Ted looks great! Can't wait to see u get stuck at the annual
Build SAS 89 Mini--Triple cased Mashed Potato
- Thread starter TeddyBoy
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Are you serious; GR8 for seat belts???
Have you gained some weight since I last saw you?
- Thread starter
- #443
Are you serious; GR8 for seat belts???
that's what it came with so i just figured why not. Besides, Tractor Supply is $0.41 a lb on G8 so it was like 3 cents for the bolts. I was there so i just grabbed.
Now, all i need to do it paint the thing green and I'll be on my path to the ghecko II.
- Thread starter
- #444
so toying with how to get my rear drive shaft out of the dirt and gain some clearance at the diff. I thought i had an original idea but as it turns out it's not really original at all. Thinking I will shim the spring perches on the axle to get the pinion point up a little and therefore raise the rear drive shaft. It's always been a vulnerable spot and tired of worrying about it. Adam's rear axles is really pointed up and it has great clearance.
Also planning to rebuild the rear drive shaft using shd 80 for the bottom 70ish% and then sleaving with the factory tube to retain the fuze aspect.
what do you guys think?
Also planning to rebuild the rear drive shaft using shd 80 for the bottom 70ish% and then sleaving with the factory tube to retain the fuze aspect.
what do you guys think?
Shimming: Good for the diff, bad for the U-joints. Driveshafts are supposed to have equal and opposite offset angles at each end. It is primarily for balancing aspects I think, so not a huge deal on a trailer queen. People do it all the time, sometimes at pretty extreme angles too, so obviously its no deal killer. But even in crawling it puts undue stress on the tubing due to the angles not cancelling each other out but actually multiplying the stresses. All that being said, if you don't drive fast much and are doing the sch80 tubing, you should be okay.
For the hybrid shaft, have you considered doing the PVC mod first?
For the hybrid shaft, have you considered doing the PVC mod first?
Ditto on it not mattering on a trail rig. If it was a DD I prob wouldn't. Although I have seen some pretty extreme angles on trucks that have really tall lifts (like 12").
Sent from another Galaxy
Sent from another Galaxy
- Thread starter
- #447
You have seen my current drive shaft right?
12" Lift, why?
There must be some really funky rigs coming in to the dealership down there. This is probably the next mod within the next few weeks i hope. I'll let ya know how it goes.
Now... Let there be doors! I was able to heat and bang out the dent enough to get the door to latch, wouldn't say it seals but it does stay closed which is gud nuff for winter wheelin!
Nice job Ted. I love me some shade tree body work, Iv'e done plenty.
- Thread starter
- #449
time for an update.
Since November:
1) I've busted out the driver's side window
2) Added a new dent to the drivers door
3) Replaced the power steering pump
4) Now have 2 broken diff studs in the rear and 1 broken stud in the front.
5) Then thought I had a either a clogged cat converter or head gasket about to go but thankfully tracked the problem to a vacuum leak but only after cutting off the cat and doing some other trouble shooting steps.
6) Also have a leaking seal on drivers rear axle
7) repaired crushed and leaking felt on passenger's front wheel.
Upgrades already in progress:
Rather than repairing the current rear axle housing I've decided to build a new one. Picked up an IFS housing cheap several months ago so the plan (in progress already) is rotate spring perches about 10-12* to get the drive shaft off the ground as discussed earlier, replace the OEM diff studs with grade-8 3/8x1.5" fine thread bolts, already shaved and welded the drain hole shut and then possibly gusset the crap out of the entire housing for added strength. The ladder is probably overkill and not needed so still undecided on whether or not to invest the time. I've already had Patrick and Aiden grind off the old unneeded crap on the housing and re-weld the spring perches to the desired location so that's done also. Thanks guys!!
not my pics but you get the idea. What ya do is drill out the stud holes and then insert the bolts from the inside of the diff, tack weld in place knowing you may have to massage the bolts a little when reinstalling the diff.
and...Just to bug Adam a little, the HF wireless remote still works like a champ.
Since November:
1) I've busted out the driver's side window
2) Added a new dent to the drivers door
3) Replaced the power steering pump
4) Now have 2 broken diff studs in the rear and 1 broken stud in the front.
5) Then thought I had a either a clogged cat converter or head gasket about to go but thankfully tracked the problem to a vacuum leak but only after cutting off the cat and doing some other trouble shooting steps.
6) Also have a leaking seal on drivers rear axle
7) repaired crushed and leaking felt on passenger's front wheel.
Upgrades already in progress:
Rather than repairing the current rear axle housing I've decided to build a new one. Picked up an IFS housing cheap several months ago so the plan (in progress already) is rotate spring perches about 10-12* to get the drive shaft off the ground as discussed earlier, replace the OEM diff studs with grade-8 3/8x1.5" fine thread bolts, already shaved and welded the drain hole shut and then possibly gusset the crap out of the entire housing for added strength. The ladder is probably overkill and not needed so still undecided on whether or not to invest the time. I've already had Patrick and Aiden grind off the old unneeded crap on the housing and re-weld the spring perches to the desired location so that's done also. Thanks guys!!
not my pics but you get the idea. What ya do is drill out the stud holes and then insert the bolts from the inside of the diff, tack weld in place knowing you may have to massage the bolts a little when reinstalling the diff.
and...Just to bug Adam a little, the HF wireless remote still works like a champ.
