[boots4]

It's nothing really exciting but it was mostly about lockers and mounting the front ram assist.

I've been considering gearing to 4.56 and doing a detroit in the rear but he suggested if I can't afford an ARB right now to just grab another aussie for the rear. I can save up and always sell the aussies later. Why gearing, I don't really have a good reason since I really don't need a lower crawl (really haven't played around with stupid low yet). The only thing I could come up with is that the tranny warms up when offroad and I could see a small increase in mpg. I've gotten used to it staying around 165-170F so when I see it at 190F I start thinking it's hot when I really know it's not. Whenever I'm offroad I keep the tcase in low to relieve some stress from the t.converter and run a single fan to pull air through the tranny cooler to keep it from heating up. When I turn up the 4bt some more I imagine I'll only produce more heat when slipping the t.converter. 4.56s would take a little stress off and help it from heating up. I still have gears to play around with so it's probably not necessary. Anyways if I regeared I could throw in a detroit but Desmond ran a detroit before and had it chipping ring gear teeth. He obviously likes the selectability of the ARB but the cost of the locker is not the total cost, I'd also need air and then setup. So long answer is I'll probably pick up another aussie and grab some PP axles before I head out to Rubiton.

I'm going to redo my ram tierod mount and had been thinking about different designs since mine is failing in the testing phase. He shared a simple design that I originally thought wouldn't work but he never had a problem with. So I'll probably go that way. On a side note I'm actually going to move the entire ram so I don't have clearance issues with the leaf spring.

[CreeperSleeper]

sounds like a good plan... let me know if you need any help.

[brokenparts]

Thanks again for making the journey out here again Mike. Just seeing your rig helped alot... not too mention your tech knowledge with the springs.

and for everyone else.... Mike let me drive Dora.

Its even better than it looks for those who are wondering. I enjoyed every last second driving that thing. I can't imagine what it'll be like when you get the boost where ya want it.

Dora wanted bigger shoes too:

[boots4]

It was fun coming out and now I've got tool envy! You've got a lot of fun tools to play with. I'll be back soon to play with that bender and see how the rear setup is working out.

[brokenparts]

Originally Posted by boots4

It was fun coming out and now I've got tool envy! You've got a lot of fun tools to play with. I'll be back soon to play with that bender and see how the rear setup is working out.

anytime my friend! Hopefully next time it wont be so crazy around here... I thought Vance (the guy with the runner) just had few welds he needed done today.

Seriously man... thanks.

[boots4]

Looking at those pics again I could almost... nah, I better not. I certainly can't go smaller than 38s now!

[Tapage]

Originally Posted by brokenparts

and for everyone else.... Mike let me drive Dora.

That's not fair dude .. !

[boots4]

Wow, it's been two weeks since I've done an update. Work has taken a few twists lately and I don't seem to have any extra time. With what's going on I may get more time but we'll see what plays out.

Lets see, so the last thing was starting the repositioning of the front shocks. I did finish that and here's how it turned out.

This is the passenger side. 11 degrees tilt towards the back.



And 12 degrees tilt towards the center of the rig.



Driver side has the same 11 degrees back and 12 degrees in.



I slapped some paint on there to keep the rust away and plan to paint the whole thing in spring or summer. I hope to be done working on the frame by then.

With the well's cut for the shocks, the passenger side comes partly in underneath my air filter. I cut out a piece of rubber to close in the hole.





The reason I adjusted the shock positioning was the sway I was getting when taking curves on the highway. It would kind of bob one side to the other which would influence the driver to overcorrect for it. I wondered sometimes if I'd get pulled over for driving under the influence and I don't even drink. It wasn't that bad but again I wanted to reduce some of the operator feel to my rig. My trip out to Brokenpart's place on Sunday was the first trip I took in it after the adjustment and it did make a handling difference. The front end feels tighter and more stiff. It drives better. I do have some issues though and they are with clearances. I really wanted to get more tilt towards the center but as it is right now I already have clearance issues particularly with the driverside shock and the steering joint.



