Topic: project extend-a-toy

[fj-rankenstein]

I have been spending a lot of time in the garage in the last week or so and i have come to realize that I am waaaay quicker at the mechanical drivetrain fabbing and assembling end of things than the body stuff... depending on when my order comes in I should have a finished drivetrain at the end of the month or mabey the first week of february...that should be both axles, driveshafts, and sitting on wheels...etc..  if this happens it will put me in a good spot to finish the body, do the electrical and hopefully get a coat of paint on it
  the coming up weekend is kind of floped for me because i have to go to a wedding of someone I dont know plus I have to work this saturday as well...(darn work... darn other peoples friends :lol: )

the goal is to get this truck on the road and driving for may...even if I am close i will be happy....

anyways, tonight I got that back axle all stripped to the bare housing.... the outer wheel bearings and seals have already been done at one point because everything is new new new...I will redo seals but bearing will stay..  I got most of the diff grinded clean and did all the cutting to where the 3rd member mounts into the axle housing because the gear set interfears and the diff lock wont clear if the two places arent enlarged..
 also, once I got the diff into the housing i noticed the elcoker hits the front cover where there is normally an indent... i had to use my torch and heat the area and then banged it out from the inside to make room for the elocker.. I still have to relocate two studs and put two longer ones in and then i am done.... I am still thinking I will shave the bottom of the housing to gain an inch or so, move the drain plug and truss the whole thing... i am going to be doing something specail with the fill plug but i will keep you all in suspense till I know it works...  8)

 I will hopefully finish the grinding the housing either tomorrow or wednesday and start on the front axle then...

anyways, on to the pics...


heating up the indent in the housing


all banged out...


elocker sitting in its new home...

[DeadlyPeace]

You planning on putting on some diff armor?


Glad to hear that you back to a more TOY work, less cleaning schedule now.

[NorCalToy]

trucks lookin better than before. parts orders are always good. also that turbo diesel landcruiser is

[fj-rankenstein [OP]]

You planning on putting on some diff armor?

absolutely... I am going to make something custom to what I am doing being that the the fill plug is going to a different place as well...  I am assuming 1/4 inch should be more than enough???
has anyone seen or done any trussing on a 90's rear axle???  I cant seem to find any good pics....  the tubing is weird on these axles and seems to be a few different sizes before the outer end..

[fj-rankenstein [OP]]

I didnt get a whole ton done in the last couple days just due to being to busy but tonight I made some more time and got the rear diff all grinded clean and front diff out of the truck...

 I got the third out and started to get things ready to modify to get my high pinion e-locker in there.... I also have to take the knuckles off and am going to weld on my knuckle trusses and other things on.. i will mostly do the same as the rear axle and plan to shave the bottom, add armor, put my newly designed fill plug in, add a tube truss, mock up my mount for hydra-assist, put my new marlin seals in, blah blah blah!!!

[fj-rankenstein [OP]]

Geez guys and gals.... it sure doesnt take long to get kicked to the bottom of the threads page!!!!



tonight I got the front diff ripped apart completely and did most of the necessary mods to get the high pinion third member in... although my flukey fabing has finally caughy up to me...
 when i built my front hanger, i had no idea how wide to really make the springs.. i was purely going by how the 51 inch springs looked and worked under the truck, but in the end they were very close to stock spring width anyways...
 I didnt get so lucky with my elocker though.. the spring packs just barely rub the side of the elocker motor housing by about 2-3 millimeters...
 its not a big deal though... i am reworking the spring perch to sit just a bit higher and it will clear everything then... 
 if I thought I was going to go the elocker route from the get-go I probably would have built the spring perches a bit wider but like i said, its not a big deal and I will fix the small issue...
 I figure sinse the axle is under there i will tack on my marlin ball gussets and do a couple other things before I pull it back out again..

it looks like I should be able to shave quite a bit off the bottom of both diffs as well...just because they are rotated up so much it looks like I can take quite a bit off the bottom front of the pumpkin...

here are the pics from tonights progress...

[skipnrocks]

Lookin good, you need to ge ta can of black out and make everything else as nice as that third!

[unclejpl4x4]

dam that looks so sexxy in thare

[Gittinit]

What was hitting with the elocker? Is this normal when installing an elocker in nonelocker housing?

