2000 Jimmy SLT 4x4x4 Build Up
 

This truck has been in my family for 12 years now and its been passed from my uncle to my dad and finally to me now that I need a vehicle for the rugged conditions here in El Paso and to tow my motorcycles up to ride spots in New Mexico. The truck was stock when I brought it back here this Christmas and debated on keeping it stock since I'm deploying soon but I couldn't resist. Here's the list for completed and mods in process:

Completed:
2" Rough Country Suspension Lift
31/10.50/15 General Grabber AT2's

This week:
Lock Right Front Differential
No-Slip Rear Differential
Hunter Brush Guard, Black
New water pump, upper intake gasket, plugs, wires

Next Week (parts still on order from 4wheel parts):
2" PA Body Lift
Pro Comp Rock Crawler Series 52 Wheels, Black (15x8/4.5" backspacing)
Gap Guards

Next to Order:
K&N Cold Air Intake
Lighting Upgrades- suggestions for brush guard mounted ones?
Transmission Cooler- researching core options/need suggestions

Future Plans:
Oil Cooler- switched to Rotella T6 because the dipstick was smoking on long uphill hauls
Exhaust- headers/high flow cats/cat-back (still researching options/value for this)
Roof Rack/Roof lights

Pictures coming this week when I knock out some of the work!
Let me know what you guys think!

Dave

Sounds like a good build! got pics?

I will take some tonight with the current setup. One of my squad leaders is a reclassed mechanic so I dropped the truck off at his place for the plugs/wires/waterpump stuff and haven't picked it up yet. I'll sneak by tonight with the differentials and get a few snap shots. I know THIS THREAD IS WORTHLESS WITHOUT PICS!!! :)

Sounds awesome an the k&n is nice piece I just put mine in yesterday :)

And ps feel free to put up a couple extra picks of the bl my hockey pucks don't come with instructions

Start Pic
 

Here's a shot of the truck as it is now with the suspension lift and 31" tires. I dropped the lockers off with it tonight so we'll be digging into it this Saturday morning. Those of you who have been in this region know it sets the standard for "rugged terrain". The lockers were inspired by the ridiculous high-center strandings I got myself in out at Red Sands, east of town. Assuming we don't run into any problems on Saturday that we can't fix same day, I'll get it out for some testing on Sunday and take some pics/video clips if anything interesting comes up.

I'll definitely take some pics of the body lift, although 4wheel parts has a location here a couple miles from my house and I've been getting cash back and install discounts building up in my email through USAA banking so I might use that for the body lift just so I don't have to mess with it. I've also got a 94 RX-7 that I built with my bare hands during college so I like to pick and choose what mechanical headaches I give myself nowadays.

PS, I am looking for good suggestions on lights to mount to the Hunter brush guard and transmission cooler options. I used all Earl's coolers with SS braided lines and AN fittings on my other projects.

Brush guard came in last night. I started to unpack it but realized I have to bring it to where the truck is anyway. I didn't realize how heavy it would be and I'm doing a DITY move with my bikes on a trailer so I need to weigh the truck "empty" before I start attaching all the cool stuff so I can make my "heavy" weight. I'll probably be too tempted and put it on this weekend to go play in the dirt and just unbolt it before I go get a weight ticket.

Alright, here's an update from this weekend:

Totally underachieved our goals for a couple reasons-
1. Discovered some piss poor workmanship by 4 Wheel Center who did my 2" RC lift about a month ago. Two weeks ago I took it back because I got under the truck to do the oil and found they had left the nuts off the sway bar and not resecured the ABS sensor wires so they had rubbed through the sheathing on the inside of the rim. They fixed this but once we got underneath this weekend we found a whole lot more- CV Joints boots were not secured and grease was all over the subframe. One of them was ripped. The new control arms from the RC kit were left without the ball joints greased even though the shiny grease fittings stick out at you when you look into the wheel well. One of the ball joints is ripped as well. I'm taking it back today to have them fix all of this and replace what was damaged because of their poor level of quality. I'll be meeting with the manager to see who was the "mechanic" on my vehicle because I'm really hoping it wasn't some uncertified high school kid working as an apprentice or something. I know when I was in college, I could handle putting a basic lift on a truck, but for a business taking money to do a quality job, it better be perfect.

