“The 6.9” project thread

[IDIBRONCO]

All in all it’s a big job, but it’s just nuts and bolts. I don’t expect it to be an overnight thing, but I know for a fact I can be really thrifty and not make it break the bank especially if I just buy a parts truck.

This is deeply personal and I know I can fix it and make it better than it ever was before. The 6.9 will live on, I promise you guys that.

Glad to hear your going to rebuild it! Good time to save up and do a complete rebuild and paint, rubber replaced, suspension, and such.

Never-Ether

That’s my plan. All the bushings were toast anyways so this is just like a solid amount more than I wanted to do but still in the same realm of difficulty

After all of this is FINALLY done, I hope that means that you have learned your lesson about driving. Driving like an old man may be kind of boring, but it sure can save you a bunch of money in repair bills.

 

[Laine D]

After all of this is FINALLY done, I hope that means that you have learned your lesson about driving. Driving like an old man may be kind of boring, but it sure can save you a bunch of money in repair bills.

100%

 

[Big Bart]

Sounds like another great project for you.

Good thing you bought that VW Beetle. Now you have some wheels till you get the truck done!

 

[Laine D]

Sounds like another great project for you.

Good thing you bought that VW Beetle. Now you have some wheels till you get the truck done!

Yes sir. I feel really bad about everything and I seriously feel a lot different about how I drive and my awareness. I definitely learned alot from this, even if it was an accident.

 

[Big Bart]

Well some wisdom to ponder on. (I have a few years on you.)

1) It's ok to make a mistake, as long as you learn from it and do not repeat it. So do not beat yourself up for making this mistake. Just be wiser and don't do it again.
2) Don't tell you kids you went romping, almost rolled it, and bent up your truck and killed it till after they are teenagers. They will use it as their excuse to do the same.
3) Time heals. I guarentee you won't feel so bad as you did the day it happen, a month from now. Even less two years from now!
4) Your first motorcycle, your first truck, and your first house you will make mistakes doing repairs and have regrets. It is how we learn and become better. So take what you now know and make a bigger and better truck. I see your are sentimental about this truck, but its totaled. So take the escense of it to the next truck. The engine you built with gramps. Perhaps the seat you both sat on. The rims and tires or the tailgate. Maybe that cracked rear view mirror that reminds you of something that happened. And use that to build a new and better truck! You just got a do over, so sieze the day and do it!

Let's face it, the engine and tranny are the hard parts to rebuild. The rest is pretty basic in comparison. So having a engine to swap is a great start to a new improved truck! Know your grandpa just wants to see you happy, he does not care if you buy a new truck, he like all of us is just glad you did not get bent up like your truck! You can buy a new truck, you cannot buy a new back!

I look forward to the next chapter in your "6.9 Project Thread"!

 

[Laine D]

Well some wisdom to ponder on. (I have a few years on you.)

1) It's ok to make a mistake, as long as you learn from it and do not repeat it. So do not beat yourself up for making this mistake. Just be wiser and don't do it again.
2) Don't tell you kids you went romping, almost rolled it, and bent up your truck and killed it till after they are teenagers. They will use it as their excuse to do the same.
3) Time heals. I guarentee you won't feel so bad as you did the day it happen, a month from now. Even less two years from now!
4) Your first motorcycle, your first truck, and your first house you will make mistakes doing repairs and have regrets. It is how we learn and become better. So take what you now know and make a bigger and better truck. I see your are sentimental about this truck, but its totaled. So take the escense of it to the next truck. The engine you built with gramps. Perhaps the seat you both sat on. The rims and tires or the tailgate. Maybe that cracked rear view mirror that reminds you of something that happened. And use that to build a new and better truck! You just got a do over, so sieze the day and do it!

Let's face it, the engine and tranny are the hard parts to rebuild. The rest is pretty basic in comparison. So having a engine to swap is a great start to a new improved truck! Know your grandpa just wants to see you happy, he does not care if you buy a new truck, he like all of us is just glad you did not get bent up like your truck! You can buy a new truck, you cannot buy a new back!

I look forward to the next chapter in your "6.9 Project Thread"!

I appreciate that. What you said about the essence is true. I will take the best parts from this to make the best truck

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I will take the best parts from this to make the best truck

Oh great. Now Laine's going to build up the Turbo engine and end up putting 450 or so horses to the ground.

