Andys Magic Carpet

[magic carpet XLT]

not like i needed another build thread, but i plan on spending a lot more time on this board than some of the others i have been frequenting. i'll start with the basic specs, throw in some pictures and update as i move along.

89 Bronco
351W, smog delete, homebrew AEM intake and true 3" exhaust, 9mm wires, MSD coil and cap
C6 with shift kit and cooler, manual shift BW1356, 5.13 diff gears
High Angle Driveline 1350 CV rear shaft, homebrew 10" slip 1330 front shaft
High Pinion Dana 60, Lock Rite, 35 spline cromo outers, stock inners/joints, MileMarker Hubs/S&N Fab drive flanges
GM 14 bolt rear, Detroit, Superior cromo shafts, Great Lakes Offroad cover
39.5 x 15 x 17" Interco TSLs, 17x9 Cragar soft 8's
14" travel shocks in front (Fox and Bilstein for now)
11" travel shocks in rear
Sky Manufacturing shackle flip, stock leafs
Rancho 4" lift 52" long K5 blazer springs in front
ghettofabulous cage
Crow harnesses
Lightforce 170s and Hella 500s

i will be strapping and bumping the front to 12-13" travel, and trying to get ~15" from the rear. still playing around with everything but that is the overall goal. right now, the front is limited to 8" uptravel before the axle truss hits the cross member.

enough shit chat, time for pics

[magic carpet XLT]

not sure how to embed youtube vids, here is a clip from a pismo test

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWzq911toRM

[Nick]

You left out mandatory skateboard helmets to combat the affects of the ghettolicious cage.

But seriously, cool build. I followed the transformation from when you first got it till now. Post the pics off the car crush, those were great!

[magic carpet XLT]

eiffel tower of the offroad world

no fiberglass fenders allowed in this neck of the woods...

[Broncodawg]

Isn't that the old big sluice on the Rubicon? Nice ride!

[magic carpet XLT]

Isn't that the old big sluice on the Rubicon? Nice ride!

yup, its one of many parts "you can't get a fullsize thru."

[Broncodawg]

Isn't that the old big sluice on the Rubicon? Nice ride!

yup, its one of many parts "you can't get a fullsize thru."

Haha, seen many fullsizes on the con, but they were all pretty built or banged up, or both.

[Ian]

Now that's the way to build a trail rig! Is that Adam's Grand Cherokee?

[magic carpet XLT]

sure is. how do you know adam?

[Nick]

I was just thinking (that can be dangerous at times) you have a pupose built rig that does very well. Why not get a 2nd bronco to do dez style? I have seen some for very cheap, as low as $500.

[magic carpet XLT]

haha no way. i'm living off waiters wages and getting married in may i'm lucky i can get away with what i do....if i ever hit the lottery and build a true purpose built racer/prerunner you can be sure it will be a bronco.

and i've already got a second truck. 89 gmc 2500, which will need a motor and trans in the near future so i'm trying to get the bronco legit enough to drive for the next year or two while i save up to drop some serious coin on the DD. probably gonna throw a 8.1 vortec/4l80 combo in it, along with some 2.5 coil overs to get rid of the nasty torsion bars. that truck was soo much fun in mexico, i had 3 spare tires of my own, 1/2 of my buddies luggage, all my tools, 2 buds, 3 coolers, 2 surfboards and 2 flats my buddies got stored in the bed and the truck took it like a champ. was a little slower in the rough than the pre runners i was hanging with, but who would expect a stock 3/4 ton to keep up with a linked ranger. 155" wheelbase FTW! that truck was my dads when i was a kid and has seen more miles and more epic trips than you could imagine, it will eventually become the long distance desert runner/tow rig.

i need to focus on more important things like getting a real job and getting a house with my wife first...

[Nick]

I understand completely! Best of luck to you in your new up coming life. My wife and i have our moments, but i wouldn't want to go back to single life.

[magic carpet XLT]

measured for limit straps. full droop in front:

full droop rear


travel numbers
~5" droop, ~8" up in front
~7" droop in rear, unknown up in rear (probably about 7")

i still need to stiffen the front up a little bit, it blows thru the travel too quickly. another leaf and more comp valving/less rebound should do the trick. i'm going to follow a tip from steve and swap the valving around in my fox shox from 50/80 comp/rebound to 80/50. hopefully less rebound will let the front end stay higher in the travel instead of packing up and more comp will obviously keep it higher as well.

[magic carpet XLT]

realized i haven't gotten any ramp pics in a while, so here is some loading dock fun from today. built a 2 link and it works excellent. way better road manners, less body roll, no more axle wrap or wheel hop turning blah blah blah i could go on for days. its getting real old reading thread after thread of people who think leafs don't flex...:haha




ride height


articulating


pinion angle at articulation

front springs

still a few inches of bump before full stuff


my mom is awesome. i asked her to make me a wrench wrap as a Bday present and this is what she came up with. then she surprised me with a camping can that was my grandpas, i believe he had it all the way back when he was a machinist for the navy during the war in the pacific. now my tools are nice and stowed.




good call on the valving steve. i swapped the foxes to 80/50 with a couple .010 shims below it to act as a flutter stack and the front feels a lot better. looking forward to testing it in the desert.

heading out to king of the hammers tomorrow to pit for one of the racers. he finished 9th last year, so i'm expecting it to be a good time.

[bajascott]

i dig the dash upholstry!
i like your build.

[Gargoyle]

Awesome! The avatar says it all.

I have the exact same ambition... Go big and fast w/ tons

[SteveG]

good call on the valving steve. i swapped the foxes to 80/50 with a couple .010 shims below it to act as a flutter stack....

A couple .010" shims below what?

[BRONCONUT]

Looks good Andy, Waiting to see with where this thing goes.

[magic carpet XLT]

A couple .010" shims below what?

i don't have my notes, but if memory serves me right compression stack is something like this:

_ .020
__ .015
___ .015
____ .015
_____ .012
______ .010
___ .010
______ .010

its starting to work really well, front feels dialed. gonna add some more spring rate (i pulled one leaf from the pack originally) and call it good. it will get air bumps but thats down the road.

rear is still bucking when the whoops start to get "big" (2+ feet deep). when its smooth i can hit 60 pretty quick, 50 in 1-2 foot whoops if i am feeling like a super hero. a prerunner buddy of mine who knows valving really well thinks its now mostly due to using flat stock springs which don't droop as fast as a spring with more arch like a deaver. thoughts?

adding the 2 link may as well have strapped a rocket to the back. its crazy how much smoother everything is when you can just put some power down without worrying about wrap and hop. i was also surprised how much cooler my shocks are running, even the single 2.0 rears were still touchable after a good 45 min rally accross johnson valley to the far BFG pit.

my steering is downright scary tho....the front is all over the place so i will be adding a panhard in the near future.