I have a plan and Christmas money coming soon.
I have a plan and Christmas money coming soon.
In reply to Scotty Con Queso :
Nice!!
I like your plans for upgrades over the winter. What years for Rodeo rear axle? How close is the track width? Will the rear disc brakes play nice with the factory ABS? How much are you planning on lowering it?
In reply to Chesterfield :
This one is from a '99 but I think the 98-02? are tbe 63" wms to wms width which is almost exactly the same as a stock Colorado. Some of the pre 98 are 61" I want to say. Completely shooting from the hip here. Tons of info on these rears since the off-road guys love them.
Rear brakes with stock setup hasn't caused any issues I'm aware of. Most guys go 8.8 and shorten the pass tube.
For now, the rear will be 2" blocks. I already have beltech lowering shocks so I'm set there. We'll see how the blocks handle. May have to switch to lowering leafs. Worried about whether or not I'll need to c notch the frame.
Getting the suspension setup on this truck is going to be pricey!
In reply to Scotty Con Queso :
Thanks for the info. I have looked into lowering my 2009, and it does not have the same aftermarket support that other trucks of the era have. I seriously consider just using zq8 complete setup to lower it and improve handling. I would love to do an ls upgrade but the 4 runs strong and the budget is tight right now.
So I got distracted. Home Dee-pot was running a great sale on Rigid tools even though I'm a Ryobi man (yes, I know same parent company). Anyhoo, I got this 1300 ft-lbs breakaway impact, battery, charger, and a cordless grinder for $280 shipped.
Other distraction. I've been rebuilding my Razor MX500 electric dirt bike over Christmas break. New 48v lithium battery, 1800w brushless motor, and controller. Also adding hydraulic brakes (from a mountain bike) and CRF plastics. Should be a 30mph ripper when done. I really underestimated the amount of time I'd have tied up in this thing.
Completed this little ripper. Great torque and my son is ready to get it dirty this spring on the farm.
Apparently this thing came off a car that sat at the bottom of the ocean.
Serious question. It has 4.30 gears. Is that too much gear for the truck?
Run the ratio calculator on the modern driveline website (i think). I found my 3400 miata with a t5 and 4.10 to be heared way too low. Im down to 3.60 and still not quite sure, but its the best i can get with miata stuff.
In reply to Scotty Con Queso :
Your running the AR5 right? If so, I would probably do 3.42s if your going to do any Interstate driving.
That is at 3000rpm probably be ok for racing or in town with the 4.10s.
That 4.30 gear seems like a good reason to put a taller drag pack on the truck
Horse poop. It looks like this rear gear ain't going to cut it. Wondering. Should I just keep it and re gear or get an exploder 8.8 axle that is 3.73 and narrow it? I could also get Crown Vic spindles and go to a much more common 5x4.5 bolt pattern wheel (17x8 mustang wheels!).
Thinking in my brain what is cheaper and less of a pain in the rump? What say the hive on this one?
Custom-made parts are always a gamble on something that sees a ton of Street time. How much modification will it need for using different spindles? What does that do to bump steer? It's probably going to be cheaper quicker and easier to rear that axle that bolts in
Okay. I feel like I've chased my tail on this. Today I looked at the RPOs and the stock rear in this truck has 3.73 gears. Why change it now? I'm not making crazy power and won't be for a while. Yes it's an open diff, but I'll see if it's a problem and swap out an Exploder 8.8 if I like the stock gearing.
Current plan: Coilovers front. 3" blocks rear. Notch frame. Caltracs. 17-wheels and decent tires. Profit.
Going to sell the Dana44 in photos above with the 4.30s. Anyone want it?
Let me offer my 2 cents on the topic of gear and axle swaps. Back in 2018 I built a sloppy turbo 2002 Silverado. It was a rusty, regular cab short bed (stepside) with a 4.8 LS. It had a gov-lock 8.6” 10 bolt axle with 3.42 gears.
I somehow got the idea that the “gov-bomb” rear end was going to explode the instant I put any power to it, so I found a Mustang 8.8 and set about adapting it to the truck. It needed new (relocated) spring perches, new calipers (and associated brake hard/soft lines), new seals and bearings because why not while you’re in there, and finally I did a gear change from the factory 2.73 Mustang ratio to 4.10s. Don’t forget new 5 lug wheels and tires since the old 6 lugs wouldn’t fit.
I think I ended up $700 deep including the axle, and a ton of time to get it all to work. Wasn’t happy with the ratio because the truck felt like a death trap above 80 (this was with a 4L80E which has a .75 OD).
3.73 is a great all around ratio and you may not hate the open diff as much as you think. I’m running an open 2.88 in my 6.0 turbo Jag and it only spins one tire if you punch it from a dig (about 450whp and 4000lbs ish).
Moral of the story: run the 3.73 and see how you like it before you go off the deep end. You can also fine tune the gearing by installing shorter or taller rear tires, which is a lot easier to get away with on a truck.
In reply to nsogiba :
I appreciate the input. You and Ryan and have very helpful with this project. It's good to hear that you had the same conclusion in practice. It's going to take a lot of time and money to swap the rear. And for what at this point of the project?
Exactly - weigh the investment (time and $) against what you're gaining.
Get the motor running right first so it's reliable and fun. Then, slap a cheap set of caltracs on it and some garbage tires and do burnouts.
One lesson I've learned in the past couple years is that although it's good to preemptively install parts to prevent issues - don't try to solve problems that don't exist yet.
If you get tired of a one tire fire then cross that bridge when you get to it.
nsogiba said:
If you get tired of a one tire fire then use the hot metal glue gun to lincoln locker that E36 M3 together.
Fixed that.
Keep the stock rear and throw a lunchbox in it.
Agreed, best option is to put an inexpensive locker in the rear. I would caution against a welded diff for a daily (not that it's unbearable, it can just get annoying).
Don't even bother with fancy adjustable suspension yet, even a dirt cheap set of new shocks off Rockauto will make a big difference. Traction bars are your best bet for reducing wheel hop.
I ordered Cal tracs today. Almost have enough for coil overs. Cal tracs don't drop ship until late March so hopefully I'll have enough for the coilovers by then. Summit can get coil over parts here in 2 days.
Any reason you are super convinced you need coilovers?
nsogiba said:Any reason you are super convinced you need coilovers?
Well the front setup has 230k miles on the stock stuff. And it's made for a 4-cylinder so super soft. If I replaced this setup I'd use Billies which will be around $250. I want o add lowering spring so add another 200ish plus top hat hardware. I can get the QA1 setup for around $650 and can choose my spring rate. I see that as an easy choice.
I often worry about QA1 being valved too much in favor of drag racing in various applications. Is this a legitimate concern?
In reply to GCrites80s :
Hmm. I hope not. The setup I took a screen shot above is raved by the v8 swap Colorado guys on Facebook who are all drag racing focused.
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