so after 7 years of lookin at this im doin more than tires.  I know first and foremost i need to get rid of the rust.  my resources are fairly limited due to not having my own welder nor the knowledge to use it but ill learn.  any pointers would be much appreciated.

i have:
-ABS panelling for the interior
-speakers and headunit
-SPOA 5" thats somewhere in the mail
-new alternator/battery
-new seats

still in the works:
-front bumper
-rear bumper
-eventually a VW diesel swap
-rhino line outside and floorboard inside
-31"s
-lockers
-gears
-snorkel
-rockrails
-skidplates/diff guards
-fender flares(still not quite grown out of the mud flingin' stage of my life tho so its low on the list)
-

New Spark Plugs
New Tach that works!!
New Seats: Installed

Pic to come...

SPOA comes in today and ill start that

hey if you don't mind do you think you could take some step by step pics of your SPOA lift.
Also where did you get it from and for how much?

Thanks
Josh

I got it from Rocky-road and up until now was plannin on buyin anything i could from them.  The customer support (when they are open) is great and they can answer any question you can throw at them but i ordered the 5" bolt-on w/ shocks(mine we ~23years old) and OTT steer.  First, it only comes with 2 lower shock mounts, they want you to use the stock mounts for the rear and for me, after i saw the hardcore new ones, the stock ones look like kiddie toys.  the directions that they say are "so good" consist of a page and a half for the OTT which were pretty bad (myself and 2 buddies had no idea what it was tryin to tell us to do) and another page and a half for the ENTIRE spoa.  granted from what i have done so far, its pretty easy but if its easy, say its easy but still give a good step by step.  ill try and scan it and post em and you can say im crazy or im right.  Yesterday i ordered some 1.5" OME springs, rear up front conversion, shackles and the other pair of shock mounts from Low Range Offroad, they had everything in stock (unlike RRO) and shipped it same day.  They were really helpful, prices were a little more than RRO but if your in the middle of a project like i am and wanna change out other stuff so you dont have to re-disassemble stuff you took apart later or put your build on hold for a week or more, you cant go wrong with them from what i can tell. 

going back to the original question, the hardest part thus far was getting the front shocks off (dont laugh ).  Im doin one axle at a time bc my tools and jack stands are limited.  the tie rod end was a mother to get off also (i will say RRO advised to use a pickle fork and thats what i eventually had to buy so we'll see if that works).  i have a radio that im tryin to fab a box for so i can install it, if anyone has any ideas id appreciate it, im thinkin tryin to use a tuperware thing so its more waterproof but thats kinda .... reggin rigged... but ya. 

Best Piece of advice i can give you that i had to learn the hard way, WASH your truck before you work, it sucks havin dirt caked on everything your workin on and it just sucks all the way around.

ill take some pics tonight and post em tomorrow

had a quick question about tires, when its all said and done ill have:
5" spoa
1.5" OME springs w/ rears up front
1" shackles....
what size tires should i look at?  im plannin on gettin 15x8 wheels
and after those tires will i also need to get new gears?

hey... sup dog? as far as your question on tires, it's really up to you. how do you want your rig to handle, where are you going to be taking it? up rocks, boulders, through mud, sand, etc.... gearing goes for the same... what's your ultimate goal? and from there, you can decide on a locker for the rear, or maybe the front as well, with added power steering of course! the wheels don't really matter, until you are going bigger than a 29 or 30" tire. after spending some couple yrs in a tire shop, if your wheels are kinda narrow, say 8" and you put a 10" tire on it, it just bulges out a bit, and there for causes rub if the offset isn't right. looks cool, but are you going for looks, or ?.... see what i'm sayin? get some 15x10 wheels, u can usually get some blk steel krawler ones for like 50 bucks a wheel.. but i'm not sure up here.

any ways, you never did let me know how the ott install went, last I knew everyone was too drunk to do anything lol... did you get any of it done? also, I'm glad you called sean and his bro at LowRangeOffRoad.com, told ya they had everything and were great ppl...

