Sorry, but this is probably more of a vent then an update, but over the course of the vent, you will figure out where the truck stands.

Well the truck has been on the verge of being done for as long as I can remember. Nothing has changed on it since i got the steering box in, which was almost 2 months ago.

Well about 2 weeks ago I got in the spacers I was gonna throw on the rear. Well, those didn't work with the OME coils (Daystars). Got Dave on the phone, hopefully I will be getting some spacers in from him anyday now as he should have my money by now. That would be recent PITA #1...

I have been waiting on the drag link for over a month now I think. I finally got a call on tuesday to say that it was done and ready to be shipped. I said do whatever it takes to get it here by friday and charge it to my card. Well, friday comes and goes, and still no drag link. I mean at this point, it is the single most important part I have left. A friend made the mistake of IMing me friday night asking me if the truck was done, and I kinda lost it on him poor guy. Yeah, I was pissed. PITA #2...

Being in school and working doesn't leave much wrenching time. Well I only worked for a little on Saturday and I had Sunday off so I figured I would get the crawler finished off because i received the adapters that week. Well Saturday I strip down the donor case. Got the donor completely torn down for Sunday when I would throw the crawler all together. Well I go get some brake cleaner, RTV, and anti-seize from Advance Auto and go to town. Clean the case and everything until it is perfect. Throw in the new 23 spline input gear. At this point the project is just flowing right along and it is taking no time at all and I am having fun, it is a breeze and I was expecting it to be a b!tch. I was thinking finally something is going my way. Well then I get to throwing in the new output shaft. The old thrust washer doesn't fit and the old circlip sure won't fit that big bastard either. Hmmmmm. Well i go rummage through the box all the crap was in. Nothing. Call up Marlin (who answered the phone on a Sunday, which was good), sure enough, I was missing those 2 pieces. Because there are no instructions, there was no way to know until I tore into the thing and saw that something wasn't right. I hope I'm not missing something else and I have to go through this again after I get these other parts! So now I have a crap load of parts that should be one nice big unit by now sitting in my room. That would be PITA #3.

It is almost comical how many problems I have had on this project. I don't even get to work on it most of the time because I can't for one reason or another. Every little part of this project has had some major problem and hold up that was beyond my control. The ONLY vendor I have had zero problems with during this project is Mike at Xtreme Off-Road. All I can say is that I better have that damn drag link tomorrow and I better have those crawler parts ASAP, because I am tired of this thing not being done and it being someone elses fault and not my own.

So I sit here pulling my hair out not knowing what the hell I did to deserve karma such as this. Probably not a good idea to ask how the truck is doing because I might just snap and go postal or something. The truck still looks just like this:
<img src="http://filebox.vt.edu/users/ddelaney/SAS/35s%20all%20around.jpg" alt=" - " />
Will it ever get out of that garage? Doubtful if this crap keeps up...

How's the... ? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="images/icons/wink.gif" />

Looks good so far. Maybe one day my truck will look like that...

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Originally posted by 44Runner:
<strong>Well about 2 weeks ago I got in the spacers I was gonna throw on the rear. Well, those didn't work with the OME coils (Daystars).</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">What didn't work about that combination? What size Daystar spacers were you trying to use - I assume their tallest - 2.5" or 3"? You're trying the 892 OME rear springs, right? I forgot, how many inches of lift are you aiming for - 6" or so to match the front?

I'm currently using the OME 891 rear springs along with the 1.5" Daystar spacers and the stock rubber cone bumpstop. The weight of the custom steel rear bumper keeps mine down to a reasonable height, although mine still has quite a raked look.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Originally posted by Jeff the marmot:
<strong> </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Originally posted by 44Runner:
<strong>Well about 2 weeks ago I got in the spacers I was gonna throw on the rear. Well, those didn't work with the OME coils (Daystars).</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">What didn't work about that combination? What size Daystar spacers were you trying to use - I assume their tallest - 2.5" or 3"? You're trying the 892 OME rear springs, right? I forgot, how many inches of lift are you aiming for - 6" or so to match the front?

I'm currently using the OME 891 rear springs along with the 1.5" Daystar spacers and the stock rubber cone bumpstop. The weight of the custom steel rear bumper keeps mine down to a reasonable height, although mine still has quite a raked look.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">That is very interesting. I have the 892s and I was trying to use the 2.5" Daystar spacers. The coil was a little too wide to fit in the "tray" in the spacer, so the coil wouldn't stay in place. There was no way they could be run like that. I thought I had heard of others running OME and Daystars together, that is why I ordered them in the first place, but these definately were not gonna fit. I plopped them on my old downey's and there was no problem with those, so those definately work I guess...

Yeah, the Daystar spacers would definitely be better if they'd be wider, i.e. larger diameter. My 891 coils are right at the edge of the spacers, but they haven't shifted off in the last 6-8 months or so of use.
Jeff

damn too bad we weren't neighbors, I would be right on that s*** with you so then I could do mine... DON'T GIVE UP MAN!!... the rest of us want it done as well!!

good luck!

Man, I was in the b'burg office friday and almost dropped by to see if it was rolling yet. I probably saved my life by just drivin' home! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> Man, hope those parts show up, thats always a pain-PhattieD

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Originally posted by PhattieD:
<strong>Man, I was in the b'burg office friday and almost dropped by to see if it was rolling yet. I probably saved my life by just drivin' home! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> Man, hope those parts show up, thats always a pain-PhattieD</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">As long as you didn't ask right when you walked in if it was done, you probably would have been fine. Too bad you didn't stop in, I wanted to talk drums with you and you haven't been online in forever...

44R -- Don't give up! Your truck is sweet, it's gonna be worth all that effort!

Little update for the update. Got in touch with Dave at Marlin's this afternoon. Apparently my missing pieces were shipped out this morning and should be here by Thrusday. If I don't have them by this weekend I think I will flip because I really need to get the crawler in this weekend so I can order shafts the next week if I can get those spacers in as well so I can measure the rear. Finally got in touch with Parts Mike tonight, and as pissed as I am about not having the drag link, it is hard to get too mad at the guy. He went well out of his way to make me this drag link, and due to him having to go outside normal channels to get it made, he probably made very little, if any, money on it. Well now it turns out he might have even lost some money, because he messed up my shipping address and it was returned to him. He reshipped 2 day air this morning with a check for me in the amount that I paid to have it shipped in the first place. I'm a pretty understanding guy, I mess up too, and he went out of his way for me in the first place to make the link and he has taken all the steps he could to make it right so it is hard to fault the guy. It has been a PITA not having that drag link, but (knock on wood) I really should get it this time...