Double triangulated rear 80

[jcardona1]

Tank traps good for nothing but removing paint off the entire side of a vehicle.

Eh, it's not that bad

 

[Booger weldz]

I've been upside down, on fire in tank trap. It's a WOT fest trying to launch up the ledges out of 3 feet of thick mud/wild pig poop.

You might like it Jose? There's poop

 

[jcardona1]

I've been upside down, on fire in tank trap. It's a WOT fest trying to launch up the ledges out of 3 feet of thick mud/wild pig poop.

You might like it Jose? There's poop

HA! I was following these guys on foot while they drove through Tank Trap. My fat ass could barely walk that trail. Can't imagine what would happen to my fat ass 80 driving through it.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Very cool setup! So is the wishbone attached to the factory upper crossmenber with two points and then the one point of contact end st the axle? Any issues with the lower link driverside contacting the gas tank?

Any chace of using the longer lower links and mouting them to the frame? No need for a 2nd crossmember then, or does that mess with numbers?

 

[nukegoat]

Very cool setup! So is the wishbone attached to the factory upper crossmenber with two points and then the one point of contact end st the axle? Any issues with the lower link driverside contacting the gas tank?


Any chace of using the longer lower links and mouting them to the frame? No need for a 2nd crossmember then, or does that mess with numbers?

Yep!
Doesn't contact gas tank. Gets tight when stuffed but still room to go up further if needed.

You have to inboard the lowers on the frame to get a good roll axis. No way around it unless you run the frame mounts for the lowers much lower and the plus side with triangulating is that you're less likely to get hung up on stuff in the middle of your rig than you are dangly things on the outer edges. And it reduces lateral stress on the upper wishbone!

 

[nukegoat]

HA! I was following these guys on foot while they drove through Tank Trap. My fat ass could barely walk that trail. Can't imagine what would happen to my fat ass 80 driving through it.

That looks horrible. Yeah I've seen people do it with less damage but it's like the mud pit to me - less skill and more recklessness. Love to watch others do both for the sake of a show, though

 

[nukegoat]

I'm trying my darnedest to figure out how to get us a doubler. It requires a 95 or newer tranny though(a343)? Guessing by your grill, you fall into that group.

Maybe once we can crawl properly the thing won't need to be 'bumped' over everything and finesse will save the downstream drivetrain parts.

I'm 32 spline in the rear(or at least half parts are on the way).

For domestic axles, a dodge60 is 67.5(probably what you have with the spacers). A dually ford70u is 72.5, but when one side is cut off to make it offset you have 65 or whatever you desire.

Yeah, Chevy 60 would work too. Need new wheels anyway so might as well just run different backspacing if needed. I have 1.25 spacers so only 66 wms. I may just start saving for custom housings and plan on going down that path in a few years. Maybe doublers will be figured out by then? I'm guessing you're thinking of figuring out the doubler that works with the ax4/a340? Gas tank kinda in the way. A shorter engine and transmission is doable with basically anything other than the glonked 1fz but now we're in the five figure range.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Not sure I have the room needed with a 4" lift to do it but I like it!

 

[Booger weldz]

Do you have a cv at the Tcase on the driveshaft buying you a little room from bumping the lower link crossmember?

 

[Booger weldz]

The adapter on the a343 to awd Tcase is 5" thick. Then there's 6" behind the Tcase to the gas tank(if you ignore the speedo sticking out). That's 11" of freedom and a toy mini crawl box w adapter plate is around 6.5". I don't know the exact dimensions of the toybox adapter and fj60/62 split case, but IMO, there's plenty of room and all these years people have been assuming it wouldn't work??

 

[nukegoat]

The adapter on the a343 to awd Tcase is 5" thick. Then there's 6" behind the Tcase to the gas tank(if you ignore the speedo sticking out). That's 11" of freedom and a toy mini crawl box w adapter plate is around 6.5". I don't know the exact dimensions of the toybox adapter and fj60/62 split case, but IMO, there's plenty of room and all these years people have been assuming it wouldn't work??

Does the toybox connect to the a343f without modification? Different spline count or something to worry about?

