to make it so the center of the cab is the softest point of the suspension and not the rear bumper like so many other 4 linked trucks.

I work as am ME too ( but in boring industrial pipeline business ). I understand the drive to constantly improve something. If that is your thing than that is your thing. I will be looking forward to seeing what you do. However, it is a slippery slope and you might always be building and not running. That is generally a shame....

ya, but again its a budget build, at least trying to keep it that way. the Lowrance GPS is a staple and almost a requirement in baja and that was the most expensive part, the icom is a 2200h, and they are not too bad. While the Motorola radios are spendy new, ( about 2500 each, ) we bought a bunch at auction from a sheriff station that was upgrading their equiptment for about 150 bucks each. The speakers are top shelf units, but are no longer made so I got them new in the boxes for about 300 for 4x 4". 2x 6x9's and a 12" sub.

Oh I hear you. Budget. Its hard to write out a list of equipment like that and talk about keeping a budget though.


thanks again, I have been reading the mog and dodge build you have done, very nice. I like old trucks, and really like the idea of building fun rides with not too much cash. anyone can build a truck with tons of cash. Its more of a challenge to me this way. and will be a fun project. any one have any suggestions to add I'm always looking for suggestions.

No problem. The Dodge has exceeded my expectations. I probably only have 6K in the truck now plus LOTS of labor. It does everything I ask of it. The Mog project is still in the 'planning' stage

Keep up the good work. Post some detail photos of the work your doing, not just overall shots of the vehicle. I know I would like to see more of the details.

[tcdent]

I could probably come up with responses to each one of your points, because your project is so similar to the goals I have with my M1009, but I'll just pick one.

You really caught my interest with the airbag suspension idea. I've got similar plans for a front and rear suspension inspired by all of the desert guys I hang out with, but like you, have some different requirements. The front will be pretty straightforward: a 3 or 4 link with a panhard bar on 3.0 coilovers. Because I plan on carrying a varied load (fuel, water, tools, light towing) I want a rear suspension capable of handling it. I'll keep it leaf-sprung (progressive) along with a bell crank setup to carry the airbags and shocks for packaging reasons. I'm not against putting the shocks through the floor, but the largest airbags I can find only pull 11" of travel, so I figure paralleling them on the same structure makes sense. I'd like to get crafty and build a little progression into the ratio, but this is already getting a bit skunkworks.

I'm curious if you've found any desert-oriented trucks with airbag suspensions in your research; I've never seen it. I have seen the sand cars with King shock/airbag combos, but they're not easily available and are most likely outside my budget. Some of the slower-moving guys include removable pins and plates that the airbags whack into when the suspension compresses, but that just won't hold up to speed.

[Metcalf]

What are the true measurements of the 39" project tires? I would have loved to find a cheap set for my Dodge a few months back!

[bob91yj]

I pit with the OP at the BFG pits for the Baja races when my Jeepspeed team isn't actually in the race. I swear some of his repairs in the pits have been so good that we see the same car the next year still running that fix, heheh. I'm on the refueling team, which is close to stupid proof, dump the right flavor of fuel in the right car. The repair guys pull off some miracles, working with next to nothing in the middle of no where.

Our Jeepspeed team gives huge props to the Nelson Racing Services BFG pit crew pit crew in helping us put a broken Jeep back together (we were in an XJ for that race)...front track bar bent, axle shifted over several inches to the passenger side (replace track bar), engine cutting out (diagnose/replace CPS on a hot engine), rear differential leaking (9" third member working loose in the housing), re-aim lights, refuel the car and swap a flat out of the car with a fresh spare, all in less than 45 minutes, at 2 o'clock in the morning... resulting in our '09 Baja 1000 Class Championship.

This is going to be an interesting build to watch. I can't wait to see the project in our pit. I'm sure there will be some out of the box ideas with meticulous workmanship! Knowing the OP and some of the crowd he runs with, I cringe at the thought of all that ugly sleeping together in the back of a Blazer!

[etech]

true measurements of a 39" project depends on quite a few factors. rim, pressure ect.
but they measure 39" tall not on the car with air, and mine have about 50psi in them and about 85% tread and they are right at 38.25" tall mounted to the blazer. they are 13" wide on a 8.5" wide wheel, they also have about 1.25" to 1.5" thick side walls, only Kevlar and steel belting and they appear to be full of air with only 5 psi in them due to the thick side walls they hardly bulge.

I can not say enough how tough they are, and they work for daily drivers too, I got 50K out of a set of 37's on my old 1 ton crewcab. the only real down side to them is the weight, a 35x12.50x15 class one project weighs as much or more then any other 37" tire I have ever weighed. I have a set of 40" goodyears on axis wheels we use for mock up and they are easily 30+/- pounds less then a mounted 39" bfg.

