Build Thread The Lobster, DaneJa's overlanding build

[DaneJa]

I got around to removing the thimble from the winch rope tonight. Unfortunately I did have to cut it out since Warn used a loop thimble and I had already secured the rope to the drum which was a PITA I don't care to repeat. Once I cut it out I spliced an eye into the rope with a brummel splice. Yankum Ropes has a good video on how to do this when you can't pull the long end of the rope through your splice. If the long end of the rope is free there's another method that's slightly easier since you don't have to pull a doubled end of the rope through the weave. Either way it's a simple process and good practice for a trail-side broken rope splice that doesn't compromise strength.

 

[DaneJa]

I'm now hearing second-hand that the Grenadier project is on the "backburner" at 74Weld. They haven't been replying to my inquiries via email or phone, so I'm about ready to drop it. I may have to talk to Jay Couch again about his portals but I would really rather swap the axles. I'm pretty sure I'll be putting his front bumper on.


I have figured out my plan for the suspension working with Ben at Filthy Motorsports in Boulder.

I'm very close to my bump stops and really need to get some springs on. The Silenus roof conversion will net +285 lbs and the truck is pretty fat already at 7620 lbs with full tanks and my typical load; 3520 lbs front axle, 4100 rear. I'm aiming for a 1.5-2" lift over OEM when settled under weight. In order to get there we'll try the 2.5" lift Eibach springs (E30-34-001-06-20) in front as the only HD front springs are probably too much. In the rear hopefully the HD 2.5" (E30-34-001-06-02), aka "500 lbs", springs will do the trick. In reading others' experiences it seems like the 1000 lbs springs may be a bit much, but I'll switch to those if the 500s don't cut it. --EDIT: I switched to the 1000 lbs springs after ADVAW8S gave me some great info on his 500 lbs springs below.--

I looked at doing something interesting like cutting the upper shock mounts out to try and get more travel, but it would require some significant redesign to get any meaningful travel without just extending the bump stops far down. The rear shock body mount isn't far below the rear cargo floor and I don't want to protrude into that. In front the steering shaft and air box aren't far above the mounts. The OEM shocks get something like 8-9" of travel. Ben is working up some custom King 2.5 10" shocks, which will be good enough if tuned well and he's one of the best in the world at it. I also ordered the Agile Offroad remote res relocation bracket for rear left since I have the aux fuel tank.

I'm also considering getting the beefier Eibach anti-sway bar and adding some disconnects. SDI makes universal electric disconnects they call ELink that are looking very attractive. Knowing myself, if I install the Metal Cloak disconnects I'll be too lazy to use them as much as I would if they were just on an electric switch. The front sway bar links are quite short so I need to see if clearances will allow a link that's a bit longer to allow some compression travel when disconnected. The rear links shouldn't be an issue.

 

[ryanjl]

I really like the idea of portals, but it really seems like I see a lot of the youtubers with 74Welds have issues with them when they hit the hard trails. Either the portals start leaking, or the portals' vulnerable placement of the brake lines leads to one of them getting ripped out.

Could be just the "creating content" bias in what I see, or it could be the influencer-types get the early, non production-ready version of the portals.

 

[MileHigh]

Dane,

I have the same owl skid plate system as you do. I didn’t realize how much it protects and then therefore limits view on the front driveshaft. Do you still have your original front driveshaft, how do you keep an eye on it?

Has your skid plates in the plastic gotten much use yet?

I’m interested to hear more about your planned front bumper. Especially with that winch you have.

 

[DaneJa]

Dane,

I have the same owl skid plate system as you do. I didn’t realize how much it protects and then therefore limits view on the front driveshaft. Do you still have your original front driveshaft, how do you keep an eye on it?

Has your skid plates in the plastic gotten much use yet?

I’m interested to hear more about your planned front bumper. Especially with that winch you have.

I just lay down there and shine a light in. I also stick a finger in it and feel around the boot for any obvious splits or thinning. I have low confidence that inspecting the joint will actually preempt a failure, but I can at least see if the boot has already failed and maybe I'll be extremely lucky with the timing. I will be swapping the shaft when able and already talked to David at Design Build Go about it.

The plastic on the skids is surprisingly resilient. I use them frequently and have deformed them in several areas and the plastic is a bit scuffed but not gouged.

Funnily enough Jay just posted a video on his YouTube about the bumper. There are a couple things I'm not totally sold on, so I'm still undecided on if I just want to throw the Agile skid on and call it good until I mangle it all or whether I will hate myself for continuing with half measures.