[fj-rankenstein [OP]]

What was hitting with the elocker? Is this normal when installing an elocker in nonelocker housing?

there is an oblonged cover held on by two bolts on the side of the elocker motor itself...  it is interfering a little... I dont think this happens with normally setup sas's but I could be wrong...  like I said earlier in the thread, when I was fitting my 51 inch front springs on my frame, I just went with what worked and looked good with out any regard for a future elocker is all.. and its only minor anyways.. it will be reworked on sunday...                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

[70 Cam Guy]

there is an oblonged cover held on by two bolts on the side of the elocker motor itself...  it is interfering a little... I dont think this happens with normally setup sas's but I could be wrong...  like I said earlier in the thread, when I was fitting my 51 inch front springs on my frame, I just went with what worked and looked good with out any regard for a future elocker is all.. and its only minor anyways.. it will be reworked on sunday...                                               

I'm not sure if you're having the same problem but I've seen other guys with that part of the elocker hitting the perch or u-bolts.  They'll go and countersink those 2 holes and replace the bolts with flat head bolts to make the clearance they need.

You can see a couple pics of it here
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=639333

I also used your idea to torch the housing for the dent so thanks for that 
I'm having trouble getting my 3rd to sit flat so I'm thinking I didn't clear the gear cutouts enough.  We started using play-doh to check the clearances against the back of the housing but everything seems to clear.  I'll just have to play with it some more

[jedrattle]

 Insane build!!!!   Nice job on the fab work!! My vote is for the blue paint job!!  Its a 1985 toyota landcruiser bj-74 that haunts my dreams!! You lucky soooo lucky!!! That thing is beautiful!! Keep up it!

[crawlerdan]

driveline angle looks great man, gotta love the HP

[Doof]

the HP is so sexy....

[fj-rankenstein [OP]]

i have been keeping this under wraps for a little till I knew how it was going to turn out but here is the new fuel cell.. i have been debating on what to do for quite a while regarding a fuel cell.. it was either going to be modifying an original fuel tank, making something work from another vehicle or buying a fuel cell from summit..

well, Clay (faster 41 on our toontoys.ca forum) had pm'ed me a short while ago and offered to build a tank. he works at a fabrication shop in saskatoon that deals with aluminum quite a bit and asked if he could get in on the build... after checking out the website for where he works I was convinced that the product should be great...

 we got together a few times and discussed some tank options and then he got to work... the tank is essentially 34 inches long, 18 inches wide and 10 inches deep.... there is a cut out on the back side  that will help with departure angles and there are full length baffles on the inside as well to help with fuel slosh...  it works out to be 100 litres..

 today he came over to test fit the tank again and for me to see it sinse we had talked about it and it is beautiful..... it turned out 100 times nicer than I ever imagined a custom tank would look and the fabrication/welding/tigging is nothing short of excellent...if anyone is serious about building something nice out of aluminum get ahold of him....
 he will indeed be building me a tank for both rankenstein and the buggy as well when the time comes.. :wink:
clay is now going to be making the fuel fill and I will cut the holes for both the fuel sender and the fuel pump.. both of which I will have to modify to fit in the tank being that it is not as deep..
 I will also be building a new rear crossmember for the frame and the tank will be sitting 8 inches further back than what is shown in the pics... that way the rear shock crossmember will have a place to go and also serve as a place to strap the tank down...

[unclejpl4x4]

wow thats nice.

how many gals is 100 liters  i for get the convertion.

I know its a lot.  + have you fingered out the weight of the tank full ?   

[DeadlyPeace]

That is a nice tank. What's the website for the business where Clay works at?

how many gals is 100 liters  i for get the convertion.

If my brain is working correctly this morning, it should be about 26.4 gallons.

[fj-rankenstein [OP]]

it works out to be about 22 imperial gallons.....  thats a lot of fuel!!!  it will be nice though for when i upgrade the engine to a 3.4....

if you want more info regarding his tanks I will send him this way.....  or go to www.toontoys.ca and sign up on our forum and get ahold of/pm "faster41".. i am not sure if he will do too many of these due to liability issues, etc. but his product is awsome and he does terrific work... I should be getting my tank back at the end of this week...i am very excited!!


I am not too sure of how much it will weigh when full but it is rather light just empty... I decided to get it made with 3/16 wall due to the size, plus there wasnt that much price difference between 1/8th and 3/16th..

I also just recieved the last of everything I needed to order and also got my 30 spline longs this week too

[Yota87Truck]

dang, I need a tank like that.

[skipnrocks]

Wow that tank is perty!  What did it cost for a custom tank like that? 

[fj-rankenstein [OP]]

Wow that tank is perty!  What did it cost for a custom tank like that? 

I dont have a final cost yet.... we are trying to keep it around a comparable summit tank plus 100 bucks or so...  being that this is all custom, of course the cost is gonna be higher than a summit "cube tank".... but than again, i am not getting what I dont really want and i dont like the summit tanks anyways just because they are just a cube and arent a good fit to begin with.. this way, i have a tank that will fit the truck, have a large capacity and above and beyond support a good guy that produces a beautiful product...
 once again, i will have a more exact price when all is done...  give me about a week or two for a final cost..... in fact, clay would probably be the guy to talk to regarding price... every tank is gonna be price dependent due to size, design, etc....

