Builds Blender, My LX450/FZJ80 + FJ45esk + GM + Land Rover crazy concoction

[2fpower]

Really like how you can fold that steel. Getting ready to stretch an 80 and will need some custom-made square tube to sleeve it. Any idea the best way to do that? Make a C channel like you're doing then weld on the final side?

 

[Mieser]

Really like how you can fold that steel. Getting ready to stretch an 80 and will need some custom-made square tube to sleeve it. Any idea the best way to do that? Make a C channel like you're doing then weld on the final side?

There are a few ways to do it. I think one of the strongest is overlapping U/C channels with the double thickness on the top and bottom. Then weld the two seams. That makes for an incredibly strong structure for this type of application. If you are sleeving the frame to make it longer, you really want to plan that in an area where you can slip the sleeve inside the frame ( or over it ) for a decent distance. Ideally I think you want at least 1x the frame height for the overlap. More would be better, but that is usually difficult on frames that do not have parallel rails.

 

[mudgudgeon]

I designed and built it myself. It uses laser cut laminated tooling. It has a bed width of 60". It is powered by two 20 ton bottle jacks in a bottom up configuration. The truss on the top die breaks down so I can store it under my weld table.

sorry if i missed them. do you have more pictures of your press. looks very interesting

 

[Mieser]

sorry if i missed them. do you have more pictures of your press. looks very interesting

That is probably the most complete picture I have. I ended up building it on the fly mostly...
I had the laminated tooling laser cut.
The power is just 2x 20 ton hydraulic bottle jacks from Harbor Freight.

It isn't meant for production style work, but rather something I could have in a 'garage' size shop that would greatly expand my ability to bend longer spans. The top truss breaks down fairly quickly so that it will roll under my large welding table for storage.

The die system is all modular. I can make dies to do different things in the future. Eventually, I plan on having my own cnc plasma/router table and I will be able to cut my own tooling.

 

[mudgudgeon]

thanks, I've just read through your full thread and saw that pic. looks like it could be very versatile.

love your work, great build.

you have commented on toyota e-lockers being slow to engage. in my experience, this is due to the coarse design of the locking gear, not so much to do with the actuator. I don't think changing to air actuated would change this.
They have six square cut teeth, so the locker doesn't engage until they line up. I find them really reliable, even if they sometimes seem slow to engage.
I have mine set up on individual switches so I can select front or rear independently.
I hit the switch as soon as I think I'll need them, sometimes they take a while to engage, but I find they seem to engage reliably when there is enough differential wheel rotation to allow the locking gear to line up.
Rarely have I flicked a switch and found they haven't engaged when needed. Sometimes, I will hit the switch, drive an obstacle and find they haven't engaged, but also that I didn't spin wheels when I thought I might.

 

[Mieser]

thanks, I've just read through your full thread and saw that pic. looks like it could be very versatile.

love your work, great build.

you have commented on toyota e-lockers being slow to engage. in my experience, this is due to the coarse design of the locking gear, not so much to do with the actuator. I don't think changing to air actuated would change this.
They have six square cut teeth, so the locker doesn't engage until they line up. I find them really reliable, even if they sometimes seem slow to engage.
I have mine set up on individual switches so I can select front or rear independently.
I hit the switch as soon as I think I'll need them, sometimes they take a while to engage, but I find they seem to engage reliably when there is enough differential wheel rotation to allow the locking gear to line up.
Rarely have I flicked a switch and found they haven't engaged when needed. Sometimes, I will hit the switch, drive an obstacle and find they haven't engaged, but also that I didn't spin wheels when I thought I might.

I am honestly more worried about how well they disengage. Any opinions on that? In my experience, most selectable lockers, especially in the front, can be very poor at unlocking when you want them too. They tend to get bound internally.

I tried something different on my old Willys jeep when I rebuilt it a few years back. I run an automatic locker in FRONT, and a selectable locker in the REAR. This has worked out fantastic even though it is the opposite of what most people think you should do. The maneuverability and behavior of the chassis, in all conditions, has been fantastic.

Having selectable lockers in 3 places....front, center, and rear....will be something interesting to play with. I have a few theories that I want to try out.....

 

[mudgudgeon]

Ahh, yes. Fair call.
They definitely don't like to disengage if you have any wind-up or load on the driveline. It can take a bit of shuffling the rig back and forward 10metres or so to get the driveline to unwind and get them to unlock.
Most of the time it's no problem to just switch them off and drive away.
I drive a manual, so I often just pop the clutch in and coast a little to help unload the driveline.

Again, I'm not sure air actuation would help overcome the friction on the locking gear while the driveline is loaded up. If you could exert that much force, I'd be worried about breaking something

 

[2fpower]

There are a few ways to do it. I think one of the strongest is overlapping U/C channels with the double thickness on the top and bottom. Then weld the two seams. That makes for an incredibly strong structure for this type of application. If you are sleeving the frame to make it longer, you really want to plan that in an area where you can slip the sleeve inside the frame ( or over it ) for a decent distance. Ideally I think you want at least 1x the frame height for the overlap. More would be better, but that is usually difficult on frames that do not have parallel rails.

Thanks for your input. Hijack done.

 

[Mace]

I tried something different on my old Willys jeep when I rebuilt it a few years back. I run an automatic locker in FRONT, and a selectable locker in the REAR. This has worked out fantastic even though it is the opposite of what most people think you should do. The maneuverability and behavior of the chassis, in all conditions, has been fantastic.

For maximizing steering with only one locker (and not being concerned about axle breakage), this is the way to go. A automatic locker in the rear will push you through corners badly.

 

[Mieser]

For maximizing steering with only one locker (and not being concerned about axle breakage), this is the way to go. A automatic locker in the rear will push you through corners badly.

