74 EB Sandrunner under development

[sstlaure]

Figured I'd join the fray of projects shown on the website. Here are some picks of my 74 I bought for $4500 from Utah. Full glass body, rebuilt 302, little or no rust on the frame. What a steal. Let me know what you think. It'll be set up as a sandrunner with King Bypass shocks and air bumpstops (~14" vertical axle travel F/R)

 

[sstlaure]

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[sstlaure]

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You can see the color the truck will be painted on the column. House of Kolor Ultra Orange. It'll be body color top to bottom.

 

[trailpsycho]

As a jumper, wont a sandrunner with a glass body stand a good chance of cracking/ breaking, no matter how good the suspension is? Just curious, I know you had a hand in that green monster I saw at Broncorama, very nice! But do you think the glass body will handle the punishment of serious airtime??? I guess we will find out, keep us posted.

 

[Synds9]

alll those baja trucks are fiberglass.. but then again they're all seperate panels.. he could always reinforce the body too

 

[sstlaure]

You're right, it will crack.:'( Guess I'll just have to redo it every few years ;D We've already found some cracks in the fenders on the green truck. I'm trying to figure out how to reinforce it. Glass is nice because it doesn't rust and is lightweight. Guess you have to trade off something...

 

[sstlaure]

Here are some pics of the cage tie-ins

 

[sstlaure]

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[sstlaure]

I'm using radius arm brackets from a 78-79 Bronco to drop the rear mounting point of the radius arms down ~3" to correct the angle due to the 5.5" suspension lift.

 

[yak67]

that is one sweet color of orange people will not miss you coming by out on the dunes. keep the pics coming;D

 

[jaroh]

What are you using for the bushings for the roll cage supports?

Duane

 

[probaja]

Im interested in the bushing question as well, can you detail this fab for us.........

 

[Pirate EB]

Love the rear tail lights. Very original. It's gonna be cool with the Kings.

 

[JaxLax]

am i to understand that this will be your secnd sand runner? (ie Green one was number 1??)

 

[sstlaure]

What are you using for the bushings for the roll cage supports?

Duane

They're polyurethane suspension bushings from a late 70's Mazda RX7 (I think rear suspension). They are sleeved into 1 3/4" dia X 0.120 wall DOM tubing. I used 3/16" thick steel for the tabs. I believe that we got the bushings from Energy Suspensions. Give them the size details and they can give you the right part #.

 

[sstlaure]

am i to understand that this will be your secnd sand runner? (ie Green one was number 1??)

The Green one is my friends truck (strictlysand). We're building mine different from his...He's single, I'm married w/kid, etc. He spent a ton of money on the 4-links & hyd steer to keep the axle travelling vertical under the truck (which is the best), but I think I can get 80% of the performance out of a set of Deaver springs and King Bypass shocks if it's set up right. I'm probably going to fab up some 7" long shackles (4" is stock) to get a little more travel rear. It'll be interesting to compare the (2) different truck's performance. Looks like I'll be able to get ~13" vertical travel F/R from both axles. He's sporting 16" Front/18" rear, but he gets a ton more droop with the coilovers (not bound by the leaves.)

 

[sstlaure]

Love the rear tail lights. Very original. It's gonna be cool with the Kings.

I wanted something different, and I had the real estate to work with due to the glass body (no functioning tailgate). I'm going to french them in smooth to the body so only the lights are visible (not the flanged edge of the can)

 

[sstlaure]

Here's one with the front fully compressed (removed the coil to find bottom) and the rear fully extended (the leaves allow for more droop, but I'm going to limit it to avoid driveshaft issues.) the stock shackles don't seem to be binding, but I may go with the longer shackles anyway (I think they'll help get a little more compression out of the system.)

 

[sstlaure]

Here's fully compressed all the way around (leaves and coils pulled)

 

[sstlaure]

These are the National leaves and coils I currently have, I think I'm going to go down to 10 leaves on the spring pack and see where that gets me from a rate standpoint (I'm thinking I should be around 130 lb/in, that's about where the green bronco is running in the rear.)