[skipnrocks]

Yea you just cant beat having something built for your project rather than trying to adapt something.  And a summit cube +100 bucks isnt bad at all.  Are you running baffles or foam to limit slosh, or just an empty tank?   Just wondering im not sure how much it would be needed. but i always thought having baffles might keep the fuel where it needs to be during steep wheelin.

[unclejpl4x4]

he has baffles

[rcbro]

very cool build! Love the old land cruiser!

[fj-rankenstein [OP]]

tonight I finally got some time to work on my front axle... I went to my shop to use the big mig welder and finished a lot of the welding on the diff...
 i also decided to start shaving the bottom of the diff as well.... I should be able to get about an inch off the bottom.. i will fill in the hole with 1/4 inch steel...

[BUDDERS]

Your gonna have to do some grinding on the diff housing as well - to clear the inner U-bolt - everyone always has an issue with this when putting the E-locker in the front diff - You probably already know this though......

[fj-rankenstein [OP]]

Your gonna have to do some grinding on the diff housing as well - to clear the inner U-bolt - everyone always has an issue with this when putting the E-locker in the front diff - You probably already know this though......

actually I didnt.. but I also didnt have a problem at all when i had everything mocked up in the truck....there is just enough room to get past...

I did manage to get most of the shaved part of the diff welded up tonight... I think I managed to get most of a an inch shaved off the bottom....it was easy to do but surprisingly took longer than i thought this would....
 tomorrow is the truss, then I throw it back in the truck to mock up my hydra assist bracket and then back out for some final welding, assembly and paint...

[jeepish]

That is a sweet build!  I used to have a Custom-cab truck just like the other 2 pictured.  It was a BOAT.  They are just too huge.  This is a nice mix of truck/cab length.  My dad did the solid axle e-locker and it was a fair bit more work than the rear, but nothing needed cut/welded.  Just a little grinding and counter sunk bolts I believe.

[fj-rankenstein [OP]]

thanks for all the positive feedback everyone....

I have done quite a bit in the last couple of days....  I have had some issues with trying to get the elocker in the front to not interfere with anything..  the issue all started with clearing the aluminum tit on the side of the elocker.... my springs get past the side bolt on the elocker but because i turned my diff up quite a few degrees when i cut and turned my front diff that part on the elocker motor was trying to share the same space as my spring pack.... thinking I would do an easy fix, i raised my front perches an inch and cut the underside out for the elocker motor to clear...  in theory this was good but when talking with a buddy I realized that there could be a problem.... and there was....
 when i went to install my diff for mock up purposes and attatched the steering links, they too are now wanting to share the same space as the springs.... dammit.. so out comes the axle again and I shave out a 1/4 inch of the perch, take one leaf out of the home made spring pack and now there is tons of room with no binding.....

now that the problems are solved with the front diff, i needed a change of pace and started working on the back of the frame and mounting the rear springs.....  i cut off the frame right to the back of the rear shackle hanger and boxed in the rear of the frame..... I cut out the old rear frame crossmember and grinded everything clean again.... tomorrow I will work on mounting the rear springs and if I have time go back to the front diff and try to get my new longfields in their new homes...

i should have the axles, drivetrain, driveshafts all done by the end of the month... I have a busy month ahead so there is never much time....  from there I need april, may june to finish the body, wiring, bodywork and paint... and hopefully a good month to drive it......

the plans changed about going to california this year....  my girlfriend just started her physiotherepy job and cant take the time needed to make a nice trip of it so instead we are gonna go down to the blackhills cruiser classic.... we went two years ago as spectators and for the trip sinse we had everything planned, minus having a truck to go in...  it was fun regardless... we are gonna go to yellowstone park and then head over to south dakota and be gone a total time of 8-9 days...

anyways, i will post pics tomorrow or next day.. i have a few good progress pics regarding the axles, and rear frame...  i might french the front of the rear spring hanger into the frame if I have time, or space to do it... or I might just skip it......

[fj-rankenstein [OP]]

the 37x13.5x17 toyo mt's will be here in a couple of days...  before anyone questions the choice of these tires I will say that I am buying these purely on long life and extrememly well builtness that toyo is known for..... we dont trailer any of our rigs up here and i want a tire that will still perform well, get 80000 kilometers out of a set and handle well also... being that I plan on doing a lot of big trips in this truck I dont want to deal with driving 20+ hours each way on a trip on a set of more aggressive tires that are unballanced and arent good highway tires...
 I am quite excited to get these!!!  I have read nothing but really positive reviews....