ya never could get the tie rod end off.  usin a pickle fork and beatin the hell out of it, nothin.  i have 29x8.50s on now and i was thinkin about 31x1150s.  back home all there was was mud, up here its mostly trails and rocks so i dunno, not all that interested in tearin up everything im workin on with big ass rocks but a little crawlin isnt bad.  still wanna be able to drive it on the road altho i wont do that too much or for long distances.  i just wanna have fun .  anyhow ya, prolly mostly trails, some mud if i can find it.

mud is always fun, and even tho u say u don't want to tear it up on rocks... I have been up some extreme stuff rated more than what my last krawler was rated for, and I never damaged a thing. that's what rock sliders, roll bars and what not are for... you can make it a bit more extreme, and still drive it around town too ya know.  just needs lights, bumpers, turn signals and other safety stuff.. mirrors etc.... any ways, I haven't even registered mine yet, still doing alot of work to it. I was in the garage last night, thinking to myself, "ya know... I really kinda want to buggy this out and cut it u a bit, but it's too clean and I want a BLVD BUGGY along with the capabilities of a nice krawler too"... I'm not afraid of hitting the rocks and trails and hammering down. you will find out that once you do it... it's more addicting than you hoped for, and bam!!!! more money spent for the next parts to take you up the trail higher and onto bigger and better rocks and boulders! remember that... lol

ya never could get the tie rod end off.  usin a pickle fork and beatin the hell out of it, nothin. 

as far as the tie rod end, what one? off of the pitman arm? or off of the knuckle its self? the best thing I have ever come up with on getting tie rods out, it this... simply take a BFH... (big fuc|removethispart|@#&*% hammer) and smack right on the front of the arm where it's bolted to... not the tie rod it's self, but the arm it's bolted to, like this...

----------l (tierod end)

smack here and it will pop right out ------>o-------  (where tierod goes through. it goes into "the arm off the knuckle, or off of the pitman arm. smack right on the face of it. don't hit the tierod, but the arm it's self, might take a couple of swings)

haha ya i need a bigger hammer definately.  honestly i just want something that is all around perfect, never loses traction, not top heavy, plenty of power, you know, the basics haha.  im gonna work on that and prolly the front springs if i have time tonight.  i really need some air tools now if only my checking account would get with it

hey buddy, so.. I get off work next wed night. 7 days from tomorrow. any ways, I don't have bills so if it's not done by then, I can make it up there to help out. just keep me informed on how the build is coming. pics here are great too!!! oh... I just got 1 side of my rock sliders done today, finish up the other side next week lol...   and then I will post everything up on here.

thats awesome man!  rock sliders are definately on my list.  be safe and if i can quit droppin the ball ill get some pics up here.

my springs and shit came in yesterday and for the life of me i couldnt get the stock ones off, im to the point i may hook up a winch to the end of the wrench to turn it, as for the tie rod end, i have greased it, ripped off the rubber guard to clean it and re-grease it and still doesnt do anything but stare back at me with a fu*k you look, lol if i thought i could get it by the weekend or had the $ for ir id just buy another pitman arm

haha no sweat... I wanna come up on this days off and get it done with ya... and the springs... that's why I recommended a sawz-all... lol... most likely, the bolts in the bushings are seized, and... if you get the nut to break loose, the bolt is gonna fight ya anyways.....  hence the sawz-all... 

anyhow..  I will shoot ya a pm closer to days off and let ya know what's going on, and I will keep an eye on ur build to see if you have any progress with it. 

ttyl brotha

so this was what i was workin on today, fyi a hack saw IS NOT an acceptable replacement for a sawzall.  the tie rod end is still stuck in the pitman arm, gonna get a bigger hammer tomorrow...

here are some pics of the OME springs and the shackles im puttin on and what they are replacing

wow.. now I see what u got goin on there with that pitman arm. couldn't see it too well on my phone pic u sent. like I said, if u can't get it by this next weekend, I'm plannin on commin up so we can get it then. anyways, lookin good, just gotta get to installing them parts bud! oh.. and pics during the install are always a plus