I say do what you want and armor that axle up! it'll be strong bomb proof and cool. And thanks for letting us weld, that was fun! Got us looking at tools to pimp out the barn with haha.
edit: Ive got a new rear axle seal from the 62 that you can have if its the same one for a mini truck.
edit: Ive got a new rear axle seal from the 62 that you can have if its the same one for a mini truck.
- Thread starter
- #451
Appreciate the sentiment but mini truck axles are 8" and 60/62/80 rears are 9.5", besides the best seals come in a tube.
Also picked up a WD hitch with almost all accessories off CL for $40, was bent at the hitch ball but nothing a 20 ton press couldn't resolve.
Also picked up a WD hitch with almost all accessories off CL for $40, was bent at the hitch ball but nothing a 20 ton press couldn't resolve.
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- Thread starter
- #453
They're kinda nice to have in the winter months, ya know when it's 20* out and snowin.
- Thread starter
- #454
New rear axle in the works.
gonna ditch the U-bolts and instead weld a 3/8" plate to the spring perch and secure with 3/4" grade 8 bolts.
gonna ditch the U-bolts and instead weld a 3/8" plate to the spring perch and secure with 3/4" grade 8 bolts.
Looks like you've already cut them, but in case you have any bolt holes yet to do, let me suggest leaving a tiny bit more space between the sides of the spring pack and the bolts - Meaning more than the U-bolts had. This will give the axle tube a little bit more room to twist under extreme flex situations. As you're surely aware, when one side drops way down, the leaf begins to carry the axle forward instead of down, which means that side will move a little bit in front of the "stuffed" side. The result is that the axle needs to be able to rotate a little bit on its perches to help avoid binding up. Factory U-bolts don't allow for much movement of that nature. However, the flip side of this is that you start sacrificing the integrity of the mounting plates and risk bending them while tightening. Of course there are fairly simple ways of remedying that as well.
Oh, and add on some tie-down points for trailering while you're doing all that. Makes loading & unloading so much quicker and smoother.
Oh, and add on some tie-down points for trailering while you're doing all that. Makes loading & unloading so much quicker and smoother.
- Thread starter
- #456
They're cut and drilled already so no goin' back now but would've been a good thing to do. The plates aren't welded to the perches yet and I am a little concerned about the strength of the welds over time so will be looking at how to reinforce. The tabs are a good idea so will look at that as well but already using axles straps and they're pretty easy to take on and off so not sure if it'll be on the feature list or not.
still have to remove the old pipe cap from the old housing and reuse on the new housing, should be able to complete this coming weekend.
How's the US-Canada-US 80 doing?
still have to remove the old pipe cap from the old housing and reuse on the new housing, should be able to complete this coming weekend.
How's the US-Canada-US 80 doing?
Can you just add some gussetts between the perch and the housing? Should make it pretty strong.
Edit: Like this awesomely terrible MSPaint representation...
Edit: Like this awesomely terrible MSPaint representation...
- Thread starter
- #458
they did originally but i trimmed it back to make room for the 3/8 plate that will be welded to the spring perch to replace the U-Bolts. Once i weld those in place I'll fill in as needed more to support the perches than anything. I went to purchase the G8 hardware the other night at the local Tractor Supply and got most of what I needed except they only had 2 of the bolts so still on the hunt for the other 6, I'm hoping Ace Hardware has them in stock. Assuming i can find the missing bolts I should be able to wrap up this weekend and be ready for the Pig Roast.
- Thread starter
- #459
wrapped up the rear axle today, thanks again for the help John and Dave.
Welded the plates to the spring perches and then reinforced by adding additional 1/4" mounts on the outer edges, this also allowed me to fill in the gap from the main gussets and ties into the spring perches as Sam suggested above.
As discussed earlier we had already installed the 3/8 G8 diff bolts and held in place with a tack weld so they could be massaged later to line up with the bolt holes on the diff, getting all of them to line up turned out to be more fun than desired but finally got it after dry fitting the damned thing a dozen times.
Rotating the spring perches resulted in raising the drive shaft about 2" higher than it used to be so happy about that.
Welded the plates to the spring perches and then reinforced by adding additional 1/4" mounts on the outer edges, this also allowed me to fill in the gap from the main gussets and ties into the spring perches as Sam suggested above.
As discussed earlier we had already installed the 3/8 G8 diff bolts and held in place with a tack weld so they could be massaged later to line up with the bolt holes on the diff, getting all of them to line up turned out to be more fun than desired but finally got it after dry fitting the damned thing a dozen times.
Rotating the spring perches resulted in raising the drive shaft about 2" higher than it used to be so happy about that.
i knew fitting that diff would be a good time! looks really good though. Where did you get such massive pipe ends for the diffs?