Tonka turning crawler!

[83crawler]

any time.  if your not sure about airing them up ask me or call me and i can explain how and if there is air in them them the beads should be seated up fine and sould be nothing to worry about but if you have to air them up put them in some king of cage or under something so it the ring would blow it wont cut you in half but you should not need any more then 25 psi to run them. not trying to scare ya man just looking out for ya .

[6.72:1]

I appreciate it be cause I have not heard that before!

[83crawler]

if you don't mind me asking about how much do you think you have in this thing in time and money.  your probably not keeping track though.  just curious

[6.72:1]

Dude, I am not keeping track, but I am sure I already have way too much in this thing!


Actually, the truck was cheap and the 6MGE was not too bad as well and little nicks and nacs to install the 6MGE, but the stuff surrounding the Rockwells and the Rockwells themselves are costing/going to cost me a fortune!


I got the rear Rockwell for 175 bucks, then I spent another 175 bucks for bearings and bearing races (which wasn't necessary because the old ones showed hardly any wear, but I figured I might as well replace them while I was in there and not cut any corners!). I don't know how much I have spent in filler primer and primer.

I still have to purchase the rear axle overhaul kit for the seals, gaskets, spindle nuts and so on, which is 109 bucks plus shipping.


I believe I am going to have to purchase the four-link axle helmet to run the two uppers of a four-link to keep axle from rolling with the severe leverage of the Rockwell orbital differential.

[6.72:1]

if you don't mind me asking about how much do you think you have in this thing in time and money.  your probably not keeping track though.  just curious

Man, the list just keeps on going!

I have still have to purchase a front Rockwell with all the hydro stuff and I haven't fully counted that up yet.

I want both differentials locked, but I can't have the front locked and run it on the street with the pinion brake for this reason:


With the pinion/driveline brake, the differential stops, subsequently stopping the axles and the wheel and tires. We know this.

Well, with the front locked, I won't have any problem turning because of the full-on hydro, but with it locked, that is a no-no with a locked front end on the street.

Some have said, "Why don't you just get manual locking/unlocking hubs?"

Well, that is a great idea with four-wheel brakes, but since the pinion/drive-line brake I want to utilize stop the truck from the differential out to the tires, instead of the other way around, when you unlock the front hubs for the street with the pinion brake, you don't have any front brakes!

Yikes! 

The only way I can be locked up front and still be able to drive on the street is to have four-wheel brakes, and that is another 1000.00 bucks! DANG! I still don't know what kind of wheels and tires I want to get. I am just running the military stuff until I decide what I actuall want to run for a wheel and tire.

[Ramrod]

build it!!! and you should get one of those sweet diff covers some of the companies make for thoes that give you a bunch more clearence

[6.72:1]

if you don't mind me asking about how much do you think you have in this thing in time and money.  your probably not keeping track though.  just curious

It's just crazy man!

I still have a lot of steel to buy! I am going to have to cut the front crossmember out and some of the front clip to get the radiator I have in for the 6MGE!  

So, I still have a lot of 2"X3" and 2"X4" .25 steel to buy as well as the usual flat-plate in .120 and .25!

It is so crazy!

Luckily, I found some mud rovers for the front for cheap, so I have all good meats all around for my toy axles, until I can do my SAS (SUPER AXLE SWAP!). lol


I am just taking one thing at a time!

I need to buy some hangers from Marlin to relocate my spring mounts and little nic nacks like that.

THE NIC NACKS WILL KILL YOU!

[Ramrod]

how often do you plan on driving that on the street? heres a little inspiration from mcr4

[6.72:1]

build it!!! and you should get one of those sweet diff covers some of the companies make for thoes that give you a bunch more clearence

That is what IronClad highly recommended, but I am hesitant to cut on the Rockwell that I have because I have already made it so purdy!

I will think about it though. I want to run at least a 40" tire, so I should have okay to reasonable ground clearance.

After all, it is only every once and a while that I see a massice boulder over in my neck of the woods!

Wait, come to think of it, I haven't seen a massive boulder in a while and I certainly haven't seen those of the sheer magnitude of the ones that are your neck of the woods!

