Freds40 builds a 60

[brokenparts]

that looks sweet man... glad to hear that its up and moving! My 13 year old step daughter still loves it when we take my cruiser instead of my truck or Mom's soccer wagon. She getting to be a pretty good spotter too. My one year old loves playin it too!

Nice work!

 

[Mace]

is it just the pic or are the front shocks angled inward?

 

[boots4]

Mine are angled inward too.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

First of all, you should definitely start selling that cross member. You would make a ton of money, and it's a heck of a lot easier than dealing with the stock transmission cross member it seems.

What are you going to do for a skid plate? Bolt it to the transmission cross member mounts, then extend it to your new cross member?

 

[Tapage]

is it just the pic or are the front shocks angled inward?

thought both are angled inward ..

Question .. are those bushing enought and ready for the torque and movement of the drivetrain .. ?

 

[freds40]

is it just the pic or are the front shocks angled inward?

Yep, they're angled in. I set them up so they will miss the tire when @ full lock and full stuff. I'm not too worried about sway, I won't be ralleying this thing.

 

[muddogbob]

I dig the crossmember. Get me some dimensions, and I can CAD it up and have my buddy cut them out on his NC plasma table!

Do you guys think this design puts the case in a bind?

 

[freds40]

It shouldn't. You figure the case wants to roll to the passenger side under load. All you are doing with the setup is keeping it from rolling. My thought is it gives mor leverage in resisting the roll.

I'll report if the case explodes.

 

[freds40]

First of all, you should definitely start selling that cross member. You would make a ton of money, and it's a heck of a lot easier than dealing with the stock transmission cross member it seems.

What are you going to do for a skid plate? Bolt it to the transmission cross member mounts, then extend it to your new cross member?

For the skid, I will have another crossmember made from 2x2 that will go under the mini case. Below them, I will have a bolt on skid. I will probably run it forward as well to cover the tranny as well.

As the crossmember sits, the skid will bolt up with an eighth of an inch gap between the skid and the lowest spot of the split case.

 

[freds40]

thought both are angled inward ..

Question .. are those bushing enought and ready for the torque and movement of the drivetrain .. ?

Bushings are poly so they are pretty stout. I used them on the crossmember of my 40 and they held up great.

 

[Tapage]

Bushings are poly so they are pretty stout. I used them on the crossmember of my 40 and they held up great.

actually I was thinking in that .. if those poly are not too stiff to do the factory tranny mount task ..

 

[thrill20]

Just a couple of questions... What did you do for shafts in the front after widening it? Custom? Also, is there any reason you didn't turn the front spring hangers around to work as a ramp instead of a wedge? Just curious if there was some reason you couldn't. I'm planning out new low profile spring mounts for mine, and was thinking pretty much exactly what you did.

 

[freds40]

Got the shafts from the same guy I got the sleeves from. He has Bobby make them to fit the new width so they are all set for Bobby's 30 spline Birfs.

I set the front hanger like that as I wanted to leave my options open regarding my winch mount and the front bumper. This way I have more frame to build on. Also, the tires sit far enough forward that if I do hit them on a ledge, if I crank the wheel the tires should grab and lift the truck up and over the hanger.

 

[Kavik]

Just a couple of questions... What did you do for shafts in the front after widening it? Custom? Also, is there any reason you didn't turn the front spring hangers around to work as a ramp instead of a wedge? Just curious if there was some reason you couldn't. I'm planning out new low profile spring mounts for mine, and was thinking pretty much exactly what you did.

Not much frame left in front of the ramp...Good for approach, bad for bumper options.

 

[freds40]

Well I decided against going wheelin tomorrow. Between my decent sheetmetal and my brand new tires, I didn't really feel like tearing either of them up just yet. After cruising around town and the constant tire on sheetmetal brawl (not just a tire rub) I knew the tires and sheetmetal would get killed on the trail, mainly from each other. I thought for a bit about carving up the rear quarter to make it work but I knew I'd be pissed with the results in the long run.

So I started strategically carving.

Took the lip off all the way around, roughly an inch.

And I cut the back half of the quarter for the wheel well stretch.

I just set the piece in where it will sit when done. Next time in the garage I'll set it and start tacking it in.

Quick overall. I think it'll look a lot better and it will have plenty of clearance to tuck the tires.

With any luck I'll be able to take my daughter up the hill next week as I'm headed to Portland next weekend so it won't happen then.

 

[thrill20]

That looks awesome. I might have to borrow your idea on the quarters too. I like how you openned it up while keeping the stock lines...

The PO did some fine hack fab that I'll need to figure out how to fix first though.

It's hard to tell in this pic, but the cut is about 1/4" above the bottom of the door.... probably going to have to add material to fix that....

He cut off the ends of the frame rails to keep the stinger close too, so I probably don't have enough room to mount them like Kavik. I'll have to wait until I lay it out and see where things fit. I guess to do it right, I should probably build a new cross member on the front and put it where I want...

You'll notice the extra elevation he gained with the custom NHL body lift too.... yeah it's sweet...

 

[hudyhue]

damn brendan...60 is lookin sweet always liked 60'sbetween yours and jasons....got to start lookin for one

 

[brokenparts]

sweet idea... wish I would have thought about that before I hacked mine. Looks sharp!

 

[D'Animal]

If you need any interior sheet metal to lenghten the wheel well, I have a donor rig.

 

[freds40]

I was wondering about that but the section that is getting stretched will be flat. On my 60 anyway, the whole inner wheel well is rounded. The body line will actually be re-used from the chunk I cut out on the back end. Hopefully get the pass side buttoned up tomorrow.

Thanks though.