It doesn't touch during normal driving for the most part but as the axle starts to flex away from the frame the joint and shock body contact. What I will try is to find a smaller joint that I can fit in there so if any of you already know of one please drop me a line. I won't really be able to wheel it until I can get that taken care of so I don't trash my shocks. The wear marks are from me lifting the front up with my engine hoist to look at clearances and turning the wheel.

When driving it I could feel the rear end bobbing a little so I decided to adjust those angles too. They were originally at 4-5 forward tilt and 25 degrees inward tilt. All I ended up doing it to redo the axle mount. I extended it forward another 1 1/2" to get me 0-1 degree forward tilt and 17-18 degrees inward tilt.

Passenger side


Driverside


Moving the lower mount on the driverside also helped gain more clearance with the exhaust.



I have not driven it yet with the rear adjusted since I got that done today but I plan on taking it to work tomorrow so I'll have some impressions after that.

Unfortunately I woke up Monday to a completely flat driverside front tire. It was on the rim. I filled it back up and tried looking for any punctures and have not found anything obvious, no nails, screws, or large gashes. It lost 15psi in the last two days so I still have a leak. I filled it again and put water on the nicks I thought had penetrated but nothing bubbled. I may grab a can of green slime and see if that will plug it. For now I'll be checking it freqently until I find where it's leaking from.

While I was messing with the front end I figured I'd fix the tierod mount for my ram and move the ram to a better spot. I cut off the axle mount and moved it as far to the passenger side that I could get.



Moving it this far over would get the tierod mount away from the spring and plate I had clearance issues with.

To get the most out of that move I took out the axle side joint from the ram and reduced it's length so I could screw it in further as it was bottoming internally.



This was my first tierod mount that has failed during testing with the base plate bending. I used 1/4" stuff but did not distribute the clamping force. I had to cut the ubolts to get them off since they were tweaked pretty good. I do not recomend this style for mounting your ram to your tierod.


I wanted to make a clamp that would have more surface area to hold onto the tierod. I started with a tube I cut into halfs and massaged it to fit. Worried about the thickness of these parts I abandoned them and looked for something thicker.



I found this piece in the scrap bucket at the local hardware store and it cost me $2. The inner diameter of this piece was close to the outer diameter of the tierod. I then picked up a group grade 8 bolts (1/4" x 3/4").



I made it 6" long, cut it in half and tacked some flanges on it.



I originally put the flanges on at 90 degrees to the surface of the tube.



Fitment showed me this wouldn't work with my holes already drilled. The idea was that the flanges at this angle would clamp the tube more onto the tierod.

Instead I removed the flanges and put them in line with the cut and not the tube surface by putting the tube half on a flat surface, then put the flanges flat next to them and tacked them on. This fit much better and still allow a good clamping action. I was having battery issues with my welder. One of the batteries was not getting a good charge due to a dirty terminal so I had to weld and inch and wait a minute for a decent surface charge and hit it again. I've cleaned the terminal so I shouldn't have to do that now. That's just my excuse for why my bead didn't turn out looking better.

Final design (all welding was done outside on a very windy day with frequent fresh air breaks since this tube was galvanized)



The axle mount for the ram required a notch out for the ram to fit so I cut and ground that for clearance and put it all together. The ram is now perfectly level with the tierod and in a straighter line with the tierod. This should help disperse the force between the two TRE joints better than with the tierod mount closer to the driverside.





I got the front tires grooved as well. I think that about catches me up with what I've done lately. What ever they put on the road down to California on the snow is not metal friendly and I have surface rust starting. I wanted to wash off the cruiser today but I had just painted some parts and with it being in freezing temps over night I didn't want to thaw out the hose. Maybe I'll just hit one of those DIY car washes and at least get that stuff rinsed off.

[Tapage]

Please ask your wife if I can let Tencha at your home few weeks .. she need this kind of care !

[LABBE66]

Incredible build and write-up. Being a young father with two kids and no garage myself, I find your work an inspiration. I have the ability to use shop space at work but it is only during lunch and for a few hours after work one day every other week. Anyway, good work and keep the posts coming!

[boots4]

Originally Posted by Tapage

Please ask your wife if I can let Tencha at your home few weeks .. she need this kind of care !

