Shocks, Springs, A/T's, and Hoods

["Eppinger.Michael" <Eppinger.Michael@domain.elided>]

IH all,
I got to play most of the weekend on my Terra.  A lot of fun and a lot
of rust!  

I installed the "helper springs" in the rear, that rough country makes.
These replace the bottom spring in the spring pack.  Nice kit.  I got
about an inch of lift in the rear from installing this kit.  I installed
the gabriel hyjacker air shock at the same time.  In the front the stock
springs were worn out!  I installed a set from an old traveller and got
an inch lift in the front just from swapping in new old springs.  It is
amazing how much of a differance one inch can appear to make.  The truck
looks tall now.  (relatively speaking).  

I also cut out the hole in my hood to install the air scoop, I bought.
It is going to look great.  Just like the tonto artical in 4 wheeler, my
aircleaner sits right under the circular section of the hood.  Found the
center, drilled a hole, and the saber saw did the rest.  Looks great!  

Next up was the transmission.  I had to remove one from the parts scout.
What a nasty, dirty, filthy job!  Royal PITA!  First I jacked up the
front and rested each front wheel on a cinder block.  I used my floor
jack, and mounted a piece of plywood to the top of it, and removed the
transmission and x-fer case as one unit.  I tied the tranny set up to
the plywood so it would no roll off.  One trick I found was I left the
trans cross member on, and it acted as a balancer so the whole unit
would not roll.  I did have to take off the xfer case shifter, and the
trans dipstick tube. (I just popped off the tube, which lead to 2
gallons of tranny fluid all over the place!)  Next time I will drain the
tranny first!  Did I mention this is a nasty, dirty filthy job?  It is!

I still have to install new front shocks, and drop the tranny out of the
terra, and install this tranny  into the terra, but that is next
weekend.

Epp