Blue Ribbon 4x4 Build Thread

Yep! Always by my side as I work. They’re good company.

 

Crap, when my wife complains I just mention @reywcms. She’s a lucky gal!

 

lmao yea the parts updates from the kitchen are still going well lol

 

As I was in and out of the truck testing and tuning everything, my battery died. I forgot I had this thing in the storage bin. Worked like a champ!! It’s been in the truck 2 years at least.

 

Little bit of maintenance. Pulled out the old power steering fluid using a fluid pump, and filled with fresh. Pulled the steering back and forth and repeated the process three times. Would have done more but the fluid was already clear and red.
Then I greased the zerks. On Instagram I applied to get a free “creeper” in exchange for a commercial I made for them. It’s essentially a loop of slippery fabric that allows you to glide under the truck. It’s pretty awesome on the gravel driveway.
Gotta do the brakes sometime this week, and I’ll do the POR15 on the calipers. Happy to have late sunlight again. Knockin out that list!!

 

I was just bitching about the ones I bought. Three times the wife or one of the kids has gone to use one in their rigs and it’s been dead as a post.

 

Dang that sucks. I did realize when I stowed it away this time, I had to pull it out a few hours later to move it. The front LED was fully on, I must have grazed the button while putting it away. It turns on easily, and mine would have definitely been dead the next time I tried to use it.

 

Kind of an impromptu mod. I wanted to relocate the bass knob from this spot, so I decided to put the rear window switch here. Ordered some 22/5 cable and it was a simple swap. The second pic shows the switch and shift surround getting acquainted with each other.

 

The wife comes back this Sunday. I think I did pretty well on the list. Saturday will be brakes, Por15, and tire rotation.

 

Getting that Por15 down. Pretty glossy and not as dark as I thought it would be. Applied with a little brush after brake cleaner/wire brush, then alcohol and a rag. Blow dried with the air compressor. The paint in the can looks much darker, but this should look great behind the bronze wheels. I know it looks like the disc is sitting on the ground, I assure you, it’s now.

 

Por15 high temperature paint done. The paint kind of melds with itself as you brush it on, eliminating the brush strokes. Dry time is kinda lame, 3 hrs between coats, and 24 hr cure time before use. Understandable if it holds up as well as it claims.

 

Oh!!!! That looks slick. Did you just add the blue accent to the wheel center cap?

 

Thanks! No that’s old. I actually don’t post every single mod. Sometimes I forget to take pics.

 

I wanted to do some more tidying up of the wiring for the amplifier plate under the seat. All I really did was use ferrules and shrink tubing for all the wire connections to the amps.
I have an Alpine in-line amp for the Hertz speakers in the doors, and an NVX 750w amp for the NVX 12” sub. The new sub amp has vents and fans underneath, so I cut a hole in the mounting board so it can breathe, and the board is mounted in the stock amp screws location. There are feet in the back of the board so the HVAC vent is still functional. An LC2i converts the signal for the subwoofer. If anything on the amp needs adjustment, you can still get to the knobs via the side of the seat. The audio is wired using the stock harnesses under the seat, so replacing will be easy if necessary.

 

These Icon expansion packs were thrown in to the deal when I bought my UCAs a couple years ago. I just grabbed some longer U-bolts and we’re ready to get rid of my flat leafs. When these go in, I’ll lower the adjustable Boss shackles.

 

Hey Geno, can we get a picture from like 15 feet back of the side of your truck?
I'm curious about how visible those calipers are now that they are painted and how the blue, bronze, and truck all look. Thanks!

 

TRUCK PORN!

 

Yep I’ll see if I can get a good one in a bit.

 

Ok here’s a couple pictures of the calipers, @RobertD. I waited till the sun was in a good spot, as you can see they’re still hard to see. This is at about 10 ft away. My ass isn’t sagging, either. Rear tires are in a rut.

 

I like it! Not too visible but its just another blue accent that pops and ties in with everything.

Thanks Geno!

 

Figures. Been rainy every weekend but beautiful every weekday. Waiting for a good day to put in the leaf expansion pack.

 

It's so bluuuuue.

 

You must be new here.

 

They’re in!!! Got the rake back from installing the Icon rear leaf expansion pack. This pack removes two oem springs and replaces them with three more. Gained a little more than an inch in the rear. New measurements are as follows from hub to fender.

Driver front. 24”
Driver rear. 26”
Passenger front. 24-1/8”
Passenger rear. 25-3/4”

 

Took a post-op checkup pic of the pup and got a good pic of the headliner.
-she’s doing great.

 

Brake fluid swap and bleed. Pedal feels like a new truck again. Was getting a little spongy. I always thought you never needed to worry about bleeding your braked if you don’t open any lines. Guess that isn’t true. The new fluid is completely clear. This is the old stuff.

 

Icon rear leaf expansion pack update:
I freakin love it. I don’t like it when people say the ride is “smoother”, but it’s smoother. If takes on the small bumps on the road and I barely felt them in the familiar areas around town. I took her on the dirt and some washboard roads. I didn’t take any air out of the tires and the rear end didn’t feel so flighty. So there’s a definite difference in ride quality, I got the rake back that slowly went away when I put all the crap in the bed, and the leafs aren’t flat anymore. I actually got these free when I bought my UCAs. Wins all around, super happy.