2. Jason (my squad leader/reclassed to infantry from light wheel mechanics and was a certified mechanic as a civilian) recommended we wait on the lockers until we can get the truck on a lift and have a better set up for putting all the springs in so we don't screw anything up. We booked a slot for the hobby shop on post and we'll be doing them this Saturday.

So all we finished this weekend was:
- new water pump
- upper intake gasket
- new plugs
- new wires- these suckers from Autozone are causing me a misfire so I need to stop by there as well and figure out which one keeps doing it so I can have it replaced.

Also due this week are my Pro Comp wheels and 2" PA Body lift. Those are coming in through 4Wheel Parts here in town so I doubt there will be any problems with it. I'll decide if we're going to do the lift ourselves this weekend or if I'll just have 4wheel parts do it. I'm kind of on a timeline to have things done so that I can be ready to take off on PCS leave when I clear.

Attached are some pictures of the lockers and the Hunter Brush Guard. I'll install that this week after I get a weight ticket for my truck as "empty"...I need it as light as possible.

Sorry to hear about the horrible work done to your truck. That is exactly why I do everything myself if I have the ability to. It sounds to me like you have mechanical knowledge so you should do the body lift yourself bro. It really is an easy job, the only thing I got frustrated with was the rear bumper because I didn't trim it enough. Everything else was pretty simple, I did mine by myself in something like 3 hours so I am sure if you could get a buddy to help you it would take no time at all.

What all is involved with the bumper mods? Ill have help and a lift this weekend so ill definitely consider it. Thi big thing with me recently is that I'm so short on time each weekend and its difficult to have consistent time at home although we did just grab an extra hour of daylight this weekend. Know any links to a how to job?

Update
 

Alright, so I dealt with the whole ridiculous misfire problem I had after doing plugs and wires. I got shoulder deep in the engine all Monday afternoon and redid the wires, distributor rotor and cap and started to redo the timing before I realized those bolts at the back of the block were not possible to get at with the tools I had so I called it quits. Turned out to be two broken spark plugs- I had assigned one of my soldiers to do the plugs but he apparently wasn't paying attention when he was torquing them and cracked numbers 5 and 6. I buffed out the headlight housings and put the brush guard on yesterday. Pro Comp wheels were supposed to come in at 4Wheel Parts but they called and said they screwed something up and they were being shipped out today. Pro Comp wheels can be found all over the place in El Paso so I'm starting to lose patience with their lack of stock and their long shipping times. USAA's discount is the only thing that has me ordering from them over Summit and Jegs for things like this. They said 4-5 more days for them to come in so hopefully the PA bodylift kit will be in this week and we can get at it while the truck is on the lift. I'll need to do the custom bracket trick for the brush guard once its done.

I'm attaching some pictures- one of the headlights before and then after the brush guard was finished. My phone didn't save the "after" shot of the headlights when I finished buffing them but you can still see a little difference in the second picture. They aren't perfect but I wasn't about to completely resurface them. The fog light bubbles showed the most difference since they are clear. I'm also looking at hooking up a couple of KC Daylighters in the brush guard- any recommendations. The Slimline ones look good but they're so much more expensive I'm not really sold on them, or the reported lack of adjustment ease. I've done some searching but is there a huge difference between the 100 and 130 watt 6" models? I probably won't convert to HID until after I get home from deployment and decide if I'll keep the truck for longer. I was planning on long range lights- I'm assuming these are better for brush guard placement as opposed to floods?

