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Author Topic: Lets see if I can pull this off before I leave for college  (Read 105511 times)
zachbiz
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« Reply #75 on: October 28, 2011, 12:53:31 PM »

why do they need to be?
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« Reply #76 on: October 28, 2011, 06:05:09 PM »

when you have single u-joints on each end they need to be in phase to minimize vibration.  The speed of rotation of a single u-joint is not uniform.  When the u joints are in phase the oscilations cancel eachother out. 
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zachbiz
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« Reply #77 on: March 02, 2012, 07:44:19 PM »

hey guys, I've been really busy with school but i have managed to find some time for some new shiny parts.

Hi-steer:






Last wheeling trip:








Next to my dads g35 right before i threw on the hi-steer:





I recently broke my power steering box doing something stupid and then i found a leak in the pressure line. SO i ordered parts to convert the entire PS system to AN fittings. Pushlok for the low pressure side and earls blue style high pressure hose for the pressure side.

This summer, assuming i have the money, I'll be changing a lot of stuff to my truck. I'm considering chopping up the front frame in exchange for a full engine cage to allow my truck to get the same suspension travel but sit at a lower ride height. I'm going to chop the rear frame and get the floor in the rear, tube and plat it up for a 4 link rear and fuel cell. I'm going to change the truss and pan hard in the front, redo the exhaust and relocate some stuff. I'm going to push the PS box forward to give me more clearance. I'm going to make my own fiberglass/fender one piece. I'm going to build a full internal roll cage and possible redo the whole dash.

i better get a good paying summer job. :\
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zachbiz
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« Reply #78 on: July 16, 2012, 11:08:16 PM »

alright guys round two. Last summer i kinda rushed the job due to a LATE order from ballistic. I was going through the learning process and didn't quite know what i was doing. some stuff looked really sloppy, some stuff performed really sloppy. Honestly I impressed myself with what i did the first time around but there is still quite a lot of room for improvement.

Goals for the rest of this summer:

Number one goal for the front end is up travel. I lacked a lot of it and had more down travel than i knew what to do with.

reframe the front end, relocate/fabricate panhard bar (and brackets) to be a total of 8 inches longer.
relocate the steering box to provide more clearance.

cage and redo the interior (not as important).

and finally: get it rolling BEFORE i leave so i can test everything out and go wheeling with you guys. Lee I'm still down for that xterra party.


On to the good stuff:

start of the cage





front frame and e-fan conversion. Used a 89-97 ford thunderbird 4.6 V8 E-fan. Same powerful motor as the famed taurus fan but with a 2" larger fan and a larger square shroud that fit rather nicely. I also used a Flex-a-lite variable speed thermostatic controller to do the thinking. It was a bit pricey but it will be worth it.











Also, new led light bar.


« Last Edit: July 16, 2012, 11:13:56 PM by zachbiz » Logged

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« Reply #79 on: July 17, 2012, 11:50:50 AM »

Holy crap!
 Grin

That's one hell of a build you've got going on there.
You've got work to do!
Keep us posted.  cheers
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zachbiz
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« Reply #80 on: July 17, 2012, 06:53:25 PM »

so the new frame is in. Still need to fish plate it (properly this time). and clean up some of the welds. I wish i had a mig welder so i could properly fill in the gap at the main joint but oh well, stick welder will have to do. I am tig welding everything else though.

First is the new frame just tacked in.



then what it looks like from the front.



I didn't get a finished weld photo. I'll do that later. Also I don't like how the front corners are so sharp so I'm going to cut them back at a 45º angle and put a piece of plate there.
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Oz
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« Reply #81 on: July 18, 2012, 08:06:06 AM »

so the new frame is in. Still need to fish plate it (properly this time). and clean up some of the welds. I wish i had a mig welder so i could properly fill in the gap at the main joint but oh well, stick welder will have to do. I am tig welding everything else though.

First is the new frame just tacked in.



then what it looks like from the front.



I didn't get a finished weld photo. I'll do that later. Also I don't like how the front corners are so sharp so I'm going to cut them back at a 45º angle and put a piece of plate there.