[Ramrod]

dont buy a marlin hanger build one yourself and mount those tires like a foot foward of stock

[Ramrod]

oh yeah those are 44's and his axles hitting a "small" rock, I just noticed that and it fits in well

[6.72:1]

how often do you plan on driving that on the street? heres a little inspiration from mcr4

I SO REMEMBER SEEING THAT TRUCK!

That was a major deciding factor for me!

I really like that truck, but I hate coils!

I like to leaf spring much better than the plain-o coil.

Maybe I can  get some King Coil-Overs and never look back! HA! Like an Alabama boy is capable of such things!

[6.72:1]

dont buy a marlin hanger build one yourself and mount those tires like a foot foward of stock

Dude, that is what I am doing!


I am building a fairly massive hanger, don't you worry about that good sir!

[Ramrod]

fox air shox are only $225 a piece for 16" travel and $35 for 18"

[6.72:1]

I just can't wait man!

It will just have to be one thing at a time because I can only spend in little chucks here and there, but I want it to be awesome, so I am trying to do it right the first time with the money I am able to spend on it.


You guys are my biggest inspiration.

[Ramrod]

yeah that thing just had to be parked on the most narrow hill with the biggest cliff next to it

[6.72:1]

Dude, I totally thought those were more expensive than that. Hmm...I might step up since you said that.

I'll have to look at those. How do those do and how do you believe they would perform with an axle of such magnitude?

[Ramrod]

check out www.polyperformance.com for them and call them if you have too.  from what i've seen they work great.  theres tons of rockwell info on pirate in the gen4x4 section

[6.72:1]

I will have to check that out because I don't get around there too much.

I am always hanging around looking at all you guys' builds!

[locktup]

I order air shock when I linked the rear of mine. It was taking so long to get them I canceled the order and ran coil springs. I am glad I did I have seen the air unload on side hills or going down a steep hill. Snohman had coil overs for his and sold them to stick with the coils. Snohman is my test dummy for the front 4 link Ive been playing with up front. The front of his will be coils also. Hard to beat the flex of a coil spring. 

[6.72:1]

I guess coils are okay, but I just worry about them popping out when I see them!


I suppose that doesn't happen too often, but I saw one happen on a Rockwelled rig and i was unsure of coils from then on.


I am also unsure as to how a coil spring mounts securely to the frame and axle housing, so that is another reason I have yet to venture into the land of coils.

I saw where you guys have used coils off of an Astro van. Should I get some of those maybe?


I just feel more comfortable with the leaf springs right now, otherwise, I would give the four-link gig a try with the coils.

[pyrotec220]

pete this thing is sick.  i agree with what you have to say about coils, i wonder the same thing. i cant wait to see this thing when it is done! do you know what color you are going to paint it for sure? good luck.

Dan

[6.72:1]

You know Dan, I believe I am going to go with the Copper.


For now though, I will be utilizing the flat tan until I get it ready for a real paint-job.


More update photographs tomorrow.

[6.72:1]

Update photographs are about to be here shortly....

[6.72:1]

I found a company that sells a spool for the Rockwell axle. I believe that is what I will be running in the rear.

I might even be running one in the front, but I guess I will decide when I get my front.

[6.72:1]

Well, my brother backed his truck into my mother's car, so I had to make it official:

[6.72:1]

As you can see, it doesn't look that bad from the side, but when looking on either end of the car, you can see that is left a pretty gnarly little dent.

The things I could do to my brother sometimes for his misbehavior!

[6.72:1]

Okay, back to the truck project.

I believe each hub of the Rockwell axle takes about 4.5 POUNDS OF GREASE!

IT WAS MESSY! The bearings were fun to pack too!

[6.72:1]

I don't know why the photographs are sideways, but it is the best I could do right now. (Don't feel like trying to find the feature that flips them on photobucket).

[6.72:1]

I know, I know, it looks like I just came from a heavy death metal performance, but I thought it would be cool to take a photograph of the goo.

(I figured you would like to view this one IronClad)