Bring Tencha! Bring Tencha! I'll have to test out whatever I do to her and Tencha doesn't need anything so I'll happily do some testing.

Originally Posted by LABBE66

Incredible build and write-up. Being a young father with two kids and no garage myself, I find your work an inspiration. I have the ability to use shop space at work but it is only during lunch and for a few hours after work one day every other week. Anyway, good work and keep the posts coming!

Thanks for following along, that canopy we got and the insulated jump suit I wear has certainly made it easier to go outside in bad weather but I long for the days of a shop to play in.

[jeffsclan]

Welds look good to me. If ya want a good laugh you can see my welds.

[boots4]

I tackled the leaky hydroboost unit this week. I bought a hydroboost repair kit (mostly rubber) from PirateJack. It came with instructions but I didn't find them particularly helpful. The two major things I used off that sheet was the diagram and the torque value for the bolts (20ft lbs.)

It was leaking from the front piston seal and you can kinda see in this pic.



I separated the Master Cylinder and since I have decent slack in the lines I just moved it out of the way leaving it hooked up. I then took the HB out and started loosening up the bolts. I left two in at the very end of their travel and once the rest were out I carefully separated the case. I didn't know if anything was going to jump out so I made sure I held onto things as it came apart.



I took off the clevis on the end of the shaft and it slid through the back half. I cleaned it up and this is what it looks like inside.



I gently pulled the "push rod & power piston assembly" (input rod assembly) out along with the spool valve and cleaned out the front half. I inspected it and it looks fine to me.



Spool valve that goes on top.



This is where the front piston seal is. It's just rubber so I picked it out, collapsed the new one and worked it in. Old on the left, new on the right.



I found two more seals on the "push rod & power piston assembly" (input rod assembly). They show a slip over tool to get those on but I just worked them with my picks being careful and I got the new ones on. New ones are pictured.



"Push rod & power piston assembly" (input rod assembly) all cleaned up. I didn't get into the piston and I'm not sure if there are any seals inside or not because the diagram was confusing on this part. The brakes actuated great before so I decided not to go to the lengths to get it apart.



This is the cap for the spool valve. Looking at the diagram showed a seal on it so I yanked it and put on a new o-ring.



The front piston seal is a lip seal like the ones I found in my tranny. I was going against the grain pushing the piston back in so I just pushed the piston up to the seal and then from the front a took a small flat-blade screw driver and worked the seal under the piston. Again, just be careful to not gouge the surface if you work it redneck style.



I then put the spool valve in and attached the two together. The instructions say to only use power steering fluid but since my system runs on ATF I just used that to lube the parts as I put them back in.



I didn't dig into the compressed gas accumulator and the diagram didn't show any seals on it anyways so I started to mate the two halves back together. The back half needed a little persuasion to get on the seals but nothing forceful. I tightened the bolts all together bringing the halves together equally.



20 ftlbs. on the bolts and it's ready to go back in the rig.



These were the only seals I used from the kit. The kit is obviously for several versions of the HB but after studying the diagram and what I found inside that's all I needed. Left side it what I replaced, the right side is what was left over.



Adjusted the clevis again to get the pedal were I wanted it (last adjustment was just a little high) and bolted it back in. Hooked up all the lines, the MC, bled it and it all works fine, no more leak.

[boots4]

Today we woke up to a little snow so we ventured out and to make the trip practical we grabbed some parts. We stopped by Tube service Co. in Portland and I picked up three sticks of 1 3/4" .120 wall HREW tube to make bumpers and sliders out of. I know DOM would have been better but three 20' sticks cost me $138 so I'll work with this.



Also stopped by the cummins parts distributors and grabbed a couple things. I got valve cover gaskets, exhaust manifold gaskets, and a new temp switch for my KSB motor (timing advance when cold).



I got a new switch because I'm wondering if my original is sealing in the intake plate anymore (boost leak possibility). I got the cheap stuff knocked out and still have leaks so I'm having to throw a little money at it now. I also ordered new hump hose connections since I think that's another leak source but those will come in this week sometime. Old on the left, new on the right.




Picked up valve cover gaskets but didn't get them installed today.



