Freds40 builds a 60 (1 Viewer)

[freds40]

This arch was pretty cool. You could look right through down to the Colorado River.

And across to the Moab Rim Trail.

Off to the South, you could see Arches National Park.

On the way back out I picked a funny line and it was a bit off camber. The original line I was on was off to the left and had a decent drop.

This one definitely had a bit o' the pucker factor.

And after a 13.5 hr. drive straight through( 1 fuel stop versus 5 ) I was back home to the wife and kids. Had a blast and hope I can make it again next year.

Huge thanks to Weak-Link for grabbing a ton of pics for me and for being great company on the trip. Always makes a long trip easier with a good friend.

BTW, I'll update that whole trans thing in the next couple of days. I'm still catching up on sleep and I'm a bit wiped out.

My oldest was so excited the Cruiser was driving again. She turns 6 tomorrow and told me for her birthday she wanted me to take her to school in the Cruiser. I was pretty stoked. We took it to church this evening and she was so proud sitting in the back seat with all the looks we were getting. She as well as her mom and sister are really looking forward to Rubithon in a month and a half.

 

[Landcruisin'60]

Too cool. I'm jealous, one of these days I'll make it to Moab.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Wow, that looks unbelievable.

 

[boots4]

Great stuff! Great to see your cruiser tackling a bunch of hairy lines with ease. I can see where your front tires rub the shock hoops in one of your shots. Any videos?

 

[D'Animal]

This rig will be your wifes daily driver as soon as you get the bugs worked.

My oldest was so excited the Cruiser was driving again. She turns 6 tomorrow and told me for her birthday she wanted me to take her to school in the Cruiser. I was pretty stoked. We took it to church this evening and she was so proud sitting in the back seat with all the looks we were getting. She as well as her mom and sister are really looking forward to Rubithon in a month and a half.

 

[kling-on]

Great pic looks like a fun trip

 

[Tapage]

thanks for the pics dude .. !

thought you wish have your 60 bobbed ..

 

[riverguide]

glad you had good time! Truck looks good.

 

[CruisinFJ60]

damn thats some awesome pictures, wish i worked where you work!
I hope to make it up north in the next year or two for some of those runs.

 

[freds40]

Great stuff! Great to see your cruiser tackling a bunch of hairy lines with ease. I can see where your front tires rub the shock hoops in one of your shots. Any videos?

Yeah it was a blast. It definitely worked well. I still need to get my track bar back on there but it was in good shape. I didn't get any vids. I saw some kid recording me on a climb in camp and there were a bunch of cameras on Poison Spider Mesa but I haven't seen any pics/vids from the group we tagged along with.

 

[freds40]

thanks for the pics dude .. !

thought you wish have your 60 bobbed ..

Never!!! I don't much care for a bobbed 60 and I LOVE being able to lay out and sleep in the back of mine if need be. My bumpers work great and yes they get drug but no I haven't gotten hung by them yet.

 

[freds40]

damn thats some awesome pictures, wish i worked where you work!
I hope to make it up north in the next year or two for some of those runs.

I've definitely been blessed to work for a friend that's willing to invest himself whole heartedly in this support. The opportunities for travel have been super cool too.

 

[freds40]

Didn't get any pics but Wednesday night I played around in the "Testing Grounds" in camp. No one else was out and about but we still had a good time. I took my pile down the rail slide.

 

[gothodgie]

Looks a great time was had by all...

I got the chance to wheel with Marlin in 97 or 98(maybe both years) at GSMTR... He is a great guy and is always willing to give advice and lend a hand. You have the dream job in my book...

I hope i get the chance to make it out to Moab in the future...

 

[freds40]

Alright. On to the trans. I've been wanting to do this for about 2 yrs. now and Marlin and I finally had the time to delve into it. Running the SM465 was fine and it worked great but I wanted more. The 465 is a truck trans and it drives like one. I wanted something smoother with tighter ratios and a fifth gear.
I thought a bit and did a bunch of research. Of course the H55F was an option but I didn't like the fact that although you do gain a fifth gear, there is a bit of a jump between gears which with this screamer of a motor, isn't optimal.