Really awesome build! 
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zachbiz
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« Reply #82 on: July 18, 2012, 11:14:20 PM »

thanks OZ.

Todays Progress:

New parts


Started mocking up the steering box, drag link, pan hard bar and bracket, engine mounts and shocks.. Didn't get far on the engine mounts though. I'll focus on that tomorrow. I did get really lucky though. The steering box swung upwards and back far enough to clear the tierod (what i was originally shooting for) without needing to lengthen the steering column and it clears the radiator shroud. I'm a happy camper.



Everything looks like it will clear well and give me an extra 4 inches of up travel and both sides.

New panhard bracket mock up. bracket is drawn on the plate, waiting to be cut out.




And last update, since the gap at the seam between the original frame and the new frame was too large for me to tig, I tried stick welding it. It holds but i don't know for how long. It looks like $H!*. I'm going to grind the welds down tomorrow and try to find a mig welder to borrow to lay in some decent strong beads before i put the 1/8" plate over it. Just for the peace of mind.

anyone close with a mig welder?

Lastly, on the agenda for tomorrow:

I get my new Corbeau Baja XP seats in, I get my thermostatic e-fan controller in, I'll try to install the controller and mock up one of the seats. I plan on cutting out and welding up the panhard bracket to the frame. I'm gonna grind down those $H!*ty welds. starting the first half of my engine mounts and mock up with cardboard the new mounts. busy busy.
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« Reply #83 on: July 19, 2012, 12:09:44 AM »

Hey Zach, you're going to get bump steer with how you have your track bar bracket.
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zachbiz
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« Reply #84 on: July 19, 2012, 07:19:23 AM »

Whys that? If its because of the angle, I already too that into account and lowered the bracket. This was just the first mock up. If its because of how far it stick out, I'm lengthening it equally on either side to keep it in the roll center.
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« Reply #84 on: July 19, 2012, 07:19:23 AM »

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« Reply #85 on: July 19, 2012, 09:26:53 AM »

ideally, you want that trackbar to be a mirror image of draglink.



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zachbiz
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« Reply #86 on: July 19, 2012, 09:43:03 AM »

Yeah I know. The angle will match perfectly. It's just the length that's never going to be perfect because of space constraints.
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« Reply #87 on: July 19, 2012, 10:23:10 AM »

You should be bale to get the frame side track bar mount to line up dead on behind the TRE on the pitman arm. yours is too far out and too high.

We've been able to make it happen numerous times on other trucks without extensive frame modifications and with narrower axles so you should be able to do the same.
« Last Edit: July 20, 2012, 12:19:49 AM by SteeevO » Logged

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"When you hit the tree between the headlights thats understeer. Oversteer is when you hit the tree between the Tail Lights"
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« Reply #88 on: July 19, 2012, 03:14:32 PM »

looks do-able on the fame side. 
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« Reply #89 on: July 19, 2012, 06:00:34 PM »

from personal experience you'll want to upgrade that front truss if you start to get into the higher difficulty wheeling heck just in general it would be a good idea  cause  that could be catastrophic at high speeds 

i agree with Kenny and Steve you shouldn't have any issues with lining up the trac bar to mirror the drag link , to the drag link  up higher you can flip the pitman arm and either run the heim on top or bottom depending on how the trac bar matches up

i just want you to take this as constructive criticism not as a bash 
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zachbiz
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« Reply #90 on: July 19, 2012, 06:03:58 PM »

I appreciate all the input.

as far as the truss goes, its been on the list for a while. As soon as I'm done with the other stuff, thats the first thing thats gonna go. I'm just trying to get it rolling and it is holding for now. at least for street use. but trust me, it'll be gone soon. Either with a tube truss like you did yours, or a 1/8" box truss.
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« Reply #91 on: July 20, 2012, 11:57:53 AM »

That is a lot to do.  keep it up! 
totally jealous of your light bar. lol

 
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zachbiz
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« Reply #92 on: July 20, 2012, 08:45:50 PM »

So today: finally mounted the steering box. all is well. I didn't even need to extend the steering column because it swung up perfectly into place from its old spot.