 

[MileHigh]

My use case has changed since I bought the IG and we got a cabin up by Granby last summer. I have a place to stay, so overnighting isn’t as much of a design goal, and the trials up here are a lot less technical and rocky. It will probably spend more time on forest roads than anything, and getting us up/over BErthoud. Still interested in a winch since I’ll probably be on my own a lot. I know an exposed one is the better way to go, but for my use case (and frankly aesthetics), a hidden one is the way I’m leaning. I think the exposed ones look good on most colors, but I think they kind of stick out literally and figuratively on the Donney Gray ones.

 

[The_Ick]

The plastic on the skids is surprisingly resilient. I use them frequently and have deformed them in several areas and the plastic is a bit scuffed but not gouged.

I picked up a couple of small sheets of uhmv to add to my diff skids. Mostly just to make them slide over rocks easier.

 

[QM DYDRM aka ADVAW8S]

I have the 500 springs on my truck.

I'm now hearing second-hand that the Grenadier project is on the "backburner" at 74Weld. They haven't been replying to my inquiries via email or phone, so I'm about ready to drop it. I may have to talk to Jay Couch again about his portals but I would really rather swap the axles. I'm pretty sure I'll be putting his front bumper on.


I have figured out my plan for the suspension working with Ben at Filthy Motorsports in Boulder.

I'm very close to my bump stops and really need to get some springs on. The Silenus roof conversion will net +285 lbs and the truck is pretty fat already at 7620 lbs with full tanks and my typical load; 3520 lbs front axle, 4100 rear. I'm aiming for a 1.5-2" lift over OEM when settled under weight. In order to get there we'll try the 2.5" lift Eibach springs (E30-34-001-06-20) in front as the only HD front springs are probably too much. In the rear hopefully the HD 2.5" (E30-34-001-06-02), aka "500 lbs", springs will do the trick. In reading others' experiences it seems like the 1000 lbs springs may be a bit much, but I'll switch to those if the 500s don't cut it.

I looked at doing something interesting like cutting the upper shock mounts out to try and get more travel, but it would require some significant redesign to get any meaningful travel without just extending the bump stops far down. The rear shock body mount isn't far below the rear cargo floor and I don't want to protrude into that. In front the steering shaft and air box aren't far above the mounts. The OEM shocks get something like 8-9" of travel. Ben is working up some custom King 2.5 9" shocks, which will be good enough if tuned well and he's one of the best in the world at it. I also ordered the Agile Offroad remote res relocation bracket for rear left since I have the aux fuel tank.

I'm also considering getting the beefier Eibach anti-sway bar and adding some disconnects. SDI makes universal electric disconnects they call ELink that are looking very attractive. Knowing myself, if I install the Metal Cloak disconnects I'll be too lazy to use them as much as I would if they were just on an electric switch. The front sway bar links are quite short so I need to see if clearances will allow a link that's a bit longer to allow some compression travel when disconnected. The rear links shouldn't be an issue.

Wanted to share that I run the 500 in the rear and the 1.4 in front. The rear is sitting at around 1.45 For every 100 pounds you add, the compress .2 inches. Here are my final weights for my truck. No water in the water tank and 90% gas in tank. I was not in the truck.

Final Weight Distribution Breakdown:​

• Total Weight: 7,005 lbs
• Front Axle: 3,308 lbs (approx. 47%)
• Rear Axle: 3,697 lbs (approx. 53%)

 

[DaneJa]

I have the 500 springs on my truck.

Wanted to share that I run the 500 in the rear and the 1.4 in front. The rear is sitting at around 1.45 For every 100 pounds you add, the compress .2 inches. Here are my final weights for my truck. No water in the water tank and 90% gas in tank. I was not in the truck.

Final Weight Distribution Breakdown:​

• Total Weight: 7,005 lbs
• Front Axle: 3,308 lbs (approx. 47%)
• Rear Axle: 3,697 lbs (approx. 53%)

Great info. Looks like I may need to bump up to the 1k if you're up 1.45" with 3700 lbs on the rear axle. I would hate to end up with a Carolina squat like some clapped out 2001 Suburban in Fayetteville. I finalize my order on Monday so I'll have to figure it out before then. A middle ground between the two springs sure would be nice.

 

[BoatTox]

I really interested in your sway bar disconnect project. We have a lot of rocks in MO and when traveling to AR, OK, and TX some of those roads are not for the faint of heart. My kidneys hated them even with a disconnect. I already know I won't do the manual. It never seems like we are on flat ground when I need to unlock them. I was looking at the AO system just for the front. Still working with Jay on their design for an extended fuel tank and I don't want to compromise the space in the rear anymore than I have to. Can't wait to see what you decide. Thanks for the replies on my other questions the other day really appreciate it.

