Topic: fordh8r's 84 Xtra-bad Daily Driver

[fordh8r]

I may have to work on my mudflaps a little...

[fordh8r [OP]]

I thought I was smelling some exhaust... and here I thought it was just me...   Time to fix that too!  I soaked the nuts for removal and I'll weld up the pipe and reinstall.

[fordh8r [OP]]

lucky... I want bigger tires too

someday...    


don't wish it too fast though.   My poor little truck is finally growing up...  

[fordh8r [OP]]

Let's see where did I leave off?       Oh yeah!



I got my exhaust leak fixed...I think 

[fordh8r [OP]]

Also started building my square drive shaft...   From this point I had to hit it in the rest of the way till there was about an 1/8" gap for a solid root pass. 

[fordh8r [OP]]

being consciuous of the possibility of bad vibes I made some attempt at getting the u-joints in phase by using two sockets on a decently flat surface and rotated the 'slop' out of the tubes and tacked the cv in place. with the drive shaft sitting squarely on the sockets I added more tacks and then disassembled it for finishing.    Hope this effort pays off...even a little...

[fordh8r [OP]]

After some  and some  to let it cool between passess it was finally done!  I used a large C-clamp on the yokes as well to act as a heatsink so the heat wouldn't damage the U-joints or seals. and after 3 or so passes on each side...Voila!

My flange to flange (diff to T-case) measurement is 36" and my drive shaft fully collapsed is 35.5"...

Guess I need to shorten it a little...   I'll wait till I flex it up and double check the measurement before I shorten it.

If I hadn't mentioned it, the tube lengths I used were 24" each so right now I have about 23" or so of intersect... So maybe I'll cut about 3 or 4 inches from each tube and still maintain about 15 to 17" of intersect which should be enough I hope...

[fordh8r [OP]]

more work and pics to come.   

  I had to do a little damage control while I was working on my rig.  First I had to pull the radiator out to fix the broken tank bracket... . So I went to the radiator shop today and they did it for me in like 5 mins.    They didn't charge me but I gave the guy some money anyway for when it's    :30 after work.

  Then, of course, I noticed my water pump bearing feeling a bit shabby... So I took it off since the cooling system was drained and to add I needed all new belts as well...

  When it stops raining I'll be able to get back out there and get all this  back together and running.   But I'm still waiting for my IFS box mount to finish the steering...

[fordh8r [OP]]

Ok more work done over the last few days...


1)  box in position for fitting and had to cut the radiator support as needed while fitting the box.

2)  cut the holes with a hole saw to fit the IFS bracket tubes.

3)  a little clean-up work is needed to remove the left overs from the factory torque arm.

[fordh8r [OP]]

here we are all cleaned up and ready for some  . 

[fordh8r [OP]]

1)  The brackets are clamped and tacked and ready to be burned in.

2)  box refitted before final 

3)  Clearances look good

[fordh8r [OP]]

This next process is the best part...   This is also how I got the bends in my X-member when I made that. I wish I had pics of having made my crossmember but  I forgot the camera when I went to the shop that day.

1)  first, I was using a 60T press  (Yes, it's overkill but it's what I have access to.) Most bends only take about
     10T's or less. Line up the piece to be bent between two pieces of angle Iron (I used 2"x2"x3/8") and mark where the
     bend is desired.

2)  then, if the bend is to be perpendicular to the edge, I used a square to set it up with the angle iron before making
     the bend.

3)  Before bending your piece make a template with the profile of the bends you will be needing. I started with a traced
     profile then bent a wire hanger to match.  Now you can start your bends.

4)  While bending your piece (hard to see in this pic) slip the wire hanger into the jig to gauge if the bend is what you
     need. Bend more if needed or stop before you go too far. 

[fordh8r [OP]]

The final piece.    Matches up quite well to piece that came with the kit (Which was about a 1/4-3/8 too narrow and the whole reason I made this piece... )

[fordh8r [OP]]

Here is how it fit with some minor massaging and trimming...

[fordh8r [OP]]

And as if it were magic...VIOLA! It's welded in, painted and ready for use...

[fordh8r [OP]]

with the box in the new location the steering shaft was a bit short (3" to be exact  )    



So I extended the shaft as needed. Before you "Never weld on steering parts" purists say anything I recommend taking a look at the factory weld at the end of the tube where the "rubber" joint bolts to it. Besides the weakest point would be the rubber joint anyway so no worries.


