so it all started yesterday

[Rat33pickmup]

sorry about your Buddy LFE, I totally understand losing my Puppies ( Torq is 7 and should live till 15ish and I still call him my Puppy) I Lost my almost 13yo Dobi/Rotti early 2004 ( also my oldest son same time but thats another story) and I still have pictures up of him. Duffy was the greatest Puppie I ever had when my Daughter was a toddler she would dress him up and he would look at me with them "sad eyes" he also was attacked by a Cougar (mountain lion) and won, cost $600+ and 36 stitches in his left should and he was 7yo then but I still miss him. So just keep the Memory going.

Jim

 

[35Mastr]

I would also like to see some more of this build.Its all starting to come together and looking good also.

 

[joehalford01]

that's hardcore to kick a cougars butt. My basset would roll over and die , i still love her though. Zeus on the other hand (boxer) is the meanest dog i've ever had, i can't let him near our cats or any other dogs besides brodie because all he wants to do is fight. I'm still working on him but he just dosn't think when he sees red.

 

[Rat33pickmup]

Joe, thats not a good thing. and here are some pics of a lil work today, its noon and I have been working a lil on it, gonna build the brackest to mount the bed later today. Thanks everyone it might not look great at this moment because I have lots of Diamonds, gussets, brackets then its take it all apart and finish weldin stuff and grinding and maybe some OD Grren paint and CAT Yellow wheels and engine.


Jim

 

[Rat33pickmup]

more pics .........................

 

[Rat33pickmup]

and you can see all the leaves from my Maple tree thats gonna be GONE next year. here is my kindasorta Garage and also a pic of the Inspector
Jim

 

[Onequick26]

Lookin' good Jim..Your more of a man than I working outside in this crap,Lol..

 

[Rat33pickmup]

Oliver, I'm from the west side and this stuff doesnt bother me and I dont mind the cold its the Hot where I would rather sit around in. I can take the cold and to let ya know I was in Jeans and Tshirt all day it was BEAUTIFUL. Got most of the floor frame for the cab build just have to figure out how to bend my tubing to make the trans tunnel, i'll have pics of that tomorrow.


Jim

 

[Rat33pickmup]

Don, I fell in love with the 32-4s in 1983 when we went to a show in Yakima Washinton with my Dads 49 chevy coupe and we seen a Hugger orange Fenderless 34 chopped and chanelled and shortened bed that I fell in love with ( I was 13) @ in 1992 a friend offered me the Cab I have for $100 it sat in a ditch in my home town from 1958 till I picked it up in 1992. This is the 3rd time puting it together, the other 2 I hated the stance, look and everything about it and this time its fitting what I wanted in the first place only difference is in sheet metal is I built the bed and sold the A-Bone bed I originally had for it. Tell you Boy to get that RPU and the Cdan done and get to it.

Jim

 

[Mr.Gussett]

Your rear axle from a tracker,was it an auto or manual tracker!
Reason I'm asking is the auto trackers have 4:62 gears and the manual trackers have 5:12.
You might already know that though?

 

[Rat33pickmup]

thanks Mr and I did know it, its from an Auto Suzuki Sidekick and I am running TALL tires with the Yota 4 banger and 5 speed, should be just perfect. Truck should only be about 1500 pounds. Thanks for the info also and it seems when I checked this rear out it had 4.11s or 4.12s but not positive.

Jim

 

[luckyfasteddie]

Questions

Thanks for the kind words guys , its amazing how attached we become to our 4 legged friends. As my son and I were talking we remarked on how those old time trappers who went out for many many months , took a dog not a woman. Couple of questions for you Jim. My rig weighs over 3000 lbs and I keep adding weight,you on the other hand are shooting for 1500 lbs. Reason ? When in planning stage I considered 1/4 eliptical springs to get the front axle out there, but realized as I was building my frame I could put wheels out there by extending my frame. I never had to consider the rear springs cause that all came with my engine. Was space a consideration in using them , I had talked to the guys at Posies about them as they had put them on a magazine car. They said dont use them on the front as they had problems with them. How will you control the side to side movement ? Keep info and pics coming . Comic book style works for me too. Do you old guys remember doing a book report from reading the story in classic comics.?LFE

 

[Rat33pickmup]

LFE, When I originally built the truck about 13 years ago it weighed 1780 w/ a 400 Pontiac and th400 in it now it has the 3TC Hemi toyota 4 Banger and all but the Block, crank, rods and valvetrain is aluminum, and with all the fluids most likely (with trans) is about the 400 pound mark so thats why the truck is gonna be in the 1500 pound range. Also it is bare assentials for the build there will be nothing that isnt needed going in it, Upholstery will be bare bones and I will build the seats and all the door mecanizms. As for the front with the 1/4 elliptics a friend has been running them on the front of his A Cdan for about 10 years now, with a panard bar it cant move side to side. I have also talked to guys at shows for last 2 years and only 1 guy outta MANY has had problems only because he had the Bars and elliptics to narrow and had axle distorsion. Finally I went with the 1/4s on mine because it looked way better than Coil springs and I didnt have a Buggy spring for either end.

Jim

 

[luckyfasteddie]

Answers

Glad to hear that about the front 1/4 elips, dont know if there will ever be a next one coming out of my garage , but I have always liked the different look of 1/4's. put them on a open fendered veh with no radiator or grill and they would be a talking point for sure. Well buggy springs look cool but I'm sure 1/4's will give a much better ride.LFE

 

[pablo]

Hey Rat, I feel your pain, I went from an 1800 SQ ft shop to a one car garage. I was feeling a little sorry for myself until i saw your car port set up, and I know that it is colder in Spokane then in the Dry Cities. You are doing a great job and i salute your dedication. Hopefully I will have a chance to drive my truck to Spokane to grab a beer with you some time this summer.

Pablo