Builds Family haulin' (1 Viewer)

[Kavik]

I'm just waiting for you to start on your drivetrain swap!

I built the base myself. I just got a piece and started bending until that thing came out. I put some braces on it to give it a little more rigidity since it's just a flat strip cut out of a crossmember on my stepvan frame.

As for the leafs they are 3/4T. The 1/2s will have 3 leaves plus overload and the 3/4s will have 4 leaves plus overload. They did well towing my trailer that was tongue heavy (load was all forward of the axle line).

You know, once I'm done it might be a good idea to make a table of contents and post that at the front of this thread. That way it will be easier to reference. Maybe I'll start that soon and just keep it updated as I keep adding on.

Right on. I'm trying to find an extra splitcase so I can build my drivetrain in the garage before I pull the 2F. In my mind, I plan to do the swap all in one piece (pre -assembled).

I'm really liking the idea of the 63" chevys. It seems like a great fit. And, by studying your pictures, the hangers miss the factory body mounts well. I originally wanted to french in the hangers using the 60 springs, but the body mounts are in the way.

I think there are a bunch of recent builds that would make great additions to the ih8mud tech links. I may end up w/ some server space soon, and I might try to host some of them there and request some links be added in the 'mud tech page.

I am sure you will have permagrin once you can really heavy foot that diesel.

 

[4x4rob]

awesome write/build up Boots

 

[jeffsclan]

Hey Boots, where did ya get the boot? Ya know the ones on the new shifter you made. Very good reading by the way!

 

[boots4]

I searched for triple boot on ebay after asking Mace where he got his. They are sold by JB custom Fabrication and they ship from Salem Or.

 

[jeffsclan]

Very nice! Drooling over your rig is helping me get through winter. Gives me something to look forward to. The ongoing saga.

 

[Captain23]

Hell Yeah Mike! Now all you need is a set of these:

 

[Grolar]

I have one for H/L on the doubler, one for H/L on the tcase, and one for 2wd/4wd on the tcase. Thanks for looking.

Great anti theft device. Before the bad guy figures out how this stuff is working... BTW, with an "L+L", you now have an ultra-low gearing ratio, right?

 

[boots4]

Micah - Yeah those little fj60 mirrors don't offer much visability so some upgrades like you've posted are a good idea. I'll probably add that to the mods down the road. How is that 6bt monster?!

Grolar - True, I could put one or both of them in neutral, but without an emergency brake I better be on level ground. For now the trans brake is keeping me stationary. Having gone through the tranny I now know how that works and it's mechanical linkage so I'm not too worried about letting that be my parking brake until I figure out what I want to do for the ebrake. You're right again with the L+L. It will give me 47:1 without the t.converter multipication. The t.converter multiplication generally being 2:1 will bump me to a 94:1 ratio. I believe that will be lower than I'll need most of the time but when I need it, I'll have it. Like Brokenparts has stated, "wheeling an auto is like cheating."

 

[brokenparts]

oooo... that reminds me. you should hook up your shifter to be able to start in any gear. Its a nice feature to have when you are parked on a serious incline and want to just "bump over" or hold yourself using the starter when you cant get your rig to start. Make sure to tell your wife about that though.


... and I still stand by my statement about using an auto to wheel.

 

[boots4]

I could see how that would work well for a manual tranny but having an auto that needs line pressure to engage clutch packs and friction bands might not work as well as a manual, but I've never tried it either. I'll have to try it out and see if I can start it in gear. I don't have any "saftey" switches on the tranny or the shifter to interupt the starter/ignition signal so I might be able to do it already.

If I didn't want the starter to actually start the motor I suppose I could put a kill switch on the 12v source going to the injection pump or keep the manual shut-off pulled out (planning on hooking up my old choke cable to the manual shutoff lever on the injection pump for an emergency stop in case the fuel switch burns out).

Want to swing by this weekend so I can ramp up on a 39.5" tire and get my measurements for shock placement?

 

[brokenparts]

you know what... I've never tried it since the auto switch. I bet your right, it wont probably work since its not spinning enough to lock it up. I'll have to give a go when I get home tonight.

I might be able to get Sat sometime (going to cannon beach Sunday and Monday) but let me check with my social director about Sat. I'd really love love love to see that thing in person!

Zach

 

[boots4]

PM'd

 

[brokenparts]

Pm'd back.

 

[Tapage]

Dude ... I don't know why I'm not register the last updates .. . great ! ( easy solution with more shackle lenght ) really great !

