MajikMD

First, hello everyone! I'm kinda new here and have only had a few posts over the years so far, but I'm not new to diesels or truck projects. I've started a project that I've wanted to do for a very long time and so I figured I might as well share all the details of the project with you guys! (I hope somebody is interested! )

So the truck was named 'Rock' by my 4 year old, Noah, who you will often see in the photos I will regularly attach. He knows more about cars, tools, and mechanical stuff than most 20 year olds, so he's a great helper. I have to also mention my wife, who is a car nut herself and is the only woman I know that would let me buy a nearly new vehicle and then start cutting it apart. ****, that's love...

So, enough boring stuff. Here's an outline of what I'm doing. Check back often because I plan to cram a HUGE amount of work in before Christmas. Basically everything except engine upgrades and some suspension work should be done by then.

The key here is that I plan to do nearly every part myself. No shop to install the fiberglass or suspension. I do my own welding. If I don't know how to do it, I'm gonna teach myself! I guess I kinda want to show people that you can do all this stuff yourself without relying on big places to do the intimidating parts...

Project 'Rock':
-2007 Mega cab, 5.9L (what else is there?) (j/k to the 6.7 guys out there!)
-Baja style build
-Fiberglass fenders
-custom built wheel liners
-Custom built low profile plate steel bumpers (prerunner style with plate steel protection) - optimize approach and departure angles (breakover angle--come on...it's a megacab. I am realistic, too!)
-as wide a stance as possible (the opposite that most suspension kits achieve). I'm looking for stability. My goal is 4-5" gain per side without overstressing wheel bearings.
-37" tires with beadlocks...possibly internal
-Maximize suspension travel (likely Carli components)
-Maximize durability:
-Line-X Xtra the ENTIRE TRUCK. Yep, you heard right. Color match the original metallic blue. Black bumpers and lower rocker panel areas.
-Lockers front and rear
-truss the front axle
-Manual front hub conversion
-custom armor for bed rails (given they are now fiberglass)
-underbed mounted winch
-spare on Tiregate
-custom rock sliders and skid plates
-Interior....ok, i'll stop. That's after Christmas.

So here's this week's starting photos. Hope everyone enjoys. Comments welcome and encouraged!!

MajikMD

So here's a few more pics. I'll put in a plug here for a great guy I met through a referral. The custom rear bumper below is being built to my exact specs by Evan House at Backwoods Bumpers. This guy is amazing. (BTW, I know I said I was going to do as much of the project as I could myself. Unfortunately, I don't have some of the tools needed to do heavy metal fab, so I am contracting only the bumper fab out... skid plates and the remainder of the metalwork however is my job.)

Anyways, contact me for Evan's phone number or check out the website Backwoodsbumpers.com for more details. He can fab up any type of bumper you desire!

BTW, the 2nd pic above is the prep I'm doing to get ready to mount the fiberglass rear bedsides. Probably will at least have them hanging by the day after tomorrow...

Shorts

Very cool project indeed. I know it's the background but one of the things I'm interested in is your carport steel structure. That looks like its real nice to work under. How big is it?

MajikMD

The structure is 45x32'. Built it myself, and nope, I had never built anything like that before It's far overengineered, but it was one of the best things I did. Oh, an my little 4 yr old helped weld it too!

Backwoods Bumpers

Man, Adam - I'm jealous! That's gonna be a sweet rig! Keep the pics coming!

checkster

Man thats pretty cool.

AkitaSumo

I thought you would be a little older looking though, must be that good lifestyle you lead .

For the suspension, give Don Thuren a hollar, he uses carli springs in some of his set-ups...

MajikMD

I'll do that! You're the third person that recommended I call him. Word of mouth means alot in my world.

About the age thing - I keep my good complexion by only drinking GOOD beer. actually though, my little buddy there is one heck of a helper!

Shorts

Thanks for the details. It sure is nice. If you over-engineered the structure, I'm sure you'll over-engineer the truck!

What do you have in mind for the rock sliders?


Looking forward to more pics of progress.

MajikMD

If you need any more details about the carport, let me know. I'd be happy to share details about beam sizing, etc. We live in West Texas and it's now been through quite a few severe T-storms with gusts to 90mph and it doesn't even creak or wiggle.

As far as the sliders, something very low-profile and I'll probably integrate them with a full underbody protection cage. I have some chromoly laying around so they will probably be made out of that for strength. I haven't decided however on square vs round tubing. That part probably won't happen until February or so. Should be drivable in about 4 weeks though with bodywork and the like completed.

Well, out I go to weld the bracing in along the tailgate mounts behind the taillights...

Bark

Way more ambitious than anything I will ever tackle. Neat stuff!! Keep us posted.

MajikMD

Here's the progress on the rear bumper thus far. For anyone interested, here was my list of features that I needed included in the fab of the rear bumper:
-very low profile to optimize departure angle
-corner protection on lower edges of fenders
-5" rear facing lights
-high lift jack slots, reinforced
-provision for rear winch mount and roller fairlead mount.
-shackle mounts
-extra gusseting
-my personal shaping preferences

So here's the lastest snapshot on this!

Thanks again to Evan at backwoodsbumpers.com for his awesome attention to detail on this gorgeous piece!

MajikMD

I did a few extra parts of the fab this week, in between working crazy overnight shifts for the last 6 days.

-Added roof marker lights (I needed a break from sheetmetal work!)
-Reinforced the rear tailgate mounting area to ensure Tiregate to be mounted later will not cause problems.
-Removed the rear inner fender liners (curved metal upper liner)
-Started minor corner reshaping to allow easier fiberglass fitment


The reinforcing part was kinda interesting because you have to piece together steel to take the flex out of the stock pivot flanges, but still be able to mount the outer skins AND the taillight housings....oh, and have room for the electrical connectors on the back of the taillights.

Here's a before and a few after pics...and a few of the roof markers.

BTW, I mounted my roof markers 2" further back than OEM. I liked the flatter sheet metal 2" further back which I think will help prevent any leak issues. The housings are flat, but the OEM mounting points are on a curved piece of roof sheet metal. I know it probably works fine, but I feel better with them mounted on flatter metal. And you can't really tell anyways They are Recon LED models, so I shouldn't ever have to replace bulbs.

As far as the reinforcement I did around the tailgate - it's all 1.25" angle which ties the tailgate mounting flange firmly into the angled piece which is about 5 inches more towards the front of the truck. It is astounding how much more solid it is back there. Took ALL of the flex out of it. You have to put some thought into remounting the caged nuts that allow for adjustment of the tailgate pivots and latch pins. In the pics below, I mounted one of the taillights to show the fitment. If anyone ever needs to do this mod, I will gladly send the measurements of the required pieces of angle iron to construct this without affecting taillight placement.

Anyways, here's a few pics.

MajikMD

Oh yeah, and the roof marker pics (even though I know you all know what these look like!)...

Backwoods Bumpers

looking good, man! I can't wait to see the bedsides on!!