I'm also looking to install a trans cooler too since I'm hauling my bike trailer for weekend trips and especially for my cross country time when I move later this month. I've seen pictures of the B&M model 70264 mounted behind the grill on the passenger side. I was going to go this route since it seems like a good fit and I don't want to use my extra Earl's cooler with SS lines and AN fittings I have in my extra project crap. For you guys who have one of the B&M kits- did they come with the little mounting zip tie tabs? I think I might have thrown away my stock of those from other kits but I don't want to order them for $15 or whatever they are.

No-Slip Install
 

Well I should have just tackled this last weekend in my garage. I woke up this morning and my squad leader was suffering from some sort of dust-born parasite that my guys were all picking up in the field this week. He was heading to the ER when I went to pick up the lockers and diff fluid from his house. This thing wasn't too bad to get in but it takes a creative puzzle-solving mind. The directions threw me off a little bit as they were written to install the opposite side first and until I figured out that I had to do exactly opposite for 3 steps of the instructions, I was about to strap some C4 on the damn thing and call it quits. I ended up taking the whole housing out to play around with it and that helped me figure it out. C-clips also went in best in different order than the directions mentioned but I finally figured it out. I'm hoping the Lock-Right I have going in the front will be much quicker and easier since there are less parts. I'm planning on getting that in tonight so long as we don't have any complications and I'll get some field testing done tomorrow in the desert.

4 Wheel Parts is really disappointing me- my wheels and bodylift are still not in so they're going on 2 weeks just to get the damn parts in. I'm not impressed.

Trans Cooler Install
 

Well, I totally underachieved for the weekend- once I finished up the rear locker, my assistants (2 females) talked me into going out to Red Sands to test it and we ended up getting stuck several times and didn't get home to bed until about 5 am. The brush guard is already back off because it got completely destroyed when the tow straps pushed against it while I was hooked up to the tow hooks. I called Hunter about it and they gave me a warranty department's email that I sent pictures and an explanation to but have yet to hear back from them. I knew the way the brackets were designed would allow it to flex if a lot of pressure was put on it but I wasn't even hooked up to it and the lower tubular crossbar bent in several places like it was made of a poor thin alloy. I was disappointed that I would have to figure out a custom recovery setup just to avoid damaging the brush guard. If anybody wants to see pics of it, let me know.

But onto the good stuff- the truck is in the garage on jackstands with one CV axle out. I dropped the trans pan and threw a new filter in it last night. The transmission cooler came in from Summit last night. It doesn't specify under the part description but it does come with hardware so don't add the extra mounting hardware and hose. I picked up another few feet of 3/8" fuel line at Autozone for the return line. Both feed and return lines are routed through the opening behind the passenger side headlight housing. I put looms on them to cut down on friction around the frame and battery.

4WheelParts finally got back to me yesterday and said the bodylift was in and the wheels were supposed to come today but I didn't have time to check. I need to finish up with the CV's and front differential so I can get to the other fun stuff. I also picked up some lower ball joints today since I'm in a good position to change them out with the CV job.

i have a similar brush guard to yours and i got some KC HIlites on there. super bright and cheap too. i paid 115 shipped from summit. and really easy to install too. took about a half hour for me.

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/y...5/SNC00683.jpg

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/y...5/SNC00693.jpg

litterbug, how long ago did you buy that brushguard? I've been looking and haven't been able to find anyone who currently sells one for 95-97.

i got the truck with it on. and my mom said she got it with the guard on too back in 98 so its been on there for a while. im not sure what the brand is either. its been painted over so many times.

My guard is back off- it got ruined when I got towed out last weekend. I finished up the front locker, CV axles, and lower ball joints today. The new wheels are on and we're doing the body lift right now. I never heard back from Hunter on their "customer service and warranty" email address. I even wrote back the sales address and haven't heard anything. I'll call them again on Monday to get a final answer but if they can't back up their product, I'll either throw it in storage with my stuff or see if a bodyshop wants to mess with fixing it. I'm having all my stuff picked up for deployment storage this coming week if the carrier can do it so I'm about out of time. I do need to look at roof racks though. Those might also be a better choice for offroad lights for me out here since we're in the dunes a lot.

