1964 FJ45 LB “RB1” Project (19 Viewers)

[merbesfield]

Mike.. You do an immediate "U" with the hard line then back to rear of the housing? I'm in the process of mounting the "tab" for the soft line. In the previous life of this axle the soft line was not mounted in a Tab/clip. Now with the location of the shock tab on the back bottom of the axle i'm trying to determine the safest, most logical location to run the soft line from the rear calilper.

I'm not Mike, but I had to deal with this as well. The GM calipers do not provide the best situation for pluming an off road vehicle in my opinion. I am concerned that a branch could easily reach up and snag the rubber line, but not much can be done about it given the design. I figure since realistically, my rig will never see a trail I am ok, but if I were wheeling I would look at an alternate method. Not sure what it would be tho.

 

[miker]

Mike.. You do an immediate "U" with the hard line then back to rear of the housing?

Yes, the hard line does a u-turn right at the flex line connection. I did not want to run the hard line in front of the axle housing, exposing it to rocks, road debis, etc. As well, I'm using the stock OEM brake line "T" and this is designed to have the hard line enter from the rear on this side of the axle.

I'm in the process of mounting the "tab" for the soft line. In the previous life of this axle the soft line was not mounted in a Tab/clip. Now with the location of the shock tab on the back bottom of the axle i'm trying to determine the safest, most logical location to run the soft line from the rear calilper.

I looked for other alternatives to the soft line mounting tab but every other location I tried either put too much bend (and strain) in the soft line for my taste, or more exposed the soft or hard lines to potential damage.

If you come up with another location, please let me know as I would be interested to see how you have it mounted.

I don't like the idea of not mounting the soft line to a tab however I've seen this method used in a lot of RDB conversions.

The soft line I'm using is not very long and therefore does not offer too many alternatives for mouning.

 

[subzali]

why do you have a flex line on the rear axle?

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

RDB utilize a flex line to the caliper. The caliper moves a bit and was originally designed for Front disk on a chevy.

 

[miker]

why do you have a flex line on the rear axle?

as tornadoalleycruiser stated, the caliper 'floats' or moves along the mounting bolt/pin. It is designed to move as the pads wear. In the RDB conversion on a 'c' clip type cruiser axle, the caliper's ability to float side to side allows it to move along with the axle's end play. The axle movement could also have the effect of pushing the caliper piston back into the caliper, causing some 'double pump' braking so to prevent this as much as possible, I set the rear axle end play near minimum spec.

RDB utilize a flex line to the caliper. The caliper moves a bit and was originally designed for Front disk on a chevy.

Yep. My notes on the picture a bit confusing. Each hard line coming out of the 't' runs to a short flex line, then this flex line is connected to the caliper. The flex line coming out of the 't' allows for suspension up/down travel - normal setup there.

 

[miker]

wanted an easier way to work on the frame and then, eventually, the cab and the bed. built a rotisserie. first to go on it will be the frame so I can complete the welding and a few more small repairs, Then I plan to have it media blasted. I figure it should hold 2,000 lbs, more than I need for this project.

 

[2fpower]

Nice work. They do come in handy.

 

[two10wagon]

You sir are a Master Crafter! Beautiful work. Cant stop looking at it!

 

[Gumby]

why do you have a flex line on the rear axle?

Gotta have flex line to a floating caliper.

 

[Gusb]

Nice work!

 

[miker]

Rotisserie works.

Also have the roll cage welded up.

 

[miker]

If things go well, I may be able to finish up all welding on the frame this weekend. Then the next step will be to get it to the blasters for a final cleaning before paint.

I have very little room to work now that almost the entire truck is dissassembled so this is good motivation to get the frame finished and painted so I can start some assembly.

 

[merbesfield]

Rotisseries are the only way to go. I have two projects going now both on rots. Be sure you don't have any flex in your frame or body if you are welding it up and building a roll cage with it on the rot.

On the RDB conversion issue, I have a pic somewhere of the tabs I fabricated on the rear axle for the brake line transition. I have not settled on a line solution but it is high on my list now that my tub is finished and ready to come off the rotisserie. I will post some pics when I figure it out.

 

[miker]

Rotisseries are the only way to go. I have two projects going now both on rots. Be sure you don't have any flex in your frame or body if you are welding it up and building a roll cage with it on the rot.

good points

On the RDB conversion issue, I have a pic somewhere of the tabs I fabricated on the rear axle for the brake line transition. I have not settled on a line solution but it is high on my list now that my tub is finished and ready to come off the rotisserie. I will post some pics when I figure it out.

since i have everything apart, it was easy to snap a couple pics that better show how i ran the brake lines.

fyi, my calipers are on the rear of the axle

 

[miker]

finished welding the motor mounts and welded up the gear box mount.

 

[miker]

built the cage to frame main hoop braces.

 

[miker]

added another brace to the floor connecting the main cross brace to the rear floor support

 

[miker]

filled in the hole i cut out of the cab corner which wwas the gas filler. I wanted to try to keep some of the stock feature in the cab corner so this is what I ended up with.

 

[miker]

During evenings after work this week, been working on stripping the underside of the cab. It has a mix of rust, crud, and what I'm gussing is original black paint or sealer.

Anyway, this black paint appears to have been applied to bare metal and it is coming off fairly easily in large flakes or sheets once I get down through the creep and crud on top of it. Since there is very little adhesion in this stuff, some places are rusted underneeth but overall the bottom of the cab is in fairly good condition. I'm able to hand sand off most of the rust with 80 grit.

The sandpaper I'm using is mostly a brand called "sandblaster" and it cuts fast and lasts a long time. Discovered this stuff awhile back and liked the way it works compared to other sandpapers I've tried.

 

[miker]

Still have a ways to go on the floor.

I didn't like the looks of the original welds on the cross-member tube. So, I ground them down (finding a lot of slag pockets deep in the welds) and I'm rewelding them.