# 1st....4.843:1
# 2nd....2.619:1
# 3rd....1.516:1
# 4th....1.000:1
# 5th....0.845:1
# Rev....4.843:1

Of course theres the NV4500 but that option would be even worse with the 2F.

GM 93-94 95/up GM; 93/up Dodge
First Gear 6.34 5.61
Second Gear 3.44 3.04
Third Gear 1.71 1.67
Fourth Gear 1.00 1.00
Fifth Gear 0.73 0.73
Reverse 6.34 5.04

Then I thought about Toy mini truck trans'. They are all over the place and they were built for 4 cyl, V6, and Diesel trucks in many different configurations. I instantly ruled out the L, G, and W series as they were only available behind 4 cyl motors and would not hold up to the torque of the motor and the weight of the vehicle in my opinion.

The next variant was the R series of transmissions. They have been used in many different applications including Turbo 4 cyl trucks, V6 (3.0 and 3.4) trucks and 4Runners, Supras (some behind 600+ HP motors), and the clincher for me, the Hino diesel trucks. The base for the R series trans is the same throughout the spectrum with the main variances being with the gear sets and shafts (both main and counter).
I immediately looked at the V6 trans as it is extremely easy to find, is a good solid platform, and has an awesome gear set.

R150F 1988-91
1st 3.830
2nd 2.062
3rd 1.436
4th 1.000
5thj 0.838
Rev 4.220

It can be adapted back to my Toy Box with our 3.0 adapter plate and a new input on the case so that was easy. The main issue would be adapting from the H42 4 speed bellhousing to the R150F V6 trans as the V6 input was actually slightly shorter than the H42 input.
Marlin initially felt it couldn't be done but decided to do a bit more research as he liked the idea. He soon found that the input for a Jeep AX15 (also based on the R Series of transmissions) was right about 1 inch longer than the R150F input. After a bunch of measuring and checking differences, we found that the input in the R150F would allow us a 3/4" adapter plate.
We grabbed some plate aluminum and went to work. The only seal requirement on the front of the trans is under the nose cone so all we needed was an adapter/spacer. After a lot of work with some junk transmission cases, some time on the drill press, and a bit of time with a Bosch Sabre Saw we had an adapter plate.

After some fine tuning and some fitment checks, we found we were golden and it was time to get after the trans.

 

[freds40]

As I stated previously, the trans would need some mods as well. The AX15 input required some reworking as we wanted to be able to reuse the H42 pilot bearing for ease of install. Marlin had to OD grind the input so we could fit the proper outer race to the input.

AX15 on the left and H42 input on the right.

The process.

The nose cone was also reworked along with the throw out bearing collar so we could again use the H42 throw out bearing.

Kind of the same as doing an SM420 or 465 setup.

 

[freds40]

After we were good with that stuff, the boss man went to work on building the trans, of course with a few mods/upgrades he likes to do to these transmissions.

The floor did require some minor mods to keep a little ground clearance.

The center console is still in the same spot.

It still hangs a bit lower than I'd like but I I barely rubbed the skid once in Moab so it'll last as is for a bit anyway.

After the floor was buttoned up, I got it ready for the final install. Short throw bases installed on both the Toy Box and the trans.

 

[gothodgie]

that is just an awesome set-up you have got there...

 

[freds40]

So it uses the H42 pressure plate, throw out bearing, and Pilot bearing, and it uses a GM 10 spline disk as that matches the AX15 coarse spline input. No mods were needed to the 4 speed bellhousing. Unfortunately that's all I got for pics during the build process. We had a supplier that kind of put us on hold for a bit so when we did get their parts, we didn't have much time for pics. I took the first drive 2 days before we left for the Tin Bender Jambo so it was definitely down to the wire.

After getting both some street and trail miles on it, I'm in love. The gear changes are nice and tight. I've been power shifting the heck out of this thing in the sand and it loves it. The lowest crawl ratio although higher than the SM465, is still plenty low that I don't need the breaks on really steep descents and it is still extremely controlled on technical sections. The overdrive isn't as extreme as the NV4500 but it will drop about 400 RPM between 4th and 5th when going 65. I've had it up to 75 so far and it was still nice and smooth.

 

[CruisinFJ60]

pretty sweet, is that something that yall are considering selling to the general public? or a made as you order, or a i work with a bad ass and yall cant have one kinda thing?