Alright, crazy couple of weeks. The Army got me moved out of my house in 2 days flat so I could avoid paying rent for April. I'm living out of a storage unit with my RX-7 and two motorcycles waiting on some forms to get signed so I can clear post and actually go on leave. As for what's been completed since I last posted:

-2" PA Body Lift
-CV Axles
-Lower Ball Joints
-Bumpstops
-4wd Vacuum Actuator (under battery)
-Replaced vaccum lines
-Surco Roof Rack- 45"x65"
-Gap Guards
-Lockright Front Diff

I didn't plan on doing a handful of the above until I tore it apart and realized how much needed to be done since the truck has a few years on it, even though it was garage-kept. I never solved the 4wd problem chasing after vacuum leaks so I took it into a local shop and they couldn't figure it out since it would engage the front axle, but not hold torque to the front wheels under load. I dropped it off at the "most favorable" GM dealer in town last Friday and they screwed with it all weekend and told me they had narrowed down the problem to the front axle and could have it done with $450 by Monday. Monday morning came and the service rep told me he had been mistaken on the problem and that it was in the transfer case and gave me rebuild/replace options between $1200 and $2000. I told him no and picked up the car yesterday when it was back together. Of course they tried to drop the $425 bill on me asking for labor costs of tearing it down to diagnose it. I pointed out that I had never authorized him to tear apart the transfer case and that the only thing over the $88 diagnosis fee I had authorized was the direct repair of the "certain" problem in the front axle that was causing it- a false diagnosis that he admitted Monday morning. It even stated in the invoice that he was not authorized to disassemble or reassemble the vehicle to fix any problems and 10 minutes later, he walked out of his manager's office, told the cashier to print what he had sent him and left without saying a word to me. $88 diagnosis fee only. Shameful incompetence for a GM dealership. I dropped it off at a transmission shop just down the street this morning to see how much they'll need to rebuild the transfer case and transmission- I'm getting ready to haul a bike trailer and full load of gear across country on leave so I don't need it going out on me since its been showing those slow shift and torque delay symptoms of old age. Hopefully the damage won't be too bad and they can get it done this week.

In the meantime, I called and bickered with Hunter on the lack of rigidity of their brush guard and the rep finally agreed to send me another one at cost which arrived at the house today. I'll have to make some modifications to the mounting brackets to allow it to fit the truck now that the body has been lifted. I have a set of 1000lb helper springs to aid in towing- I looked into air lift systems but they were all special order for my vehicle and I'm on a timeline where I could be getting my forms signed and clearing post to leave in a 2 day period. I'm considering light options for either the roof rack or brush guard, but I'm holding off since I have enough things to fix on it before it can really go offroad anyway. I did pick up a high output compressor and hooked up a 50' slinky hose with quick disconnect fittings to a tire inflator/gauge so I can air up/down on the fly.

I know all the progress is pointless without pics but I haven't had the truck enough recently during daylight hours to get some good shots of it. I'll have to get several good ones this weekend if the trans work all gets done so that you guys can see more on the body lift, roof rack, etc.

geez you sure have had some setbacks but you still seem to be going strong. Keep it up bro and post PICS every chance u get.

Alright, I'm finally signed out of Ft Bliss. I went to visit my sister for a week and came back to El Paso to pick everything up to head east for the rest of my leave. The 4wd never got fixed and after ordering the wrong part, the guy just couldn't find another solution in the time I allowed him so he put it back together for me and I picked it up today. I'll get some pics tomorrow but this is what's been installed on it in the meantime:

- K&N FIPK
- Surco Roof Basket
- Helwig 1000lb helper springs

I don't have the new brushguard put on yet because I simply didn't have possession of the truck long enough to take it to another shop. It would go on tonight but I need to drill new holes and trim the top of the brackets to adjust it up 2" for the body lift. I'll call ahead to shops near my parents to see if they can get a hold of a transfer case for it. Hopefully it'll do alright getting cross country.