Build Big Red Toy

[The Phoenician]

I passed inspection today, then i picked these up for FREEEEEE.

So now i have two sets of comfortable seats. Tomorrow I'm working on the airbags and ac.
Stay tuned, more to follow.

 

[iwashmycar]

Woah! Score!

 

[robustbambi]

Balls deep in seats right now!!

 

[The Phoenician]

Balls deep in seats right now!!

I'm telling you man that's how life is, you either get nothing for a long time, or you get a s*** ton of everything at once.

 

[The Phoenician]

Ok busy day today, but well worth the ass pain. I finished installing the air bags and recharged my AC and tightened up a few loose things here and there. Before I get into the pics, I want to say that the air bags make the truck feel like a cadillac, it is so smooth on bumps and it no longer sways on sharp turns. I'm surprised more people haven't done this yet. It's too early to celebrate, time will tell if this was money well spent or a lesson in futility.

First off I raised the frame so that the suspension is at maximum flex, then I bolted the bracket and mocked it up to see how wide a spacer I needed.

I went looking in the welding department and found an aluminum piece I could use. I cut it up and made a 1.5 in spacer.

After cutting I mocked it up to see if it will work.

I asked the welding guy to tack them together before we drill them.

Then we drilled

 

[The Phoenician]

.... Then the second mock up before drilling into the frame

Once I drilled into the frame, I ran the air lines into the frame and away from anything that might snag it.
View attachment 883974

more pics.

one more

The truck looks more leveled and rides smoothly. I'll take better pics in the morning. This last picture is of it still in the air. This weekend I'll be taking it to the beach and next weekend I'll install the seats.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Sweet

 

[The Phoenician]

Just got back home from driving a 580 mile round trip beach weekend. The rig performed great with a few minor adjustments to be made. First off, it's more than apparent now that I need to regear to 3.7 . While I was able to do 70mph, I believe I can get there faster and improve fuel economy. I broke the front sway bar links while driving in the sand, and since installing my rear air bags I've began experiencing some axle wrap on hard acceleration. They did make the ride very smooth but I deflated the them a bit and accelerated slowly which helped. looks like i eventually need a traction bar. I ran most of the beach stretch in 2wd, except for a few places where the leading vehicles bogged down which forced me to engage the 4wd. There's more tech but I'm too brain fried right now to remember them all, so here are some pics.

Drove 4 hours and took a ferry to the island

This guy drove behind me the entire way, reminded me of the iraqi trucks

Convoyed the 60 mile stretch,

The FJ cruiser camp next to us

 

[The Phoenician]

the view of the sunrise

Convoying to the fishing spot

not a poser pic, just raised it so it's easier to unbolt the sway bar

I know exactly when it broke off, felt it snap under my feet

It drives much better in the sand now, but the highway is not as sturdy.

Fishing

 

[The Phoenician]

Caught some fish, this one isn't mine. Mine was not worth taking a photo of so we released it.

Another pic

Ended up with seaweed stuck to me

this one is just because I like Gwagens. It belongs to a friend of mine who has more than just one, both turbo diesels with manual transmissions. He's gonna sell me one, he just doesn't know it yet.

The drive back was uneventful, I did decide on a few things I will be modifying so stay tuned.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, while walking out of the restaurant this morning I heard someone call my name. I turned around a saw my old fire team leader standing there with his family. I hadn't seen him in over 10 years, the chances of it happening the day after I was telling stories about us around the camp fire was huge and weird at the same time.

 

[mcguirejohnson]

The air bags look like they leveled out your rig, looks great! I was gonna ask if you have had any experience with the military Goodyear MTRs, I am getting closer to buying a set from trailworthyfab and I like the more aggressive mud terrain look compared to the radial.


...via IH8MUD app

 

[The Phoenician]

The air bags look like they leveled out your rig, looks great! I was gonna ask if you have had any experience with the military Goodyear MTRs, I am getting closer to buying a set from trailworthyfab and I like the more aggressive mud terrain look compared to the radial.


...via IH8MUD app

the sidewall is supposed to be made of kevlar. Overall sturdier than the ones I have right now. You should have joined us this weekend.

