Builds Box Rocket 1995 FZJ80 Build (2 Viewers)

[Box Rocket]

I don't want to muck up your thread, but there will be a SD60/14B and of course alot of fabrication involved, including of course panhard attachment and D60 high steer.

Where's the pics? Hows it feel on the freeway?

Nice. the 1Tons changes things obviously.

Driving on the freeway feels great. Not really any change since this doesn't alter caster or anything else really. Just location. But it's nice and stable and tracks straight.

 

[Broski]

Hay Adam Looking good, It appears that your !3.50 tuck nicely. The tread portion of the tire looks to be a bet narrower the the rest of the tire helping it tuck in.

PS When I first put 37s on my Reg they looked so Big. Now when I see them They look all most stock. Your truck looks really good with those 37s

 

[Box Rocket]

Made a bit of progress on my second swingout for my rear bumper. Using a Ruffstuff hinge kit. Spindle is in place and passes through the entire bumper, welded to the top and bottom. Main arm is done with a small bend to batch profile of the bumper. Simple pocket on the end of the new arm to fit the old arm so I don't need to add another latch. Should finish it up tomorrow.

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Don't mind the heavy layer of salt on the truck. We had a bit of snow this week and the salt trucks were out in force.
Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Not a great pic but you can kinda see the the spindle just through the bottom of the bumper.
Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

2.5" square 1/4" wall for main arm. Didn't get a pic of doing the bend, but it was just a cut through 3 sides and weld it up.
Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

"Stop" welded to the bottom of the arm to match the other arm and a pocket on the end.
Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

More tomorrow.

 

[baldilocks]

Hay Adam Looking good, It appears that your !3.50 tuck nicely. The tread portion of the tire looks to be a bet narrower the the rest of the tire helping it tuck in.

PS When I first put 37s on my Reg they looked so Big. Now when I see them They look all most stock. Your truck looks really good with those 37s

Glad to know it’s not just me. Thought my eyes were deceiving me. 40’s are barking at me and a 3 link wiggles it’s way into my thoughts more and more often. Need to stay focused!

 

[Box Rocket]

Finished up the new bumper swingout over the weekend. Pretty simple setup overall to tide me over until I get a Delta bumper. Single fuel can basket (with room for a second if needed), hilift, shovel.
I replaced the gas struts on my lift gate a few weeks ago and the old ones still work well enough that I re-purposed them for the swingouts.
Bumper by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Bumper by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Bumper by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Bumper by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Bumper by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Bumper by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Bumper by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Bumper by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Bumper by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

 

[baldilocks]

Who makes that rear bumper?

 

[Box Rocket]

Who makes that rear bumper?

Me.

 

[Box Rocket]

A local mudder cut out a few "kits" for a rear panhard bracket on his plasma table and I ended up with one of them. Similar to the Delta bracket but this one isn't completely bolt in and one edge is welded to the upper control arm bracket on the axle. There's a "safety" weld on the original panhard bracket but probably isn't necessary. I was planning to get the Delta one but this was offered to me and I happily snatched it up. Used a stock panhard with it to replace the adjustable one I've had.

Seems to be a minor improvement in handling over the adjustable panhard. I'll be honest, I was expecting a more noticeable change based on the feedback I've heard from others after getting the rear panhard leveled off. The "wiggle" that is described from the rear end of the truck that does not have a level panhard when hitting bumps was not that pronounced on my truck to begin with. I have to assume that the Slinky suspension and HD rear swaybar were controlling the back end pretty well, but this panhard bracket does seem to make the rear of the truck feel a bit more settled. So I think it's a worthwhile mod. I look forward to getting it out in the dirt and see how it behaves on some fast tracks.

Stock vs adjustable panhard
Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

small difference in length
Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Welded up the bracket.
Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

In the truck
Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Little paint
Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

New OEM bolts for the frame side bracket on the top of the new axle bracket. Reused the original axle bracket to hold the lower end of the new bracket.
Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

There is interference with the Axle bolt and nut with the Slinky coil. One solution is to lift the frame of the truck to open up the suspension and slide the bolt in from the front with the nut on the back side. If you needed to remove it you would need to open up the suspension the same way to get it out. I chose to machine about 1/2" off the end of the bolt and about 1/8" off the nut (it's like a 1" deep nut) and put the bolt in from the back with the nut on the forward side so that it would clear the springs and I wouldn't need to open up the suspension to remove it.

 

[baldilocks]

Nice job on the bracket. When I did mine, I installed the bolt with the head facing forward so it would never interfere with spring movement.

 

[bryson]

Very nice Adam. What I garner from reading the various threads about rear track bar relocation is that the people who notice the most difference after installing a rear bracket are those who do not have ideal/proper caster correction on their front axles. Those of us with appropriate caster correction up front don't seem to notice as much of a difference with the rear bracket. I'm sure physics has a reason for this, but I don't know what it is. That, and differing sensitivity from butt to butt.

 

[interactivebagel]

Really great work, man!

