I used ruff stuffs kit and liked it since I didn't want to have to track down everything seperately. I used the special front perch ruff stuff sells as well and it worked great. I wasn't so sure about it at first but afterwards I ended up liking it a lot.
Spring over? Why not.
- Thread starter BlueCruiser84
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Ya it was super easy to open the box rather then drive all over town.... I did my truggy on the cheap and still don't really like the chopped up ubolt plate
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- #43
I am only going to use one square one, I think, for the one in the front on the pumpkin. Does that mean I can use '80s chevy u-bolts all around?
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ifs frnt and solid axle rears both from the rear of that truck if you use one square you have to use at least 2 on that side
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- #45
Ok ok, I get what you are saying. I wasn't thinking about how the housing had turned too. I guess I will just be using round u-bolts from the rear of an '80s IFS chevy pickup.... right?
They are just u-bolts for a 3 inch axle right? If I take in one of my old ones they should be able to find a match, should they not?
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- #46
Today was pretty productive; I got the cut 'n' turn done and welded back up and I started on some diff protection because I have nothing else to do while I'm waiting for parts.
Here is a picture of the cut after being widened with a grinding wheel. If you look closely you can see the seam has separated a hair (after looking closely at the post I have decided you CAN'T see the separation, but it's there. I promise). You have to be very careful to not cut too deep as the seam between the two pieces of metal is not obvious.
Setting the caster was not too difficult, but turning the knuckle certainly was. Maybe it was because I didn't cut all the way through, but I had to end up using a 6 ft digging spike with the housing clamped in a vise. I got it done, though, and just turned it in small increments. After each turn I set the housing back on a set of jack stands and leveled the perches then used an angle finder to read the caster.
After I had set both sides to six degrees positive caster (this is the number I chose, but I think most people use five degrees) I tacked the knuckles to the housing in four places and then welded everything up tight.
The cut 'n' turn is done, but I am waiting on my axle rebuild kit before I can go any further. Since the front diff cover is now pointing down into the rocks/stumps/anything else that happens to be in my way, and because the housing is empty I decided to weld up some diff protection. I didn't find anything I liked online for a price I wanted to pay, so I picked up a 10 foot piece of #4 (.5 inch) rebar for five bucks and made my own.
I started out just tacking it to the housing and then bending it over until I had some nice protection for the ring gear hump.
After I had my 3 main runs welded in I welded some .125 inch plate between them and ground it all down "smooth" so it will hopefully slide over obstacles rather than just smash into them with my ring gear. This I where I ran out of wire and called it a night. It won't win a beauty contest but it was cheap and will hopefully be affective.
Here is a picture of the cut after being widened with a grinding wheel. If you look closely you can see the seam has separated a hair (after looking closely at the post I have decided you CAN'T see the separation, but it's there. I promise). You have to be very careful to not cut too deep as the seam between the two pieces of metal is not obvious.
Setting the caster was not too difficult, but turning the knuckle certainly was. Maybe it was because I didn't cut all the way through, but I had to end up using a 6 ft digging spike with the housing clamped in a vise. I got it done, though, and just turned it in small increments. After each turn I set the housing back on a set of jack stands and leveled the perches then used an angle finder to read the caster.
After I had set both sides to six degrees positive caster (this is the number I chose, but I think most people use five degrees) I tacked the knuckles to the housing in four places and then welded everything up tight.
The cut 'n' turn is done, but I am waiting on my axle rebuild kit before I can go any further. Since the front diff cover is now pointing down into the rocks/stumps/anything else that happens to be in my way, and because the housing is empty I decided to weld up some diff protection. I didn't find anything I liked online for a price I wanted to pay, so I picked up a 10 foot piece of #4 (.5 inch) rebar for five bucks and made my own.
I started out just tacking it to the housing and then bending it over until I had some nice protection for the ring gear hump.
After I had my 3 main runs welded in I welded some .125 inch plate between them and ground it all down "smooth" so it will hopefully slide over obstacles rather than just smash into them with my ring gear. This I where I ran out of wire and called it a night. It won't win a beauty contest but it was cheap and will hopefully be affective.
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You can use 80's solid axle truck ubolts front and rear since there round BUT you have to make a new ubolt plate for the front ifs trucks have a sqare bolt for the front . Best bet like you said is to take your stock rear and matchem up or have a local spring shop bend up for you
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Like the armor I have a dent in that same spot on the truggy 
dude i love the dif armor! ill admit tho i did laugh when i saw it but im willing to bet it works and its definitely better than nothing.
I've done an engine swap so I'm not sure if a top truss will clear your oil pan but with a SOA I'm thinking that it will.
As for the diff protection I did make my own out of stock I had laying around and it's held up so far. It has see a couple of rocks too. I am not running a sway bar (don't really miss is and it's a DD) and with my diff protection it doesn't clear anyways.