Also cut out some reinforcement plates and the panhard brackets. I tried to do what you guys suggested. we'll see how it turns out.

also welded the radiator core support into the frame with large trick tabs with holes bored out for the rubber grommets. Got it all welded in and pretty to realize the only direction i forgot to measure was side to side. Its sitting half an inch too far to one side Sad so i'll cut em off tomorrow and weld new tabs on. Now that the support itself is in place, the tabs shouldn't take too long to redo.





also this: makes it look funny.

« Last Edit: July 20, 2012, 08:59:01 PM by zachbiz » Logged

zachbiz
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« Reply #93 on: July 22, 2012, 06:12:32 PM »

Slow progress today yesterday. Got the engine mounts in about %75 done. I'll finish and paint monday. also i cut and rewelded the radiator mounts in the proper place.

Today i mounted the e-fan thermo controller and fuse and i made a new coolant overflow tank:



Also forgot to post this last week but new Corbeau Baja XP seats and Crow Enterprises 3" harnesses:

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zachbiz
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« Reply #94 on: August 06, 2012, 10:00:31 AM »

Alright guys, heres and update. I haven't posted recently because my ASSHOLE of a neighbor threatened me with a lawsuit for emotional distress and lowering the value of his house. As MUCH as I would like to stomp all over him in court, make him look like a fool and have him pay ME legal fees and compensation for starting this bull$H!*, I didn't want to drag my dad in this as well. so I moved out into a service bay type garage in El Cajon. 

Got the frame plated.



built a panhard to clear my diff at full stuff.



hard to see but clearance at stuff



Look at all that up travel (gained an extra 9 inches or something like that). And thats not even including the down travel on the other side or any suspension movement from the rear.



engine cage is moving along



Top view



and i fired up the lights for a sec

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zachbiz
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« Reply #95 on: August 07, 2012, 09:12:35 AM »

Thanks guys. FINALLY back in its own feet. front suspension is done, just needs paint. I'll be taking care of the rear shocks (so i finally have a proper shock set up) this morning and then on to getting the coolant and power steering hooked up so i can start the engine today for the first time in 2 months.





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« Reply #96 on: August 07, 2012, 12:17:48 PM »

Hey Zach,
That panhard bar is going to collapse, and it won't be pretty.
I know that's not what you wanted to hear but that will go really bad really fast.
Like 4 or 5 years ago we had one that was .190 wall and it went all bad, almost wrecked the rig.
Don't run that.
You need to run 1.5", .250 wall all one piece and bend it if you need to. don't cut n weld it.

A few other things:
-Are you sue your steering isn't going to hit the bottom of the frame at full stuff?
-Are you sure that the coil overs aren't going to swing in and hit the frame at full flex?
-Did you move the track bar bracket to eliminate bump steer? if not you'll have to modify your pitman arm setup or run a heim pitman arm.

I know some of this may lead to more work on your part and isn't what you wanted to hear but I'm just look'n out.

tig welds look pretty good though.
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"When you hit the tree between the headlights thats understeer. Oversteer is when you hit the tree between the Tail Lights"
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« Reply #97 on: August 07, 2012, 12:43:00 PM »

absolutely man, that trackbar don't look good!  the angle at the welds are to severe.  first sign of death wobble and that $H!* gonna bend fo sho!  run at least 1.5 .250wall and I wouldn't bend it more than around 20-25 degrees. 

 
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zachbiz
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« Reply #98 on: August 07, 2012, 01:53:01 PM »

That tracbar has been something that's been sitting in the back of my head. I have seen people build tracbars like this and work well without failure so far but I have been thinking of upping the wall thickness. I just don't have very much time left. Today plus 5 more full days.

As for the steering and angles I matched the angle to the draglink, and everything is Heim, no ball joints or tre. As for clearance, everything is close but everything clears at the suspension maximums. Full stuff and droop. The tierod is the first think to touch the frame but I will be putting air bumps on soonish.
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zachbiz
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« Reply #99 on: August 07, 2012, 03:45:44 PM »

Alright. I've seen it done successfully with .250 wall and I'm gonna go that route. It will be done tomorrow.
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