Builds GW Nugget's Family Haulin Lx450 build (3 Viewers)

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@Broski started an event thread called "80s on the Ershim"

Long story short we planned a 5 day Dusy Ershim trip that was cut short to 2 days because of the Big "Creek" fire... a large fast burning fire West a few mountain ridges over from us.
 
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I havent posted in awhile, well cuz absolutely nothing has happened since the Dusy Ershim trip last year.
With 4" of uptravel I hit the front bumps more often, to remedy this issue I made a impulse purchase... I got the Icon air bumps & brackets from @Delta VS .
They add a .25" of lift by the way.
20210129_205306.jpg

I added a .5" shim to bump them down to match the 1" bump stops that I had.
20210130_211805.jpg
 
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Since I have moved the axle forward 1" via the eimkieth weld on drop brackets I've been fighting right side coil to frame rub.
Moving the axle forward made the coil banana a little bit. The Dobinsons banana more than the TourFlex coils.
To fix this I need to get an adjustable front panhard bar to re-center the axle, but untill then I removed some of the conflicting metal from the frame..
More caster will give less banana also.
The Dobinson 146vt coil lift my rig 1.5" lift +25mm spacer +.25" bracket =2.75" of lift with 2" of caster correction.
The red coils are 1" lift +25mm spacer +.25" bracket = 2.25" of lift. with same 2" of correction.
This rubbing can be mitigated rather easily, I will show with pictures.
20210131_183717.jpg

Can you say :banana: ?
20210130_231547.jpg

Below is a before pic of the rub area on the frame.
See the paint marks?
Screenshot_20210206-024649.jpg

After grinding...
Screenshot_20210201-235249.png

Here is the TourFlex coil, these sit better.
They have thicker wire and less lift.
I still need to get a front panhard bar.
Im looking for a good used one.
As for a new one, does anyone sell them with rubber bushing rather then poly?
20210201_171027.jpg

 
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Since I have moved the axle forward 1" via the eimkieth weld on drop brackets I've been fighting right side coil to frame rub.
Moving the axle forward made the coil banana a little bit. The Dobinsons banana more than the TourFlex coils.
To fix this I need to get an adjustable front panhard bar to re-center the axle, but untill then I removed some of the conflicting metal from the frame..
More caster will give less banana also.
This rubbing can be mitigated rather easily, I will show with pictures.
View attachment 2577041
Can you say :banana: ?
View attachment 2577046
Below is a before pic of the rub area on the frame.
See the paint marks?
View attachment 2577059
After grinding...
View attachment 2577043
Here is the TourFlex coil, these sit better.
I still need to get a front panhard bar.
Im looking for a good used one.
As for a new one, does anyone sell them with rubber bushing rather then poly?
View attachment 2577044
Just get a Slee DIY adjustable panhard kit and I well weld it in for you ;)
 
Are they the 79 series bumps on the front chassis there?
 
Just get a Slee DIY adjustable panhard kit and I well weld it in for you ;)
I think I will take up up on that very generous offer. The Slee or Wits End units are half the price of complete full replacement.

Are they the 79 series bumps on the front chassis there?
Good eye, yes they were on there. Took them off cuz they have an abrupt stop to them. All stock type bumps are on the firm side.
Another issue is they were to tall for a 1" bump stop. They were more like 1.5" & were bottoming before the stock bump stops were.
 
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Very cool, i like this build alot would love a similar setup but way to much hassle coz australia
 
Are they the 79 series bumps on the front chassis there?
The earlier models, pre 95 came with the frame mounted bump stops state side, 95 and up still have the mounts but no bump stops. They were still available last year when I replaced mine with OEM ones
 
Since I have moved the axle forward 1" via the eimkieth weld on drop brackets I've been fighting right side coil to frame rub.
Moving the axle forward made the coil banana a little bit. The Dobinsons banana more than the TourFlex coils.
To fix this I need to get an adjustable front panhard bar to re-center the axle, but untill then I removed some of the conflicting metal from the frame..
More caster will give less banana also.
This rubbing can be mitigated rather easily, I will show with pictures.
View attachment 2577041
Can you say :banana: ?
View attachment 2577046
Below is a before pic of the rub area on the frame.
See the paint marks?
View attachment 2577059
After grinding...
View attachment 2577043
Here is the TourFlex coil, these sit better.
I still need to get a front panhard bar.
Im looking for a good used one.
As for a new one, does anyone sell them with rubber bushing rather then poly?
View attachment 2577044
That's some serious banana action going on with those Dobinsons. And I'm actually kinda shocked you don't have an adjustable panhard already.
 
That's some serious banana action going on with those Dobinsons. And I'm actually kinda shocked you don't have an adjustable panhard already.
Yeah, well, havnt super needed it till going forward 1".
Most of that banana would go away with more caster.
Im looking at having a set of custom DELTA arms made for a 3" lift & 1" forward. It's an extra $200 charge. :hmm: call them "3L"
BTW, the Blackhawk panhards have factory rubber bushings if you decide you want to go with a new one versus a weld-in kit.
Thank you for the reply, that's good to know.
 