 

[DaneJa]

Today I disconnected the sway bars and flexed out the suspension to to get some practical numbers for front and rear shock extension and compression at the bump stops. The bump stops were pretty well squished given the weight of the truck. My measurements are very imprecise and don't account for an accelerated impact into the bump stops, so I'll be adding some wide error margins so as to not damage shocks on compression.

	Compressed​	Extended​	Travel​
Grenadier shock as installed, Front​	17.25"​	23.25"​	6"​
Grenadier shock as installed, Rear​	16"​	23.63"​	7.63"​
King 2.5 9" Grenadier Kit Shock Limits​	15.44"​	24.35"​	8.9"​
King 2.5 10" OD Shock Limits​	16.96"​	26.90"​	10"​
King 2.5 12" OD Shock Limits​	19.84"​	31.78"​	12"​

Bottom line is 10" shocks should work if configured with an OD cap, welded rod ends, and extended rear bump stops. 10" shocks would provide for another 2-2.5" of droop.

The numbers in the table are for shocks configured with an OD cap, which allows for a shorter compressed length. I believe the lengths can be reduced by another inch with welded rod ends. The observed rear shock compressed length on the Grenadier, as limited by bump stop position, is why companies who offer 10" shocks like Metal Cloak and Owl also offer rear bump stop extensions. Other than potentially exceeding drive shaft angle limits if high centered, the real limit on what shock can fit is the compressed length in relation to bump stop positioning.

Front compressed: (you can also see where my 255/85 tires rub on the frame with the wheel pulled hard over and the steering stops turned in with the nut still on)

Front extended:

Rear compressed:

Rear extended:

While I was at it I removed the Bison Gear Ceiling Shelf in preparation for the Silenus roof conversion.

 

[Mister_BevilAcqua]

It's a bummer to hear that 74Weld might be backpedaling on the portals for the Grenadier.

 

[DaneJa]

Eibach Sway Bars and Metal Cloak Front Sway Bar Disconnects:
The sway bars that Eibach sells are significantly bigger than OEM. OEM are 27mm (measured) in diameter and the upgraded bars are 31.5mm (as listed on their site and verified). the mounts are also much nicer milled aluminum pieces with quality bushings. I didn't weigh them, but Eibach definitely added some gravity. Handling immediately feels tighter along with the expected additional movement over asymmetric bumps with both front and rear sway bars on the max stiffness setting. I tried taking a video doing some slaloms but I'm not sure the difference is evident.

Installation is super easy. Instructions are included but unnecessary. I didn't lift the truck or remove the wheels. A wiser person than I would drop the front skid plate to give some more working room, but it's possible to install without doing so.

I wanted to put some SDI electric disconnects in there, but the packaging constraints are really tight. The rears are probably a no-go due to the rear skid supports. I think the fronts would work, but you would have to use the compact version and would only get 1.5" of disconnected travel. I decided it wasn't worth it.

The Metal Cloak disconnects are skookum as hell. Installation instructions are available on their website and it was actually a pain in the ass. The nuts are those with the three triangles on one beveled side where the threads are deformed to keep it from coming loose. Great in concept but the "bullets" they thread on to don't have any flats so you're left with the linch pin hole to keep the threaded shaft from spinning. These nuts took what must have been hundreds of pounds of torque to run in; I bent 2 L-keys, 1 punch, and 1 screw driver trying to hold the things in place, but I got it done. A couple flats ground into the bullets would have made this much easier. I also had to use a hammer to tap the links on, so disconnecting these may be highly impractical but that remains to be seen.

Front:

Rear:

Diameter comparison:

Carr hitch receiver step:
I added the step for when the roof gets chopped. It's overbuilt and will do the job while projecting minimally below the receiver plate. I might add some hitch pin holes to bring it in the additional bit to make it snug, but it works for now.

 

[Dogwood]

The Metal Cloak disconnects are skookum as hell

Hold on there Tyee, I might be a cheechako around here. But I know chinook when I see it. How does someone with a Colorado plate know skookum?

 

[DaneJa]

Hold on there Tyee, I might be a cheechako around here. But I know chinook when I see it. How does someone with a Colorado plate know skookum?

From an affinity for industrial machinery, knowledge of the Skookum rigging company, and watching videos of the bumblefuck hisself, AvE, who is fond of the word.

 

[DaneJa]

Thanks @Stu_Barnes for the kind words in the June dispatch and providing a place to post about the journey. I've gained a lot of value from this forum and the experience of people here. This thread is my meager effort to add a small piece to the communal wisdom.