Exactly.

 

[Mieser]

Finally some progress worth posting...





I was able to finish up most of the upper and lower radiator mounts. Since the grille is hard mounted to the frame I attached the lower radiator mounts to the new crossmember I added under the grille. That crossmember also houses the power steering cooler so the radiator mounts needed to bolt on. I decided to do a channel in channel type mount.

The lower mounts use 3 mounting bolts to provide some sideways stability in the long term. There is a secondary mounting nut in the mount for an air flow plate to help force air through the coolers and keep re-circulation down.

The upper mount attaches to the front top edge of the grille and uses the same Jeep XJ mounting pads as the bottom. This makes for easy to find common parts. The radiator is slightly offset to the passenger side so the mount isn't perfectly symmetric. I tried to hide that in the visible parts when the hood is closed. The dimples really stiffened up the panel overall. I am always amazed by that.

One interesting thing with the FJ40 front clip....



There is an opening for airflow on the front of the hood above the grille. I added a few holes on the front to the upper radiator mount. I omitted the outer most holes ( I can add them ) because I am thinking about adding a small 'scoop' to the upper radiator mount. That scoop would capture air from the hood opening and force it though the upper part of the radiator....and keep the fan from sucking hot air from in the engine compartment. Thoughts?

Misc stuff....



new style of weld nuts. I like them. Cheaper. Easier to weld into place. More threads.



Lower radiator mounts out of the chassis.

I have some some more air flow 'ducting' to do in the grille still. I need to make a shroud. I can start on the front bumper now. Need to mount the headlight adjusters and figure out the final depth for those. The hydro assist ram also needs mounting before the winch. I'd also like to start working on the bed....

 

[Mieser]

I had a little bout of airflow OCD....



I made a small scoop to direct the air flowing coming from the hood gap into the radiator. It should also prevent the re-circulation of hot air from under the engine compartment in this area. I also added the outer holes into the upper radiator mount for a little more flow since the scoop didn't get in the way...

 

[scrapdaddy]

Interested in the new weld nuts, any links to them. A lot of thinking going on in this build!

 

[Mieser]

Interested in the new weld nuts, any links to them. A lot of thinking going on in this build!

McMaster-Carr

....and they make them in metric to match 'stock' stuff in the FJ40 also.

I find drilling the access hole about 1mm large and using a fastener with a taper works the best for centering them in place. Then just tack them in two places. I like that the threads can be longer than most of the stock captured nuts. They are also about 10x cheaper than the captured nut units.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Ok, that's the style I have. They do work good. Thanks!

 

[RAYJON]

great build thanks for posting your progress, did you take some height out of the grill, I see a horizontal cut along the top?

I am curious, after seeing your thought process on getting air into the engine compartment what you change to help get the air out.

had to look up the hole cutters you were using, ordering a set, been looking for something better, Thanks

 

[Mieser]

great build thanks for posting your progress, did you take some height out of the grill, I see a horizontal cut along the top?

I am curious, after seeing your thought process on getting air into the engine compartment what you change to help get the air out.

had to look up the hole cutters you were using, ordering a set, been looking for something better, Thanks

The only height taken out of the grill was the saw kerf(s). I kept the top and bottom of the grill the same width as factory, but I moved the headlights inboard a few inches to get rid of the corners below the headlights for tire clearance and to clean up the look with raised fenders.

I'm more worried about getting air in through the radiator ( with the reduction in grill size ) than out. I can try to leave some space down the back of the fenders near the firewall for air to be pushed down and out the bottom of the vehicle. The factory vents on the hood should help a lot also. Getting some cool air into the engine can't help either.

I like the holcutters, they cut a super clean hole. I have given up on using them in a hand drill for the most part. They are just too grabby in my opinion in the larger sizes on thicker metal. If I can, I use the drill press.

 

[Mieser]

Just a little bit of an experiment....



I decided to try something different to stiffen up the upper grille braces. I added a small 1/2" wide flange at 45 degrees to the inside of the triangle shape. That REALLY stiffened up the panel and took out a decent mount of weight too.

These will be hidden under the fender eventually. I will need to add a fender mounting hole near the coil bucket. With a little foam weather stripping that should help keep things from rattling where they overlap onto each other.

Details.....

 

[RAYJON]

The only height taken out of the grill was the saw kerf(s). I kept the top and bottom of the grill the same width as factory, but I moved the headlights inboard a few inches to get rid of the corners below the headlights for tire clearance and to clean up the look with raised fenders.

I'm more worried about getting air in through the radiator ( with the reduction in grill size ) than out. I can try to leave some space down the back of the fenders near the firewall for air to be pushed down and out the bottom of the vehicle. The factory vents on the hood should help a lot also. Getting some cool air into the engine can't help either.

I like the holcutters, they cut a super clean hole. I have given up on using them in a hand drill for the most part. They are just too grabby in my opinion in the larger sizes on thicker metal. If I can, I use the drill press.

You can always go to the lincoln mark VIII electric fan, bigger version of the taurus fan. Moves 4500cfm on high..

 

[Mieser]

You can always go to the lincoln mark VIII electric fan, bigger version of the taurus fan. Moves 4500cfm on high..

I don't know if a big electric would fit honestly. The front end is tighter than I would have guessed.

That is why I went with an oem clutch fan, they just flow more air than an electric fan. I run a volvo electric fan on my old flat fender, it has worked well in that vehicle. I wanted more on this one. The draw from the big electric fans can be really hard on the electrical system too. A good friend of mine converted an old 1967 Jeepster to a 5.3LS. He is running the same fan/clutch setup with a smaller radiator and no shroud without any cooling issues for 20K miles soaking in the southern New Mexico heat. I plan on using most of the tricks I have learned over the years....I HATE cooling system issues....