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New Group 27 battery, oil change & tire rotation... yeah, I know, boring but necessary.

Yeah, this post is not as entertaining as @baldilocks galivanting across the Rubicon & Fordyce, but this is life…

A few years back @malteserunner posted up his new group 27 battery & I thought it was a good one to get next time a battery was due. So we are at that point after the frig would not go through the night without shutting off & slow starts on cold mornings which is like 40* degrees in Cali... it was time.

OReiley's is my local auto store so it's just easier to go that route, their AGMs have served me well since the last set went 5 years with one warrantied after 2 years in 2018. If money was no option I would do the group 31 Optima blue tops at $360 per but got these Super Starts for $199 per.

The cool thing about this battery was the separated bolts for extra cables.
download.jpg


Part # 27MAGM
As you can see it's a Marine grade 900MCA with 175 min reserve.
61.5 lbs
20210525_201449.jpg


The start battery is a 24RPLT
710CCA 875CA 110 min reserve.
44 lbs.
20210525_201505.jpg


Just to note I have a Blue Sea #7611 to keep them separated incase the frig drains below 12v.

Just for log entry the oil change was at 210,022 miles. Last change was a year & 4 months ago at 205,054. I daily drive about 15 miles per day so that is a lot of cold starts. After looking at the oil it was time... it was very dark & had a burnt smell to it.
20210526_194054.jpg



Happy Trails...

 
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Looks great Gary and I’m sure you’ll be better serve by the 37” mud hog all the way around. The alloy FJ wheels must be less than half the weight of the steel beadlocks your 38’s are mounted on. No doubt a smart move the smaller, lighter tire/wheel package.
 
Yeah roughly 100 lbs vs 123 lbs.... I WOULD NEED TO LOOK BACK TO GET EXACT WIEGHTS.
I like the skinnier tire look also.
There is defiantly more pep in the step. About 250 RPM difference at 60 MPH in Drive.

Edit:
39" MudHog =85lbs
38" MileStar =78lbs
37" ST Maxx =79lbs
37" MudHog =73lbs
My BeadLock =44.5lbs
Method 105 Beadlock =33lbs
The FJC wheels were not weighed, guessing around 27lbs.
 
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Since I have moved the axle forward 1" via the eimkieth weld on drop brackets I've been fighting right side coil to frame rub.
Moving the axle forward made the coil banana a little bit. The Dobinsons banana more than the TourFlex coils.
To fix this I need to get an adjustable front panhard bar to re-center the axle, but untill then I removed some of the conflicting metal from the frame..
More caster will give less banana also.
The Dobinson 146vt coil lift my rig 1.5" lift +25mm spacer +.25" bracket =2.75" of lift with 2" of caster correction.
The red coils are 1" lift +25mm spacer +.25" bracket = 2.25" of lift. with same 2" of correction.
This rubbing can be mitigated rather easily, I will show with pictures.
View attachment 2577041
Can you say :banana: ?
View attachment 2577046
Below is a before pic of the rub area on the frame.
See the paint marks?
View attachment 2577059
After grinding...
View attachment 2577043
Here is the TourFlex coil, these sit better.
I still need to get a front panhard bar.
Im looking for a good used one.
As for a new one, does anyone sell them with rubber bushing rather then poly?
View attachment 2577044

Did you get this fixed? That a ton of forward rotation on the coil perch. I thought those arm drop brackets were supposed to give proper pinion rotation on a 2” lift.

That’s an absolute mess, tbh. These things need to be shown in the vendor threads for these products so that people can see the outcomes.
 
Did you get this fixed? That a ton of forward rotation on the coil perch. I thought those arm drop brackets were supposed to give proper pinion rotation on a 2” lift.

That’s an absolute mess, tbh. These things need to be shown in the vendor threads for these products so that people can see the outcomes.
The problem is moving the axle 1” forward for a 2” lift (or a 5” lift for that matter). The math doesn’t work.
 
The problem is moving the axle 1” forward for a 2” lift (or a 5” lift for that matter). The math doesn’t work.

No kidding. My coils at 5.5” of lift with @landtank caster plates look like this:

7FBC28C3-E16B-4A34-945C-331465D80D93.jpeg


And people are welding these on with Gary’s rig on 38s as reference material…
 
Yes 2" drop for 2" of lift is stock spec, but 2.5" of lift is out of spec with the 146vt coil & needs more caster which is aiding to the banana effect.
I bet only the old version of tapered Dobi coils would have this banana problem though cuz the wire gets to 11mm at the end... the red TourFlex dont. The red coils have a thicker wire on top.
Again the TourFlex coil is a 1" coil & my 146vt is lifting 1.5".
Another issue is my axle needs to go to passenger side about 3/8" with the 146vt & about 1/4" with the red coils..

To be honest eimkieth should offer a strait 2" drop option, but there are other manufacturers that do make strait drop brackets.

I am waiting for the 1st set of Delta 3L arms to get that extra caster then put the teal 146vt tapered coils back to get me to a 2.75" lift. The extra caster should get the bump stop pads centered also.

Did this answer all your questions?
 
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