 

[boots4]

weekly update

Seems like the closer I get to getting it on the road the longer it takes. It's already february and I'm still not DD'ing the thing. Since I got sick this weekend and couldn't work on it what's another week right?

At least I got one day on it before I'd succumb to the stomach thing going around. I got the rear shocks mounted. In the pics it looks like the pass side is leaning more but it's not, it's just the combination of angles in the pic that scews it.

Put this bracket together cutting off a piece from the stepvan frame to get the top mounting up a little higher.

I used 5/8's grade 8s with some thick washers. I chose a bolt length that would allow me to bottom the nut on the shoulder and allow enough space on the shoulder to keep the shock bushing tight but not squish the bushing, much like the original mounts. The bushing is deflecting on the pass mount some but I don't think it will be a problem, maybe just accelerate the wear a little.

I really could not have gone any further over (towards the tires) or I would have run into clearance issues with the leaf springs. I have minimal clearance right now, but believe I'll have no contacting issues while flexing.

Looking from the front to the back of the rig. I will need to adjust the exhaust routing to give me more clearance with the driver side shock.

Since that didn't seem like enough pics to post I took just a couple of a 10" subwoofer box I made right after I bought the 60. 10" was enough for me since I don't tend to be into the bass that modifies my heart rhythm anymore.

I cut out new rear quarter panels and sunk it through the driver side. Trying to squeeze more cubic ft. of volume I sandwiched the panel with two sides. For the finish I tried using drywall texture and painting over the top of it. It's not durable at all and don't recommend doing it.

Hole on the left is for the washer access, middle is the sub, right is for the three-ways.

I've decided to make new ones because I want to try out some subwoofer plans I bought from Bill Fitzmaurice (build your own speaker enclosure stuff that I originally picked up for the PA stuff to build enclosures for the band). The next set of panels I'll be making are out of aluminum (thanks stepvan), haven't decided where to put the sub enclosure, and the three-ways will go up on the D pillars somehow.

I talked to a relative about insurance for this modified rig and she got me some great numbers that I'll finalize this week. With it insured and once getting some front shocks on I plan to tackle the DMV with a fuel swap on my title and go from there. Hopefully it'll go smoothly and I just might be driving it to work next week.

 

[Tapage]

Talking about exhaust .. where do you found this " flexible " exhaust . ?

 

[boots4]

I bought some at the local NAPA store. I think it was actually called flexible exhaust tubing.

 

[Tapage]

I bought some at the local NAPA store. I think it was actually called flexible exhaust tubing.

didn't found in the Napa Online Store, but will check around the web .. it maybe sole pretty much problems with my 1HD-T 3" exhaust ..

EDIT: I found at napa, but can't be ordered online .. anycase thanks !

 

[boots4]

I added a table of contents to the beginning of the thread to help with finding stuff. If you think something should be there that isn't, let me know, thanks.

 

[boots4]

I missed these pics of the rear shock upper mounts from last week so I'll just put them on first. This material is way thicker than needed but it's what I have in abundance so I used it.

Rear upper mount

I bought some DIY hoops off of ebay a while back. I knew I was going to have clearance issues on the driverside with the steering box. After holding them up a couple of ways I decided to use the hoops and for clearance I cut the left side, bent it, cut out a patch for the hole and welded it up. Now it cleared the steering box. I put the hoop as far up as possible without having to do any fender well surgery. As far as shock placement I gave myself 5"-6" (the distance the axle could travel to contact the bumpstops on the frame) for uptravel and left the rest for down travel. I did not flex it out so we'll have to see if I did alright with my calculations. I tied the shock up at that calculation and worked on the tab placement. I aimed for 10 degrees of lean to the back since the SR will cause the axle to move in that direction on compression. Once I got that angled how I wanted it I tacked it on the frame, removed the shock and then burned it in. I put a brace inbetween the welded points on the hoop to distribute the load and may even weld on some gussets under the hoops to the frame, but probably not right away. Then I gave it a quick coat of primer. I'm out of Rustbullet so this will protect until I get some more.

Driver side. This side took longer.

Close up of the brace I put in (not included with the kit)

Everything back together

I used the same bolt combo I used for the rear upper mounts. This axle mount was cut out of some parts I had laying around that already had a hole in it for the bolt.

Other side.

This is how I've been controlling the vacuum on the modulator in the tranny. Still waiting for parts to come in so this works to get me around.

I was ready to go to DMV on saturday and even found a full service DMV (not an express) that was open but when I showed up there was no one in the parking lot. I just came home and decided to try it out this week.