Looks like a small exhaust leak at the gasket.



Old on the left, new on the right. Old ones are pretty flat.



I rotated the tires too. That leaky tire slowed down considerably and am only loosing 1-2 psi a day. Weird, I'll keep looking for it.

[brokenparts]

now all you have to do is find someone with a tube bender. HMMMM... there's got to be someone around.

[EWheeler]

Originally Posted by boots4

This fit much better and still allow a good clamping action. I was having battery issues with my welder. One of the batteries was not getting a good charge due to a dirty terminal so I had to weld and inch and wait a minute for a decent surface charge and hit it again. I've cleaned the terminal so I shouldn't have to do that now. That's just my excuse for why my bead didn't turn out looking better.

I'm assuming you are talking about a ReadyWelder here? Do you have any tips for a new user? I picked one up a few months ago but have only used it to make some seat brackets for my 40 series. I will be tackling some sheet metal work as well as a spring over with shackle reversal here in the next couple months. The ReadyWelder is a perfect machine for me as I don't have any type of garage or decent power source at my condo complex. What type of batteries are you using and also what type of charger? The couple of time I have used mine I just pull the batteries out of my rigs and then slap them back in and start the truck to re-charge. I don't have a stand alone charge yet. Oh and sick rig, makes me want to build a 60 next

[boots4]

Originally Posted by brokenparts

now all you have to do is find someone with a tube bender. HMMMM... there's got to be someone around.

Ol' Dora just might be wearing a horn when I show up on saturday.

[brokenparts]

nice!!!

[boots4]

Originally Posted by EWheeler

I'm assuming you are talking about a ReadyWelder here? Do you have any tips for a new user? I picked one up a few months ago but have only used it to make some seat brackets for my 40 series. I will be tackling some sheet metal work as well as a spring over with shackle reversal here in the next couple months. The ReadyWelder is a perfect machine for me as I don't have any type of garage or decent power source at my condo complex. What type of batteries are you using and also what type of charger? The couple of time I have used mine I just pull the batteries out of my rigs and then slap them back in and start the truck to re-charge. I don't have a stand alone charge yet. Oh and sick rig, makes me want to build a 60 next

Yup, everything I've welded on this project has all been done with a readywelder. They are great machines and it's standing up to my abuse, grinder dust, and the elements. I really like the portability of it even if I need to move it to the other side of the rig while I spark on something.

I'm using group 27 deep cycle reconditioned batteries and I would recommend just getting new deep cycles. Group 27s are more than enough to penetrate what I'm playing with. I'm using a Minkota 2 bank (2 battery) marine charger. I build a little cart to push them around in for my first project that holds the batteries, the charger, and the welder case so I can keep it all together.

I use fluxcore exclusively since I'm outside. There was a thread on Pirate about a different tip that would make it easier to see the electrode when using fluxcore but I can't remember the part numbers to look for, but that would be nice to update. I've noticed that I sometimes have spooling issues and that is most likely due to the case nut being too tight and clamping too much on the spool or that the spool itself isn't wound right. The 1 lb spools work better than the 2 lb spools and I just rewind my own from a 10 lb spool (I made a little redneck winder that I can power with a drill) because that's cheaper. I've gone through two 10 lb spools so far (also put together a utility trailer). Sheet metal will be difficult if you're running 24v. If you try out 18v and a smaller wire it would probably be a lot easier. On the lowest setting that will feed wire with 1-2" of electrode feed I can blow through my sheet metal if I pull the trigger for very long. Sheet metal with .35 wire (.23 wire would help too), on the lowest setting at 24v is pretty much a connection of tacks.

So far I'm really happy with it and will be getting my cables set up to bring it with me when I go wheeling since I run dual batteries in my rig.

[EWheeler]

Yeah, I had some issues with inconsistent wire feeding but as you stated, I determined I was tightening the cover down too much and creating too much friction with the spinning spool. Question about your charger; do you charge & weld simultaneously? I need to do some research and figure out the best set-up for welding different thicknesses of metal. I know you can vary the voltage (18,24, or 36), the wire thickness, and the feed speed to adjust for different thicknesses.

