Extended cab 45 SWB from a 40 (1 Viewer)

[afraptor22]

Frank the moon buggy, now in Lunar Rock. Tomorrow I'll shoot the clear coat and push it off to the side so the wife can have her half of the garage back. Ran out of 6X3 to shoot the inside of the tub and the Lizard Skin needs a full day or more to cure anyway. I ended up getting the $30 texture spray gun from Harbor Freight and it worked great! Lizard Skin is very thick and tough to get all the product out of the tub and through a gun. A gallon barely did the floor of my tub.

I also used the Harbor Freight spray system, and it was great. You put a liner with a built in filter in a cup and snap it to the gun. The liner gets pitched when it's empty. Very slick system.

Paint System

 

[Ditcherman]

Really enjoyed reading through this (actually twice, as 74fj mentioned early on), and what a great build!
I needed an air filter housing, thanks for the part number.

 

[UZJ40]

Looks awesome!!

 

[afraptor22]

Looks awesome!!

Thanks!

 

[afraptor22]

Really enjoyed reading through this (actually twice, as 74fj mentioned early on), and what a great build!
I needed an air filter housing, thanks for the part number.

Cool, glad I could help someone else out!

 

[afraptor22]

Haven't had nearly the time to work on the 45 since the family got back to town. I did get the exhaust mostly finished and developed a hate for welding stainless steel. Making the exhaust exit somewhere near the rear and not into the cab was tough. Driveshaft and links are all in the way. Next is mounting and wiring the electric parking brake motor and I should be able to roll it outside so I can finish welding and paint the roll cage.

 

[afraptor22]

Drives enough to get it outside the garage and get the cage on. Many things to fix before it's road worthy. I'll probably throw a bikini top on it for a couple weeks while I get the drag link re-done, fix an exhaust leak, get new computers so the 10-speed transmission will work and replace the power steering cooler that immediately exploded on the first start up. This is as low as I can make it and looks pretty good on 35" tires. I'll throw some hard top sides on it and start looking at how the B-Pillar will need to change and how much I'll have to add to my drip rail. I already have 2 fiberglass tops cut up ready to join and a 3rd as a spare if I need.

 

[afraptor22]

Getting closer to drive able. I needed more flex in the exhaust so the front section will be coming off to weld in a couple of flex joints. I also have a mismatch between my engine ECM, transmission TCM and the transmission so it goes into limp mode and disables the throttle pedal after about 30 seconds. I got the rear swing outs done but the latch isn't great so that's coming off and I need to add some cutting board material for the arms to seat into. Seems like I missed my finish goal by about 2 months and now I need a hard top!!

 

[peesalot]

What does the ext cord plug into, a batt charger ?

 

[afraptor22]

What does the ext cord plug into, a batt charger ?

Ya, the trickle charger.

 

[afraptor22]

It's been a little while since an update, I wish I got more done but it's been so cold I can only work on it when it's inside at work on the weekends. I got the top fiberglass done and joined to the extended drip rail. B-pillars are done and painted the rear top sides. Bolted everything together yesterday to see what lines up. Still some fitment to work out and I need a new driver side top. Looks good though! Two fiberglass tops, two drip rails, two cushion gaskets...too much.

 

[Ditcherman]

It's been a little while since an update, I wish I got more done but it's been so cold I can only work on it when it's inside at work on the weekends. I got the top fiberglass done and joined to the extended drip rail. B-pillars are done and painted the rear top sides. Bolted everything together yesterday to see what lines up. Still some fitment to work out and I need a new driver side top. Looks good though! Two fiberglass tops, two drip rails, two cushion gaskets...too much.

View attachment 3852492

View attachment 3852493

Wow that roof looks awesome!
Just the inspiration I needed to get mine going, it’s coming up on the short list real fast.

What is your wheelbase, and did you reinforce the top lengthwise at all? I’m worried about the whole top flapping like a soft top, I’m 132” WB. Thinking of running a lengthwise reinforcement right down the middle, could get fancy and have speaker mounts and cubby’s up there.

The whole thing looks great, love the stance. Looks very clean underneath, great clearance.

 

[afraptor22]

Wow that roof looks awesome!
Just the inspiration I needed to get mine going, it’s coming up on the short list real fast.

What is your wheelbase, and did you reinforce the top lengthwise at all? I’m worried about the whole top flapping like a soft top, I’m 132” WB. Thinking of running a lengthwise reinforcement right down the middle, could get fancy and have speaker mounts and cubby’s up there.

The whole thing looks great, love the stance. Looks very clean underneath, great clearance.

I'm at 122" for a wheelbase. I have speaker cans in my cage but there is definitely more room above the cage to the top.