[etech]

I pit with the OP at the BFG pits for the Baja races when my Jeepspeed team isn't actually in the race. I swear some of his repairs in the pits have been so good that we see the same car the next year still running that fix, heheh. I'm on the refueling team, which is close to stupid proof, dump the right flavor of fuel in the right car. The repair guys pull off some miracles, working with next to nothing in the middle of no where.

Thanks Bob, for the complements, I too am amazed at some of the repairs that are done in our pit, and how many of them have held. Some Times for season after season... This is one of the reasons I work with BFG and Nelson Race services, when you work for a team you get to know the car very good, but you only see one way to do it. Working at BFG pits I see up to 200+ cars and teams and how they do it, some ideas are great, some are really really bad.There is no other way in racing to see so much in so little time.

This is going to be an interesting build to watch. I can't wait to see the project in our pit. I'm sure there will be some out of the box ideas with meticulous workmanship! Knowing the OP and some of the crowd he runs with, I cringe at the thought of all that ugly sleeping together in the back of a Blazer!

I hope I can make decent amount of progress on it as to not drag it out too long, and as for all the ugly in the back, Ya your right about that...,

[etech]

I could probably come up with responses to each one of your points, because your project is so similar to the goals I have with my M1009, but I'll just pick one.

I bought a few 3" coil overs to play with but have decided not to use them, they will be better suited on my Bronco build I'm doing, Once that project is done then I will maybe post that one up if people want me to. Its more of a race horse then a bronco.

You really caught my interest with the airbag suspension idea. I've got similar plans for a front and rear suspension inspired by all of the desert guys I hang out with, but like you, have some different requirements. The front will be pretty straightforward: a 3 or 4 link with a panhard bar on 3.0 coilovers. Because I plan on carrying a varied load (fuel, water, tools, light towing) I want a rear suspension capable of handling it. I'll keep it leaf-sprung (progressive) along with a bell crank setup to carry the airbags and shocks for packaging reasons. I'm not against putting the shocks through the floor, but the largest airbags I can find only pull 11" of travel, so I figure paralleling them on the same structure makes sense. I'd like to get crafty and build a little progression into the ratio, but this is already getting a bit skunkworks.

this is very similar to what I had planed. I am thinking something along the lines of a radius arm set up with an adjustable caster bar on the arm with a panhard bar as well, at first I was thinking about long travel and big shocks, but then I quickly pulled my self back to earth, I have driven many long travel trucks and they are not always what I would prefer to take on the street loaded to the teeth with gear, they lean and that can get a little crazy in the corners on tight twisty roads in baja, in a tall, heavy short wheel base blazer. So I will add some travel but keep it mild should be about 12 very Quality inches of travel up front and about 14+/- in the back.

I'm curious if you've found any desert-oriented trucks with airbag suspensions in your research; I've never seen it. I have seen the sand cars with King shock/airbag combos, but they're not easily available and are most likely outside my budget. Some of the slower-moving guys include removable pins and plates that the airbags whack into when the suspension compresses, but that just won't hold up to speed.

Currently other then the Funco buggies that you have talked about above, no one to my knowledge is running them, I have built a couple trucks and crawlers that used bags and have had great luck with them.

The hardest part about running bags is calculating the spring rate of a air bag, We have 2 solutions, one your can do the math and then you have to find a bag with those dimensions, this is very very hard, not the math, but finding the bag that fits your specs.

The other is a bit of a trade off between proper math and Just making the best of it, mount the bag with an arm and a adjustable link so you can play with pressures and then set the correct ride height with the link by making it longer and or shorter. As for bag travel, 11" is huge, they can handle a lot and feel free to increase your leverage ratio, I too do not want to go through the body, so If i go this route then I will be making a leverage system as well. if I just run leafs with a good shock I will mount them on a bell crank for the rear as to not make any more holes in the body that dust can creep into. If you run bags and want them to last, just do not let them touch anything.

sounds like were on the same basic page with our builds.

[Master-Pull]

I pit with the OP at the BFG pits for the Baja races when my Jeepspeed team isn't actually in the race. I swear some of his repairs in the pits have been so good that we see the same car the next year still running that fix, heheh. I'm on the refueling team, which is close to stupid proof, dump the right flavor of fuel in the right car.

OT for a minute.

Last year in Baja we had a diesel powered H1 Alpha racing. During our briefings we (the pit crews) were told to get to the fuel guys before the rig pulled in and tell them a few things (word for word off the powerpoint):

Tell them that 861 takes diesel.
Tell them again that 861 takes diesel.
Tell the mother f******* that 861 takes diesel.

I think the BFG guys hated us when we told them three times, then the driver came in shouting at them for diesel.

-Alex