[boots4]

I like to unplug the charger when I weld from the batteries. I have on occasion left the charger on as I welded and did not have any problems but I think it is safer to leave it unplugged. Now my charger leads are bolted onto the terminals so they always stay hooked up, it's just the charger that is unplugged from the grid.

[brokenparts]

you still coming by today?

[boots4]

Alright, time to pull myself off page 2.

I went snow wheeling eariler this month even though I haven't solved my shock/steering joint clearance issue when flexing. Still need to do that but here are a few pics from that day.







I forgot to take my flaps off before getting into the deeper stuff. Well, nature decided to take one off for me.



The mount wasn't meant to play tug-of-war with so the branch that I was hung up on yanked it off. I'll need to bend it back a little but that's about all that happened to it. I'll probably need to move them down anyways when I get to my rear quarter sliders/protection.





I brought up the rear. I'm not sure others enjoy sniffing diesel like I do so I thought it was nicer if I lingered behind.



I played with ~4-5 psi. Airing back up took a little while with my little electric compressor.

[boots4]

Actually hauled the family up to the columbia river gorge area near portland and did some hiking. Here is Dora parked waiting for us to come back.



As far as projects I replaced my valve cover gaskets and finally gave Dora a well deserved wash and cleaning. I polished most of the windows to remove hard water spots that had built up over the years.

I started on my rocker chop so that I won't have my sliders hanging down so far. I had debated how I wanted to do this but I just got out some tape and my angle grinder and started cutting.

This is the projected line I wanted to cut off.



After crude cutting it's gone.



I thought about putting a patch piece in it or then welding a small tube or round stock behind the outer lip to give it a finished look but I think I'll just roll on some spectrum underneath, extend the line up the door about 3-4" and paint it with rustbullet. The sliders will fit close to the cut rocker so I don't think I'll really need a finished edge since you won't be able to see it once the sliders are fit anyways. I like the clearance this will allow, now I just need to get some square tube to start my sliders. I did run out of cut off wheels so I only got the passenger side done. I'll also probably smooth out a few spots before I fit the slider up there. The sliders will be welded to the frame and not the rockers. I'm trying to get the sliders set up first before I start on the front bumper (tube bending) and protection.

[Tapage]

it's the picture of you are sagging a little bit rear ..

[boots4]

The front passenger tire is barely on the hill so maybe that's why it looks like the rear is compressed a little. On flat ground it's still pretty level front to back. I do keep a few things in the back all the time now (tools, emergency stuff, etc.)

[Tapage]

Not a big deal anycase .. I'm just little obsesed with the leveled suspension on my Cruisers ..

[GLTHFJ60]

The rockers look great! Have any pictures of the undersides?

[boots4]

I'll get some today or tomorrow, I wanted to clean them up a little before I show them.

[boots4]

I picked up some more cut off disks and took off the driver side. This side had damage from a previous wheeling trip. The nice thing is that I found no rust in either side after I cut them off.



Then I went to the steel yard and grabbed some slider material. I got 3.5"x2"x .250 wall for the slider and 2"x2" .250 wall for the legs. Bill came out to $83.



Measured my length (63 1/2" due to fender trimming), cut some angles and patched the holes on the ends of the tube. Here I'm mocking up for the legs.



I will be adding tube outriggers to these so I wanted most of the slider under the body.





Measured my distances and then cut out the legs. I came in a foot from both ends and then centered a leg inbetween them. Tacked them on and then I put the slider back underneath to see how it fit.



All looked fine so I started burning in the legs to the sliders. I'm pretty sure I've popped another battery on my welder so I didn't get very far and have to wait for a surface charge to get me another inch of bead. I just need to pony up and actually buy some new batteries instead of grabbing blems/reconditioned because they are cheap. I got tired of doing the waiting game so I only burned in one side of legs. I intend to add some gussets before I weld them to the frame.



I also need to cut out some base plates, clean up the rocker cut some more, and bend some tube for outriggers before I weld them to the frame. I'll slap on a coat of rustbullet for my final protection.

I got enough to also make some mini sliders for the rear and then I can add round tube to those too.