I didn't run any stringer strengtheners but a longer top would probably need one or two, just the metal drip rails made it strong enough to pick up and move. You'll probably need 3 tops to make one if you are 10" longer. I cut and joined my tops right where the second one started to curve inward for the rear corners and it was just enough...maybe 2-3 inches extra.

 

[afraptor22]

Hopefully the weather is a little warmer this weekend and I can get some miles on it. One thing I noticed so far is that the steering is not great, I get a lot of bump steer. I adjusted the panhard bar angle so I'll see if that helps, but I think the issue is the offset from the drag link end to the panhard bar end on the axle. On the frame side they are almost in line but on the axle side the drag link is 10" further out than the panhard. I'm physically constrained on where those can be moved so either I need to weld a y-link to my tie rod or convert to a saginaw box and move the steering box inward away from the panhard pivot.

 

[Ditcherman]

I'm at 122" for a wheelbase. I have speaker cans in my cage but there is definitely more room above the cage to the top.

View attachment 3852554I didn't run any stringer strengtheners but a longer top would probably need one or two, just the metal drip rails made it strong enough to pick up and move. You'll probably need 3 tops to make one if you are 10" longer. I cut and joined my tops right where the second one started to curve inward for the rear corners and it was just enough...maybe 2-3 inches extra.
View attachment 3852555
View attachment 3852556

Thanks so much for the info.
I have three roofs so should be good, if I don’t mess something up. Never done fiberglass work before but I’ve really never done any of this before.

Concerning your pan hard, have you used the link calculator at all? Maybe not worth your time since you're done, but you could input what you have suspension wise and then play with the panhard to see results. Of course, you might already be comfortable with suspensions and not need it to know.

 

[Mike Shull]

Hopefully the weather is a little warmer this weekend and I can get some miles on it. One thing I noticed so far is that the steering is not great, I get a lot of bump steer. I adjusted the panhard bar angle so I'll see if that helps, but I think the issue is the offset from the drag link end to the panhard bar end on the axle. On the frame side they are almost in line but on the axle side the drag link is 10" further out than the panhard. I'm physically constrained on where those can be moved so either I need to weld a y-link to my tie rod or convert to a saginaw box and move the steering box inward away from the panhard pivot.

Can we see a picture of your steering looking at the front end from directly in front of the axle? Something like what I posted of mine below?

I get a tiny bit of bump steer when I’m traveling down the highway and I hit a giant pothole (massive, life-threatening sized pothole) but otherwise it has no bump steer at all and it drives fairly straight. I am curious to see how your steering set up looks.

Packaging my panhard bar was quite the task and I totally get what you’re talking about.

 

[afraptor22]

Thanks so much for the info.
I have three roofs so should be good, if I don’t mess something up. Never done fiberglass work before but I’ve really never done any of this before.

Concerning your pan hard, have you used the link calculator at all? Maybe not worth your time since you're done, but you could input what you have suspension wise and then play with the panhard to see results. Of course, you might already be comfortable with suspensions and not need it to know.

Ya, I used the link calculator for the rear 4-link. The front I didn't use it because it's a parallel link and the panhard only has a little bit of room to mount. I think I could gain a couple inches if I redo my sway bar mounts and cut off more of the stock brackets at the outer end of the axle, or move the steering box from outside the frame to inside the frame and shorten the drag link to match the panhard bar.

 

[GW Nugget]

I have watched your build since the biggening...extra cab with truck bed to 4door flatbed & now a 4door 40 with a hard top.
Looks awesome.
I bet you are pumped up for summer fun & your kids are at a good for-camping adventures.
Enjoy this time of the build process by using it.

 

[afraptor22]

I have watched your build since the biggening...extra cab with truck bed to 4door flatbed & now a 4door 40 with a hard top.
Looks awesome.
I bet you are pumped up for summer fun & your kids are at a good for-camping adventures.
Enjoy this time of the build process by using it.

Awesome, thanks! Yes we are looking forward to using it this summer. I need to get the steering sorted first so it's less sketchy to drive.

 

[afraptor22]

I spent some time yesterday and re-measured everything for the rear 4-link. I think the issue may be roll-oversteer and not bump steer. When I initiate a turn with the wheel, the vehicle starts a turn and then a half second later with no more wheel input the truck starts to turn more, so you end up having to catch it with the wheel. It's not so abrupt that it's dangerous but really annoying and takes way more effort to drive than I want.

This is what I ended up with using the TMR customs combined frame side brackets. I think I need to get the 2-degrees roll oversteer to 2-degrees roll understeer. Playing with the calculator it looks like moving the lower links, frame side in and down to triangulate it more will give me a 4-degree swing in roll steer. I think I can take a piece of 3/16" 2x4 tube and go across the frame under where the links mount now and get what I need.

I may have to french the link brackets into the 2x4 a little bit, because the lower they go the lower my anti-squat number goes. Currently at 93% it seems to deliver torque nicely.