 

[nukegoat]

Do you have a cv at the Tcase on the driveshaft buying you a little room from bumping the lower link crossmember?

No cv. I have about an inch of clearance too. I notched the crossmember to provide a little extra margin.

 

[Booger weldz]

Does the toybox connect to the a343f without modification? Different spline count or something to worry about?

Toybox goes from minitruck crawl box to fj60 style Tcase. The other end is the bastard

 

[rockrod]

Thx for the encouragement! I will probably fix the way it looks at some point but it is a good proof-of-concept.

I am at a crossroads with the front axle. I need the width that spacers give me to avoid rubbing on everything when I flex, but the scrub radius is killing me. Adding hydro assist seems dumb unless I want to get high steer, hellfire knuckles and GM 1-ton TREs, which would be a good idea but then I eternally worry about the 8" ring gear being too small for reversing when bound up. I'm not really concerned about the axle shafts, fortunately, but everything else is getting close to the limits. So... I'm reluctant to throw another 1.5-2Gs into a project just to improve steering marginally. I'd end up re-linking it and burn a hundred hours in the process of it all.

But then I look at my gearing options for domestic axles, and the only overlap I'd consider with Toyota is 4.88, which is higher than the 5.29s I currently run and would require re-gearing the rear. Unless I had a custom housing built with a Ford 9, then I could run 5.29s but it'd be a low pinion and I'm sort of a believer in CVs in the steering axle. Anyway, fixing the strength issues that I've reached in either axle (I'm not breaking stuff yet, which is nice) is a very expensive step-function that I'm not sure I want to deal with.

What I really need is someone to sell me their widened hybrid 9.5/80 axle. You know, for science.

Something we need to put their heads together on to figure out is a way to get bigger spindles on the rear and EDM the side gears in the carrier to accept 35-spline stuff. But then I worry about the pinion being a bit undersized. So it goes.

It definitely gets to be a trade off. The front axle (as strong as it is) is the achilles heal in the 80. You get the high pinion advantage but the 8in ring gear is just too small. I went down this road with my old CJ7. Ran stock axles, then did an upgrade to 1/2t truck stuff and then finally went 1ton. Yes it would never break, but damn, it was HEAVY. I wonder if a custom D44 HP housing would work.. The diff would need to be flipped to the passenger side, but you get a little bit bigger ring gear without the huge weight penalty of the wonton. Might also simplify the steering too.

 

[nukegoat]

It definitely gets to be a trade off. The front axle (as strong as it is) is the achilles heal in the 80. You get the high pinion advantage but the 8in ring gear is just too small. I went down this road with my old CJ7. Ran stock axles, then did an upgrade to 1/2t truck stuff and then finally went 1ton. Yes it would never break, but damn, it was HEAVY. I wonder if a custom D44 HP housing would work.. The diff would need to be flipped to the passenger side, but you get a little bit bigger ring gear without the huge weight penalty of the wonton. Might also simplify the steering too.

I think a 44 would be on par with a toyota HP 8 and weaker than a hybrid 9.5. Still wondering if a Ford 9 custom housing would work best?

 

[Booger weldz]

I'm all about backing up strength. Gotta do that a lot in rocks in a big 80. Hi ponions are notorious for disliking backing up.

Ford 9" is def strongest w the bearing on the pinion snout and super low ring gear engagement. Aftermarket is GIGantic too. The pinion is really low though, making your driveshaft down in the rocks(nearly 1.25" lower than the lc9.5). If you set it up for a dc driveshaft, pointing that pinion up probably negates most of that?

It's 108f today and I'm Latin on concrete cutting factory brackets off the frame. Barf!

 

[Wheelingnoob]

I think my front end if I get there will be a 9.5" hybrid. I stay out of the rocks for the most part but when I get in them i want to get out the otherside. I am running 4:10 though no plans on chaging with my diesel.

 

[jcardona1]

Hey @nukegoat, can I bribe you for more pics of this thing from underneath, particular where the upper links attach?

 

[nukegoat]

Hey @nukegoat, can I bribe you for more pics of this thing from underneath, particular where the upper links attach?

To the axle or the frame?

 

[jcardona1]

To the axle or the frame?

Both if you don't mind, but particularly up on the frame