alia176
SILVER Star
That bumper is indeed a Swiss arm knife! Might I suggest adding a second mount to turn the spindle into a double shear mount? Just a thought!
Dmax450! Casper gets a duramax! (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Slickrick
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- Thread starter
- #102
I love the lbz too. They are great engines and I think it’s a great fit for this truck. Not so new that it has emissions crap and makes so much power it destroys everything....but new enough to fix all the issue with the lb7!
I didn’t really want to cut the hood, and I also didn’t want to cut the frame. Im not 100% happy with the hood, but it will work for now!
Can’t wait to get this thing on the road!
- Thread starter
- #103
I don’t think I follow what you are saying? There is 2 swing outs already if that’s what you mean?
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alia176
SILVER Star
Not really. Investigate "double vs single shear" swing out mounts and you'll understand it better. Given the amount of leverage being put on the spindle, I think a double shear mount for that spindle would fatigue the weld less and minimize the amount of movement of the wheel while going over expansion joints on the hwy.
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- Thread starter
- #105
Gotcha. I’ll try to look it over and see if there is a way I can modify it. The spindle isn’t set up for a double shear design. The owner of NWT said he has a 37” tire on the back and never had an issue. My tire and wheel weighs 130lbs...so not light by no means!
alia176
SILVER Star
Then add two MTBs and the whole shebang will be oscillating going down the hwy. There are some bumpers made for Jeeps that have a removable mount for the top part of the spindle. It's a bolt on deal so maybe worth looking at them on the 'net to see what options are avail to you.
- Thread starter
- #107
I know that spindle is welded in very very well...but I’ll look into it! I’m tired or breaking stuff so maybe it will work lol.
I’ll be selling a front set of 2.5” dobinson springs soon if you know anyone interested. They are the nice ones that are progressive!
- Thread starter
- #108
Box of parts getting ready to go to powder coating! I feel like I just don’t have enough time in the day to do everything I need...might just be part of getting old haha!
alia176
SILVER Star
Wait, you didn't build your own PC oven? 
- Thread starter
- #110
Wellll.... I mean a few sheets of metal and some coils out of a oven and I’d be golden haha!Wait, you didn't build your own PC oven?
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- Thread starter
- #111
Big update for today! Look what finally arrived!
The back box finally made it in. To give you an idea, I placed the order for this in November! So it’s taken a while to finally get here, and I think it’s going to work great!
Managed to get my parts dropped off at powder coating today! Been meaning to do this for about a week, finally got over there! Going to be pricey, but I think it’s worth it. Said they should be ready in about 2 weeks. I feel like I’m going to be waiting on powder coating now in order to start up my engine.
This weekend I should have the adapter assembled. My goal is to get the tcase and adapter mocked up...and get the twin stick shifter installed.
I also had these cats just laying around from the ls swap, and a Mercedes diesel I pulled. I had no idea how much value was in these small things. I managed to get almost $500 for just these 3 converters....so that money will go back into the project I guess haha!
The back box finally made it in. To give you an idea, I placed the order for this in November! So it’s taken a while to finally get here, and I think it’s going to work great!
Managed to get my parts dropped off at powder coating today! Been meaning to do this for about a week, finally got over there! Going to be pricey, but I think it’s worth it. Said they should be ready in about 2 weeks. I feel like I’m going to be waiting on powder coating now in order to start up my engine.
This weekend I should have the adapter assembled. My goal is to get the tcase and adapter mocked up...and get the twin stick shifter installed.
I also had these cats just laying around from the ls swap, and a Mercedes diesel I pulled. I had no idea how much value was in these small things. I managed to get almost $500 for just these 3 converters....so that money will go back into the project I guess haha!
This is friggin awesome. I wish I had the skills to do this.
- Thread starter
- #113
Just grab a random engine and start cutting haha! It’s been a challenge that’s for sure. I can’t wait to drive it.
- Thread starter
- #114
Managed to get something done tonight...haven’t had much time to work on the Lexus recently.
The black box actually uses its own input shaft for the 80 series transfercase. So you have to remove the factory setup, and then slide the new shaft in its place. Doesn’t sound very difficult but those sir clips are a bitch to remove!
below is my bearing puller I made as I didn’t have one haha. Don’t mind those welds, it was put together in about 2 minutes!
this is the rear of the transfercase. There is a 5 bolt cover you remove that allows you access to the shaft and clips. Remove the clip, pull the bearing off, and then punch the shaft out snd
and this is the final result. This shaft will index into the black box. You actually remove the seal on the front of the tcase and the black box slides in that opening. Very interesting setup!
hoping tomorrow I can get this setup installed so I can see what my driveshaft lengths are and how much room I have by the gas tank.
The black box actually uses its own input shaft for the 80 series transfercase. So you have to remove the factory setup, and then slide the new shaft in its place. Doesn’t sound very difficult but those sir clips are a bitch to remove!
below is my bearing puller I made as I didn’t have one haha. Don’t mind those welds, it was put together in about 2 minutes!
this is the rear of the transfercase. There is a 5 bolt cover you remove that allows you access to the shaft and clips. Remove the clip, pull the bearing off, and then punch the shaft out snd
and this is the final result. This shaft will index into the black box. You actually remove the seal on the front of the tcase and the black box slides in that opening. Very interesting setup!
hoping tomorrow I can get this setup installed so I can see what my driveshaft lengths are and how much room I have by the gas tank.
- Thread starter
- #115
Quick update for today. Managed to get this heavy sob installed. It’s currently sitting in the truck, which allowed me to measure driveshafts.
This is the back of the tcase to the gas tank. This what I was mainly concerned about with the whole adapter situation. It’s tight but will work for sure!
Here is the clearance on the driveshaft. Going to be tight but it will work. Just need to remove that stud that’s sticking out!
Here is the shifter setup. One controls the black box high and low, acting as a doubler. The other shifter is going to be connected to the tcase hopefully. I’ve never seen anyone run a cable shift tcase on a 80 so that’s should be interesting.
you can see the pattern on the shift knob. I had them make one for my 80 case so everything looks nice and clean.
Next thing I need to do is drop my driveshafts off to get shortened/lengthened. Also want to finish up my center console, so I need to install the twin stick setup. She is getting close boys!
This is the back of the tcase to the gas tank. This what I was mainly concerned about with the whole adapter situation. It’s tight but will work for sure!
Here is the clearance on the driveshaft. Going to be tight but it will work. Just need to remove that stud that’s sticking out!
Here is the shifter setup. One controls the black box high and low, acting as a doubler. The other shifter is going to be connected to the tcase hopefully. I’ve never seen anyone run a cable shift tcase on a 80 so that’s should be interesting.
you can see the pattern on the shift knob. I had them make one for my 80 case so everything looks nice and clean.
Next thing I need to do is drop my driveshafts off to get shortened/lengthened. Also want to finish up my center console, so I need to install the twin stick setup. She is getting close boys!
thatcabledude
GOLD Star
Doing any external pump/oiling system for the NWF box?
He's referring to the issues discussed here: Northwest fabworks BLACK BOX - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/northwest-fabworks-black-box.1133865/
- Thread starter
- #118
Yep. So I talked to Chris at NWF about this issue. He recommended using the tilton constant duty oil pump and then a remote oil cooler. So that’s the route I’m going with.
With the cooler, lines, and pump id say I more then doubled the oil capacity of the black box. I think he said it holds like 1.5 quarts or oil. I figure my oil cooler holds about that amount. So I guess we will see!
- Thread starter
- #119
Engine is back in the truck now, starting to put everything back together. Might update with pictures later this afternoon!
FMC80
SILVER Star
How are things going here? Any updates?