 

[mcguirejohnson]

the sidewall is supposed to be made of kevlar. Overall sturdier than the ones I have right now. You should have joined us this weekend.

Ya the Kevlar part seemed interesting to me.. They look almost identical to the old school MTRs. And I wish I could have, it looks like you guys had a good time. I've been tied down with college applications and school related stuff... I am going to try and come to one of the monthly meetings and talk cruisers with all of y'all soon.


...via IH8MUD app

 

[Slow Left]

Nice pics! Looks like you had the best weekend out of all of us!

With the air bag pic, it looked like the air bag wasn't completely straight up and down. Or maybe it was just the angle of the picture, but does that make a difference? Is the function of the airbag essentially similar to the function of the air gap + rubber stopper between the axel and frame?

 

[The Phoenician]

Nice pics! Looks like you had the best weekend out of all of us!

With the air bag pic, it looked like the air bag wasn't completely straight up and down. Or maybe it was just the angle of the picture, but does that make a difference? Is the function of the airbag essentially similar to the function of the air gap + rubber stopper between the axel and frame?

this weekend was fun, I really needed it to unwind and test out the rig. As far as the air bags, there's a slight angle depending on how much they are inflated, not enough to worry about since they have a life time warranty against popping. I'm not sure I understand your question, but the function of the air bags are to level the truck, act as a sway bar on turns and give it cushion on bumps and so far they do them all quite well.

 

[Slow Left]

.... Then the second mock up before drilling into the frame
View attachment 883973

So I guess what I'm trying to conceptualize is the travel of the air bag. I guess I also forgot to take into consideration that the airbag probably doesn't carry most of the load, the springs do. You must have figured it all out so that as the axel flexes, the airbag expands and contracts enough so it doesn't get ripped off?

Without the airbag there, when the axel contracts, it closes the air gap with the frame and then hits that bumper stop.

And with the airbag there, it smoothens out that travel. Does the airbag automatically level the truck out, or is that something you adjust it to do?
...my truck leans to the left, too (...physically...not politically...)

 

[The Phoenician]

I see what you're saying now. When I mocked up the air bag brackets I had the truck lifted so leaf springs were at maximum flex. I added the spacers so that the air bags don't have to stretch out, these ones can go from 3 inches to 11. The load is carried by the springs and the travel is dampened by the shocks, the air bags just raise or lower your rear and smooth out the travel. So if you hit a bump really hard you're not breaking anything fragile in the truck.

You adjust how much you want it raised or lowered by adding air or decreasing pressure. The higher you want your rear end to be or the stiffer you want your cornering to be then the more air you add. Vice versa is also true. My main two reason for adding air bags was to raise the rear or my truck to be level with the front or slightly higher and to make up for the sway bar that I no longer have on the rear axle.

I'm sorry i have trouble explaining myself, but I hope this helps. Let me know if i need to clarify anything. Keep in mind this is still in the experimentation phase and might turn out to be a waste of time and money.

 

[Slow Left]

Got it. Thanks. It's still a while off, but I know I've got to address the suspension on my rig in the near future. At the least it'll be new springs and shocks. That might take care of the lean. I doubt I'll run tires bigger than 33s (still have a 2F and factory power steering pump) so I don't think I'll have the need to solve additional problems with the airbags, if the lift takes the lean away. But if they hold up to what you put em through, I'll keep it in mind.

 

[robustbambi]

Awesoem pics! That looked like a really fun trip. I hate the beach (i burn easily ), but would love to be able to do some more salt water fishing. camping on the beach looks pretty fun too.
What were you doing when you snapped the sway bar brackets? just driving?

 

[Granite Grinder]

managed to break the tip of my knife while doing all this, I nearly cried, that knife has been with me for over ten years now and done every single mission Ive been on. I'm still really bummed over it.

Had a buddy, who after he asked to borrow my Buck 110 knife, I said "don't use it as a screwdriver", proceeded to break the tip off. He looks at me, "I thought it would bend before it broke", I guess he never owned a quality knife. Mine is 25+ years old, took it to a knife sharpener and he reshaped it perfectly, albeit a wee bit shorter, but not noticeable. I thought about reshaping in myself, but didn't want to destroy the temper.