I can't call it a build thread so we'll call it a mod thread! I bought this one at a GSA auction last september along with 4 or 5 others. It's a 37k mile 1984 M1028 with a NP208 & limited slip front diff.
I sold all the others but I kept this one as it smokes a little and has some blowby. I didn't want to sell it to someone & have it go down causing tension & hard feelings.
So nothing else to do but start modding it. If you are a purist (leave them stock) you should probably exit & move onto another thread.
First off a friend gave me an old set of rancho 4" front springs so on they went. Then I ordered up a rear shackle flip bracket from ORD and got some cheap pro comp shocks from ebay. Being a 1028 it had the high gvw overloads so I got rid of them & took 4 leaves out of the 56" rear packs leaving the main, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, & 6th (the one with the clamps) leaves and put it all back together with my ORD brackets. I gained +/- 4" on both ends. I did some fender trimming to clear 37" tires and also lowered the bumpstops 2" to keep the fronts out of the back of the inner fenders. The rear shocks had a mounting issue so I cut loose the factory shock mounts and rotated them up the axle tube and reused the stockers. This and a u bolt flip kit from ORD really cleaned up the bottom of the rear axle.
Crazy flex & smooth ride I would recommend highly unless you plan on towing then you might not want to delete those rear leaves.
I had the box off to do the rears so I bobbed 14" out behind the wheels and welded it back together. I think I took about 6" off the end of the frame and built a crossmember out of 6" I beam and mounted up the pintle hich and all the braces to. On a wheelin trip last fall I got down in a tight dry wash & broke both tail lights so I filled them in and put a couple push in oblong sealed beams in.
I had a hydraulic winch laying out back that came off a phone co truck, I think it's a 12K # winch so I made a bracket for the winch & installed it. Plumbed it between the hydro boost & steering sector, very easy & works great.
I had some 17" x 37" MT Baja claws so I got a set of 17" Allied rockathon beadlocks and mounted them up. They lasted a few trips but one had a break that kept leaking so I ebayed a new set of radial Geolander M/Ts & mounted them up, really did well in the snow this winter!
After the lift the push/pull steering was not cutting it at all so I just installed a full ORD crossover/high steer and swapped over to a 2wd steering box with a drop pitman arm. Great mod it steers both ways effortlessly now but I may add hydra assist later.
That kind of sums up where it's at now. I will eventually move my front rear shackle hangers forward 1.5" and slightly up for a better angle. I will be caging it soon also. I also have a new detroit for the front 60 that will go in someday.
I had a very capable rig to start with I only made it better for my intended purpose. Thanks to everyone on this board for your knowledge the reason I don't have much of a post count is I use the SEARCH function and have never yet had to post up a question. The search works and alot of these guys should try it before they post up a question that has been covered repeatedly.
I don't guess I have a before pic but I'm pretty sure you guys know what it looked like!
I sold all the others but I kept this one as it smokes a little and has some blowby. I didn't want to sell it to someone & have it go down causing tension & hard feelings.
So nothing else to do but start modding it. If you are a purist (leave them stock) you should probably exit & move onto another thread.
First off a friend gave me an old set of rancho 4" front springs so on they went. Then I ordered up a rear shackle flip bracket from ORD and got some cheap pro comp shocks from ebay. Being a 1028 it had the high gvw overloads so I got rid of them & took 4 leaves out of the 56" rear packs leaving the main, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, & 6th (the one with the clamps) leaves and put it all back together with my ORD brackets. I gained +/- 4" on both ends. I did some fender trimming to clear 37" tires and also lowered the bumpstops 2" to keep the fronts out of the back of the inner fenders. The rear shocks had a mounting issue so I cut loose the factory shock mounts and rotated them up the axle tube and reused the stockers. This and a u bolt flip kit from ORD really cleaned up the bottom of the rear axle.
Crazy flex & smooth ride I would recommend highly unless you plan on towing then you might not want to delete those rear leaves.
I had the box off to do the rears so I bobbed 14" out behind the wheels and welded it back together. I think I took about 6" off the end of the frame and built a crossmember out of 6" I beam and mounted up the pintle hich and all the braces to. On a wheelin trip last fall I got down in a tight dry wash & broke both tail lights so I filled them in and put a couple push in oblong sealed beams in.
I had a hydraulic winch laying out back that came off a phone co truck, I think it's a 12K # winch so I made a bracket for the winch & installed it. Plumbed it between the hydro boost & steering sector, very easy & works great.
I had some 17" x 37" MT Baja claws so I got a set of 17" Allied rockathon beadlocks and mounted them up. They lasted a few trips but one had a break that kept leaking so I ebayed a new set of radial Geolander M/Ts & mounted them up, really did well in the snow this winter!
After the lift the push/pull steering was not cutting it at all so I just installed a full ORD crossover/high steer and swapped over to a 2wd steering box with a drop pitman arm. Great mod it steers both ways effortlessly now but I may add hydra assist later.
That kind of sums up where it's at now. I will eventually move my front rear shackle hangers forward 1.5" and slightly up for a better angle. I will be caging it soon also. I also have a new detroit for the front 60 that will go in someday.
I had a very capable rig to start with I only made it better for my intended purpose. Thanks to everyone on this board for your knowledge the reason I don't have much of a post count is I use the SEARCH function and have never yet had to post up a question. The search works and alot of these guys should try it before they post up a question that has been covered repeatedly.
I don't guess I have a before pic but I'm pretty sure you guys know what it looked like!
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