1)  1" in pipe is the right size for the shaft. I welded the lower section first so the heat wouldn't damage the collapsable
     portion of the steering shaft.

2)  I used C-clamps to creat a heatsink so, again, the heat wouldn't damage the nylon in the collapsable shaft.

3)  Along with the C-clamps I also wrapped a wet rag around the flange end of the shaft to help draw the heat away
    from the collapsable shaft. How well does this work? I'm holding the shaft immediately after weling it... . You
    can't see it in the pic but the shaft is still smoking

 

[fordh8r [OP]]

Ahhh, the finished product. 

The shaft is rather straight as well...there is less than 1/16" variance when measured at 4 points. 

[fordh8r [OP]]

And now to fix this...

[fordh8r [OP]]

So I made this...   This pic is the rough version after I cut it out from 2.5"x2.5"x1/4" square tube.




It's taller than the stock piece so I can eliminate the spacer on the spring on the left side. Now I just gotta cut the old one off so I can  this one on

[Jordan7118]

Nice! Good to see some ingenuity goin' on!  I'll be keeping this in mind when I go to put my box on in a few weeks. Thanks!

[fordh8r [OP]]

1) well I got to play with one of my Christmas toys, Finally!    Can you guess what it is?   hint: 

2) after removing the old spring perch and some clean up work.

3) here's the finished piece for the spring perch in place before   .

4) Got the new one welded on.

[fordh8r [OP]]

Way nicer! and straighter too!    Time to bolt it up.....wait, not so fast.  I had some issues with my U-bolt flip that needed some addressing.




Note:  No more spring spacer!    The taller mount is designed to eliminate the spacer.

[fordh8r [OP]]

  It seems the spring plates for my u-bolt flip kit had distorted quite badly (not pictured) when I torqued my U-bolts.    Well not to worry.   

   1) Here are my MC U-bolt flip spring plates ala fordh8r  which incorporate a double shear shock mount to raise
       the shock mounting point which improves my static shock mounting length. 

   2 & 3) here they are painted and mounted all torqued and no distortion.   

[fordh8r [OP]]

  I finished setting the toe and got the steering wheel centered. Got some other minor details finished and actually drove it for the first time yesterday.    Fabbed up a steering stabalizer frame bracket and got it mounted and it works great.    Just gotta swap the rear gears now and fix up some mud flaps and start the interior redecorating.    All before it's ready for the trails. 

[86bobbedtoy]

Man you got some good fabing skills!! 
Im not loving the shock lift plates but they will do the job.
Keep up the Excellent work!!

[fordh8r [OP]]

Man you got some good fabing skills!! 

Thanks, appreciate the compliment! 

 
Im not loving the shock lift plates but they will do the job.

Sorry, I too was hoping for something a little more aesthetically pleasing but as you said they will do (and it's what I had laying around that would work).    I'm also thinking since it is 2" square tubing that it may be the mounting or contact point for a set of bumpstops when I'm ready to see how it all works. Another bridge to cross when I get there I guess. I do appreciate your honesty though.  My attempt was to stiffen the spring plates first and the shock idea was kinda morphed with the idea as I designed it. Maybe some changes will be made to them later to make them look cooler.    Guess I'll just have to see how they work first. 

Keep up the Excellent work!!

Thanks again for the feed back! 

[fordh8r [OP]]

  Sorry for the delay in updates...    Life as it happens gets busy and keeps us from our projects as we all know too well.  So, it looks like now with better weather on the way I can progress once again. 
Also, thanks to anyone who has been following my build so far.


  On with the build!     



OK, so last I was finishing my front spring mount on the left side. here it is all done...

[fordh8r [OP]]

Then I fabbed up a steering stabilizer mount on the frame (some recycling involved here  )

[fordh8r [OP]]

We have since flexed up the suspension and discovered some interference with the spring and drag link...


So I got these to help that situation...



1)  Sky Offroad's 3/4" less drop pitman arm

2)  also Sky Offroad's 2" drop front spring hanger 

[fordh8r [OP]]

Here we go again...   A little tear down work to prep for some cutting and welding...