Hello all. My name is shawn and my Scout is sd's Scout in Jeff's IHOnly buildup section.
When I read about other Scout projects I often wonder what happened to truck a few years later. Its been about 4 years since I had the work done at IHOnly so I thought I'd write this update.
After my Scout left Jeff's shop I used it for all sorts of family adventures plus occasional trips to work, grocery getting, trailer towing etc.
The Scout has been through the rubicon and fordyce more times than I can count and it has performed flawlessly. I've driven it to san diego, hit the desert for 5 days and then driven it back home (got 12.74 mpg by the way... Not to shabby).
Over the 4 years I've added a few more items including a d300 with a 4:1 gear set, a Dana 60 rear (d44 axle tube bent again) and one of Jeff's rear sway bars.
No surprise but everything Jeff did on my Scout has held up perfectly (can't blame him for the bent Dana 44 housing...).
The sliders have dents in them from hitting rocks hard but the rockers were never in jeopardy. The rear corner guards were a life saver. I can't imagine wheeling without them.
The alcan springs held up fine but weren't great. When I ordered them I told alcan about my winch, spare tire carrier etc. I also told them how I planned to use the vehicle to drive to the trail, wheel and drive home with occasional trailer towing. I guess you really can't have it all.... The springs were okay in all areas but not great. They rode a little stiff, didn't flex well but did fine with the trailer. I recently sold them and went back to stock.
The detroit locker in the rear was installed because I wanted reliability. It was reliable but had some harsh road manners. I had one in a cj with an automatic and barely knew it was there. In the Scout I noticed it all the time. Maybe because its a manual transmission??? I have an ARB in my d60 now.
The rollcage is still awsome. Haven't used it in a roll over but it sure gives me peace of mind with the kids in the back. Plus everywhere I go its gets all sorts of attention.
The front end work (high steer and bigger breaks) have been maintenance free. I can drive the Scout down the road with 2 fingers on the wheel and keep up with my friends tj in the mountains.
One reason I'm writing this now is becuase I am re-vamping the Scout. My good wheeling friend sold his truck and realistically I don't see myself doing a bunch of rock crawling anymore. I''m mellowing the Scout out a bit and going to try to get more use out of it exploring back roads, camping and maybe even a little commuting.
Toward that end, I sold the alcan springs and took off the body lift. I also switched to 33/10.5/15 tires. In an effort to reduce weight I sold the rear bumper/tire carrier and corner guards. I also removed the rock sliders (had to in order to remove the body lift). For the time being I've removed the winch (gonna use some sort of a multimount in the future).
Removing the above items lowered the truck 5" and took off 534 lbs. Reducing the height, lowering the weight and going down to 33" tires from 35"tires (4.10 gears). Has dramatically enhanced the drivability of my Scout. I thought it handled well before but its much nicer now.
Some of the weight will have to come back (need to put sliders back on, spare tire is off).
My plans from here on out are to install a radio, finish intalling the acc vynal floor mats, throw some paint at it (its still primer black) and maybe install ac.
I'll keep you all posted and throw some pics up if I can figure out how to do it.
Shawn
When I read about other Scout projects I often wonder what happened to truck a few years later. Its been about 4 years since I had the work done at IHOnly so I thought I'd write this update.
After my Scout left Jeff's shop I used it for all sorts of family adventures plus occasional trips to work, grocery getting, trailer towing etc.
The Scout has been through the rubicon and fordyce more times than I can count and it has performed flawlessly. I've driven it to san diego, hit the desert for 5 days and then driven it back home (got 12.74 mpg by the way... Not to shabby).
Over the 4 years I've added a few more items including a d300 with a 4:1 gear set, a Dana 60 rear (d44 axle tube bent again) and one of Jeff's rear sway bars.
No surprise but everything Jeff did on my Scout has held up perfectly (can't blame him for the bent Dana 44 housing...).
The sliders have dents in them from hitting rocks hard but the rockers were never in jeopardy. The rear corner guards were a life saver. I can't imagine wheeling without them.
The alcan springs held up fine but weren't great. When I ordered them I told alcan about my winch, spare tire carrier etc. I also told them how I planned to use the vehicle to drive to the trail, wheel and drive home with occasional trailer towing. I guess you really can't have it all.... The springs were okay in all areas but not great. They rode a little stiff, didn't flex well but did fine with the trailer. I recently sold them and went back to stock.
The detroit locker in the rear was installed because I wanted reliability. It was reliable but had some harsh road manners. I had one in a cj with an automatic and barely knew it was there. In the Scout I noticed it all the time. Maybe because its a manual transmission??? I have an ARB in my d60 now.
The rollcage is still awsome. Haven't used it in a roll over but it sure gives me peace of mind with the kids in the back. Plus everywhere I go its gets all sorts of attention.
The front end work (high steer and bigger breaks) have been maintenance free. I can drive the Scout down the road with 2 fingers on the wheel and keep up with my friends tj in the mountains.
One reason I'm writing this now is becuase I am re-vamping the Scout. My good wheeling friend sold his truck and realistically I don't see myself doing a bunch of rock crawling anymore. I''m mellowing the Scout out a bit and going to try to get more use out of it exploring back roads, camping and maybe even a little commuting.
Toward that end, I sold the alcan springs and took off the body lift. I also switched to 33/10.5/15 tires. In an effort to reduce weight I sold the rear bumper/tire carrier and corner guards. I also removed the rock sliders (had to in order to remove the body lift). For the time being I've removed the winch (gonna use some sort of a multimount in the future).
Removing the above items lowered the truck 5" and took off 534 lbs. Reducing the height, lowering the weight and going down to 33" tires from 35"tires (4.10 gears). Has dramatically enhanced the drivability of my Scout. I thought it handled well before but its much nicer now.
Some of the weight will have to come back (need to put sliders back on, spare tire is off).
My plans from here on out are to install a radio, finish intalling the acc vynal floor mats, throw some paint at it (its still primer black) and maybe install ac.
I'll keep you all posted and throw some pics up if I can figure out how to do it.
Shawn