 

[Box Rocket]

Very nice Adam. What I garner from reading the various threads about rear track bar relocation is that the people who notice the most difference after installing a rear bracket are those who do not have ideal/proper caster correction on their front axles. Those of us with appropriate caster correction up front don't seem to notice as much of a difference with the rear bracket. I'm sure physics has a reason for this, but I don't know what it is. That, and differing sensitivity from butt to butt.

I must have a numb butt.

 

[Lumpskie]

Very nice Adam. What I garner from reading the various threads about rear track bar relocation is that the people who notice the most difference after installing a rear bracket are those who do not have ideal/proper caster correction on their front axles. Those of us with appropriate caster correction up front don't seem to notice as much of a difference with the rear bracket. I'm sure physics has a reason for this, but I don't know what it is. That, and differing sensitivity from butt to butt.

I dunno... I noticed a huge difference and I had caster correction already. It really showed in body roll as well as random dartiness, in my case. But... this only proves that I am not hardcore enough for Mud.

 

[Box Rocket]

I dunno... I noticed a huge difference and I had caster correction already. It really showed in body roll as well as random dartiness, in my case. But... this only proves that I am not hardcore enough for Mud.

Haha. take your non-hardocore-ness elsewhere! Honestly though, I wonder if the HD Blackhawk rear swaybar was also a big factor? Body roll has been minimal since adding the swaybar.

 

[Lumpskie]

Haha. take your non-hardocore-ness elsewhere! Honestly though, I wonder if the HD Blackhawk rear swaybar was also a big factor? Body roll has been minimal since adding the swaybar.

I didn't think of that. I bet that sway bar is a big help.

 

[Box Rocket]

Project 3" lift and 37's continues and I think I've just about got it dialed. Tire specs are 37x13.50R17 Toyo MTs. Wheels are 17x8.5 Icons. 1.5" Spidertrax spacers. I had made some changes earlier to help the front. Moved the axle forward 1.25", cut 2" off the front bumper wings because stuffed tire was hitting at full steering lock. Cut some out of the front inner fender as well in the front area. Front Bumpstop is currently a Timbren spec'd for the 80 mounted to the factory frame location.

In the rear the tires were contacting the rear bumper wings and lip of the fender, but not badly. With the lift I have 5.5" of clearance from the top of the tire to the edge of the fender lip. Here's a few pics from yesterday checking clearances again before attacking the rear. Stock front swaybar and rear Blackhawk HD swaybar both attached.
37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

 

[Box Rocket]

Few more the other direction on the ramp. Had more travel available but was still making some contact in the front, so I stopped on the ramp.
37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

just catching the lip of the front inner fender.
37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

...and, even after taking 2" off the bumper wing, the tire just clips the bottom corner when stuffed/turned. Probably take just a bit more off there.
37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

 

[Box Rocket]

I can add a little to the front bumpstop and it would probably take care of the front issue. I'm not hitting the Timbren yet.
37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Rear at full twist
37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

In this one you can see the taller frame mounted bumpstop I had been using with the Slinky kit. Not sure I ever made contact with these but with 35's the Slinky kit was great with just a little light rubbing from tires on the flares.
37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

 

[Marco Lau]

Great pictures, i have also installed the front Timbren bumps and the axle is about an inch from hitting the Timbren. The tires were not hitting the front bumper as i did not extend my LCA. My front wheel is free from any sheet metal and no contact on fender lips so far.

 

[Box Rocket]

So I have ~5.5" of shock shaft showing at ride height, about the same amount of clearance from the top of the tire to the fender, so the plan was to setup the rear Timbrens to bottom out at about that same point. The Timbren bumpstop that they sent me looked huge and appeared way taller than needed. But in reality the foam rubber bump I've been running is about the same height as the tower for the Timbren and I knew I needed at least an inch taller for the 37's The rubber portion of the Timbren looks really tall too but it compresses to almost half its size and providing a nice progressive bump. So the compressed height of the Timbren is ~1.5" taller than the older bumpstop it was replacing.
After installing it, at ride height there is 5.25" of clearance between the axle and the point of bottom out on the Timbren. Should be just about perfect to not overcompress the shock and to stop the tire just before making contact with the fender.

But it wasn't without its headaches. What should have been a 5 min swap of the bumpstops turned into a couple hours since all 4 bolts broke off in the frame. Drilled out the broken bolts and retapped the holes and was back in business. Note, I mentioned this in an earlier post about the front Timbrens. The plate and cup between the rubber and the mount needs to be trimmed so it doesn't make contact with the springs.
37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Took just over an inch off the rear bumper wings and flattened the inner fender lip in the rear with a hammer.
37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

No more clearance issues in the rear.
37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

There is still about 1.5" of shock compression left in the above photos as well as tire clearance, and an almost equal amount of compression left in the Timbren. At almost full stuff it's just contact the axle. Should be just about perfect.
37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Front is looking pretty good too.
37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

I might add a bit more height to the Timbren in the front since there is ~2.5" of room between it and the axle in the above photos with a bit more travel available.
37’s and bumpstops by Adam Tolman, on Flickr