Today, Joe and I made the trek over to Reno to meet with the Derek at Trent Fabrication. We were dropping off our axles and Atlas transfer case for the build. While we were there Derek showed me my chassis and engine, which totally got me stoked and anxious to get it done. I am glad that it is more than just an idea now, but is something that I can actually touch and say. Yeah this is mine...

Finishing it seems so far away, yet so close. I hope we can finish it within the year so it will be race ready by next year. That would be straight pimp.

Here are a couple of cell phone pictures that Joe took of my chassis up on the table.

As I stated before, I sold my jeep, so I can buy parts for my buggy project. Well I also sold my 95 Toyota Land Cruiser that was my daily driver. Since I work from home now, I decided to changes things up a bit and buy a rig that would serve as both a daily driver and a suitable trail rig. My Land Cruiser was a great off-road vehicle but way to posh and heavy for what I wanted to do with it.

Saturday, Joe and I made a trip to Santa Rosa where I met a guy named Ryan that had a nice looking Xtra Cab Toyota for sale. I liked it from the first time I saw it listed on Pirates classified section. It's a very cool rig and Ryan was certainly a man of detail. We worked out a price and I drove it home that day.

So here is the skinny on the new yota. It's a 1992 Xtra Cab, with a 22re, sas'ed with an '85 front axle, and 5.29 gears in the diffs. It's got dual cases, with the Marlin 4.7 in the rear case bringing the final crawl ration down to 223:1. The front is locked with an ARB, and the rear with a Detroit.

Every truck has something wrong with especially a 92, and this one is no exception. Here are the bad things. 35" SX Tires are junk. Bald, cupped and chunks missing from the lugs. Driving on the freeway, the vibrations are just about unbearable. I am looking into options for replacing them now. Also a bummer is no AC. I think it can be fixed, but not sure how much that is going to cost since it's the old freon system. 

Joe and I took the truck to cow mountain on Sunday for a quick test, and I immediately discovered that the front Birfields are broken. They knocked and popped the first time I threw it into 4wheel drive. They are supposed to be Longfields. However, I suspect they may be stockers.

The last thing that really needs to be fixed is the transfer case output shafts. Both bearings and seals are shot. The front output is leaking oil and the rear appears to be leaking oil as well. These are all fixable items of course and expected for a vehicle that has been driven off-road.

Overall I am very happy with my purchase and look forward to taking it up on the trails for a real test run next time.