 

[Laine D]

I have a genuine question for you guys. What would you do? I am going to have to find a cab and frame, but most likely a parts truck. So many people have told me that it won’t be the same and it’s not worth the time an effort. I have a hard time listening to my own thoughts sometimes. I know it’s not gonna be the same exact truck. But all of my favorite parts of it are still okay. And the ****** part about all of this is that I literally have no other truck that I would want to own. I have turned down countless offers throughout the years because somehow I was able to get the “dream truck” as a highschooler.

I know that I have the ability to build a truck using my favorite parts of the 6.9 and then any other parts. But if you were in my position, would you guys? I really want to, but I really struggle with listening to myself. At least when it comes to stuff like this.

In my head, I want to go buy a frame and cab, swap all my interior into it, drop the turbo motor into it, put a Dana 60 in the front, get the windows tinted professionally, get it painted black and white like I was going to, paint the frame and everything. Guys I had so much stuff I still wanted to do. I’m really kinda just typing my feelings now. I guess this is literally my worst nightmare.


Friday i woke up at 5 and hauled the 9k skidsteer in the 3500 pound trailer around. I had to dump all the dirt we graded out in some hilly property. I weighed it all and I was at 19500 pounds. Then at 4 me and my friend left for the desert. It snowed like crazy and the trip took 8 hours. 400 miles through the mountains and everything. So on a lighter note, I had never enjoyed my little 6.9 that much before.

 

[hacked89]

It’s like a girl, your first love in high school is the toughest breakup and 20 girls later your a different man, that only experience can bring.

Different perspective from someone who breaks and totals stuff all the time. This was you off-roading, not an insurance claim? The trucks not totaled. The frames are meant to flex. When you take these off-road they flex almost 3”. You can watch the bed move in relation to the cab. You said trans broke at the crossmember, the trans itself broke? Or the crossmember got jacked? If it’s the crossmember just weld it back together. Your probably sitting crooked with the cab because you bent or blew through one or more of the cab mounts. That’s easy enough to torch and bend back or cut out and weld in new depending on what’s wrong. Personally if nothing is rubbing together with the doors just leave it. I think it’s unlikely you bent the frame. And if so if it drives straight and doesn’t eat tires I’d run it. That leaves the front axle. What exactly is broken with it?

If you enjoy breaking stuff and going wild rock on. I don’t work 40+ hours a week to not have fun personally.

 

[hacked89]

Also it’s hard to believe the frame itself is bent up in the front because the fenders sit on the front core support which sits on the closest point to the front frame and you have near perfect body alignment in this pic

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[captain720]

Somebody dropped my 6.9 out of the sky with a giant excavator and later dropped it out of a front loader with a 16 foot bucket and it still goes down the road mostly straight. Maybe your frame is ok.

Edit-have you considered having your frame straightened/inspected? We have a shop that does that for a very reasonable price localy

 

[Laine D]

Also it’s hard to believe the frame itself is bent up in the front because the fenders sit on the front core support which sits on the closest point to the front frame and you have near perfect body alignment in this pic

You must be registered for see images attach

So yeah, definitely didn’t tell my insurance. I do not plan to at all. The Frame bent like this / where the leaf spring hanger is and goes back to the shackle. The drivers side I beam broke and tucked the tire into the cab, somehow missing the fender. Dented the firewall and then as you said, it broke or bent the body mounts where they go into the cab.

So I figured frame and cab at the most. Everything else is legitimately fine. It’s super weird.

 

[Laine D]

Somebody dropped my 6.9 out of the sky with a giant excavator and later dropped it out of a front loader with a 16 foot bucket and it still goes down the road mostly straight. Maybe your frame is ok.

Edit-have you considered having your frame straightened/inspected? We have a shop that does that for a very reasonable price localy

I thought that would have to involve my insurance And my family and I both weren’t super interested in reporting this incident.

 

[captain720]

I thought that would have to involve my insurance And my family and I both weren’t super interested in reporting this incident.

No you just go to the body shop and ask to get your frame straightened pay cash and don't total the truck as far as I know you can do anything you want as long as you pay for it

 

[Laine D]

In my mind, I feel like I don’t really have anything better to do. If I can make a nice truck out of this situation I’d be really happy.