Chicagoland Shop Day/Perch Party

[pwjstruebig]

Took a lil while but once we figured out all the little things the second side took us a quater of the time… good luck today!! It was fun!! looking forward to the next meet up

Beers + 2 pizzas + movie for the women + 4 hours of messing around = first time mid perch complete SUCCESS!!!

 

[Big Blue]

So pwjstruebig came by tonight. We tried the "on the truck method" with the spring compressors. Some things we learned:

-Yes you should save yourself the time and get a second set of spring compressors
-Get a pair of GOOD C clamps, the kind with a hex nut on the end of the threaded rod, not the little sliding T handle. Mine had the threaded rod bend so we couldn't back it off. 4 1/2 angle grinder to the rescue and just cut of out!
-Air tools are your friend. Don't start near dark since you'll be worried about all the noise. We sucked it up and made the noise, but if my kids would have woken up, my wife would have been PISSED!
-You can get away with a single jack, but you'll need a jack stand.
-Remove the top end of the Sway Bar End link. This gives you more play when jacking the lower A arm up to pre-load the spring
-Beer. Lots of Beer



Anyway, we got it done on pwjstruebig's truck. Looks great and is a noticeable difference. We're gonna do RatedSVT and me tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed. After doing 3 of these, I'm pretty sure I'll be spent!

Awesome guys! Anyone take a few pics?? My vette shop is going to do mine this Tuesday. So it sounds like we will have a number of options for the other Locals at the next get together. The new Methods and Toyos go on tuesday also...I'm pretty pumped.

 

[Badgerscab6.2]

I tried it today with the shocks on the truck. I didnt remove the sway link, but I had 4 spring compressors on there and I couldn get the blue shock support up high enough to get to the mid perch level. After three hours of dickin around on one side I gave up!!! All I did was get really pissed and take a bunch paint/powdercoat off the spring. WTF. Ill just wait till tax returns and bring it in and that and alignment done at the same time

 

[RatedSVT]

Good time yesterday todd, Tim's roof light bar is freaking bright!! Thank's again for your help

 

[shooterAMG]

I'll post pics later. Yes, it was, uh, fun. I mean, I like hanging out with you guys, but that shit is a lot of work! My knees still hurt. More so than that first week in prison.

Anyway, mid perch was a success. Local alignment shop was being a bitch and said Rated needed a camber kit. I called in a favor to juggnutz's buddy, and he pointed me to a shop in Lindenhurst where they know their shit. Guy was awesome there. Took his time, and Rated is all aligned with plenty of play left. When I take my truck there, I'm picking up pizzas for the guys as a thank you.

Anyone looking for advice, hit me up. Anyone looking for help, no prob, but I'm not getting dirty anymore!

---------- Post added at 08:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:14 PM ----------

Oh yeah, and besides the perch on Saturday, we installed a set of HID headlight upgrades on my truck, and a set of ADD roof mounts and a 43", 38,000 lumen light bar on Tim's truck. He's the guy from "that other Raptor" forum.

 

[Big Blue]

^^ Damn!! You guys do it all. Impressive list of jobs completed. Your gonna love the HIDs Todd!

 

[JuggNuttz]

and im glad Joey got ya to the right place too! next chicago meet up, ill hafta give him enough notice to maybe meet up with us aswell.

 

[shooterAMG]

Jugg, Joe hooked us up. His real value, wasn't that he could do the alignment, but was that he pointed us to a guy that I felt I could trust. When you're scrambling to get a truck aligned that has a 60-90 minute drive ahead of it, not to mention being unsure of the potential additional purchases we have ahead of us, he was awesome. They always say it, and it's always true, it's all about who you know. I owe Joe a beer and a sausage next time I see him!

---------- Post added at 08:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:13 AM ----------

Here's some pics of the light bar. I will preface by saying the ADD mounts are a bit challenging, and the passenger side installed by Tim is a little cockeyed. We'll be able to fix that with some double stick tape, which I think we want to add anyway for added strength, and some massaging. I rushed and did the wiring, and I think we're going to re-do it so it looks cleaner by running the two power leads up either side of the door jams.








At the bottom is a 38" Rigid. The top bar is VisionX maybe, I don't recall. I do know it's 43" and 38,000 raw lumens and it's all spot, no flood. It induces ****** release almost immediately if you stare into it directly. Don't believe me, ask RatedSVT!

 

[RatedSVT]

Yeah those suckers are BRIGHT!! How are you liking the H.I.D. todd? I had two cars that night flash me their brights after going mid perch. I guess im alil more in their face now lol. Guess I should pick up a deathray light bar too.

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

a beer and a sausage??? in other words you are going to get him drunk and give it to him? haha

seriously though, the trucks looking good