BC84, looking great, and thanks for the pics and succinct write up! I figure since Boots is given ya ok's, this should turn out just fine.
BTW, welds look good, and thanks for the CnT pics
BTW, welds look good, and thanks for the CnT pics
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- #52
Like the armor I have a dent in that same spot on the truggy
Where don't you have a dent on that thing??
Haha, no worries, I agree. I'm not a big fan of the spirally candy cane style, but I'll probably grind that down so it's smooth. I still plan on making a "cage" for the lower right corner of the cover, so we shall see how it looks in the end... and most importantly if it can take a beating.
I don't plan on the swaybar, either. I never ran one before and I have an xj with a 6 inch lift without swaybars so I'm pretty used to going slow and watching the corners. Plus, it's a landcruiser; I probably drive at an average speed of 40 miles an hour...
BC84, looking great, and thanks for the pics and succinct write up! I figure since Boots is given ya ok's, this should turn out just fine.
BTW, welds look good, and thanks for the CnT pics
Seriously, I read his thread and it seems to me that he knows what he's talking about.
Thanks for the compliments on the welds.
ALSO, TO ANYONE NOT DOING A SPRING OVER BECAUSE THEY ARE LEARY OF THE CUT AND TURN LIKE I WAS...... DON'T BE!!!! It's really been my favorite part so far.
so i was looking at someone elses build and they used the ruff stuff perch and i think i know a way to be able to do something similar as the bolt idea instead of having to use a u bolt on that side...
get some thick 1/4-3/8 steel and weld it up beside the perch of course supporting it properly, drill 2 holes and your good!
its point is to clamp the spring and that what it would do just like the ruff stuff kit, just a little more ghetto. then you still have a u bolt on the other side.
just an idea.
get some thick 1/4-3/8 steel and weld it up beside the perch of course supporting it properly, drill 2 holes and your good!
its point is to clamp the spring and that what it would do just like the ruff stuff kit, just a little more ghetto. then you still have a u bolt on the other side.
just an idea.
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- #54
so i was looking at someone elses build and they used the ruff stuff perch and i think i know a way to be able to do something similar as the bolt idea instead of having to use a u bolt on that side...
get some thick 1/4-3/8 steel and weld it up beside the perch of course supporting it properly, drill 2 holes and your good!
its point is to clamp the spring and that what it would do just like the ruff stuff kit, just a little more ghetto. then you still have a u bolt on the other side.
just an idea.
Dude.................................
Why didn't I think of that. I already have the perch in there. I'll have to look at that tomorrow. If Ruff Stuff did it why can't I? THanks!!
Dude.................................
Why didn't I think of that. I already have the perch in there. I'll have to look at that tomorrow. If Ruff Stuff did it why can't I? THanks!!
yup!! and you shouldnt even have to touch your perch, hell use it for support!
post up what u bolts you end up goin with whenever you get to that point as well.
- Thread starter
- #56
yup!! and you shouldnt even have to touch your perch, hell use it for support!
post up what u bolts you end up goin with whenever you get to that point as well.
I did it. It works. Now I have to weld it up solid.
As for U-bolts, I decided to gete them from Marlin. I drove around all over today: NAPA, Autozone (just wanted to check), and to a machine shop, and they were all around 20 bucks a piece. Marlin's are 8 dollars a piece and I am already ordering lots of stuff from them.
I'll post some pics of the perch tonight.
saaw sweeet!
hey you dont by chance have your receipt from the perches do you? i stopped by dodge house today and gave em the part number and all it said was something like MTG kit... no pictures available, so i had him look up a 89 3/4 ton and it showed to have the spicer / dana 60 rear and it didnt show that you could buy the perches separately... he ordered in the part number i gave him anyhow tho so i will see what it is around 5:30 when they show up i was just curious if your receipt said the same thing as his computer showed.
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that diff armor is bad-ass!
I like the diff cover armor......but rebar is very soft metal..... It may just fold into the cover if hit. Solid bar may be stronger...but love the idea for protection.
to update on my previous post...
went to go and get my perches and he decided not to order em cause he didnt know what they were... well manager was standing there and he took 1 look at it and said it was a Mopar Performance Part, which is why it had that MTG or MPG whatever it was by the part number. the guy who was helping me is new apparently but even the manager said they didnt do much from the performance side of things.
so if anyone else comes across someone saying you cant get it or they dont know what those letters stand for that is it.
if nothin else being a softer metal will absorb the blow, its thick enough.
went to go and get my perches and he decided not to order em cause he didnt know what they were... well manager was standing there and he took 1 look at it and said it was a Mopar Performance Part, which is why it had that MTG or MPG whatever it was by the part number. the guy who was helping me is new apparently but even the manager said they didnt do much from the performance side of things.
so if anyone else comes across someone saying you cant get it or they dont know what those letters stand for that is it.
if nothin else being a softer metal will absorb the blow, its thick enough.